We recently caught up with rising UK star Jakwob, who has been making a major impact on the UK charts even though he is releasing music under his own independent label ‘Boom Ting Records’. Our mission was to find out more about the man who has uncovered the secret to success.

Indie labels seem to be getting more and more press recently. The most recent example has to be the meteoric rise of Macklemore in the US/UK off the back of their own self-titled label. ‘Boom Ting Records’ is your creation, and you have managed to make a seriously impact on the UK charts off your own back. Do you see this becoming an increasingly popular trend in the future?

“Yes. Independent labels, for me, will always be the way forward. I’ve already worked with a major label before on a few singles and my music doesn’t suit a big team working around it. Despite the obvious expenses and hard work, it’s a much more rewarding way of releasing music.”

Do you feel that chart success in the UK is intrinsically linked with having heavy rotation on the radio?

“It is linked and does help, but definitely isn’t the only form of exposure that leads to record sales. Sync – ie. film and television are really taking over in that area.”

You burst onto the scene with your bootleg of “Starry Eyed” back in 2009, but since then your musical style has evolved a lot more than I think people were expecting. Is this the result of a conscious thought process?

“My style has naturally progressed, as has my life. I’m constantly coming up with new ideas and exploring new musical avenues.”

You’ve now racked up over 25+ official remixes since “Starry Eyed”. Do you feel that it is important to keep your name active on the remix circuit?

“Yeah, definitely. Remixes are always very exciting but I’m now definitely all about quality not quantity.”

It seems that you make a habit of featuring talented unsigned vocalists on your singles. As your past mixtape releases suggest, you could have instead opted in favour of going with some more established names in the industry. Do you feel they bring something different to your work?

“Definitely. I prefer working with people on a musical level rather than a business level. When you start working with more established artists, things become a lot more politcal…but that’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed it!”

For our own interest (as well as a lot of vocalists i’m sure), how do you go about finding and selecting people to feature on your tracks?

“Ideally, it’s a social thing – I’ll meet people through friends/hear their record somewhere.”

With Etherwood recently signing to Hospital Records and Jetta putting pen to paper on a deal with Polydor, it seems like you are propelling a lot of artists onto greater things. With regards to your label, do you see it as a place for artists to bridge the gap, or would you eventually want to impose some kind of market dominance akin to XL Recordings?

“At the moment, Boom Ting is a place to nourish and help develop any artists that we see as having potential and drive. Of course it would be great to be a more powerful label, but one step at a time! For the moment we’re really enjoying meeting new artists, pushing those that we believe in and seeing them succeed.”

We’ve seen you in session a few times for the BBC and it seems as though you are an extremely competent multi-instrumentalist. How many different instruments can you actually play?

“Drums are my main instrument, then piano and guitar. I dabble in trumpet, kalimba, xylophone, etc.”

After “Fade”, do you have another single lined up to capitalise on your recent success? Are there any plans for a studio album in the near future?

“Single and album on the way!”

Thanks go to the main man Jakwob who was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to answer some of our questions! Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook.