Just Jack - just a jack of all trades

Just Jack is best known for his hit single Starz In Their Eyes

A one time pub pot washer, florist, decorator and supermarket shelf stacker with a furniture design degree, Just Jack reckons his current job is his best yet.

"I'm my own boss and I get to control all what I do," the musician says.

"I like having the freedom. I love music and I get to work in music, which is amazing."

The 33-year-old, who is about to release Embers, the first single from his third album All Night Cinema, is pleased he got the chance to experience so many alternative ways to earn cash.

Thought-provoking lyrics

"I enjoyed all of them because I got to meet a lot of different people. It's very good for your confidence working in lots of different places and having to adapt to lots of different situations."

Although the star - real name Jack Allsopp - was signed nine years ago, it was only in 2007 when his music became mainstream.

The hit single Starz In Their Eyes reached number two in the Top 40 chart and his album Overtones reached number six.

It was the thought-provoking lyrics, released during the height of the reality TV phenomenon, and the catchy electro-pop music that drew people in.

I never read any press. It's frustrating if people misread you and you don't agree with what they say

Jack says the song is about so-called celebrities, who are "used by their management companies to make money," and "the machine that creates the celebrity".

Although the track was never written about anyone specifically, Jack says he was inspired to put pen to paper after reading about the former X Factor winner Michelle MacManus.

"She was a big girl and a lot of people celebrated the fact that someone like her - who isn't physically the normal perception of what is beautiful - could actually win one of those shows.

"After I read that article, which was calling her a 'beached whale', it got me thinking.

"What is going on when someone can be celebrated for being different and going against the norm, and then there is a complete u-turn and she is kind of thrown to the wolves a month or two later."

Jack says he rarely gets recognised himself nowadays, which he says he is "very happy" about.

'Mongrel pop music'

"When Starz in Their Eyes was out, I was recognised a lot but I think the way that things change so fast in the media nowadays, people kind of forget who you are, unless you're getting in the paper everyday."

When asked if he would ever consider appearing in an OK! or Hello photo shoot, he replies: "No, definitely not, I don't need the money yet."

The former beat-boxer describes his sound as "mongrel pop music".

Just Jack performed at the Glastonbury festival in 2007

He says: "It's little weird bits of everything that I've heard, which for some reason ends up in something that appeals to people.

"It's like a mongrel version of everything that I hear. I try and put as many different sounds in there that people wouldn't expect to hear. It's reasonably soulful and I hope reasonably insightful."

With the release of his next album in June, he reveals he has a great way to deal with any negative reviews he might get.

"I never read any press," he says.

"It's frustrating if people misread you and you don't agree with what they say. Also, it might change what you do," he adds.

Although he admits to being musically influenced by Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo Green and Damon Albarn, Jack insists he does not have any heroes.

"I've never tried to model myself on anyone or had someone who I liked more than anyone else."

He then explains that working by himself and on his own ideas was one of the reasons behind his Just Jack moniker.

But surprisingly, it was actually a friend who inadvertently came up with it.

"When I was trying to find a name, I was thinking of all sorts of clever names.

"Eventually, I was going to call myself Jack because I got bored of trying to think of something, and I was telling a friend of mine who asked me what I was going to call myself and I told them 'Jack'.

"They said, 'What, Just Jack?' And I thought, 'Yeah - Just Jack'."