JAK

Meet Mansouri city-born UK Open Mic performer JAK:

JAK

Hi JAK, thanks for joining us! Let’s get into it:

Do you play solo only, or also in a group?

Solo

How old are you?

Where were you born?

Mansouri city

Where did you grow up?

England

How did that place influence your music? (if at all!)

I am diversified with music and I am not tied to a place to influence my music. I play Spanish, jazz, blues, rock, pop, different languages and sing as well.

Where are you based now, and why?

London. I live in London and where my home is.

What got you into making music in the first place?

I had a great voice when I was a child and I was encouraged by friends to start playing guitar and sing at my first University.

What instrument/s do you play?

Singing
Guitar
Guitar
Bass
Drums
Percussion

Who would be in your top 10 musical influences, and why?

Classic; Mozzart rich musical notes and complex
Spanish. Paco De Lucia: Spanish music and classic guitar. Beautiful 7 styles. Jazzy Falsita.
Eric Clapton, rock and blues music
Van Morrison, great lyrics and jazzy blush sounds and rhythms
George Michael, great vocalist
Various singles of different artist and musicians.

Do you write your own songs?

Yes

How many years have you been writing songs for?

What process, or processes, do you often find yourself using when you write songs?

Need lots of quiet time and must write about personal experience through life experience, traveling adventure and indulging in many activities and experiences, reading lots of books.

Sometime I find a tune and start writing lyrics. Or writing thoughts then finds melody and style and finish writing the song to suit general idea of the melody.

How long have you been playing open mic nights?

Why did you get into playing them in the first place?

I had and played in bands and solo one man band in paid gigs all my life. Then I went to full corporation and business. So I don’t have enough time to do gigs much . I use open mic to entertain myself and continue the practice and meeting lovely people.

What advice would you give new performers who are just starting out playing their first open mics?

Learn the chords and the instrument well enough to sound right, learn the lyric properly, find your own vocal scale by changing the key in your instrument to suit your vocals. Always aim for the highest note in any song, if you find yourself chocking or going out of tune, then lower the scale or change the musical key.
Don’t stim hard in the guitar base strings and try to have rhythm and solo, not only boring noisy strumming.

What’s the hardest thing, for you, about playing open mics?

When I don’t get proper sound effect or very low and chocked sound. I understand the equipment are not mine but many open mic organisers don’t know how to get the best sound and play the speakers like radio sound .

Nothing else hard for me I am established musician and singer .

What’s the most bizarre, or fun, open mic, or gig, you’ve ever played, and why?

I can’t remember, every night is different and we get some jamming with good musicians sometime it added more fun and elevate the atmosphere and the whole musical experience.

If it’s not already, are you hoping to make music your full-time career?

Yes

Do you have your own music video, channel or playlist you’d like to share?

https://m.facebook.com/jak.nassa

JAK