Jack Garratt can sing a piano ballad or play a bluesy guitar tune or lay down EDM elements — whether in a produced track or a live song. "A huge part of my creative maturity has been in accepting that I am more than just one thing. I like to think I embody the idea of 'jack of all trades' but in the same sense, I also embody the latter of that, which is, 'master of none'," Garratt says. "I'm not in a competition with myself; I'm not in a competition with anyone. I'm only ever looking to just constantly improve."

The range of Garratt's talents were on display when he joined host Sean McPherson for a session recorded in The Current studio.

Garratt explains that he learned to play guitar by watching Stevie Ray Vaughn videos, learned to write songs by listening to Tom Waits, Jackson Browne and Paul Simon; and learned to produce music by listening to Stevie Wonder, Prince, David Bowie, Justin Timberlake, Kendrick Lamar, Thundercat and others. "Every musician I've fallen in love with has given equal amount of responsibly to writing, arranging and producing," Garratt says, "all people who care so much not only about what they're saying, but they care about how the audience then is delivered their message — not just tonally, but also with respect to how it was recorded and how it sounds, and the actual listening experience. I don't know why, but I just gravitate towards those kinds of musicians, and that's why I do it all myself."

The same work ethic Garratt brings to writing and producing, he brings to his live performances. "I have a job and I have a duty, professionally and creatively, to give the best performance I physically can every single time I play," he says. "If that means something hurts, then so be it. That's what my body has to endure to make sure the art is spread and given away in the best, most direct way possible to the people who are way more important than me, which is the crowd, the audience and the listeners."

Use the audio player above to listen to the complete in-studio session with Jack Garratt.

Songs Performed

"Far Cry"
"Weathered"
"Worry"

All songs from Jack Garratt's 2016 album, Phase, available on Interscope Records.

Hosted by Sean McPherson
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Michael DeMark and Jalen Russell
Visuals by Nate Ryan
Web feature by Luke Taylor

Resources

Jack Garratt - official site

Gallery

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