Jutes has scored alternative hits with his singles “Sleepyhead” and “It Takes Two,” but he’ll venture into the hard rock and metal world when he plays the Inkcarceration Festival Friday in Mansfield, Ohio.
As for how he fits into that kind of world — he’s playing on a stage ahead of artists like Papa Roach and Hollywood Undead — Jutes is curious about that himself.
“I have this imposter syndrome of, like, ‘Am I heavy enough? Are they gonna like it?'” Jutes tells ABC Audio.
Jutes does count heavier artists including Deftones as an influence on his music, but, as he puts it, “It’s not like I consider myself a metalcore artist by any means.”
“I have moments in my songs that have, like, metalcore-adjacent riffs and whatnot,” he says. “But then I have other parts of my songs that are very pop and I have other[s] that are hip-hop.”
In approaching playing Inkcarceration and festivals like it, Jutes says he tries to heed the advice of his drummer.
“He’s always like, ‘Don’t shy away from being different,'” Jutes says. “‘You don’t have to pick songs that make you fit into what you think that the bill is gonna be like. It’s cool to do your thing.'”
“I kinda have to just trust other people, ’cause I’m always like, ‘I don’t know what songs of mine they’re gonna like,'” he continues. “I’ve got some heavy stuff, but I think I’ll just probably play the biggest songs I got and hope for the best.”
Jutes will release a new album, Chin Up, Beautiful, on Aug. 5, and just put out a new song called “Blink Twice.” He’ll launch his own headlining tour Aug. 11 in Phoenix.
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