Jason Gould, son of singing legend Barbara Streisand, opens up on the highs and lows of a showbiz life with his mum and the inspiration behind his new album
Son of Barbra Streisand and Hollywood actor Elliot Gould, Jason Gould is no stranger to fame – but as he tells us in an exclusive interview, he’s always hated it. Beginning his career as an actor with roles in Say Anything, The Big Picture, and The Prince of Tides, it took a while for Jason to start exploring his musical DNA.
His debut album came out in 2017, and he even duetted with his famous mum on How Deep Is The Ocean for her album Partners. Now, the 58 year old is back with new album, Where We Fall, an eclectic mix of original songs and covers of all-time favourite songs. Here, the quietly-spoken son of Hollywood royalty talks growing up in Hollywood as a shy kid – and becoming a singer when your mum is Barbra Streisand…
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Jason, you’ve said your mum was recording music ‘when you were still in her belly’…
Yeah, that’s right. Recording her Christmas album, she was pregnant with me – I was in there, feeling the vibrations!
Growing up, what music did your mum play at home?
It’s interesting, she never played a lot of music at home, unless she was working on something. I was with her sometimes in the studio, which was always interesting – but she wouldn’t listen to her own music, or anyone else’s music, unless she was working on it. My tastes and hers are very different – but we do cross in terms of older, classic ballads.
Mum’s a singing star, dad’s a famous actor. Was it fate that you’d do something creative?
I’ve always been a bit of a shy guy, you know? My parents were in the bright spotlight – but it was never something I liked or craved for myself. It made me uncomfortable – yet I’m a creative person, I can’t help it, whether it’s cooking, pottery or singing. But the showbusiness part of it? I really struggle with it, I don’t love the public side of it, the selling myself or even performing.
So, what was it like growing up with two famous parents?
Challenging. I was a quiet kid – an observer. I never got off on having cameras in your face or meeting A-listers at parties. But I was born into it, I didn’t have a choice. And you make your best of what life gives you. I’m quite private and a bit of a contradiction and people don’t understand that, they’re like, why are you making music if you don’t want to perform or be famous?!
What are you memories of your mum, growing up?
I related to my mum as a human being, not the persona she created. She’s a complex person – in some ways very strong, in some ways very vulnerable. She’s also very creative, whether she’s pottering in her garden, collecting art or making a movie. She’s very focused on detail, like artists are.
She was so, so busy when I was young. She had a film career, a music career – when I was younger I was travelling with her. I’d be in Africa while she was filming… My parents divorced when I was a baby, so I have no memory of them together. I never knew that sense of a family unit. And her fame was so extreme, it was difficult for a kid like me.
She could never just take you to the local playground…
Oh god no, you could never do that. I mean, you’d have the paparazzi chasing you in a car. It felt very dangerous, honestly. It was all disturbing and terrifying to me. I was in London, just before Princess Diana lost her life. That being chased and trying to escape – that can lead to death. It happened to us, I felt that fear she must have felt.
How is she doing today, health-wise?
At her age I feel she just wants more peace in her life. She’s been at it and famous since she was 18, it’s a lot. She’s in a stage of life where she just wants more peace. But she’s really well.
Your second album Where We Fall is out now – tell us more…
I was drawn to songs that I love and inspired me, then I was writing songs too. I hope I’ve managed to create a flow of energy, a link between songs of the past and the present. They’re songs about love, self-awareness and consciousness…big themes!
Tell us about title track Where We Fall…
Well, it turned out to be a very spiritual song, which reflects a lot of what I’ve learned in my life, some of the lessons I’ve learned.
What are some of those lessons?
Well, we’re all trying to understand what love is. And one of the things you have to do is give it away to keep it alive – it’s a living thing. A lot of people don’t know what it is – it’s a concept, or they associate it with romance. It’s kind of what we’re here to learn. How to find it ,and give it to others.
The World’s Gone Crazy is a powerful number…
I’m proud of that song, it’s timely, with all the crazy things going on in the world. We’ve been living through really difficult times. I just wanted to acknowledge how painful it is for everyone – to remind us that we’re all in this together. There’s no ‘winner’ here. My hope for humanity is that we see that and don’t create so much pain in the world.
There are some gorgeous covers..
Yeah, it’s nice to bring new life to songs people may not know, or have forgotten. Solitude, for example, is a song I’d heard Ella Fitzgerald sing and we gave it a new arrangement, with a stunning electric violin solo. It’s about love, longing and loss – the stuff of life. I played it to my mum and she loved it.
There’s songs in there by my musical heroes, John Lennon, Duke Ellington…I was drawn to female black singers when I was younger – Dionne Warwick was the first singer I heard as a five-year-old. Music’s in my DNA.
Is Hollywood a strange place to live for someone who shuns the spotlight?
I don’t think it’s a place to raise children. Most people take their kids out of Hollywood now, like George Clooney took his kids away. But LA is changing, to me it’s lost its old-school glamour, it’s sheen. Social media’s changed the landscape, it’s cheapened it and made everything more disposable. Now, people post what they eat for lunch – there’s no mystique or romance any more.
Is putting out your own music scary, when your mother’s a musical icon?
Yeah! I’d put my musicality to the side. I had this iconic mother in the music world – how could I even open my mouth, everyone would compare me to that? That’s why I didn’t explore music later in life, as it did scare me.
But I eventually let myself explore it – and great things came out of it. I ended up going on tour with my mother. Quincy Jones heard another song, and said he wanted to make an album with me. Really, me?! I had to get through a lot of my own insecurities. But I got there.
Where We Fall is out now on digital, CD and vinyl (Backwards Dog Records).
