Jackson Harris knows how to tell a good story through song. Born and bred in the Big Apple, this heartthrob released his first full-length album, Sharks & Vampires. He's opened for groups like Fifth Harmony on tour, bringing in adoring new fans.
Windy City Times went backstage at the House of Blues to break down his music a bit.
Windy City Times: Hi, Jackson. It is great seeing you open for Fifth Harmony here at the House of Blues.
Jackson Harris: They are so great and seeing how they are after the Demi Lovato tour. They are not like "I'm bigger now..." They are the sweetest girls.
WCT: I think because there are so many of them they keep each other in check.
Jackson Harris: Yeah, they call each other out. You need that sometimes.
WCT: So tell me about you. You are from New York?
Jackson Harris: I am from New York City. Everyone likes to call it the Gossip Girl style of life. You are raised on the Upper East Side and expected to be a certain type of person with a certain type of job. People get an internship at banks or firms and I was the kid that wanted to do music. That didn't go too far for a while until I started writing and put up videos; then people started to see I was getting some traction with it. Now people come to the show and don't know what I have been doing for the past few years. They have a lot of fun so it is cool to show them.
WCT: So your advice for people is to go out there and make it happen?
Jackson Harris: Yes; how you go out there and how you do it is very different. I know when I first started about three and half years ago as a solo act my mom told me to go play shows in New York City. At the time I was underage and couldn't play bars. I was playing pop music that wouldn't play well in New York City. I realized quickly I could turn on my webcam and get a thousand people in my bedroom and not have to work about lighting and just play for them or talk to them. That is how the new coffee shop of sorts was started where you can put out everything and share your life with the fans.
WCT: So you have always wanted to do music?
Jackson Harris: Yes, I have done music since I was a little kid. I have done some acting as well. Acting is a lot of fun to do but I realized quickly I can create my own job with music. With movies and TV, it was hard to get your foot in the door.
WCT: Speaking of your foot, I like your boots.
Jackson Harris: Thank you. They are courtesy of my sister. She's my older sister so she makes sure I look good.
WCT: She's your stylist?
Jackson Harris: Pretty much.
WCT: "Long Story Short" was your big moment?
Jackson Harris: That my first really big music video that I did. I did a cover or two prior to that. I was shocked how the YouTube world worked. We filmed that in August in New York City, which was ambitious because it was a two day shoot on the back of that pickup truck. We are driving through Times Square and it is 104 degrees outside. As a New Yorker, it was a surreal experience to be driving through New York with cameras. It was insane but a lot of fun and a lot of work.
WCT: How has the success been since?
Jackson Harris: It's been weird. We did a morning show at 5 a.m. on a Sunday and as we left there were people downstairs who had seen it. That was my first experience interacting with a fan, not a person on a computer screen or on Twitter. It was more awesome for my mom and my sister. I was more nervous and they thought it was cool. It's a trip.
If anything success is what allows me to do what I'm doing. If I can make another music video then great. That is what "Long Story Short" did.
WCT: Your EP is called Sharks & Vampires. What inspired it?
Jackson Harris: The image I came up with one night at the tail end of one of the Twilight movies. It was Shark Week. Looking around it seemed like there was always another Sharknado or a vampire. It's about the double meaning of sharks and vampires in our personal and business lives and what that can mean. I created the image with a great British artist to make something special. I could have a story behind it. It just wasn't a graphic or photo of me. I thought about what would the hipster see on the record store stands and think was cool.
I wanted to do something visually different as an artist. The songs are varied on there. There is a single called "Miss Me" on there that I am really proud about.
WCT: I saw the video.
Jackson Harris: It's a rough song because my ex was a real winner! We got through the whole album. There are nice stories in each song. It's not simply just playing to Top 40 radio. I will be more than happy to talk someone's ear off from "Down With the Ship" to "Right Kind of Wrong." Some of the girls know who they are and some don't.
WCT: So is it a break-up album?
Jackson Harris: It's more like a break up, get back together, break up again, maybe let's get back together, no let's not for sure type record! There is a bit of that. "Miss Me" definitely has that. My ex still lives in New York City and she still runs in the same circles and I haven't seen her. To put out this music and this material is kind of crazy.
When we did the "Come Back Down to Earth" music video, we shot that with Lucy Hale [of the TV show Pretty Little Liars]. I am there in the midst of a break up shooting this video with one of the most beautiful young actresses in Hollywood now. I had a kiss scene among other things so it definitely a good way to get over an ex-girlfriend.
WCT: A great way to get over one!
Jackson Harris: It didn't suck.
WCT: Could you put the girls in categories of being a shark or a vampire?
Jackson Harris: Yeah, that's a good one. I had never heard that before.
Certain girls are like sharks because they show up out of nowhere. The damage they do in a few seconds is pretty crazy. You are left with half of yourself.
Vampires can suck you dry of life. Whether that's a girl that brings you down all the time or guy, whatever may be, you find yourselves in situations where you want to surround yourself with good people. Whether that is a shark or vampire hopefully they are friendly.
WCT: Who is Vita Chambers, who sings on the track "Mirror Mirror?"
Jackson Harris: She's a Canadian R&B artist. She had done a lot of work with Justin Bieber at the time. I loved her look. She had a song the radio there called "What If?" I thought it was something cool and different. I think the expected thing from me was get a young cute girl to dance and do that whole thing. There were a few big-name options but I wanted to do something unexpected. I chose a Canadian artist who is tall, statuesque and a beautiful African-American girl juxtaposed to this little New York City kid.
I wanted a different vocal approach for it. It actually started as a completely different song where we were going to do a dub step remix using the audio from old Disney movies. We wanted the phrase "mirror, mirror on the wall" but then realized the rights to that would be upwards of $50 million so we decided to be inspired by this instead. We wrote a song about it and that is how it came about. It came from a weird idea, into a song, into a duet. My first duet ever on the album. It is awesome.
WCT: I didn't know "mirror, mirror" would be such a big deal.
Jackson Harris: Even to find it, rip it and tag it is something that I love to create and put under a mixtape to just see if I can. I like to see how people react and incorporate it into my sound. We wound up using the bass track into the actual song so it worked out pretty well.
WCT: Speaking of Disney, I saw on Twitter that your pilot on the way here was singing "Let It Go" from Frozen.
Jackson Harris: It was so weird! He wasn't singing it but it must have been on the American Airlines elevator music. I couldn't believe they got it cleared that fast. Frozen is everywhere.
I'm a Disney kid at heart.
WCT: You were on tour with Cher Lloyd?
Jackson Harris: We just finished. Cher Lloyd and Fifth Harmony were both on tour opening for Demi Lovato. What we did—which was crazy but fun—is on the off days each artist would go do a show, sometimes a House of Blues or a 3,000-[person] venue. We got to see the Demi show in Cleveland. Seeing these artists that I get to open for then open for even bigger artists was the craziest thing. It was a surreal trip and my first time on a tour bus. I got to see this country. It was pretty awesome.
WCT: I saw Demi during that tour and she really connects with an audience.
Jackson Harris: I was looking around and girls were either crying or just so into it. It's refreshing that she continually has a positive message. She doesn't just sing, she singggs! It is nice to see someone doing well.
WCT: You are heading on a European tour?
Jackson Harris: Yes, we just announced that I am opening for Cody Simpson throughout Europe so that should be intense. I have never been to some of these places like Spain, France or Ireland.
WCT: You have your passport?
Jackson Harris: Yes. I think we will be traveling for the last two weeks of the World Cup too. That will be pretty insane. I want to get a jersey from every country we go to.
WCT: Are you buying something from Chicago?
Jackson Harris: I have been to Chicago before. I went to Hot Doug's. It was a sketchy neighborhood but awesome. We also did Gino's East. That was a lot of pizza. So we will have to see what kind of fun we can get into after the show tonight.
WCT: I heard you are a LGBT supporter. How are those particular fans to you?
Jackson Harris: It would be the same as having fans of different ethnicities. I grew up in New York so my eyes were open to a lot of different things. My mother has produced theater my whole life so I always had a lot of uncles. It was great. Our Uncle Evan was like a father figure to me; he is so sweet. His boyfriend had since passed from HIV/AIDS and that really woke me up. It was crazy to see that. I am glad to be aware of that community and not be a guy in music who thinks he can't have fans that like girls, guys or somewhere in between.
It is refreshing for me to see those kids out there in the audience being out, unafraid to be themselves, wear whatever they want, and coming to a Fifth Harmony and Jackson Harris show because it is just about love.
Sometimes when I leave a show, whether someone likes a girl or a guy it is tough to get a compliment from anyone. I am happy that anyone is listening. At the end of the day no one's ears have a sexual preference!
WCT: Where do you see yourself going as an artist?
Jackson Harris: I will finish the tour, then be writing as much as possible between here and New York City. We will be doing some holiday tours and probably another album. I basically wake up every day and call my management to find out what is next. I take it one day at a time.
For more on the talented Harris, visit www.jacksonharrismusic.com and @Jackson_Harris on Twitter.
