Jacob Lusk always wears a tuxedo and a bow tie when he performs with his band, Gabriels. He wears the same clothes whether he’s serenading Glastonbury on a lovely Saturday afternoon or touring with Harry Styles in the US. And for a very specific reason, too.
The singer explains, “If you remember, servers used to dress in black tie.” “As a result, wearing the tux almost feels like servitude.
“This is my way of showing you the utmost respect and honor since I’m here because you bought a ticket and spent your money.
“It elevates the show to a new level.”
Whether they are dressed formally or not, the band is fun to see. Lusk has an unbelievable voice that simmers just below the threshold of combustion before exploding into an unearthly falsetto when he leans back.
With the addition of violinist Ari Balouzian and keyboardist Ryan Hope, the band supports him musically with a sound that combines black Baptist church heritage, ghetto funk, 60s soul, and ghostly trip-hop from Massive Attack and Wu-Tang Clan.
As a result of their music’s success, they were ranked fifth on BBC Radio 1’s Sound Of 2023. Musicians, DJs, and reviewers all predict that they will achieve crossover popularity within the next 12 months.
To be quite honest, I didn’t know that much about it,” admits Lusk of the poll, which has previously correctly predicted the success of artists like Adele, Stormzy, and Michael Kiwanuka.
“However, I did some research and found it to be good company. The only issue is that I enjoy winning.
One of those vocalists who, upon first meeting him, seemed destined for stardom in Lusk.
He is direct and humorous, peppering his discourse with snatches of music, scurrilous asides, and an outright boast about his prowess as a baker.
He guffaws loudly, “If I cook you my cornbread, you’ll marry me.”
His road to fame, however, has been a long one, paved with failed record deals, dishonest managers, and an American Idol experience he has called “harrowing” and “treacherous.”
He was reared in Compton, Los Angeles, and is now 35 years old. Because of NWA, this city suburb has come to be associated with gangster rap, but Lusk claims the reality is far different.
“Compton doesn’t have any projects; the population is lower middle class. The trash collector or the grocery shop employee may live in your neighborhood. It’s therefore not as graphic as NWA made it appear.
“Those choices were there to you, but I feel like I was one of the ones who the hood protected. I was very diligent, served as president of the student government, and led the speech and debate team.
The teenage vocalist had medical school on his mind until he came upon a Craigslist ad for backup singers.
When Lusk replied, he learned that it had been uploaded by Nate Dogg, a legendary member of G-Funk who earned the moniker “the king of hooks” for his work on tracks like Warren G’s Regulate and Dr. Dre’s The Next Episode.
After Lusk missed his train home one evening, they became friends and he joined the gospel choir of the celebrity, InNate Praise.
“Well, you could just spend the night here and take the train in the morning, he said. We began writing together after he told me all of his war stories about Biggie and Tupac that evening.
But Nate’s series of strokes and sudden death in 2011 at the age of 41 put an abrupt end to their partnership.
Lusk remembers sadly, “I didn’t learn that he’d been talking about obtaining me a deal until he died.
The musician’s life has been marked by the persistent and unwanted presence of death. His father “became sick and dropped died” when he was 12 years old.
He lost his granddad in a jeep accident. An uncle committed suicide. While he was making the debut album for Gabriels, his godsister passed away.
It simply brings home how fleeting and priceless life is, he claims. You shouldn’t blame certain individuals; it just is.
Unsurprisingly, Lusk’s lyrics frequently deal with loss and sadness, yet he is also a thinker and an optimist.
One of Gabriel’s most heartbreaking songs, If You Only Knew, is written from the perspective of the deceased, providing consolation to the ones they’ve left behind.
You’re not alone when you feel the sun shining; it is my love shining down on you.
The band was almost unintentionally created in 2016 when side hustle filmmakers Balouzian and Hope recruited Lusk’s church choir to sing in a commercial.
Although Lusk has performed background vocals professionally for Gladys Knight and Diana Ross, her singing ensemble was made up of amateurs.
“It was the 55-year-old woman who receives social security benefits and the plumber. There was this one guy who had the kindest heart despite being tone-deaf. And it makes a difference because he sang from the heart when he did.
Lusk finished sixth on American Idol in 2011, and Balouzian and Hope, who had never seen him before, were immediately impressed by his abilities to orchestrate harmonies on the spot and to direct the singers with equal parts empathy and discipline.
To record more music, they invited him to Hope’s Palm Springs studio. They set up camp outside his church with a mobile recording studio when he declined. Despite having “virtually no shared reference points,” they soon became inseparable.
We are three quite dissimilar individuals in terms of our appearance, speech, behavior, and upbringing, but we have remained very good friends.
And the reason for this is that there are more similarities among us than differences.
Apocalypse now
The trio started cautiously, doing regular jobs and only getting together once a month to work on their sound.
They didn’t put anything out until 2018 when the renowned European label R&S Records chose a song they had written for a Prada commercial.
However, Love And Hate In A Different Time from 2020 was the album that made them famous. The song, which was penned in reaction to Covid lockdowns and George Floyd’s passing, was a global cry of pain.
When describing his mental state at the moment, Lusk recalls, “It was nearly apocalyptic.”
“We thought the world was coming to an end. I don’t want to go political, but we all saw this guy get shot and killed by a policeman right in front of our eyes.
“And everyone got the same emotion of like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ regardless of where they stood on the political spectrum.”
He admits that music cannot provide any solutions. But what it can do is offer a place where grieving can be experienced together.
The secret, according to Lusk, is to realize that you’re not alone. “Oh, they feel the same as I do, it’s like. Thank you, God.
Gabriels was invited to perform with Harry Styles when he toured the US last year after the song was championed by Elton John (a rite of passage for practically every new artist).
Lusk exclaims, “To have these folks open these doors for us is wonderful. Elvis Presley? He is legendary. Mr. Harry Styles? I don’t say a nasty word. The best experience I’ve ever had.
Lusk wishes to return those favors as Gabriels’ star rises.
I recently learned about [fellow nominees] Flo, and I can’t stop singing, “I’m a put your stuff in a cardboard box,” despite the BBC Sound poll technically being a competition.
“We’re all special. There is room for everyone.
“Perhaps I want to win. But I want everyone to succeed.
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