Jeremy Loops

Jeremy Loops released his first album in 2011 and has gone on to be a much-loved South African musician. Image: Ross Hillier

#MusicExchange: Rapid-fire Q&A with late bloomer Jeremy Loops

This musical latecomer has had a meteoric rise in popularity in under a decade — and he has a feel-good new single out.

Jeremy Loops

Jeremy Loops released his first album in 2011 and has gone on to be a much-loved South African musician. Image: Ross Hillier

For many 2020 will feel like it was a waste, but not for Jeremy Loops. He not only has a great new summer song, called Til I Found You, but Mortal Man was a mega-hit earlier in the year. On top of that, Loops raised more than R1 million for food security this year.

‘Til I Found You‘ is about the search. For a person, for a feeling, the search for you, even. So there’s big themes of love and connection here, but it’s really about fulfilment,” he said of his new single.

In a career characterised by smashing through glass ceilings to break onto the international scene, the new single is a taste of his singular sound while showcasing his global momentum through A-List collaborations. It’s a summer anthem through and through.

Jeremy Loops’ new song a sun-soaked remedy for 2020

Co-written and produced by Jake Gosling (Ed Sheeran, The Libertines, Shawn Mendes, Nina Nesbitt) and Tobias Kuhn (Milky Chance, Jack Johnson, Rhys Lewis), Til I Found You is bright, buoyant and hopeful.

The music video also marks Loops’ directorial debut, something he’s very proud of.

“I had this very specific vision and I know as someone who creates, sometimes the best way to see out your ideas is to chase them down. I think it captures this positivity and sonic energy that says so much under the surface, especially given this year,” said the musician who, incredibly, first picked up a guitar while he was a student. 

It’s a sun-soaked remedy ushering in the warm days and South Africa’s silly season.

The South African catches up with Jeremy Loops

Jeremy Loops
Jeremy Loops was born and raised in Kommetjie, and began pursuing music while he was a student. Image: Ross Hillier

The new decade means?

Endless pandemics? Haha. It’s not exactly gotten off to a good start!

Fame is about?

Access. The attention is just bad sugar for your ego, but getting access to influential and important people is valuable.

Retirement will happen when?

I’m dead? I love all the things I’m interested in, so ‘retiring’ seems like the wrong way to think about what I’ll spend my sunset days doing.

I don’t do?

Duplicity.

What does music mean to you?

A time capsule of the most important moments in my life.

What is the most enjoyable aspect of your work?

The travel and live performances.

Any funny moments on stage?

Too many. Slips and falls, crazy fans crashing the stage.

Your heroes?

Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, my mom and my dad.

What is your most treasured possession?

My guitar.

It’s your round: What are you drinking?

I’m almost always drinking red wine. That’s my favorite casual drink. But if we’re doing shots, I’m partial to high-quality tequila like Espalon or Patron. Can’t go wrong with a good gin too. I made my own limited run of JL gins in partnership with Inverroche, which are very, very tasty.

Dream gig to do?

Sold-out Red Rocks gig in Colorado. Or sold-out Cape Town Stadium. The ultimate homecoming.

What makes you stand out?

Originality is cool, but consistency is the clincher, funnily enough. You don’t have to be zany to get noticed, you just have to keep showing up every damn day.

Nicknames?

Jezza, Loopholes, Jem.

If you were not a musician what would you do?

Philosopher, photographer, eco-home developer.

Some of my favourite SA albums are?

  • Best of Ladysmith Black Mambazo
  • Beatenberg’s 12 views of Beatenberg
  • Felix Laband’s Dark Days Exit
  • South, by Hot Water

Greatest movie ever made?

Pulp Fiction.

What song changed your life? 

Woody Guthrie – This Land Is Your Land.

Who do you love?

My family. Maya. Mathilda.

Favourite fashion garment 

My shirts! I oscillate between which one is my absolute favourite.

Your greatest achievement?

Becoming a musician full-time. Just getting in the room is an achievement too few of us are sufficiently grateful for.

What do you complain about most often?

How time disappears!

What is your fear?

Not living up to my full potential.

Happiness is?

Living up to my full potential every day.

On stage I tend to?

Go HAM! Every show could be my last and I never take that for granted.

The best life lesson you have been taught?

Show up, be kind and be consistent.

Do you get worked up while watching a sports game on TV?

Only on very special occasions. World Cup finals, for example.

Where would you like to be right now?

I’m right where I want to be, but yeah, it’d be nice for international travel to return.

Do you do charity work and if you do, what do you do?

Other than the tree-planting NGO Greenpop that I co-founded back in 2010, my most recent focus has been on The Big Food Drive.

I established a crowdfunding initiative called The Big Food Drive that focused on donating fresh produce to various community organisations throughout the lockdown, which helped contribute towards more than 54,000 meals a week and is now focused on building self-sustaining community food gardens.

Read more about our work at thebigfooddrive.org

WATCH: Jeremy Loops peforming ‘Til I Found You’ and ‘Mortal Man’

Check out other videos by Jeremy Loops here.

Follow him on Twitter @JeremyLoops, Facebook @Jeremy Loops and Instagram @jeremyloops

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