For a while it looked as if Jack Lukeman - Jack L to his growing fan base - might disappear into the folds of his swishing cloak. From singing Jacques Brel songs at Dublin's tiny Da Club to performing his own material at Dublin's (ever so slightly bigger) Point in the space of a few years is a big step for mankind, let alone a former apprentice mechanic from Bennetsbridge, Athy.
Thankfully, Jack appears to be taking his success in his manful stride, his breezeblock boots stepping over any obstacles that get in his way. He's an ultra-cool culchie, discreetly but definitely on top of things.
The past year has seen his stride become even more purposeful and unambiguous. His 1999 album, Metropolis Blue, got off to a shaky enough start, taking a while to gather momentum. Distribution of the record was then taken over by Dara (the record company/service, not the string-sawing Irish act of the same name) According to Jack, the momentum developed to the level where playing The Point (on February 12th last) was the next logical step.
"The Point is a pivotal gig to play - and it really was the next logical step - but it didn't seem like a massive step," says Jack L in a room at Dublin's Temple Bar Recording Studios (where he is putting the finishing touches to his new single, Rooftop Lullaby). "I have to say it came quite naturally. The songs worked, although some of the more intimate songs - the ones that people find more personal - might not have transferred. The gig itself was great. I couldn't have asked for more. And it was live on the television, as well. It was a bit of a haze."
Having The Point concert transmitted live on RTE was a serendipitous moment, another one when, as Jack would put it, luck just came his way. It came at just the right moment, too, when the life of Metropolis Blue had all but been sucked out. Consequently, sales went up considerably, pushing it into the Irish Top 10. Thank goodness, then, for the Late Late Fashion Show and the Childline concert. Jack L's concert was sandwiched between the two events, which were both being recorded live by RTE; so with all the equipment in place, it was decided to broadcast his concert too.
Did the televised concert at The Point seem like another step into crossover territory?
"Towards showbizville? No, I just continued - and indeed, continue - as per norm. I suppose more people know you, which doesn't bug me unless I'm having a bad day. But I don't feel the public aspect to me being relatively well-known in Ireland is in any way offputting. The aspect of playing gigs has changed, though. You no longer feel that you're inflicting your music on to people. Now you do gigs and people are quite familiar with the material. For me it makes the gigs even more enjoyable. You go up on stage and the job is done before you're almost aware of it. Before, you sometimes felt that you were forcing it too much. People don't like that.
"I've never been one to cruise in gigs. I hate that feeling. Even when I'm knackered, once I'm on stage something clicks and I'm back into it. I'm on, as they say, and thankfully I've never gone for the soft option. Some people know when you go for the soft option only too well. That said, it's a hard one to judge. That's what's wrong with a lot of live music these days - people cruise. I have never set out to do that, and I hope I never do."
According to Jack L, his songs fall into two categories - the romantic and the cartoon, the sweet and the raunchy. While his offstage persona is very much as you would expect it to be - soft spoken, polite, grounded, his glass half-full; "otherwise you'd go nuts, wouldn't you?" - his image in performance is Mister Whippy. And we ain't talking about ice cream, folks.
"Obviously, some of the material has an over-the-top nature, but it lends itself to that. When you're onstage, you just go to where the music takes you. You create a character in your head and go with the tune and imagine you're there. You always give as much as possible in the singing. Doing the Brel material gave you the choice of characters, and I suppose that infiltrated its way into the writing. I found I was taking on the process of theatre in performance, but it was never premeditated, and it helped to find a voice for the songs."
Such strong character development (a mixture of Jekyll & Hyde menace and aristocratic debauchery) also helped to define him in the eyes of the public. Jack's work ethic contains elements of the soundbite television culture - people switch off or over once they get bored.
"It needs to be as exciting and spontaneous as it can be, to have all the elements of surprise," he affirms. "That's the appeal of the gigs. We don't practise that much, because we know the material so well, but there are parts where there's an intuitive level of performance. Things just evolve on stage because of that, and that's another thing that makes it enjoyable for people watching - they know the show is not a bunch of cliches. It's not false. Everything is so calculated these days and so shined to perfection. People like the element of chance or tightrope walking that we do. I've fallen off the rope a few times, but that's just the way it goes. Funnily enough, people tend to remember those times more than anything else!"
He's full of ideas, is Jack L (or at least open to them from his creative and management team). This time last year, he was fully engaged in the reality of global residencies, playing regular gigs in major cities in Europe and parts of the US. This year, he's involved in a series of cunning schemes, including a Business Expansion Scheme, an investment vehicle that is subject to tax relief. If you're the kind of person who scrutinises newspapers from front to back, you'll have noticed an ad (running up to April 5th last) proclaiming a "unique tax-based opportunity to invest in Jack L's new album." What gives?
"It's an idea that's been floating around," says Jack, somewhat sheepishly. "The Irish movie industry is involved with them and there's been a couple of music artists connected to it as well. I can do it, so I'm doing it. People can invest money from £500 to £25,000 into the making of the new album and get a tax break. The money we get from investors is for the making and the marketing of it. It's not very rock 'n' roll, but what is these days? The main reason for doing it is to dictate independency, to allow me to steer the boat and have the funds that a band who has signed for a big amount of money would have. Whether or not it actually happens is another thing. I'm not too familiar with the business side of things, but I like to stay in touch."
He seems slightly concerned at the reaction of other people to it, and implicitly agrees there is an element of the process that niggles. His entire demeanour cries out: I'm a musician, not an accountant.
"I didn't want it to interfere with the music, you see, which is why it was advertised in the more business areas of newspapers. When I grew up listening to records I didn't know about the business side of it. Once the music is great, who cares?"
Jack L plays Dublin's Gaiety Theatre on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Tickets priced £16.50 from usual outlets. His new single, Rooftop Lullaby, will be released this week.
