As great as it is to study music, most successful musicians (past and present) never studied music professionally. Another music artist who falls in this category is Jack Fulton Smith. Jack never studied music; neither had he ever written music or been in a band before his sojourn with Idolising Nova, his musical band. Jack is a foundational member of the band, a songwriter, and the lead singer of Idolising Nova, one of the most exciting, hotly-tipped upcoming bands in the UK.
Away from music, Jack is also known for the pivotal role he played in the growth of Stilton Butchers, a family-run business, which is now one of the biggest online butchers in the UK, best known for their high-quality meat, great customer service, and efficient, well packaged nationwide delivery.
Jack recalled the events of March 2020, when it felt like the world was crumbling around him. He had lost every motivation to push himself to succeed—having made plans for the year, including the band touring the UK and Europe in collaboration with a major label band with a huge global fanbase. However, the world on lockdown meant that all their plans were out the window. The band was plagued with questions such as, How long is this going to last? How are we going to keep fans interested in us if we can’t play live shows? Should we delay releasing music? All of these with no answer forthcoming.
Jack realized that the world indeed hadn’t stopped moving; it only found a different way to move. To avoid being left behind, he needed to start figuring out solutions, and adapting to these unprecedented times was the first on the list. In his words, “The goals were still the same, just the pathway to achieving them had changed.”
Jack explained that the band decided not to delay releasing new music so that they could be the form of escapism their fans needed from the crazy world. “We had more time to write music, and they had more time to listen to it. We ended up releasing three singles in 2020, and we’ve had hundreds of thousands of streams on all of them,” he explained.
Even though the band couldn’t connect with the fans at live shows anymore, they turned their focus to online content to engage with them, noting that they hadn’t done enough of that before the pandemic. They released a few music videos that have amassed over 100,000 views each on YouTube. They have also engaged their fans on Instagram Q&As, giveaway competitions, live acoustic performances of their songs, and a lockdown photoshoot via FaceTime.
“Keeping active was the best decision we’ve ever made. Our streaming numbers rocketed, our music was played on ITV’s ‘This Morning’ with millions of viewers resulting in thousands of Shazam’s, and we topped radio charts in Qatar. This has resulted in record labels contacting us and also a few major label bands offering us support slots on their next tours when live shows can safely recommence,” Jack explained. “Truly believing in something is very special, and if you can get people interested, invested, and talking about the thing you believe in, the sky is your limit, and you can achieve great things,” he added.
To learn more, visit Idolising Nova here.
