It’s been an exciting week at Instinct. We’ve reported on the All Stars 3 winner, Harry Styles supposed bisexuality, and Luigi from Super Mario has a bulge, who knew?
We are continuing this week of great content with an interview with Jack and Joel, of UK X Factor fame, who are also on a high, as they’ve just released their first single ‘From The Start’, a bouncy, summery jam, ready to blast in your cars in time for the sunny weather.
We spoke to the guys off the back of their tour, who talked about their X Factor experience, their new single and their exciting plans for the future!
Hey guys! A pleasure to speak with you today! Where are you speaking to me from today?
Joel: We are speaking to you from my bedroom, where we do a lot of our work, music wise, because we are working on different projects. We’ve just finished off a podcast, and we’ve also finished off a cover that will be part of an Instagram series which is exciting. We are also working on our brand new original material which…
Jack: woo
Joel: is very exciting. We’ve just released our first single.
Tell us more about the single!
Joel: So, it’s our first release, but not the first song we’ve ever written. It’s the fourth attempt I think. There are other songs that we are equally excited about but we decided that this would be a nice first release because we expect it to be somewhat similar to our genre moving forward.
Jack: Yeah, I think it bridges the gap well between the stuff we did on the show and what we want to do.
Joel: Exactly, easing them in gently as we get more weird and wonderful.
Jack: Breaking them in! Like a horse. It’s completely in-house produced by Joel.
Joel: It’s a very special one to be releasing, we’re hoping to attract attention after a few releases, and hopefully move forward with bigger and better productions, but for right now we are just so happy with what we have produced in-house.
So, it’s been quite a 2017 for you guys! Making it to the live shows of the X Factor, to touring around the UK, and now, in 2018, you have this single release! How has the experience been for you so far?
Jack: I think it’s been lit. We had the best time. So, we’ve been singing professionally since last January, and we just feel super… lucky is probably the wrong word, but I do feel lucky, I feel appreciative that we’ve kind of gone from strength to strength. We did a mashup video that ended up going viral, we’ve got an agent from it, and lots of gig opportunities. I moved down to London, Joel was already living here, and then all the X factor stuff happened, and we’ve got management from that. To be living the dream, job-wise, is just amazing isn’t it.
Jack, you’re gay, Joel, you’re straight. Joel, you seem to be the absolute biggest ally to the gay community, which is amazing to see today. How did you two meet?
Jack: On Grindr! I’m kidding, we were at University together, and we lived in the same college, but we met because we were in an acapella group together, called ‘Out of The Blue’ and we became friends, and it went from there and we’ve been *proceeds to do a Cilla Black impression* We’ve been stuck together for a few years now haven’t we love!
You’re quite well known for your song mashups. How do you come up with those?
Jack: You know what, it’s the concepts we pick, isn’t it. Often, we do a kind of ‘Evolution of’, so it’s like “right, what artist has a really good back catalogue? What songs do we love?”, and Joel sort of picks the best parts to do. We did the Camila Cabello on, which was just two songs, because we just loved both songs, and it’s quite a fun concept to do two songs by the same artist.
Joel: For sure, I think when a mashup works well, it just writes itself, so tis always a pleasure taking an artist for example, or an album, or a concept. We’ve done ‘Noughties’, and they tend to write themselves. Jack, with his vast musical knowledge will usually pick the best songs that fit the theme and for me to take that and compose it into a three-minute piece is just a pleasure.
What is your favourite one so far?
Jack: I’ll tell you what is not, the One Direction One. You are not a fan of that, are you Joel? You were so poorly that day.
Joel: I’m a fan of it, it’s just that I was very very ill on the day of filming for that.
Jack: I love Shawn Mendes, so I like that one, but I also like the Camila one we did, I think that’s really fun and simple.
Joel: I think for me, it’s always been The Ed Sheeran ‘Divide’ Medley.
Jack: Which was our first audition for X Factor as well. I also love the Little Mix one, because that did so well on Facebook.
You two are big pop music fans, evidently. Do you each have a favourite song?
Joel: *immediately* ‘That’s What I Like’ by Bruno Mars.
Jack: Mine is probably anything by Beyoncé, or ‘I’m Right Here’ by (Queen) Samantha Mumba.
Both of your voices blend gorgeously together. When did you start to sing together?
Both: 2014!
Have you both always been musical?
Jack: No. When I was younger, I couldn’t sing in tune, and then, from about 14 onwards, it was kind of like “Ooh I can sing now, so, I’ll do that.” I was Ryan in High School Musical at school, obviously.
Joel: I come from a family of musicians, so I’ve always been ‘of that type’.
Even before X Factor getting your name out there, you were huge on YouTube, and you’ve got quite the fanbase, which has allowed you to embark on a tour. How was that experience?
Jack: That’s flattering. The tour was amazing. It was the first time that we’ve been outside of London. To see people right up north that wanted to come out to see us, hear our songs, buy our merch and get photos with us was amazing.
Joel: And you’ll actually be reading this after the release of our tour video.
Jack: Yeah, that’s quite cute, and it was edited by our friend Marco who was actually on tour with us as well, who is a gem.
Let’s do some quick-fire questions next! Favourite artist of all time?
Joel: Radiohead
Jack: Beyoncé
(It was at this point that I was triggered senseless at the lack of mention of Mis-Teeq)
Favourite pop meme at the moment?
Jack: Joel doesn't know any of them, but I would have to say ‘Wig, I feel that already’ by Katy Perry, and I feel like it will be for a long time.
Finish the sentence. Mariah Carey is…
Jack: A skinny legend
Joel: Tragic
Spice Girls or Destiny’s Child?
Jack: Destiny’s Child, purely because of Beyoncé.
Joel: I’ve actually just covered a Spice Girls song so I’m going to have to say Spice Girls.
Girls Aloud or Sugababes?
Jack: Always Girls Aloud. ‘About You Now’ and ‘Change’ are iconic Sugababes songs, but Girls Aloud are Girls Aloud. Nobody in Sugababes famously lost their passport.
Joel: I’m Girls Aloud on this one as well
(These answers were incorrect; the correct answer is Sugababes)
Fifth Harmony or Camila?
Joel: Camila, CAMILA!
Jack: Ooh, I’d have to say Camila as well, but there was a Fifth Harmony song that got me through my finals, ‘That’s My Girl’
Thanks guys! So where can people find you on social media?
Jack: You can find us @jackandjoel1 on Instagram, @JackandJoel on Twitter, and Jack and Joel on YouTube and Facebook.
And finally, what’s next for Jack and Joel?
Joel: We are going to have more singles coming out, very shortly! We are so excited, and we are starting our Instagram cover series, and we have our podcast, so we are releasing all kinds of good content!
Jack: And we are having lots of fun meeting, which is a bit of a secret, and we might have some gigs announced soon, so things are looking up!
Good luck with the single guys! The single 'From The Start' is available on iTunes now, go buy it! Take a look at some of their amazing vocals below!