Silver Jack: Searching for peace (and The Beatles) in the streets of London

Nandagopal Jayachandran. Just the real name of the artist we portray today would be a complete review… But, in this case, the born-Indian musician assumes his alter ego Silver Jack as he searches for peace, wisdom and ways to express his music through the streets of London. The same streets that John, Paul, George and Ringo walked to stardom, turning places like Abbey Road, Soho and Baker Street into historic landmarks. “I am an ardent fan of the Lennon- McCartney partnership in songwriting”, says Silver Jack, who apparently doesn’t like wasting time when it comes to assume his artistic references.

I learned music through the Beatles in a way we can say Hollywood movies help people from around the world learn English

Silver Jack

With a handful of singles whose releases are concentrated in 2022, Silver Jack left his first full album for 2023, suggestively entitled “Remember” (see the “Track By Track” below), in which he not only makes reference to the Fab Four of Liverpool, but also incorporates elements of the gospel of Johnny Cash, Radiohead and even the Spoken Word genre, especially in the epic song “Battlefield”, inspired by a Nelson Mandela poem and a true statement of one of the toughest moments of his life as a migrant: adaptation. “I was struggling with health at that point and because I was doing everything myself, I really struggled being a foreigner in the UK seeking help from the NHS and in my conviction to finish the album, I found the words to battlefield”, he remembers.

2 6 Things about Silver Jack

RC – Hey, Silver Jack. A pleasure to talk with you. How are things going, where are you right now?

SJ – Hey! I´m doing good! Everything is all cool here. I am doing great! I´m on the verge of finishing my next album “Lifeless” and I´m spending all my time working on the album and living my best life here in London while doing some promotion for “Remember”.

RC – Before we talk about your first full album, I would like you to better explain the synthesis you made in your bio on Spotify. Do you really believe that having Lennon and McCartney as your main – or maybe only – influence needs no further information? What are the Beatles for you?

SJ – The Beatles are everything to me. I am inspired greatly by their music having listened to them on and on during much of my formative years. I learned music through the Beatles in a way we can say Hollywood movies help people from around the world learn English. I am an ardent fan of the Lennon- McCartney partnership in songwriting. Most of their songs which are even popular now and a milestone in songwriting are written in their 20s in the 1960s and 1970s! They have written songs that transcend time and this is important in any musician. Our work carrying on long after we are gone. This makes a musician legendary. Imagine writing a song like “Golden Slumbers” and it still is not considered your greatest song! Yes they are the only inspiration I need. But as an artist I do have to keep up with the times listening to artists like Kendrick Lamar, MGMT, Ye, Radiohead, Coldplay.

The Beatles for me is like a memory or like looped time. A time which you would be able to access at any time you like and feel good about yourself. Good that whatever you think, someone has experienced and made a song about it long before you were ever born. Lyrics like “ All the lonely people, where do they all belong?” Has made me think and reflect thoughts that I would never have come to think about before I heard them. The closest song that has ever come to this feeling was Michael Jackson’s “Stranger in Moscow”.

It’s no secret that the Beatles were the most influential of all time. Rolling Stones Magazine has made them out to be the best artists of all time in their 500 greatest artists of all time till date.

RC – More than a diary of “sound” memories, “Remember” can easily fit into a genre known as Epic. How do you work the production of each of your songs? Do you do everything yourself?

SJ – I want to create for the listener an experience someone else has not created before. I am not bound by genres. In this way as an independent artist, I would say this is my greatest strength. Mixing genres is my creative freedom. Epic-ness is what I want my listener to experience. They should feel that they have thought a thought, felt a feeling. This is my objective. Everything you hear and sometimes even see is my own effort. I have struggled with production very much since I have not learnt music properly under a teacher for long. I studied basic music lessons but rest are all self educated. My dad, M Jayachandran is a Film Music Composer back in India where I am from and he once told me something that I will never forget in my life. He said, “Hard work will beat talent if talent doesn’t work hard” I don’t know if people enjoy my music or people will ever but I am convinced that If I make that extra effort by myself instead of depending or waiting on others to help me or for some miracle, I would not be left in the dust so yes, I do everything myself until a point where people are ready to invest their time, money and effort in Silver Jack but then it might be too late, as self sustenance is the success point of anyone in any industry. I don’t know if they are “industry standards” or the “proper” way. But as long as they are listenable and enjoyable I win there.

Bruce Lee once said that we have to learn the art of dying. All everyone wants to do is succeed in life, be nothing but happy and be the farthest from problems. But how can we accept death when it comes definitely tomorrow if we don’t practise letting go?

Silver Jack

RC – Your first album also makes use of Spoken Word. “Battlefield”, for me, is one of the most powerful “sound poems” on the entire album. What exactly were you thinking when you chose this track and do you think poetry still has a place in this day and age where AI does everything?

SJ – Above anything, I consider “Remember” the album to be a reflection of my life in London and at a point I was struggling, this thought came into my mind and it was partly inspired by “Invictus” the poem which Nelson Mandela used to read everyday for the years that he spent in prison. I wondered about his conviction and I was thinking about my conviction to finish the album. I was struggling with health at that point and because I was doing everything myself, I really struggled being a foreigner in the UK seeking help from the NHS and in my conviction to finish the album, I found the words to battlefield. Poetry is important, it gives us a reason to live. Often we think about quotes, poems in our daily life in order to give us a reasons to keep us motivated. Life is seldom easy for most people including myself and it is my job as an artist to provide solace and comfort through my words and music even for myself. I myself hear “Battlefield” several times during the day. I did not want to share it at first but then I thought If this could help someone as it did for me, well I should put it in the album. It’s my most streamed track in Spotify today.

The thing about AI as I understand is in the fact that the base of all computer operations that define AI is mathematics. I am a Masters in Aerospace engineering as well before I dwelled into full time music. Mathematics connects everything in this world. It is divine and it is the language of the universe. If AI can write something, I believe it is the word of the universe, like Paulo Coelho often suggests about listening to the universe.

The universe can certainly make another Silver Jack, it can make another Drake as it did with the recently viral track “Heart on my sleeve”.

Silver Jack

But what differs is that each of the created musician and the actual musician although similar, will never be the same. No matter how much AI tries to, Drake will never even think about this song, he will not sing that kind of track because he has his own individuality and he has his own thought process. The originality is lost. Nobody other than I can think of “Battlefield”. They can create something similar but not exactly the same. They can create a similar vibe but not the exact same thing as we know with the current AI. If it did, then we have a problem with anything not just poetry. But AI has not developed that far and if it does in the future, then all of us musicians, engineers, doctors, everyone will be in trouble.

RC- The impression we have from the moment we look at the black and white cover of “Remember” until the last track is that you are a serious, sad and religious guy. Is it a correct impression or behind all these layers we have an optimistic and humorous person?

SJ – I am a fan of Johnny Cash’s dressing style. “The Man in Black” as he was often referred to had a lot of black and white covers. Bruce Lee once said that we have to learn the art of dying. All everyone wants to do is succeed in life, be nothing but happy and be the farthest from problems. But how can we accept death when it comes definitely tomorrow if we don’t practise letting go? My way of accepting everything is through music and if I feel that the song is good, it will have a place in my album. “Remember” is an album that has a lot of sadness, true, but songs like “Remember”, “Battlefield” talks about striving for one’s hopes. Hope is probably the best of things. It is one of the most positive things one could have. I write about hope and of the beauty of the world. This is my idea of positivity. A clear and bright horizon. Certainly, I am religious. Most Indians are religious. It doesn’t matter what religion but we do have a strong sense of a higher power instilled in us from a very tender age. It is true, I am religious, I am often sad, but I am also optimistic and very humorous, being the joker of my closest friends. Most of my free time I spend with people I love and have fun sharing stories, travelling together, being a foodie. I cannot say I am only this and not that. I am a part of everything and I accept this fact. My outlook is but the different sides of the same coin. And my albums often though, a reflection of my experiences, are not at all a statement to my full life but a mere chapter of life as a musician.

RC – Would you please send a message of peace to Brazil!

SJ – I wish for happiness and peace for everyone in Brazil. I wish for Brazil to keep importance to its culture and land. Love brings peace. Humanness brings peace and music of oneness brings peace. Be grateful and peaceful. Loving is easy.

Track by Track: “Remember” by Silver Jack

Time: With a haunting keyboard base, Silver Jack introduces the concept of the album, a feeling of not belonging to society apparently common to everyone who migrates to a new city.

Loving is Easy: The classical/orchestral intro that is later taken over by the synths is something of a relief after the punch of “Time”. Silver Jack’s voice is smoother than ever, and I’m especially reminded of more modern ballads like those done by the british pop-band Keane.

My Brother: With a tender vocals and a simple keyboard, “My Brother” could very well fit into the lullabies genre. Kind of remembered me of Neil Young’s “Philadelphia”.

Battlefield: Sort of like the album’s Spoken Word, “Battlefield” is perhaps the most poignant track on the album, based on Nelson Mandela’s poem “Invictus”.

Burn: One of the most minimalist tracks on the album, “Burn” sounds like an anthem, with heavy influences from Leonard Cohen and Brian Eno. Here we clearly see Silver Jack’s composer potential.

Signs: With an exquisite and mellow ambient sound, the vibe we have here is very similar to some Radiohead records and, recently, The Smile.

Higher and Higher: Yet another small and minimalist track that serves almost as an intermission, a turning of chapters in life remembered by Silver Jack.

Remember: The album’s title track is actually the most enjoyable of all. With chords that denote hope for better days and demonstrate that, as a composer, Silver Jack is and will be one of the greats if he continues to maintain this degree of musical authenticity.

Little man: Brian Wilson once said that he wanted to write prayers in song format. It’s impossible not to think of the ex-beach boy’s statement when listening to songs like “Little man” among others that drink a lot from the gospel fountain in “Remember”.

Divine: With the emulation of a live show, “Divine” is the most ironic and earthy song, shall we say, on the entire disc. Personally, it reminded me of Supertramp, down to Silver Jack’s perfect falsetto.

Last but not the least: I guess the title speaks for itself. Genious.