Alumni Spotlight: Janek Valgepea, Musician and Eurovision Hopeful

27 June 2023

Some people come to UWL and discover what they want to be, others arrive with a plan. Whatever you want to be, the University of West London is here to help you on your journey, just like we did for Janek Valgepea who recently went from UWL on a Eurovision journey.

Long before coming to UWL, Janek was already pursuing a career in music back home in Estonia. At eighteen years old, he was a finalist in Estonian Idol 2012, but he was still searching to find the right sound. After the show, he spent some time at Tallinn University studying Italian Language & Culture, before realising it wasn’t what he wanted to study or do.

Moving to London, he met several musicians who encouraged him to pursue a course at the University of West London. He enrolled on the Music Performance and Recording course, a degree which helped him find his voice, enabling Janek to write songs and write an EP.

By the time of graduation, I recorded an EP with six songs, and I was able to release it as well, which was fantastic.”

BMus (Hons) Music Performance

Close up of a monitor in an LCM recording studio

This opportunity, to create his own work and put his own spin on music styles that inspired him, gave Janek the career boost he needed. It was nearly impossible, on a student budget, for someone to go to a studio and independently record and mix songs. Luckily, he had the LCM facilities to rely on.

UWL had such amazing people. Amazing teachers, and amazing music opportunities as well. So, it definitely gave me a good start to my career. It’s quite difficult to be in this position, where you’re not even financially established and you need to have material to show someone, to show them what you can do. If I hadn’t been at UWL, and I didn’t have that EP, I think my progress would have stalled.”

A pair of hands turning dials on a mixing desk in a music studio

As many students do, Janek underwent a period of self-discovery after graduating in 2017. First, he moved to Australia and explored jobs in the corporate, private sector. Returning to the UK, he considered becoming a music teacher. Only after a period of work experience in Chelsea did he realise this wasn’t for him. Instead, he went on to create two original songs with a Welsh producer with whom he became close friends. These songs, however, were never released due to Janek’s producer’s untimely death.

The whole world like fell apart because I thought, gosh, I just found this guy that we wrote something amazing with, and now who will I turn to? So, at the beginning of last year, I just decided to not do it [music] again. But then something struck me, in the autumn, just saying "he would have wanted you to continue’ because what you've been doing is good. So, I took a risk.”

close up of a microphone being held by a singer

Janek currently works at an investment firm as the head of an administrative department, but due to the flexible nature of the job, it allows him to take the time he needs to do music whenever required. It’s a flexibility that led him straight to Eurovision.

Recently, Janek had the opportunity to collaborate with Norwegian artist and 2015 Eurovision entry Kjetil Mørland, on a song called ‘House of Glass’. He later entered this for Eesti Laul, the Estonian national selection, which selected Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. After attempting on 9 other occasions, Janek was overjoyed to find out that he has been nominated for this year's Eesti Laul. Out of the 214 submissions, Janek finished fourth in the public vote and 5th overall with the jury points combined.

I wasn’t nervous at all! It felt so right for me. I really loved, you know, standing there on the big stage with like 8000 people in the arena. And that was the biggest stage I’ve ever performed on.”

The Estonian Version of ‘House of Glass’ has hit the top ten lists on Estonian Radio and peaked at #1 for 2 consecutive weeks, which meant Janek got to perform at the annual Independence Day celebration in front of Estonia’s Former Prime minister and current leader of the opposition, Juri Ratas and also the head of the local council. The Eurovision dream isn’t over yet either, as Janek plans to write, produce and release more songs that will take him back to that famous stage.

It’s cliched, but you can’t give up. There were years of failures on my musical journey but that motivated me to keep going. The reason I came back into music is because I felt something was missing, I needed to fill the void. I didn’t want to waste all those hours I spent singing in my room as a child. When you live a life without something you care about, it can feel like you’re not breathing oxygen anymore. It’s so important to dedicate time to your passions.”

You can watch Janek’s live performance of House of Glass on YouTube