[Exclusive]: X Lovers and Their First Stop on Tour, Their Family, and Their Dynamic Duo

X Lovers > Ex-Lovers

That’s the Instagram bio of the Northern California-born pop duo, X Lovers. I had the chance to interview these rising stars who are currently on tour with Chelsea Cutler. I got to catch them on their first stop in Dallas, Texas. They were excited—I could tell from the energy in their voices as they greeted me over the phone. We jumped into the questions and we had a really great chat.

At the end of 2019, the 21-year olds, including London Jackson and Jacob Ames, put out their debut album Virgin. Their music is best described as sad-boy pop with a little Vans Warped Tour-styled angst. This is especially so for songs like “Never Fucking Fall in Love Again” , “Colder When It Rains”, “Play Your Game”, and “Rosie”. However, it was their hit singles “King of Capulet” and “Sweatshirt” that really put these guys on everyone’s radars as serious players in the music game. The two songs perfectly utilize the tones and intonations that auto-tuned, pop tracks embellish in their compositions, and in the end, the love song still manages to retain a chill, down-tempo, electronic alternative sound that really appeases all ears. X Lovers said that its biggest inspirations and musical influences stem from Kanye West and Green Day, which is very understandable in their urban, grunge pop-rock records. London’s voice is serene with a grungy edge, while Jacob’s instrumentation perfectly surrounds, folds over, and supports the lyrics. The music never loses its rhythm, even at its most low-key moments so it continuously keeps the music alive throughout its entire lifespan. The Visionary Records/RCA Records signees are now doing big things such as opening for Chelsea Cutler on her headlining tour and preparing for more exciting projects on the horizon.

From starting their first punk band at age 10, to just collaborating, to now a record-label signed duo, we’re excited what the journey holds for the X Lovers.

Here is Our Interview:

[Neelu]: How did you guys get started with music, introduce yourselves, and how you got to where you are now?

[London Jackson & Jacob Ames]: I’m London, and I basically started writing songs when I was 7 years old, and a couple years later when I was 10 or 11, through our little sisters who were best friends, him and I just hit it off immediately, and I was like, “Dude, you have to learn how to drum to my songs. We have to do this”, and he did. We got him like a cheap, shitty drum set at the garage sale, and we literally set up and just started playing. I remember so vividly after the first time we ever played music we were like dude, we're doing this full time—we're gonna blow up. We have to do this, right? Then we kind of started playing shows around Northern California where we grew up and eventually after high school we moved out to L.A., started producing all of our music, started putting out our records through RCA and Visionary, and I guess long story, that’s how we got to where we are.

[N]: That's so awesome. I actually didn't know about the little sister story. That's so cute. I love that.

[L]: Yeah, definitely. It's cool too, because they're both obviously teenagers now, and they're gonna be at our show at Terminal 5 in New York. Like together. So, literally the two people that are the sole reason Jake and I know each other and exist as X Lovers, are going to be at our show in front of 3,000 people in New York City in a couple weeks, so it’s going to be very special.

[N]: Oh my God, that's like full circle. That's so special. I love that. Are you guys pretty tight with your sisters?

[L]: Yeah, definitely. Family is everything, and our sisters are literally the same exact age and the vibe is basically our entire fan base, so I trust my sister's word implicitly. Like literally, if the head of our label is like, “Yo, I don't fuck with that” and my sister is like “I'm obsessed with that”, I trust that so much ‘cuz that’s who listens to our music. She’s such a balancing board for Jake and I, like we have discussions with her all the time, it’s so fortunate.

[N]: I love that, that's incredible. I'm really close with my older brother, so I'm feeling this right now. That's so dope. So, how about the family, is the family at all musically inclined aside from you guys or was that kind of both of you doing your own thing and your own passion?

[L]: Yeah, I don’t think our families are super musically inclined. My dad plays a little piano, but I’d say more so we grew up in weird hippie households, in like a small town in Northern California. So our parents were like, always alternative, you know what I mean? haha. So Like if you walked into either of our houses, it was like a billion different things happening. There's like kids in and out, and I think it was a very artistic household, but not just with music. I mean our parents were always like, super okay with Jake and I just like, doing what we love and doing what we want, and that support I think got us so far. I don't mean like they weren't able to like financially push It forward but I mean on like an emotional level, they were like you guys have to do what you love, if this is what you love, fucking go for it. So they may not be musically inclined, but definitely artistic.

[N]: Totally, that's really cool, and it's cool too that you don't have anyone that's in your fields. It kind of becomes your own journey that way.

[L]: 100%. I mean, I feel like Jake and I are just two little boys watching this big world, and we’re like “how do we do this?” We’re just figuring this out, step by step. It still feels that way, every step forward is one step closer to our ultimate goals, and I still feel like we don’t know anything in like the best way possible. It’s just like going out and figuring it out.

[N]: Totally. Okay, so here's a kind of a fun question, but sometimes it's really tough for people. Out of the songs you guys have written, which one is your favorite one? Or the one you guys identify the most with?

[L]: That’s so hard because it’s so mood based for me, but I would say, I think, my two favorite are “sweatshirt” and “dreams where ur murdered” because I think they're very opposite, but both super us. Like, I don't think anyone else could could have done those songs better than us. What about you Jake?

[J]: I think because we're on tour right now, a lot of the passion that's brought to the music that’s already release, for me, is when we go on stage in front of an audience and receive energy from them every night, I would say “dreams where ur murdered” is definitely the forefront for me. That one’s always fun every night.

[L]: It’s crazy. But then I think “sweatshirt” is like the best song I've ever written. I wrote that in such a dark place my life, and I was literally on a beach touching someone’s sweatshirt, just trying to escape the world, and I thought this lyric “I found a place inside my sweatshirt that beats all reality. Oh and you could probably try, you would not understand me.” And I've always been like that weird kid who was so in my imagination, in my own world, but also struggling with my demons. I think that song is such a metaphor for myself and who I am as a person. It's just exactly, so specifically, what I was going through when I wrote it, so I would pick that for sure.

[N]: Totally. Alright, so as a duo with each other, what is it about each other that you think you really needed from each other—what's an attribute or a trait that helps each other in the band?

[L]: So, Jake and I are like opposite people. We really couldn’t be more different in most ways. I think Jake is super calm and level headed and kind. He has so much grace in how he lives life.

[J]: And I would say from the second I met London, when we were like really young, I saw that he just had endless ambition and drive, and I would say that I also probably got a little bit of what's the right word? Not like full-headedness haha, but like persistence, and I think I hold my ground a little bit more as a person from being friends with him for like a decade.

[L]: In stressful moments, Jake knows how to keep us chill and calm, and then I think I've always had hella vision and ambition on kind of what we need to do to make this happen. So it just complements each other, and then musically speaking, I write all of my music and Jake produces all of it. So it just works out that way, our brains just work in different ways, you know?

[N]: Totally, it’s like the calm and the storm put together, which is awesome.

[L]: Yeah, exactly. Like if there were two of me in a room, we would literally kill each other. hahaha.

[N]: We can’t confine you in a room haha.

[L] Exactly. haha.

[N]: If you had to describe your music to somebody and you only had like a quick phrase to explain it by or like a word, what would you guys say?

[J]: It's like confused-pop. It's pop music, but I think we're equally inspired by Green Day, or Taylor Swift, or Kanye, or Tyler the Creator. Our inspirations comes from so many different places musically speaking. So, I think we create as we consume. It has kind of a lot of different vibes but ultimately pop, but kind of a little confused. haha. I just thought of that by the way, haha

[N]: Okay, so what are some thoughts you guys are having for this tour? I know today's the first day so that's super dope and exciting. What are some of the thoughts running through your heads right now?

[L]: Just definitely not excited. At all. Hahaha. (Heavy Sarcasm) I think playing live is always what we’ve done. Like growing up when we were 11 years old we would play shows in my parents living room and just pack a bunch of kids in there. So, our goal has always been to tour around the world in front of a lot of people. So for this to be the first big tour we're part of is kind of surreal. It kind of hasn't sunk in fully because the first show is tonight, but it's just special. Playing live is the best thing on the planet. It's just when you're on stage, at the risk of sounding super cliche, it's literally a high you can't get anywhere else. I think we're just so grateful and excited, and also gonna be meeting a lot of like our fans around the country, which is like, we got a little taste of that last month when we were on tour with James Cray, but we’ll meet a lot more people this time. And it’s cool seeing what you built in real life because you can like look on screens with the numbers, but it doesn't hit you in the same way. You’ll be like “oh, a couple million streams”, but you kind of forget the actual unit. So like meeting the people in person is the most fulfilling experience. Period, which is so exciting. It’s amazing. We’re so so excited.

[N]: I love that—I'm getting excited for you guys. This is SO cool.

[J]: Oh, thank you!

[N]: Ya! I got you guys. Are there any albums that you guys are most excited for that you know are coming out this year or that you would want to come out this year?

[J]: Good question. I have heard Rihanna is dropping an album, which we’re both big fans of her.

[N]: We all want her back.

[L]: Yeah, she's so sick. She’s just such a savage in every way. I don't really keep super up with what’s coming out, so I don’t know what’s coming out, but Rihanna comes to mind immediately. I just have been like waiting for her for a while. It would be cool if Lorde dropped a new album, we’re both huge Lorde fans. Yeah, Tyler the Creator and Kevin abstract, always. Also, this sounds kind of cocky, but I’m obsessed with our new music. Genuinely, it’s my favorite stuff to listen to right now, and it’s the first time I’ve truly felt that way, where it’s like I’m purely just listening as a fan. So, I’m excited to be dropping our new music.

[N]: What’s your detour?

[L]: Yeah, that's like always the hardest question for us because we are just so extremely obsessed with our work in a good way. Yeah, it's like all we ever want to do, but I guess like when we're not doing it, I really like painting and messing with clothes. So, I’ll get old clothes and fuck them up and paint on them, tear them up. A lot of our style has come from that, so that’s what I’m really into. Also, I’ve recently gotten super into reading because I just think sometimes being a musician you get super stuck in your own world and aren’t learning about what else is happening, and I think as a young person on this planet it's just kind of important to know what's going on and actually have an opinion and be aware. So, I think we both try like doing that. I’m just curious. I always want to get smarter. and learn more. Jake, what about you?

[J]: Sometimes I roller blade, haha. I wouldn't call roller blading an extreme sport, but I've broken my bones enough to be kind of wary of any kind of activity that would put me at risk, especially when we’re going on tour. On our fourth tour, when we were really young, which actually didn’t happen because I broke my wrist when we were.

[L]: I used to skate board a lot and Jake would roller blade, but we both kind of got paranoid. We both don’t want to break our bones right now because we need our bones to play our instruments live. Haha.

[N]: Okay, so I have two more questions for you guys.

[L]: Perfect.

[N]: Do you guys have any plans for the Valentine weekend?

[L]: We literally have zero plans for Valentine’s Day. Haha

[J]: Maybe we can watch the holiday.

[L]: Yeah, maybe watch some rom coms haha.

[L]: Probably just work to be honest. We're gonna be having an off day in Dallas, so you know just hanging and working, no girlfriends or anything right now. Okay, you guys can you guys just get each other roses or something?

[L]: Wow, yeah you just inspired us.

[N]: I'm glad. haha. So, how about some goals for 2020, and they can be musically related or just personally related, but what are some things that you guys are really excited on the horizon for yourself?

[L]: I’m literally excited for so much. This year feels like the year where for the first time everything is possible, because 2019 it felt like we really scratched the surface, like we really built a cool fan base around the world, and I think going into 2020 it feels like we have some ground behind us. So it feels like everything is possible. I know specifically we’re super excited to be dropping new music, we’re going to be touring most of this year which we’re also stoked about, but overall, we want to sell out our own headline tour this year. That would be huge. And just keep going step by step. I don’t know. This year feels like the year we can take shit over, so that’s definitely the goal. haha.

I am so excited for these guys and what is to come for them this year. I am also extremely thankful they made time to jump on this call with me. So, thank you guys! Be sure to check their music out on Spotify and follow them on Instagram, and make sure to catch them while they’re on tour in your city!