Your 18th birthday is a pretty big deal. You can drink. You can vote. You can get a tattoo without your family’s permission. For up-and-coming electronic music producer Jacob Grant, however, there’s another big milestone worth celebrating. At long last, the man known as Just A Gent is legally allowed in the venues hosting his shows.
“It’s so insane, right?!” Grant exclaims. “I was in the States a while ago, and we were hanging out with the people that ran a venue that had Skrillex playing live. And it’s like my dream to go and see Skrillex play. But yeah, they were like, ‘Aw sorry, you can’t really come.’ “Like seriously? I just played at the venue around the corner! It just drove me insane. But no more!”
We’re speaking to Grant just one day before his birthday; one day before he’ll finally be able to stick around after his set and have a beer, or see his own favourite acts in the flesh, “instead of just watching them online”.
It’s a day that’s been a long time coming for the young producer, given that he made his first foray into the electronic music world at an age when most of us were still playing with our Lego. Grant lay down his first track when he was just eight years old, using software that came included in boxes of Nutri-Grain cereal. It’s an origin story he shares with electronic music star Flume, which seems like a pretty good omen. Iron Man food, indeed. Yet like a lot of musicians, Grant doesn’t particularly enjoy listening to his early stuff.
“I was just making these really bad hip hop beats,” he says, laughing. “You know how you go through like childhood stages? Well that was one of mine. I can’t explain how bad it was. I didn’t know what I was doing. The things I put together aren’t even in key! I actually did an interview on triple j a while back, and they asked me to bring in one of the tracks, and they played it on air. It was pretty embarrassing.”
Even so, Grant clearly had talent – or at the very least, perseverance – and with every passing year would step up his game. Eventually he invested in some better software, and slowly his remixes and original tracks caught the ears of some of the biggest names in the EDM community, including Skrillex, Diplo and Dillon Francis. Capitalising on his newfound success, last year Grant sold out his first Australian tour, and followed that up with a stint in the US. “It was so awesome,” says Grant of his American trip. “I mean, it was such an amazing experience just getting to go over there in general, but then the turnouts were much more than I expected. I had a great time over there.”
As the spotlight on Grant continues to intensify, so too does his determination to keep getting better at what he does. “I’ve come so far in the last year,” he says. “Even just sitting in my studio, now that I’m not in school, I just learn so much every day … [I want to] keep getting better and evolving and discovering new things. I want to continue the Just A Gent thing for as long as I can, and just expand that into music that’s going to, I hope, one day change the electronic world.”
Ambitious as he is, Grant does sometimes wish he got to have a more regular teenage experience. “I’ve definitely found that, even just spending time with festival stuff, it’s hard to fit it in,” he says, sounding a little bit forlorn. “All my friends are going on Schoolies this year, but I guess I really missed out on that whole side of life. And like, I missed out on all my friends’ high school parties, so that sucks.
“But if you think about it long-term, there’s no way that I’d choose that over what I’m doing now,” he adds. “Like, I never expected to get to where I am at 18.”
It also probably helps that his friends and family have been so encouraging. “My friends are big supporters, my family as well. My mum and dad used to come on tour with me a lot of the time, because I couldn’t actually get into the clubs without them. They’re actually kind of into the scene now. They like the music.”
Having that kind of support helps alleviate the pressures of success. When asked about his creative process, Grant says it’s more about relaxing, hanging out and getting in the proper mood. “I’m a big movie guy, so I watch a lot of movies and get a lot of inspiration from there. I’m also a bit of a gamer, so when I’m bored I just hit up my friends and we end up going and playing games for ages – it’s definitely just about getting in the right headspace.”
That said, he can also point to plenty of musical inspirations. “I’m a huge fan of a lot of ’80s music,” he says. “Then in the electronic world I love a guy named Seven Lions, who makes this really kind of melodic dubstep. So that’s influenced a lot of my sound. And Daft Punk, of course. I’m a huge Daft Punk fan.”
Just A Gent plays Groovin The Moo 2015 at Maitland Showground on Saturday May 9. He is also appearing at Fusion, Cronulla on Friday May 15; The World Bar on Saturday May 16; King Street Hotel, Newcastle on Sunday May 17; and Beach Road Hotel, Bondi on Wednesday May 27.
