the
music podcast

 

that does

music


differently

Season 15 Episode 9 www.iwannajumplikedeedee/podcast It’s fascinating to look at the entire creative evolution of an artist - how they started and where they are now. Of course, looking at what’s been going on in their life, can feel quite invasive and voyeuristic, like prying into the inner sanctum of life, but hey, all in the name of research! Music and art (although I’m by no means an expert) often feels subjective and open to interpretation and honestly, for me, I love it when I’m challenged to think about what it means to me. This brings me on to relatability. Perhaps it’s now an overused word that has been diluted of its relevance and meaning. But is it important for an artist to create work that its audience will find relatable in some way? Will it help the audience make their own interpretations if they can relate to it? Or is speaking with truth and honesty equally or more important? And what about good old fashioned escapism? What does that connection between artist and audience look like? I don’t know why the work of my guest today makes me ask these questions! Maybe it’s because his work often feels like it is accessing what’s in the back of his mind but created in a way that feeds my own interpretations and connects in a way that tunes into my own empathy. His art was described as “loose and raw that straightaway imprints itself on the human imagination”. This is interesting because it is the consistency of that rawness - and honesty - that also runs through his music which again gets my imagination fired up. I hope you enjoy this fascinating chat with James Johnston, who came to prominence in the early 90's with Gallon Drunk and has also played with PJ Harvey, The Bad Seeds, Faust and Lydia Lunch as well as releasing solo and collaborative work of his own. He started painting in 2017 which is just going from strength to strength. I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives. - brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™ - cover art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

Season 15 Episode 8 www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com/podcast Way back when, maybe 8-9 years ago, I had been researching what sort of skills humans would need for the future, given that we were experiencing big changes in technology, demographics, stuff like that, the sort of things that would affect the world of work. One skill or attribute, whatever you want to call it, was adaptability. Workers were, and still are, being asked to do many different things in their jobs and also do those things differently. So the ability to adapt to quickly changing environment struck me as something that was quite important. I do believe that this absolutely applies to musicians, who have long been very used to a volatile, uncertain world, but now playing with multiple bands, becoming familiar with audio production technology, having to become social media experts, streaming experts and the like have become a “normal” part of “the job”. I didn’t fully appreciate the importance of improvisation as part of adaptability in creating music until I started playing the cello again after *coughs* thirty five years. Just a straightforward example of this – now bear in mind that I come from a very structured, classical learning and playing background – is putting my own harmonies into a piece and being comfortable that they might change depending on how I feel when I’m playing.. Sounds kinda obvious right? But I assure you, for me, this has required a lot of unlearning and training myself to believe in myself and to trust my instinct. Honestly, I feel so great when that happens. So…..finally it’s time to introduce Deb Googe and I promise you there is a link to what I have just been wibbling on about. Earlier this year, she released an album under the name da Googie with Cara Tivey called The Golden Thread that essentially featured a heavy dose of improvisation in its genesis and I’m really looking forward to how this compares with the other work she has done with My Bloody Valentine, Snowpony, Primal Scream, Thurston Moore and, of course, where it all began (I think) the legendary Bikini Mutants. She’s hugely influential not just as a bass player who can create sonic masterpieces, but for pushing musical boundaries

Season 15 Episode 7 www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com/podcast I think gravitas is a rare but really important attribute to have, especially when the world is so fucked up, chaotic, volatile, reactionary. Gravitas. Presence. I wanna be around people that have the ability to give off positive energy in this way. Scott Osment is one of the most blistering, powerful and accurate drummers I have seen. I’ve seen him in two very different bands – Deaf Club and Glassing – and I’ve yet to see him in Planet B – maybe in 2026??!! Each band has their own style and his adaptability to their styles blows me away. For me, Scott also has that presence that I was talking about earlier. You always feel that whatever the situation, obstacles, whatever, he will find a way – fuck it, let’s try this, nah, we’re good, let’s go, yeah, I’m up for that. That willingness to try and if it doesn’t work out, so what? Try something else. Again, I just think the ability to show calm and level headedness is kinda a superpower. I mean, I even put away my own insecurities when I asked him if he wanted to do this podcast – no mean feat - cos I really did think he would say yes. And he did! Enjoy! I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives. - brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™ - cover art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

Season 15 Episode 6 www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com/podcast Nostalgia is something that I ponder a lot as I get older – I’ve got way too much time on my hands. But it’s such a layered emotion of experiences, some vivid, some half-forgotten and some probably embellished. The band you never got to see live. A long-lost lover. How good you didn’t look in that army surplus jacket. Summer road trips. Friends lost. That gig that ended in a riot. I’m gonna read out some lyrics from a song by the Buzzcocks called ……..”Nostalgia” “About the future I only can reminisce For what I've had is what I'll never get And although this may sound strange My future and my past are presently disarranged And I'm surfing on a wave of nostalgia for an age yet to come” Nostalgia for today, knowing that it won’t last forever. Future nostalgia. Seeing a band for the first time in a small basement, buying the t-shirt and anticipating that a future generation is going to do the same. I think I’m of a generation where I’m seeing music cycles reinvent themselves, come full circle, younger generations liking the same music I liked when I was their age, whatever you wanna call it. So I’m seeing this connection with my past memories, some good, some horrible (that’ll be Britpop). Only kidding, but there are some songs I can’t play because the memories are too hard. But that’s life and that’s the beautiful power of music. The songs of Jeanines make me feel like I’m flicking through a photo album of my life. Their songs very infrequently clock in over the 1 minute 30 second mark (which totally works for me) and makes it all the more remarkable that they fit in such addictive, poignant melodies and harmonies to perfectly craft their songs. Check out their upcoming, third album, How Long Can It Last, for a perfect 13. It was a pleasure to have Alicia and Jed from the band with me. I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives. - brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™ - cover art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

Season 15 Episode 5 www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com/podcast Over the last 10 years, I’ve been undergoing a - for me at least - massive transformation and I’ve been thinking a lot about what identity means – the identity that I present to the public, the identity that I present to my friends and family and the identity that I present to myself. With that comes a need to face yourself if you are going to find freedom. Our brains like to compartmentalise things and I think this is why we often get defined by society by our work or what we do. I mean, who hasn’t felt their blood run cold at the question “So, what do you do?”… “well, I’m an accountant and I’m also a grindcore enthusiast”. Whaaaaat?? The reaction of horror! And we start to believe how we get defined, it gets normalised. And it’s the same for music genres – it’s easier to compartmentalise - they’re hip hop, they’re prog, they’re folk, but it’s so reductive. So the whole definition of oneself becomes an inhibiting self fulfilling prophecy I know for me it took courage to be comfortable with self-evolution, to transform myself according to what my body and mind is telling me and to ignore the voices of society to whom I had presented versions of myself. And only when we all have that fluidity, that freedom in ourselves, can we get to a world where the destructive forces subside and we make progress. The music of Dalila Kayros is like an evolutionary odyssey…from the beginning to the end of a song, of an album and, when I think about it, an entire catalogue. For me, Khthonie - the latest album - achieves a remarkable portrayal of perhaps what it’s like to be in a world that is transforming and equally what it’s like for oneself to be transforming – moments of turbulence and tenderness, it feels like I’m on a precipice staring down into a black hole, there’s the mysticism, the beauty, the fantasy, the malevolence, the fear and the euphoria. I want to pick one track - Corpus Sonorum – which closes the album and, for me, sonically depicts the knife edge on which we live, how quickly and easily we can descend into hell. Or are already on our descent into hell. From a spiritual perspective, it feels like the soundtrack of Kali Yuga and a manifestation moral decline and self-destruction. Maybe you’ll feel differently, but it really is a remarkable piece of work - as is the whole album. This entire conversation with Dalila and her long term collaborator, Danilo Casti, is an education on improvisation, experimentation and dealing with being outsiders. I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives. - brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™ - cover art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

Season 15 Episode 4 www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com/podcast So here’s a couple of questions for y'all…how much do you think improvisation, self-consciousness and self-belief are connected? How do you get into that flow state where inhibitions are shed? And can an improv state of mind be a skill that can be learned? I’m asking this with a bit of self interest as I have two practices that I’ve approached from completely different directions – cello and graphic design. And I am, as usual, probably overthinking things, but I do wonder how these work alongside my natural instincts. Karl Bielik makes art and music, both of which, to me at least, feel rooted in a mind where lawlessness, turbulence and spontaneity rule. I really enjoy the feeling of dislocation and uncertainty and surprise from listening to his music and it feels like improvisation and experimentation plays a strong part in his work. Earlier this year, his music project, Lark, released its first album for 7 years. It’s called Be Still and it’s another beautifully unpredictable, unnerving collection of ideas and inventiveness that, like the rest of the catalogue, displaces me, yet draws me back in. This is a really fun and enlightening chat and I hope you learn as much from Karl as I did. I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives. - brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™ - cover art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste