INTERVIEW: Cassa Jackson on latest single 'The Guy I Never Dated': "I just write from the heart...if you’re honest with yourself it will always come across authentic."

Cassa Jackson is emerging as one of the most promising new talents on the UK music scene today. After entering a songwriting competition she caught the eye of the creative director for Voice Of A Million and Jackson soon found herself performing her second ever gig at a packed charity event at Wembley Arena. Since then, she has gained support from BBC Radio 1 and an iHeart Radio nomination for TikTok Songwriter of the Year, alongside performing on arena tours as support act for major stars including The Jacksons, Blue and JLS.

Her music is a beguiling mix of 2000s pop-rock and electronic infused pop, paired with raw, honest lyrics that openly discuss her relationship highs and lows. She recently released her first single of 2023. ‘The Guy I Never Dated’, which is a feisty pop-rock track with hints of punk that is a painfully honest look at desperately wanting to be in a serious relationship with your crush, only to realise the other side isn’t interested in anything serious: ‘a situation-ship that never really did exist / I wanted it, I pictured it in my mind’

“The lyrics are raw and honest, highlighting the lengths I would go to to try and make this guy like me, when he couldn’t even be bothered to text me back! What was I thinking?” Jackson says. “My mum told me if they’re not making loads of effort at the start to try to be in a relationship with you, they sure as hell won’t be once you’re actually together - so be careful what you wish for! Looking back I realise what a waste of time and effort that was and that he would have been a terrible boyfriend if we had ever made it that far.”

Jackson is getting more confident and assured with every release and is an artist that is displaying everything it takes to be a powerful presence in music in the coming years. We recently caught up with her to chat more about her career and the creation of ‘The Guy I Never Dated’.

Hey Cassa! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat to us today. How is everything in your world right now?
Hey! No worries at all! Everything is great thank you. I’ve got a busy summer of festivals, a new EP on the way and ending the summer with my headline show in London on August 31st so it’s full on, but I love that!

Congratulations on the release of your recent single ‘The Guy I Never Dated’, which is such a brilliant track! It is, obviously, about being in a pseudo-relationship with someone who never gives as much as you put in, but can you tell me a little more about the inspiration behind the song?
Thank you! Glad you like it. Yes it’s about being in a sort of ‘situation-ship’ with someone and that is a very confusing place to be. All my songs are autobiographical and so is this one! I hadn’t had much experience in the ‘dating’ world because I’d been in a long-term relationship from a young age (which, if you listen to my earlier songs wasn’t exactly a healthy relationship), so when I was single I was expecting it to be plain sailing, but that wasn’t the case. I think I was drawn to people who gave off ‘bad-boy energy’, but really in a relationship that’s not what you want. I wrote this song now that I’m finally in a happy and healthy relationship and I was looking back at that situation thinking, wow what a waste of time and effort!

The lyrics to the song are so well written, you have expertly represented that sensation we have all been through of desperately trying to make a relationship work, and then feeling a fool when you realise nothing is going to come of it. Was it difficult to get that authenticity across, without veering too far into melancholy and abject misery?
To be honest, I just write from the heart and try not to think about it too much. I think if you’re honest with yourself it will always come across authentic. Some of the lyrics are embarrassing (i.e. ‘I pulled into a side-road and re-recorded my voice note, cause I wanted you to want me so bad, meanwhile you were out at a party with your friends watching the rugby, didn’t even make time to text back!). I mean that screams desperate, but that is genuinely exactly what happened and I have a vivid memory of that night. When I look back at that I feel sad for my former self but also laugh and think, I never want to have to fight for someone’s attention again!

What was the creative process like for this one?
This song basically wrote itself. I wrote it in France with my co-writer and producer Kevin Malpass (with whom I also wrote ‘Right Girl, Wrong Guy’ and ‘I Don’t Like It When You Talk About Her’). His studio is in a beautiful old chateau in the middle of nowhere in France and it is such a tranquil place to be you can’t help but reflect on life. We’d just had dinner and I was filling him in on my past love life and joking about what a waste of time that whole situation had been and he found it so funny listening to me tell stories about what had happened and then we just used those stories and wrote the entire song that evening by the fire on the guitar and then recorded it the next day!

Despite the sadness at its heart, the song comes across as one of empowerment and strength. Did you go into this wanting to create a song that could be something of an anthem and a form of therapy for other people going through a similar journey?
Oh completely. It actually amazes me how many people have related to my songs and shows that we all need to raise our standards in what we put up with in relationships, or ‘situation-ships’ in this case! I love that people on TikTok are screaming these lyrics and putting themselves first and realising their own worth. This song is one of my favourites to sing live as it’s such an empowering song.

You have a pretty incredible introduction to music story, your second ever live performance was at Wembley Arena which is impressive. Was a career in music always a given for you?
I know! It was all a bit of a whirlwind at the start! But it has been such a journey. I always knew I loved singing, but it was the songwriting that made me realise I could do this as a career. I went to university and studied languages and considered training to be a lawyer. However, whilst I was at university I started releasing some of the songs I had written and they started to gain some real traction online so I thought why not give this a go! Perhaps it was my studies of languages that made me able to craft lyrics in an interesting yet relatable way! Also I am now finally releasing some songs in Spanish in August and making use of that degree!

What artists have inspired you on your musical journey, both as a child growing up and today as an artist?Growing up I loved Miley Cyrus and still do. Her tone and vocal rasp is second to none and she is such a bold, sassy icon I really look up to her. In terms of songwriting, Julia Michaels is a huge inspiration for me. I even name check her in my upcoming single ‘Summer With U’!

So much goes into being a singer today: songwriting, recording, making videos, performing live. What is your favourite part of the whole thing?
Yes there is definitely a lot to do! My favourite part is the combination of writing songs (as a form of therapy for myself) and then that helps me feel empowered and then singing them on stage to others and knowing that that is helping them to. I’ll always remember the first time I heard people sing my lyrics back to me on stage at my headline show, I nearly cried it was so emotional. Songs I had written in my bedroom now having over 12 million streams online is really mind blowing to me. But when people send me messages saying how they have related to the songs and how it has helped them, that is just a priceless feeling.

For so many years the music industry has never been a particularly welcoming or safe space for female artists, mainly because it has been run by older, straight, white men for decades. What are your thoughts on gender (in)equality and sexism in music?
I definitely think this has been a major issue for female artists and though I can see that things are moving in the right direction, there is still a long way to go. I personally have experienced things that my friends who are male artists would never have to deal with. Rather than dwell on the past though, I prefer to be part of the solution.

‘The Guy I Never Dated’ is out now, what else is coming up for you in the next couple of months?
I am releasing a brand new EP of summery upbeat, HAPPY songs on August 2nd. It is a new summer, new me, new EP! This marks a change of era in my music. These are fun, carefree songs about the start of a new relationship when sparks are flying and there is a sense of sweet anticipation for all that lies ahead. I am also delighted to release a couple of songs which are half in Spanish and celebrating a new romance seemed to be the perfect opportunity to do this.

‘The Guy I Never Dated’ is out now. You can buy and stream here.
To keep up with all things Cassa Jackson you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.