Jake Carter, Nathan’s brother, told David Hennessy about his recent and most personal single yet.
His brother Nathan may be a massive name in Irish country music but 27-year-old Jake Carter has been making a name for himself as a pop artist for many years now.
Living in Ireland since he was a teenager, Jake won RTE’s Dancing with the Stars in 2018 and it was on that show that he met his partner Karen Byrne who he got engaged to earlier this year.
Jake also credits his time on this show to opening him up to his audience and opening doors for him.
Since then he has been seen on Irish screens and stages acting and presenting that he does in addition to the music.
Jake recently released the single Tightrope which is quite a departure from his usual upbeat style.
The song goes into the complexities of love, distance, and the delicate balance that comes with trying to hold it all together when things start to slip.
Using the vivid image of walking a tightrope, the lyrics capture that bittersweet moment when love feels like it’s slipping away.
Co-written and produced by his long-time collaborator Richey McCourt, Tightrope is described as Jake’s most personal track to date.
The Irish World caught up with Jake recently to talk about his new music.
It seems to be a busy time for you..
“It is, yeah.
“It’s all go at the minute.
“I’ve got the brand new single just dropped now which is great.
“Obviously I do a lot of different things: Music, tour, managing. I do a bit of acting.
“But music’s my main passion and I always love releasing new music that I’ve written and we’ve spent so long working on so it’s great to have this track out in the world now.”
Would you agree that Tightrope is your most emotional song to date?
“Definitely.
“Anyone who’s listened to my music over the last number of years would probably know it is very upbeat, cheeky chappy.
“I haven’t released a lot of ballads.
“This is probably, like you said there, one of the most raw and emotional ones and probably my favourite ballad that I’ve released to date.
“It’s quite stripped back and the lyrics are very meaningful and deep so it’s nice to do something different and I guess give the fans something a little bit different than what they’re used to and maybe not what they were expecting.
“It’s had a great reaction so far and hopefully people will enjoy it now when they listen to it.”
What inspired it?
“I only got engaged there earlier this year so it’s probably as far away from reality as could be.
“There were a few people that commented and were messaging saying, ‘Please don’t tell me this is about your relationship with Karen’.
“But it was a song that I wrote a year ago with a good, good friend of mine, Richey McCourt, who I’ve collaborated with over the last number of years now.
“He co-writes a good few tracks with me and produced most of my songs over the last few years.
“Just the day that was in it, we said we would try and write something a little bit darker, a little bit deeper, a little bit more emotional.
“It’s one of those real emotional ballads and hopefully a lot of people will be able to connect to it.”
People seem to be connecting with that metaphor of walking a tightrope..
“I think a lot of people can relate to it and I think when a song is relatable to people, that’s what makes them enjoy it and that’s what makes them listen and actually dissect the lyrics and try and find the hidden meanings that are within them.
“As a songwriter, that’s one of the most enjoyable things to be able to do, is change that poetry into a song and give people a meaning of what is truly behind the piece.”
I get why people would listen to it and worry that things weren’t alright between you and Karen though..
“As a songwriter you have to play off different emotions and obviously different songs aren’t going to be fully about what you’re about and you draw on other people’s experiences.
“That’s why I enjoy doing co-writing sessions and chatting to people about what’s going on in their lives and you kind of take different influences from listening to friends or listening to family and different things around.
“I use that every time I’m going into writing sessions.
“I might not be writing specifically about me but it could be about a certain story that I’ve heard or something that’s going on with a friend or different stuff like that.
“And that’s one of the beauties of being able to write songs and draw different inspiration from different parts of your life.”
You mentioned Richey McCourt and, as a songwriting partnership, you work together well, don’t you?
“We do, yeah.
“Richey came across my path a good few years ago now and it just clicked from the start to be honest.
“We both really understand each other’s way of writing and Richey has been amazing in producing my stuff over the last number of years.
“I owe him a lot to be honest. I’m very thankful.
“He seems to just get where I want to go with my sound and has really helped me develop it and get to the place where it is today where I’m really happy with the music that I’m releasing and I suppose it is completely different to the stuff that I would have been releasing five years ago and has probably matured with my age as I’ve grown up.
“Richey’s really been the focal point in that to be able to draw out the music to exactly where it is that I want to be.”
The last time we spoke it was 2020 and we were getting to grips with COVID lockdown. Like everyone else, that time forced you to stop and take a break..
“Definitely, Yeah.
“I think my music changed a lot over that period of time.
“I had time to reassess and see what it is that I wanted to do and where I want to go.
“The music that I’m releasing now is purely for the love of it.
“I enjoy releasing music.
“I’m very lucky that I’m extremely busy and I work four or five jobs within one and I get to do different stuff but my main passion is writing, recording and releasing music.
“That’s what I love doing and even if ten people listen to it, if a million people listen to it, I just enjoy getting the music out there.
“It’s great to see another song that I’ve put my hard work and hours and hours in the studio into.
“It’s great to finally see it out in the world so people can enjoy it as well.”
Like your brother you grew up doing the Fleadh Cheoils, was it always going to be music for you?
“Yeah, I was always surrounded by it.
“I played the fiddle from a very young age and music was always around every day.
“It was a great upbringing and that definitely has influenced my life now.
“I think it was always going to be music for me or some sort of form of being on stage or being in the limelight.”
What was it like having a brother like Nathan. Did he really show you it was possible to go into music as a career?
“Definitely, yeah. 100%.
“I grew up as Nathan was kind of taking off and it was great.
“And probably from a young age, subliminally, I was probably thinking, ‘Well, if he can do it, then I can’.
“And I’ve been very fortunate over the years.
“Even though I suppose we’re in slightly different genres, it’s great to have that person that’s been in the music industry to ask questions of or ask advice or to pull influence from.
“It’s been great to have that and he’s been extremely supportive since day one when I started in my own career.”
And you do a lot together, don’t you?
“We do, yeah.
“Last year I started tour managing for Nathan.
“That’s the other job that I do in the background so we spend a lot of time together but we’re quite close as brothers and we’ve always got on really well.
“We obviously have the podcast together as well now, we just finished season two there a couple of weeks ago so we enjoy doing stuff together and I think we have a great relationship and we enjoy spending time together.
“We don’t really argue too much as normal siblings might do so it’s great to have that and great to have that person on the road with you then.
“Nathan’s been in the studio and stuff with me as well so it is great to have that person and that support the whole way whether it be in music or in day to day life.”
You were in Birmingham not so long ago for Pairc festival..
“It’s great to kind of get over and see different people that we would have known through years of being at the Fleadh Cheoil or different stuff like that in the different Irish communities in the likes of Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool.
“Hopefully now, in the next year or so, we can hopefully get over there with my own band as well and get on some of the festivals or different gigs.
“It’s definitely a dream of mine to get over to the UK and hopefully start doing some of our own headline shows over there.”
You will be in your native Liverpool next June for the new festival, Fields of Eire..
“We’re looking forward to that.
“That will probably be my first hometown gig with my full band since gigging in pubs and clubs over there, so that’s going to be a special one.”
Did you start out in venues like Liverpool Irish Centre?
“I did the Liverpool Irish Centre.
“I used to gig in a pub called The Liffey as well on Renshaw street.
“I used to gig in Shenanigans as well.
“We were all over the place.
“I used to do a lot of gigs in Manchester as well in different pubs there, all over the North West and further afield in England.
“I think that’s definitely where you learn your trade as a performer and an entertainer.
“There’s a lot of different things that can happen in those gigs that really kind of shape you and help you deal with different crowds whether it be three or four people or those thousands that thankfully we occasionally get to gig to now.”
I saw a funny post of yours on Facebook recently. It was you playing guitar and you had some people saying you weren’t really playing. Rather than take offence, you took it as a compliment..
“That was actually last night.
“There were a few comments saying, ‘There’s no way that you’re playing’.
“And it was actually a solo that I’d learned 30 minutes before going on stage so it actually made my evening to be honest because that many people thinking I wasn’t playing it, I must have done a great job.
“Obviously being in the public eye, you’re always going to get people that comment hate or dislike you and I like to see the funny side of it and see the humour of it because if you took everything to heart within this industry, you wouldn’t last long.”
In 2018 you won RTE’s Dancing with the Stars. That was early on for you, what did that do for you and your career?
“That show happened as I had just moved over to Ireland and only formed the band and started my musical career.
“I owe that a lot to be honest for opening different doors and boosting my profile.
“We were able then to jump straight into doing different tours of Ireland and bigger venues, the likes of Vicar Street and Cork Opera House and stuff like that, so it was great.
“It definitely gave me a huge platform to be able to release music from and to be honest, I owe the show a lot.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without it so it was a great show to be a part of and obviously I still am such a huge part of it with Karen being a judge on the show now and kind of being around it every year.
“It’s great to see it still going and still thriving.”
You say you had just moved to Ireland then, it must be well and truly home at this stage..
“It is.
“I think I’m kind of adopted Irish at this stage but when you’re from Liverpool, I think you’re already halfway to being Irish.
“It’s always been home away from home but I’ve been over here now probably eight years now at this stage.
“It’s great and it definitely is home now at this stage.”
Did you have a very Irish upbringing in Liverpool?
“Definitely.
“As some people say, Liverpool is the 33rd county anyway but we were always around the Irish Centre too and, as I mentioned, our musical career started in the likes of the Fleadh Cheoils playing the fiddle so it’s always been a strong part of our lives and continues to be so to this day.”
What’s next? Is there more music to follow Tightrope?
“We’ve another number of singles lined up now to be released in the next 12 months or so and we’re going to be announcing a tour then as well for mid 2026.
“Hopefully we’ll get over to the UK and do some dates over there as well.
“So hopefully I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and keep enjoying it to be honest.
“I’m very fortunate that I get to call this a job and work and hopefully long may it continue.”
Tightrope is out now.
For more information, click here.
