Pop star, Jesse Clegg, is back with a bang! His new single ‘Use Me’ has become one of his biggest hits to date and the artist is hard at work recording new material that is bound to rock our socks off. As ‘Use Me’ continues to climb the charts, I chat to the singer on the smash single, his upcoming record and his creative process.
Congrats on your single. What inspired ‘Use Me’?
This song captures a moment in time for me, as someone who is always trying to find new ways to talk about the world and the relationships we form with one another. ‘Use Me,’ is a song about the ambiguous nature of love and how it can be both inspiring and destructive at the same time.
Why do you think the song has become such a huge hit?
I’m thankful that there has been such a fantastic response to the song. I think every songwriter would agree that it’s a mystery as to what makes a song a hit or not. I always try to write about moments in life that are both personal to me but also universal in everyone’s life. I think people just related to Use Me because it is a story about someone navigating a complicated relationship. We’ve all been there. Thats what makes music so magical, it connects us all through our experiences.
Lyrically, the song is beautiful. Explain your writing process to us.
I usually start with a melody and one line of lyric. In this case, I liked the idea of being “used” – both the positive and negative connotations of that word. Once the core concept of the song is clear and the “hook” melody works, the song just seems to write itself. You just follow where the emotional content leads you. Its a kind of playful curiosity.
The video for Use Me is on point! What was the process behind the shoot like?
The video was shot outside George in the Wilderness National Park. We used drone technology, piloted by the SA Champion Carl Nicholl, to capture the expansive scenery of the area. The idea was to represent nature in its rawest form – its stunning beauty but also its inherent violence. The song talks about a relationship that is similarly ambiguous, compassionate and inspiring but also fraught with danger. The tension in all passionate relationships is what makes them unique, the question is whether it is sustainable
You’re releasing new music later this year as well. Are you going the LP or EP route?
I’m still undecided as to whether we are going to do a full album or an EP. I’ve written a huge amount of new material (over 40 songs) but it’s also a case of what works best in today’s music industry. I think less people are buying and listening to full albums. It’s more focused on singles on iTunes and releasing content to go with the single like the music video etc. We have already started recording a lot of the music, so it depends where we are at in the next 2 months.
Feel free to comment, share or tweet @ElBroide
