Jermain Jackman interview: “Mum threw away my karaoke machine to shut me up!”

It’s a busy week for Jermain Jackman. Not only does he release his debut single, the soulful sounding How Will I Know, he’s also releasing his eponymous debut album.

As he contends with the likes of Top 40 challengers Jess Glynne, Simga, and James Bay, we catch up with the man himself to talk all things music.

Hi Jermain, your debut single How Will I Know and self-titled album are out this week, are you excited?

It’s like Christmas or my birthday! On Sunday I had all the emotions going through me, I was happy, I was nervous - it all just hit me. It’s great to be in this environment and to be competing with the likes of Beyonce and Sam Smith – it’s just surreal.

It’s been nearly a year since you won The Voice, were you nervous about coming back after taking the time out to make the album?

People were saying “Oh you’re gonna be gone too long, people are going to forget about you” and I said ”No, I wanna take my time with it”. You’re not wanting to make a hit, you’re wanting to make a career. It’s about taking the time out and putting in the care, effort and love to create something that’s going to represent you musically. It’s important to take your time with it. If it was down to other people, this album would have come out last April in the same week I won!

Tell us about the process of making the album.

A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into this album – it was very therapeutic. Being able to unload my emotion into these songs means people can connect to them.

I got to work with Andrea Martin (Toni Braxton, En Vogue, Leona Lewis), Jack Splash (Alicia Keys, John Legend, Christina Aguilera) and Michael Angelo (Sam Smith, Tinie Tempah, Ella Eyre). To have been able to work with them on my album is out of this world. Not only do you get to hear the gossip of who doesn’t like who, you also get to be a sponge and soak up that experience, the writing skills and how they are in the studio.

What’s your favourite track from the album?

There’s so many. They all mean different things to me so they’re all favourites. The single How Will I Know means a lot to me, I remember recording it amongst a lot of upset. And Only One is absolutely epic- it’s one of the odd songs out on the album. I wrote it with Adele in my mind. I wanted a chorus where you don’t breathe, where you just hold the note and all the music and instrumentation around it is just going insane.

I wanted to introduce a mix of the modern stuff and the stuff I grew up listening to. Because this is my debut album, it’s my chance to introduce myself as an artist and I love all these sounds.

What’s your earliest memory of wanting to be a musician?

I was a shower singer! My dad bought me a karaoke machine which my mum then threw away because I was on it all hours of the morning. She threw it away to shut me up! The first album I ever owned was R. Kelly’s Chocolate Factory and I remember learning all the lyrics and singing it over and over.

You returned to The Voice this weekend to perform your debut single How Will I Know, was it scary to be stood on that stage again?

I was sh**ting myself! If you watch closely I was shaking. I was so scared because we had stairs and I’ve seen the Madonna BRITs video and I wasn’t too keen on falling down any stairs!

I had to dance and sing and there was so much to remember. We had a meeting with my label, my PR, The Voice production team, my choreographer and my creative director and we were all round this board table. I got out a marker pen and drew stick men and boxes and pushed it to the middle of the table and said “This is my idea”. All of us on platforms, the dancers, me in the red suit, all of the monochrome – I designed the whole thing.

I wanted to portray it as a show in itself. It’s no longer Jermain Jackman who won The Voice, its Jermain Jackman the artist.  I wanted to portray the musicianship involved in the song.

Credit: BBC Pictures/ Wall To Wall

What’s next for you, are there any touring plans?

Yes! We’re in the process of planning a tour for summer and later in the year. I’m supporting Peter Andre and Blue at Rochester Castle in July, and there’s a show with Tom Jones is in the works too.

How Will I Know and Jermain Jackman are out now.