Q&A: BabyJake moves toward new genres in debut album ‘The Sun Wakes Up Earlier Now’

BabyJake isn’t growing up just yet.

With his debut album “The Sun Wakes Up Earlier Now” scheduled to drop Friday, the rising artist said the record is a hodgepodge of everything from country twang to house grooves. Tackling topics such as self-image and creepers, BabyJake – or Jake Herring – said the release is an ode to making music for the fun of it, rather than a poseur’s attempt at impressing those around him.

Herring spoke with the Daily Bruin’s Vivian Xu about moving in a new sonic direction, staying true to his Florida roots and stepping away from the status quo.

[Related: Q&A: Still Woozy talks new album ‘If This Isn’t Nice, I Don’t Know What Is’]

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Daily Bruin: You’ve stated that with this release, you want to move away from the hip-hop and pop sound of your debut EP and breakout single “Cigarettes on Patios.” What made you decide to gravitate toward other genres?

Jake Herring: I always got the compliment, “All your music is really good. It’s all over the place, but you do it really well.” That’s a good compliment, but the longer and longer I heard that compliment, I was like, “Man, is it a good compliment?” If I wake up sad today and I want to make a sad rap song, it’s easy because that’s how I’m feeling in the particular moment. It’s hard to tell yourself, “Even if I’m not feeling this way today, I have to do this.” I started (thinking), “If I wanted to, could I even do one genre over and over and over again? Or would I not be capable of doing it?”

DB: The album blends a variety of influences, from folksy country to more alternative indie. How did you see these genres mingling together in one album?

JH: I wasn’t thinking about it like that, I was just making music that I loved. The space on digital streaming platforms is extremely open, and a lot of times people don’t even really pay attention to whether you’re making a country song and you come out with an electronic song right after, as long as the song is good, as long as it fits a mood.

DB: Narrative-driven songwriting is also a big feature in the songs on this album. What inspired this choice?

JH: It wasn’t a choice in my mind that I made to start doing narrative songwriting – it just came to my mind. A lot of my songs are very serious. “Numbers Game” is a very serious song – it’s me talking about how I can’t even look at myself because I’m disgusted by who I am. Then there’s other songs like “How To Boogie” (that are) not serious at all, in any way. It’s just a mix of how I’m feeling at the time and what I want to write about. I’m always going to do a little narrative storytelling within my songwriting. It’s fun, why not mix it up? Not everything has to be serious all the time.

[Related: Q&A: Declan McKenna discusses confidence, ’70s influence in sophomore album ‘Zeros’]

DB: Your Florida roots seem to have played a big role in your music, like in your 2019 song “239.” How does your hometown continue to influence your work?

JH: My hometown is my hometown. I love Fort Myers. It’s always going to inspire me and my work, you’re always going to hear the roots of the Florida man. That’s where I got a lot of my rock ‘n’ roll, reggae and country influences (because) on the beach, we were listening to old reggae – Sister Nancy, Peter Tosh and guys like that. If you meet me in Los Angeles, it’s not like “Oh, this is an LA cat.” You can clearly tell I’m from somewhere else, and then when I say Florida, people are like, “Oh, it connects.”

DB: What type of message are you hoping to send out with this record?

JH: My message is always have fun (and) listen to music because you like music, not because of some fad that there’s this popping artist you need to listen to. I’m just over the “You got to make it this way, there’s a pop structure, this has to be written like this.” Nobody really knows what the fuck they’re talking about in music, that’s what I’ve come to realize. Nobody knows what a hit is, nobody knows what a hit isn’t. Nobody has any idea anymore.

(So) the message that I want to send is, “Do whatever you want to do and make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons.” That’s really my message from the junk of why I got into this – because I love it. I hope when fans listen to my music, they feel the same way: They love the music and it makes them feel good.