I first interviewed Jackson Vincent back in November of 2022 when he was recording and performing as a solo artist. Steeped in reverb and delay, his music at the time had a dreamlike quality. Lately, though, his music has been taking on a harder edge. Now fronting a two-piece band called naive nature, along with Scoopski on drums, he’s been debuting new material at shows in Philadelphia and its outlying suburbs, culminating (thus far, anyway) in his latest single, “the weight of the world.” 

You’ve been busy lately! What’s the story behind the switch from recording as Jackson Vincent to recording as naive nature?

Very busy! I felt like it was time to step away from my solo project and start something fresh. The two EPs I released as Jackson Vincent were intended to tell a cohesive story that ultimately was going to span over three EPs. While writing what would have been the third EP I went through a lot of significant changes in life that resulted in a totally different sound and approach to my music. In a way the songs felt too different to feel like they belonged next to Foxtrot and Normal Tension but I didn’t want to shelf the new material or adapt them to fit the JV style, so naive nature was born. It also allowed for an easier pathway to creating an open door for fellow musicians to step in and join the project, like how I’m currently joined by Jim from Scoopski on drums. He’s becoming a prominent figure in the band next to me, which might not have been possible if I had moved on as a solo artist still.

Your live sets used to be pretty low-key and incredibly contemplative. Now you’re rocking out with Scoopski on drums. How does that change the way you think about performing live?

It’s definitely a lot more fun and loose performing with him than when I was alone. Don’t get me wrong, I loved performing solo. It was very purposeful to keep it low-key at the time. Those songs were very personal and contemplative themselves so I set out to make those performances more of a shared experience with the audience where I was really trying to get people to think as they were listening. Performing as naive nature still has that goal of connecting with the crowd, but I’m more focused on letting loose and living in the moment than trying to reach inside and contemplate. Playing as a duo is great because me and Jim have a good connection on stage and can usually riff off each other mid-song. The JV solo songs were very internal and in search of some form of answer while these new ones are more like emotional releases, and their respective live performances reflect that.

Is the Epiphone Century still your go-to guitar? What kind of equipment are you using now?

Not anymore! I really loved that thing to death! I still have it but it’s definitely seen better days. Even if it was still in perfect condition, it just doesn’t quite have the tone I’m after in this project. My main guitar right now is a Fender Stratocaster with a humbucker in the bridge. It’s super versatile and is by far the most comfortable guitar I’ve ever played. I run that into a pretty simple pedalboard – I’m currently using a Boss CS-3 compressor into a EHX Soul Food (which I use as a boost pretty much), into an EHX Op Amp Big Muff. That all goes into my Roland JC-40 amp. The bulk of my tone is coming from the Big Muff.

I think you mentioned a while back that you bought a sampler. Can you talk about that a little bit? How are you using it in your music?

Haha I did, and that’s a real pivotal moment to creating the initial sound of naive nature. I hated that sampler and got rid of it after using it like twice. It was way too complicated and I felt too intimidated to even try to figure out how to use it. It inspired me to try to stay away from screens and too many digital-centered elements with this project and embrace old-school analog rock (to an extent). I traded the sampler for the three main pedals in my guitar rig, so the sampler in some way had a massive impact on the sound of naive nature, just not in the way you probably expected!

Ah! Live and learn! I actually had a similar experience. On another note, I was speculating on my radio show that naive nature might be a little like the Cure in the sense that it’s the kind of project with an ever-shifting lineup evolving around a constant front man. Is that even remotely accurate?

That’s exactly it! The original plan was that I’d be the only individual really tied to the project and the band would be this revolving door of musicians free to come and go as they please and be involved in the project for as long (or as little) as they’d like. Jim has become a pretty notable addition to the naive nature name so I can see this duo lineup sticking for quite some time – if he feels like staying, of course. But I’m definitely keeping the door open for more people to join in the future!

Jim is definitely fun to work with! The debut naive nature single, “the weight of the world,” is a great tune. What inspired it?

Thank you! That’s actually one of the first songs I wrote in that little gray area between a third solo record and starting this band. It was inspired by this really toxic friendship I was in during my first semester of college that would come and go throughout the rest of my time there. We could go with no contact for weeks at a time and then as soon as life would start to get me down, they’d be back again; almost like they were feeding on that negative energy. It was awful and I’m beyond glad that that period of my life is over. It was an old situation by the time the song was written, and by the time we finally released the track it had been quite a while since that whole experience so I can assure you it’s old wounds that have healed, but that situation was a big weight I had been carrying so the song is like my final farewell to that situation.

In addition to sounding a lot different musically from your earlier recordings, I feel like your lyrics are moving in a new direction as well. More concrete, maybe. Less esoteric, if that makes sense. How has your approach to songwriting been evolving over the past year or so?

Songwriting has always been a deeply personal process for me. It’s my way of journaling and putting all of my thoughts and feelings into some form of wording. There’s definitely been that change but I think it comes more from a change in me as a person than as a songwriter. When I was writing my old songs I was trying to find myself. For the entire JV solo era I was in college and was terrified of the world. I was in and out of awful relationships, living in a pandemic, and just generally displeased with things. I didn’t know how to comprehend a lot of what I was experiencing, so those songs were very introspective and ambiguous at times. I didn’t know what I was thinking, so the songs had that openness as a result. Now I’m doing better, I think. I’m figuring things out as I go and I’m learning to enjoy the ride. I’ve slowly been staring to find the answers I’d been looking for, and the songs know that.

The liner notes for “the weight of the world” list ALBNOPNDA as the producer and mixer. Can you talk about who that is and what they brought to the project?

I absolutely LOVE ALBNOPNDA. That’s my good friend Mekhi. He also worked on Normal Tension, the final JV release. He’s an immensely talented musician and we have this really great bond that makes working together effortless. A lot of our sessions feel like hanging out and we just so happen to be making music. We connected through my old record label while making NT and stayed in contact afterwards. He’s just opened a new studio in Philly called The Void and it’s become like my second home. He does a lot of rap and stuff along those lines so I love the new perspective he brings to this project!

You’ve also been playing in Scoopski’s band. What’s that like, and is the dynamic any different when he’s playing in your band?

It’s been a lot of fun! It’s been a few years since I took a more backseat role in a band like that so it’s a nice exercise in my guitar playing. I’ve been a fan of Scoopski for a while so I’m honored to have been invited to be part of the live lineup. I feel like in our respective bands we’re both the main creative force of the projects so there’s a nice split between us having our time being the “leader,” for lack of a better word. But at the core we’re friends playing music together, so regardless of what band it is or who wrote the songs we’re playing we’re always having fun, and that’s what it’s all about!

And speaking of playing in Scoopski’s band, hope you get well soon, Marc! I love getting to play alongside you and we all can’t wait to have you back!

Thanks! With any luck, the shoulder will heal sooner rather than later! In the meantime, what’s on the horizon for naive nature?

So much music! Our second single, childhood friends, is out on March 1 and that’s one I’m super excited for! It’s the song that we’ve opened all of our live sets with so far and it makes a great companion to the weight of the world. We have some big and exciting things to come this year after childhood friends, but I don’t want to give anything away too soon! You’ll have to follow along to see what happens next!

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!

Thanks for asking them! Always a pleasure to chat!