There won’t be a raised eyebrow in the room if I say I`m somewhat of an otaku when it comes to JW Paris. Well, maybe I am not relocating to Luton (their hometown) yet or running the band`s fan club out of my garage, but I am deeply passionate about the trio and I am always on the lookout for new information about them and their musical endeavours.
And on May 23rd 2025, there was a huge update from JW Paris as they celebrated the first anniversary of their breakthrough performance for BBC Introducing at Big Weekend Festival. As everything, they did it in style – publishing their own mini documentary which they filmed, edited and produced themselves. DIY to the last click of the clapperboard
JW Paris photographed by Taylor Comboy
Band documentaries are nothing new – there are some incredible musical short films out there that any fan of rock should know. Some deal with recordings of albums (“Sound City” by Dave Grohl), tours (“Madonna – Truth or Dare”) and even single gigs (“Pink Floyd Live at the Pompeii”). However, this form of storytelling is rather unusual among independent artists on the UK circuit. Well, not for Aaron Forde and Daniel Collins apparently as they both dabble in filmmaking and photography professionally.
The ten-minute document goes way beyond just chronicling a concert at a summer festival. It begins with an interview where Gemma Clarke remembers how she was continually being asked to join an unknown duo from Luton and was even given their recordings on a tape! Gemma is not just any drummer. She has been sharing stages with some of the biggest names in the British music industry. I am just going to mention Adam Ant and The Babyshambles among many others so enlisting her services is not an easy task. Yet once hearing the music Gemma was fully onboard with joining JW Paris.
There are other tasty anecdotes in the documentary. My absolute favourite must be Aaron and Daniel discussing how they played football at the Stockwood Park in Luton as children and how they saw legendary reggae and ska pioneer Desmond Dekker on stage and decided to become rock stars there and then. If you are not familiar with Dekker`s big hits such as “It Mek” or “007” then you surely know that he was instrumental in discovering Bob Marley. It turns out that Desmond – despite his undeniable talent – was in a wrong job! He should have been a music scout with the track record of artists he inspired.
The mini documentary offers a glimpse into JW Paris rehearsal room and their headquarters at grass music venue in London – Rooz Studios. And then, there is the Big Weekend performance itself. It is easy to see that for Aaron and Danny, it was more than just a nostalgic trip back to the playing field. It was a homecoming. I wasn’t there to see them open the BBC Introducing Stage (to a crowd of several hundred people, 750 was the estimate in local paper The Lutonian, but please do not take it at face value, it could have been way more. The field was packed by the time JW Paris were leaving the stage.
Like every super fan I was very sad to miss the gig, unfortunately working and living on the other side of the country has its downsides, but I already mentioned that I am an otaku and the distance of 151 miles means very little to me. I can still bring you some incredible details to augment your experience of watching the mini documentary, almost like I (and you) were there in person.
Even before hitting the stage at Stockwood Park, the band was chosen as ambassadors of Luton. That included various publicity engagements for the local council, interviews and photo sessions. Never underestimate how hard musicians must work outside of their day jobs, creative jobs when not playing music. These are just articles from three different publications and a tiny fragment of the press tour they did, if you want to see what a crazy week the band had: Step Forward Luton (here and here), The Lutonian and Luton Today.
You could say that JW Paris were exhausted before they arrived at the Big Weekend festival site. I can only imagine what copious amounts of coffee helped them to survive the entire day! But I like to think that it was also a triumph for Aaron, Gemma and Daniel. They had a Luton Football Flag waving during their set and hung out backstage with Kerrie Cosh – BBC DJ who have been championing them for years. Did I just hear somebody say – pictures or it didn’t happen? You are very lucky indeed that this article is written by a super fan, I have got a picture because IT DID HAPPEN!
JW Paris are a natural phenomenon made from three distinctly different forces that come together to rock the socks and sandals off everyone, even those who have a selective hearing. There is no better way to show how special the trio is than the single “Favorite Thing”. Originally the track was released in 2019 with the video starring Ellie Duckles (Dagr, The Phoebus Files, The A List) and very quickly the song became the audience’s chosen anthem. For the rendition at the Big Weekend, JW Paris invited a young trumpet player Joshua Bowman (Luton Youth Orchestra) on stage. Joshua did a splendid solo on “Favourite Thing” and the whole performance was compared to Manic Street Preachers “Kevin Carter”.
Several days after the set, Joshua and the band went viral. A BBC article was shared internationally from the UK, to the US, Australia, Japan, Singapore and all the way to China. It was also one of the most popular news stories on the BBC website for a straight week. I know I was following the developments very closely here. Yep, that’s what fans do.
I could probably tell you more about the band the Big Weekend but the truth is that no amount of knowledge, trivia and funny stories will suffice. JW Paris are one of the most creative, persistent and original bands on the current London scene – watch the documentary, go see them live and decide for yourself.
If there is one thing that makes the United Kingdom truly great – it must be the creative sector. And it’s worth remembering that the creative industries and people who make the art need to have all the funding, all the protections and all opportunities if we want it to continue.
And then, there are people like me – the geeks and freaks who do not make art but love the art and will always offer a helping hand in promoting it.
Additional reading:
https://thelutonian.com/documentary-celebrates-emotional-jw-paris-homecoming-at-radio-1s-big-weekend-in-luton/
Over the years we have written many articles about the band on our blog. If you want to browse through the rest of our articles the links are below. Enjoy.
2024:
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2024/03/04/jw-paris-fqa-fans-questions-answered
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2024/03/20/jw-paris-who-are-you-single-review
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2024/04/12/jw-paris-stuck-in-a-video-and-ep-part-ii-review
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2024/09/29/jw-paris-something-goin-on-interview-and-single-review
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2024/11/08/jw-paris-something-going-on-video-review
2023:
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2023/02/10/jw-paris-wicked-game-review
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2024/05/23/jw-paris-geeks-freaks-single-review
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2023/06/09/jw-paris-leave-it-alone-single-review
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2023/07/05/alternative-summer-jw-paris
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2023/10/12/jw-paris-youve-got-me-single-premiere
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2023/12/01/jw-paris-alive-single-review
2022
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2022/01/25/project-leave-the-capital-jw-paris-interview
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2022/03/31/jw-paris-electric-candle-light-single-review
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2022/07/25/jw-paris-runaway-single-review
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2022/10/28/jw-paris-stuck-in-a-video-ep-review
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2022/11/11/jw-paris-she-video-premiere
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/2022/12/30/alternative-christmas-with-jw-paris
Malicia Dabrowicz
Indieterria 