The Snuts’ Jack Cochrane joins Chris Difford on I Never Thought It Would Happen
Chris Difford chats to the The Snuts’ singer and guitarist about life in a rock band
This week we welcome Jack Cochrane to I Never Thought It Would Happen. As The Snuts’ singer and guitarist, Jack has released three albums with the group – W.L., Burn the Empire and their most recent effort Millennials, released in February 2024.
As he tells podcast host Chris Difford at the start of the episode, his early musical inspirations were folk musicians like Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake and Bob Dylan. Dylan in particular is a big influence, and Jack managed to see him live in Glasgow in 2023. He admits it was an unusual gig but he loved the experience.
Chris goes on to ask Jack about how he finds the experience of playing live. Interestingly, when The Snuts first started they were far more interested in being live performers than recording artists. Jack always has a buzz and a connection with the crowd whether he is playing to 10,000 people or 20. Performing live is an addictive experience for him.
The Snuts are heading out on their first headline tour of the US in 2024, and something Jack and his bandmates are very aware of is their wellbeing and mindfulness on the road. The longer they have been in the music industry, the more they realise they need to look after themselves and be able to perform as well as they can. Jack is conscious that perhaps fans don’t expect or want to hear from a rock band that life is not just one big party but it is the truth — exercise and diet are important.
In darker moments when Jack is facing challenges, there are two people he predominately leans on; his wife and the band’s bass player Callum Wilson. Jack and Callum have been best friends for 15 years, whilst his wife is his biggest supporter when he has doubts. All she is concerned about is Jack’s wellbeing, and he recognises the importance of having someone who supports him that is less bothered about the band’s music than his health.
This episode also features a contribution from someone we have recently supported, pop musician Girl Next Door – also known as Sarah Carton. We supported Sarah to release her debut EP Raw in 2022 and she’s had some incredible opportunities come her way since. Her EP release gig at Hackney venue Paper Dress Vintage completely sold out and Raw received airplay from the likes of BBC Radio 1 Extra’s Jamz Supernova.
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Series 4 and rest assured there are plenty more exciting episodes to come over the next few weeks. Make sure you listen and subscribe by following the links provided below.