Jack Robert Garratt (born 11 October 1991) is an English singer, songwriter and composer from
Little Chalfont
Little Chalfont is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is one of a group of villages known collectively as The Chalfonts, which also comprises Chalfont St Giles and Chalfont St Peter. Little Chalfont is located ...
, Buckinghamshire. He released his debut studio album ''
Phase
Phase or phases may refer to:
Science
*State of matter, or phase, one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist
*Phase (matter), a region of space throughout which all physical properties are essentially uniform
* Phase space, a mathematic ...
'' on 19 February 2016. At the
2016 Brit Awards
Brit Awards 2016 was held on 24 February 2016 and was the 36th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The awards ceremony was held at The O2 Arena in London and were presented by Ant & Dec. Award nominations wer ...
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
in Buckinghamshire. His mother was a primary school music teacher and his father was a police officer. He grew up in the village of
Little Chalfont
Little Chalfont is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is one of a group of villages known collectively as The Chalfonts, which also comprises Chalfont St Giles and Chalfont St Peter. Little Chalfont is located ...
. About his childhood he has stated that: "I just really enjoyed making noises and really enjoyed the reaction that I got from making those noises. So they
arents
Arents is a Dutch and German patronymic surname ("son of Arent"). He wrote his first song when he was 12 and learned to play a variety of instruments from the guitar, drums and piano to the harmonica, mandolin,
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...
and
ukulele
The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings.
The tone and volume of the instrumen ...
University of Roehampton
The University of Roehampton, London, formerly Roehampton Institute of Higher Education, is a public university in the United Kingdom, situated on three major sites in Roehampton, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. Roehampton was formerly an e ...
Junior Eurovision Song Contest
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest (often shortened to JESC, Junior Eurovision or Junior EuroSong) is an international song competition which has been organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) annually since 2003. It is held in a diff ...
to be held in Belgium. On the night Jack's song "The Girl" finished 8/8 with just 13 points. He has since said "That was the first time I tried to achieve anything as a musician but my intentions were wrong. I did it more for attention rather than for a love of what I was doing."
2009–2013
Jack Garratt went to university to train to be a teacher. He signed to an independent record label and began working on an album with the title ''Nickel and Dime''. The music was acoustic blues music. He was played on
BBC Three Counties Radio
BBC Three Counties Radio is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Grove Park in Dunstable.
According t ...
in March 2012 as part of
BBC Introducing
BBC Music ''Introducing'' is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. It gives artists the opportunity to be played on Local BBC Radio and nationally on BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, ...
.
He abandoned the album when he realised that "I wasn't proud of the songs I was writing, and I was performing the music because I liked the way that people reacted rather than because I was proud of the songs." He dropped out of university and "had a real self-destructive moment" and has said that "I felt like I was going through a quarter or a midlife crisis, but I was not even 20." He decided to write music "with a totally different level of respect and integrity" and spent a year writing new songs.
2014–2016: ''Phase''
On 28 October 2014, Jack released his first extended play, ''Remnants'', and a remix EP, ''Remnix''. On 28 November 2014 he released the single "The Love You're Given". His 2014 single "Worry" was playlisted by
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
, and he headlined the
BBC Introducing
BBC Music ''Introducing'' is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. It gives artists the opportunity to be played on Local BBC Radio and nationally on BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, ...
stage of the
Reading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fe ...
.
He also headlined at the
Lost Village Festival Lost Village is a surreal festival experience that takes place in a secluded woodland near the village of Norton Disney, Lincolnshire. Festival-goers are invited to explore an abandoned world that encompasses dilapidated buildings, old junkyards, h ...
in Lincoln in 2016. On 27 September 2015 he performed at the
Apple Music Festival
The Apple Music Festival (formerly known as the iTunes Festival) was a concert series held by Apple, Inc. and inaugurated in 2007. Free tickets were given to Apple Music, iTunes and DICE users who lived in the United Kingdom, through localized pr ...
which took place at
The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue situated at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhous ...
, London. Garratt supported Mumford and Sons on their 2015 UK tour, playing at 13 events at 9 arenas across the UK and Ireland. He was the winner of the Critics' Choice category at the
2016 Brit Awards
Brit Awards 2016 was held on 24 February 2016 and was the 36th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The awards ceremony was held at The O2 Arena in London and were presented by Ant & Dec. Award nominations wer ...
, BBC Sound of 2016 poll and is on MTV's Brand New 2016 shortlist. He released his debut studio album ''
Phase
Phase or phases may refer to:
Science
*State of matter, or phase, one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist
*Phase (matter), a region of space throughout which all physical properties are essentially uniform
* Phase space, a mathematic ...
'' on 19 February 2016.
In February 2016 he played his single "Worry" during the Italian show "
Che tempo che fa
''Che tempo che fa'' (; ) is an Italian television late-night talk show hosted by Fabio Fazio.''Italy: Be Fluent in Italian Life and Culture'', Andrew Whittaker, page 219; Thorogood Publishing, year 2010, seGoogle books/ref>
It has been broadcas ...
".
2017–present: Hiatus and ''Love, Death and Dancing''
After finishing touring ''Phase'' at the end of 2016, over the next year Jack recorded a new album, which he ultimately scrapped, saying that "It was trash. It was awful. It was all bad. I wasn't willing to accept myself in that moment, so I wasn't willing to have a good idea." He then took time off to deal with the anxiety and self-doubt that he was feeling as a result of the attention and scrutiny that had come with the success and awards for his previous album. He then met with record producer
Jacknife Lee
Garret "Jacknife" Lee is an Irish music producer and mixer. He has worked with a variety of artists, including the Cars, U2, R.E.M., the Killers, Robbie Williams, Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, Two Door Cinema Club, AFI, the Hives, Weezer, One Dir ...
, and together they began working on recording new music. On 6 February 2020, his new single "Time" premiered as the "Hottest Record" on Annie Mac's Future Sounds show on
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
. The song features as the opening track on his new EP ''Love, Death and Dancing (Vol. 1)'' which was released on the same day. This EP makes up part of Garratt's second album ''Love, Death and Dancing'', which was released on 12 June 2020.