Conversations with Jake Atlass

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake Atlass.

Hi Jake, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Growing up in a small coastal town of Knokke in Belgium, I always saw music as an escape. I remember really well in the early days of my life I was belly dancing to Shakira in my living room and at the age of 6 Beyoncé’s Live DVD “The Beyoncé Experience” came out and I was obsessed.

So yeah I was very different to the rest of the kids growing up here and I could feel that. Fast foward during the first lockdown in 2020, I picked up an old mic I found in my garage and went to Logic Pro X in my bedroom at night so no one could hear me and I recorded on free beats heavily autotuned trap music. Very funny as that is totally not my vibe at the moment but I guess that’s how we learn. I put two EP’s out in Summer 2020 and they kinda became popular locally. I unfortunately and fortunately deleted them everywhere because I find them to be very embarrassing hahaha.

I got a call in 2021 by a Brussels-based A&R that I should go to vocal class and study 80’s and 90’s Madonna. So that’s what I did.
By the time of 2022-2024, I created a bunch of demos with Antwerp producer Remi de Roeck, also known as “ANDERS”. Then the process of “making it” started.

I started coming to LA a lot and mingled with local producers and managers. I got scouted by a manager, we won’t say his name for legal reasons, but he scammed me for a lot of money and I went home broke and defeated. Not only did I go home I took my LA boyfriend with me and he became very hostile and controlling over my life, finances and career.

The day he left is the day I got a call by a France-USA based label “Throne Music”. Sofiane, the CEO and A&R really believed in my work and signed me in partnership with Sony Music’s The Orchard. Also, I filmed a reality show about my life and coming to LA in Belgium which will be televised and available for streaming on PLAY4 next year (Belgium’s biggest channel).

My debut label single “BABY LOVE”, produced by ANDERS and LA Star-studded producer BOAZ VAN DE BEATZ came out on November 14.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not at all.
As I said, in LA I was scammed by a manager that left me broke and defeated. The only good thing was the connection he made between me and BOAZ VAN DE BEATZ but he told me Boaz charged me a certain amount and ran away with more than 3/4’s of the money and left both me and Boaz dissapointed.

Also, I had two toxic relationship’s. In 2022-2023 and in LA this year.

People in my hometown of Knokke, Belgium always were hesitant and even members of my own immediate family tried to block me from pursuing my career in Los Angeles.

But here I am. I like to call myself a West Hollywoodian by heart.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a singer-songwriter. Pop star in the making. You name it!

I’m so proud of my songs. They are my childeren. I created them while no one else knew what I was doing.

What sets me apart from others is my androgynous look and heritage.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
To listen to my guts and trust no b*tch.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/jakeatlass
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/track/17uAHEycV9ZOb6UtCNu3Fn?si=e50e7729b110463c

 

Image Credits
“BABY LOVE” photoshoot:

@ozshemesh Oz Shemesh, photographer
@bar_friedman Bar Friedman, stylist

Regular LA photoshoot:

@keenen Keenen Thompson, photographer
@bar_friedman Bar Friedman, stylist