Jack Christopher Allsopp (born 12 May 1975), known by the stage name Just Jack, is an English musician from

Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...

, London. He first came to prominence with the release of his 2007 single " Starz in Their Eyes", which reached number two on the UK Singles Chart. He has also since been known for the songs " Embers", peaking at number 17, and " The Day I Died", which peaked at number 11, and the track "

Writer's Block Writer's block is a non-medical condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Writer's block has various degrees of severity, from difficulty in coming ...

Background

Born in Camden, Allsopp grew up listening to dance music including

breakdance Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consists mainly ...

, electro

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

. An amateur breakdancer at eight, he started DJing at the age of 15 and he soon became submerged in DJ culture and UK garage. After completing a degree in furniture design at

Kingston University Kingston University London is a Public university, public research university located within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, in South London, South West London, England. Its roots go back to the Kingston Technical Institute, founded ...

, he enrolled in a community music production course, so that he could better his awareness of sampling and its potential for use. He went on to practice on perfecting his sound by night and to take on a series of jobs by day.

Career

Allsopp's debut album, titled '' The Outer Marker'', released in 2002 by the independent label RGR Records, was a collection of songs about modern life, relationships, and the pressures of social situations. The album spawned three singles "Paradise (Lost & Found)", "Snowflakes" and "Triple Tone Eyes". "Snowflakes", his first song to enter the charts at number 164, samples The Cure's song "

Lullaby A lullaby (), or a cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies, they are used to pass down cultural knowl ...

" from their album '' Disintegration''. He did not gain fame until 2007, following his TV debut on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

's '' Later... with Jools Holland'', and then on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

show ''

The Friday Night Project ''The Sunday Night Project'' is a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title ''The Friday Night Project''. Originally broadcast on Friday nights, the show moved to Sunday n ...

'', where he performed the single " Starz in Their Eyes", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart. The following three singles from the album ''

Overtones An overtone is any resonant frequency above the fundamental frequency of a sound. (An overtone may or may not be a harmonic) In other words, overtones are all pitches higher than the lowest pitch within an individual sound; the fundamental i ...

'', " Glory Days", "

" and " No Time" did not make the top thirty. "Starz In Their Eyes" was also featured in the

Dolce & Gabbana Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, ...

Summer 2008 fashion show, and the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

Kinect Kinect is a discontinued line of motion sensing input devices produced by Microsoft and first released in 2010. The devices generally contain RGB color model, RGB cameras, and Thermographic camera, infrared projectors and detectors that map dep ...

game '' Kinect Sports''. He also collaborated with

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

on the song "I Talk Too Much", for the American release of ''Overtones''. Allsopp performed at

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

V Festival V Festival, often referred to as V Fest or simply V, was an annual music festival held in the United Kingdom during the third weekend in August. The event was held at two parks simultaneously which shared the same bill; artists performed at one ...

and T4 on the Beach in 2007 and again at

in 2009. He also performed at Guilfest in 2010. He released his third album ''All Night Cinema'' on 31 August 2009, preceded by its first single " Embers", which had its premiere on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

on 12 January 2009, and second single " The Day I Died", which became Jack's second highest charting single on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 11. Both singles peaked inside the top 20. The original choice for second single was "Doctor Doctor" but the single release was subsequently postponed. In August 2011, Jack announced on Facebook "So close to finishing a 5 track EP. Just need to find a home for it..." Though later didn't feel like the final track was completed, he released a statement in November 2011 saying "A bit of background info... As some of you will know I recently finished a 4-track EP of new songs. It was going to be 5, but the last song didn't feel properly finished and didn't really work with the others. I'll save it for a later date. Most of the music was recorded at home and, for the first time, I mixed the songs myself. They are a little lo-fi and intentionally not 'radio' or 'singles'. I tried to make them sound warm and natural and intimate, basically the kind of music I would listen to myself. I haven't found a label to put them out through yet, but I wanted you to hear them anyway. The first will be up on Monday (for a few days) via a link to my Soundcloud, and the others will go up on the following 3 Mondays. Over and out." This 4-track EP was later titled ''Rough/Ready'' and made available as a free download on 17 April 2012 through the newly designed official Just Jack website. In September 2014, Allsopp released a new EP titled ''Winning EP''. A third EP titled ''Life Lessons'' was released on 6 May 2016 through The Rocket Record Company, his first album on a label since 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2016 He went on to release his fourth album, “What We Did Today” on 27 October in 2017. On 20 September 2019, he released a 7-track EP called ''Laughing & Crying'' which contained four new originals and three acoustic covers.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Notes

References

External links

Just Jack Official Website

Just Jack Facebook

Just Jack Instagram

Just Jack Twitter

Just Jack interview at mychemicaltoilet.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Just Jack Alumni of Kingston University TVT Records artists English dance musicians English male singers English pop singers English electronic musicians Living people Singers from the London Borough of Camden 1975 births People from Camden Town