Jack Hawitt is a singer-songwriter from the North of the UK. The musician’s career is impressive with big songwriting collaborations (Ava Max, Megan Thee Stallion, Jonas Blue, R3hab, Pharrell Williams, Jess Bays & Kelli-Leigh), sync placements (Love Island, ‘Feel The Beat’, Playstation 5, X Factor) and support from the BBC. Following the recent release of his single ‘Love or a Lie’, we spoke with Jack Hawitt about how everything started for him, his creative process and his experience writing the song for this year’s UK entry to the Junior Eurovision.
We would love to hear how everything started for you. What was the starting point of your career in music?
I always played piano and wrote songs as a kid but the turning point was when I posted a cover of ‘Be The One’ by Dua Lipa on YouTube and the Producer of the song saw it and put me in touch with his Manager who then became my manager and started putting me in writing sessions with producers and other Artists.
Can you tell us about the creative process behind your new song ‘Love or a Lie’?
I wrote ‘Love or a Lie’ with Camden Cox and Joe Warriner who I’ve worked with before on my songs ‘Almost Lost You’ and ‘Run Away’. We wrote it on a zoom session during one of the lockdowns. We wanted to write something about living in the moment and enjoying the present even if the situation you’re in isn’t going as well as you’d like.
Who are your main musical influences?
My favourite Artist in a Norwegian Artist called Emilie Nicholas. Her melodies and lyrics are incredible. I also love Artists like Labrinth, Lana Del Rey and Matt Corby but my love of music started by growing up listening to Michael Jackson.
How does it feel to be the first artist to write a song for the UK to join Eurovision Junior?
It’s amazing to be a part of Junior Eurovision especially as this is the first time we’ve entered the competition since 2005! It’s an exciting time for Eurovision since we’re hosting next year and the Artist Freya is fantastic and has done an amazing job with our song!
What is one thing that you wish would be changed/improved within the music industry?
The industry is hard for songwriters right now with the way consumers listen to music and it’s affected how songwriters get paid. Often the splits on a song don’t go in a songwriters favour and it’s hard for songwriters to do music full time without having to have a second job to fund the music career – which is crazy! It’s something that needs to change!
Listen to ‘Love or a Lie’ here.
Check out more Entertainment Now music news, reviews and interviews here.