You could say JW Paris had somewhat of a hectic year so far. If they haven’t been supporting major acts (The Subways, SPAN) or boycotting banks involved in genocide (they choose Rock and Roll Circus in Brighton instead of The Great Escape) or releasing critically acclaimed singles (“Who Are You”, “Geeks & Freaks”), then they were going viral. The band played their biggest festival to date – BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend in May – and their performance caused them to be online celebrities, luckily not permanently. For a few days though you could not open an internet browser without the trio jumping at you from somewhere. After BBC News ran the article about the band opening BBC Introducing stage, the story was then picked up by syndicated press from America to Japan (and everywhere in between), even Chinese TV had a mention. In the meantime, JW Paris were promoting their home town of Luton as musical ambassadors, part of their press duties for The Big Weekend. It was possibly the only time I regretted setting up a Google alert about the band, my phone pinged every 30 seconds announcing another article. Have I mentioned that they also entered the Amazing Radio chart for seven weeks straight and amassed over 1300 streams and radio airplays on that one station alone? Well, you see for yourself that by June the band just decided to take a breather and went on holiday.
single cover for “Something Going On”
It was worth waiting for the new single from JW Paris, because we have received something spectacular. And frankly unexpected. “Something Going On” is like a quick travel in time to the late 1990s where the so called “second wave of Britpop” brought more avantgarde and eclectic acts to the front: Rialto, Symposium, The Dandys or Manswear. Those bands were very different from Blur or Oasis who dominated the charts. They preferred Mod type of attire to anoraks and their music was more psychedelic or cinematic even with a great dose of sadness woven between the notes. I loved that period as it felt like the testosterone was on the way out of British music for good and artistry was back in fashion, but then certain Peter Doherty formed The Libertines and British rock went in a completely different direction. But those five years between 1995-2000 stand as one of the most creative periods of contemporary rock on the British Isles at least in my opinion. It is so heartwarming to see JW Paris bring back that level of musicianship back.
The beginning of “Something Going On” feels like it could be written by Feeder or 3 Colour Red – muffled vocals and a long instrumental into giving way to an atmospheric and passionate vocal delivery. One of the unique features of JW Paris is the dual vocal duties performed by Aaron Forde (bass) and Daniel Collins (guitar). It is hard to find another band with this sort of arrangement on the scene in the UK, the closest would be Supergrass (especially on their magnificent second album) or now defunct Soeur. And both Aaron and Daniel are in possession of powerful singing abilities that can only be matched by precision and swagger of Gemma Clarke behind the drum kit. Besides being one of the most accomplished female drummers in the country (she played with anyone from The Babyshambles to Adam Ant) Gemma is a beating heart of JW Paris and sometimes she is the one who sets the course of the song – just as she does on “Something Going On”.
On the new single, JW Paris channel Manic Street Preachers a little bit – video trailers promoting the song reference miners strikes of 1974 (Three Day Week) and 1978/79 known as Winter of Discontent while the track itself speaks of hope despite circumstances. It is their own “Design for Life” if you please and a homage to all striking workers in recent years. Worth noting that “Something Going On” was released on 19th September – one year anniversary of The British Medical Association (BMA) industrial action for better pay and investment in the NHS.
For this review we also interviewed JW Paris while they were in the middle of their autumn tour. We hope you will enjoy the little extra, making this blog once again a long read. Don’t complain – we are here to spoil you with good music and a bit of reading!
JW Paris is watching you by C24 Photography
Catching up with Aaron and Gemma:
It is so good to see you back. Where have you been since your glorious set at BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend festival. How did you spend the summer? Any exciting news to report to your fans?
Aaron Forde: We have hunkered down and kept writing new songs. We also spent a lot of summer at other festivals just enjoying and absorbing all!
It does feel like a big omission on our part, but we haven’t even had a chance to ask you about your performance at the Radio 1 Big Weekend. How did it go? It is certainly the biggest festival you have played so far, and you also opened the whole BBC Introducing stage as well.
Aaron Forde: It was a euphoric experience for all of us, I think. To be in your hometown’s backyard playing to such a big crowd on such a great stage, it’s hopefully the springboard for more to come!
After the BBC wrote an article about you, the band literally went viral and appeared on the news all over the world – from London to Australia and Singapore. Even Chinese television picked up the coverage. It must have been a massive boost to your rock and roll egos.
Aaron Forde: The funny thing is, we were sitting in our pants eating noodles and working on a new song at the time we heard all that. SO yeah, I guess you could say it’s gone to our heads a little bit.
Your new single called “Something Going On” sounds like a rallying call and the video teaser looks very political. Please tell us what the song is about? Should we get our pitchforks and placards ready?
Aaron Forde: There’s a hell of a lot of anxiety in the world today. It`s strange though because all this uncertainty and fear seems to raise unity and hope. The pendulum is in full swing. It really feels like something is bubbling under the surface, like something is going on.
The cover to the song is very different compared to your previous sleeves. Finally, we see more colours! Who is the author of the artwork and is there any meaning behind this portrait of this striking yet sad young woman?
Aaron Forde: In the past we’ve had Chris Alderton from The Amazons design our artwork, however he was on tour at the time so we had to create this one ourselves. As for the striking young woman, we found her on a copyright free image site and the photographer was listed anonymously, so if the photographer is out there and sees this, please reach out as we’d love to credit you for this piece!
There was no real intention behind the meaning. I guess you could draw the hope in the colours of the background paired with the uncertain grayscale that we as individuals are currently living in. But hey, that’s just some artsy guess.
The new track heralds a visible change in your sound. “Something Going On” is described as influenced by the dark side of Blur and Fontaines DC, with a dosage of heaviness of Placebo. Do you agree?
Aaron Forde: Absolutely, I think we’re trying to slip a little more into our heavier grunge costume, still sprinkled with some melodic hooks for good measure.
Gemma, we heard you took a side project in running a studio alongside your father and brother. Please tell us more about Rooz Studios and how it feels to run a family business.
Gemma Clarke: Yes! Rooz is a family business running for over 39 years! My dad opened it up in a deserted warehouse when I was a little kid. The bands of that era needed somewhere to rehearse and hang out, so dad decided to provide that space! (laughs) We had some of the best names in the music scene coming through our doors, some so close they’re like family: Kula Shaker, The Prodigy, The Libertines and Babyshambles of course (more laughter), but also Adam Ant, The DMA’s, The Used…. So many names. We currently have some of the greats of today coming up, the “ones to watch” if you please such as ART, Lives, The Molotovs, The Denrios, Andy Blade and a certain trio called… JW Paris!
Gemma (continues): It’s not so much a side project, it’s our life. Rooz is the mothership for our family and it remains so for so many musicians. We have hourly rehearsal rooms, private lock out rooms, a gig venue and bar too. It’s where musicians hang out, meet like-minded people and generally the place is their home away from home.
Poster for upcoming show at The legendary Troubadour in London
You are going on tour shortly! Where can we see you playing?
Aaron Forde: By the time this goes out it’ll be over as we got this to you late but we had a wild time playing in Luton, London, Ashford, Cambridge and St Albans.
What are your plans for the remainder of the year? Do you have any surprises for us in store?
Aaron Forde: Writing more music and we have a surprise screening of something special so keep an eye out for it! If you want to see JW Paris live, the trio will play iconic venue Troubadour in Earl’s Court London on October 11th, 2024. Limited tickets can be purchased from the link below:
https://www.ticketweb.uk/event/jw-paris-kowloons-troubadour-tickets/13871473
Follow the band on social media:
www.facebook.com/jwparismusic
www.instagram.com/jwparismusic
www.twitter.com/jwparismusic
www.youtube.com/@JWPARIS
tiktok.com/@jwparismusic
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7Eh8L6V40D5B70XCOucwE3
Additional reading:
https://thelutonian.com/jw-paris-to-follow-radio-1-big-weekend-show-with-new-single-and-luton-tour-kick-off
https://www.punktuationmag.com/span-jw-paris-lives-london-islington-academy-23rd-sep-2024
https://thesongbirdhq.com/2024/09/26/jw-paris-something-going-on-single-review
Our coverage of JW Paris can be found here:
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/tag/jw-paris
Malicia Dabrowicz
Indieterria 
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