This week we caught up with Dublin 15 Duo, Jaker. We asked about their debut single, how they have been keeping busy during the lockdown and what’s next for the pair.
When asked what’s changed for the duo since the start of the pandemic, they were in the same boat as all musicians; “It’s been a crazy year for us, From having a full diary one day to literally nothing the next day. It was frightening as we are full-time musicians, and our main source of income was from the band. We specialise in weddings but also involved in other musical projects outside of Jaker & Co but of course, everything was wiped from the diary.” Other than PUP payments, there is not a lot of support in the arts sector at the moment, but they did mention M.E.A.I (Music & Entertainment Association Ireland) and Wedding Band Association, which have been great organisations during this time. However, they did mention how great it was to have family time, with both Paul and Neil having newborns during the lockdown!
They did make their time in lockdown, even releasing their debut single O Holy Night on November 26th. It was a difficult project to undertake in the current climate, a team of over 50 people being involved and only a max of 6 allowed into the studio everything had to be well planned in advance, and when it came to the music video, they had to split the time into small groups and give staggered times. “The production team were then able to blend everyone into the shot so it would look like we all filmed together which wasn’t the case. We were thrilled about how it turned out and can’t thank everyone involved enough. The day after it was realised, we went to Number 2 in the charts and kept steady at number 3 for a number of weeks which was absolutely brilliant! Thankfully we had huge support with it all and more importantly, we were delighted to help raise funds for Temple Street Children’s Hospital.” As of course, they can’t perform live at this moment, they have been taking advantage of technology and doing live gigs on Facebook.
As for what’s next for Paul and Neil? “We’ve been keeping busy at home in our home recording studios recording new material for Jaker & Co and also some new projects which should be finished in the next month or so hopefully.” The duo wants to freshen up Jaker & Co so they can have a great last quarter of 2021 going into 2022 and hope to shoot more promotional material when restrictions are lifted further.
“We understand why the restrictions are there and public safety is most important so, for now, we’re just hanging in there and hopeful for very very busy times to come!” and we can’t wait to see what’s to come!
Check out Jaker HERE
