FEATURE: Spotlight: Jockstrap — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Jockstrap

___________

WHEREAS there were a lot of albums…

due in the coming month or so, so much of it has been put on hold. I am looking forward to venturing back out, and I hope there is some improvement in the current situation. Whilst we wait for things to get better and go back to normal, there are some great new acts that are catching my ear. I know Jockstrap have been together for a little while, but I think they are starting to rise and produce their finest work. Listening to BBC Radio 6 Music, I have been digging Jockstrap’s new single, Acid. It has elements of Jazz and 1950s music; it is quite dreamy and sort of swoons and sweeps. It is a wonderful song, and I have been compelled to find out more. Here is some information about the duo:

“Imagine luscious Hollywood strings and soft vocals set to Latin-tinged and elegantly composed songs on a bed of sharp bright synths, metallic beats and jarring electronic noise. PC music meets Paul Simon and Nouvelle Vague. Jockstrap are the alternative pop duo based in London who offer this eclectic style of contemporary music. Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye met at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2016, forming the group a year later and releasing their debut track, 'I Want Another Affair' in December.

The pair's incredibly firm footing in classical music and jazz is evident within the writing, which combined with their love of experimental and contemporary music, creates a unique and advanced approach to the pop format. Ellery's lyrics are honest - sometimes powerful, or tender, and largely influenced by Plath and Rossetti. Her songs are structured like a jazz standard, yet they are distorted by Skye's darker, more intense instrumentation and vocal manipulation after they are fed through an analog tape recorder. Jockstrap take all the right cues from the pop world and blend them with experimental values to produce a sophisticated and exciting proposition”.

The duo’s debut single, Hayley, was released back in 2018, and they have grown in strength since then. I love their earlier work, but I think songs like Acid mark a new peak for Jockstrap. If you want to follow Jockstrap, I have put some links at the bottom of this feature. They are a fantastic act, and one that I think will go a very long way. I am not sure what their plans are for the rest of the year, but touring is obviously going to be affected. I am always looking for original sounds, and Jockstrap have that in spades. Despite the fact their name is pretty terrible, I think we will be hearing a lot more from them in the coming years. I want to bring in a couple of features before wrapping up, just to introduce them and provide some more information. Last year, they were interviewed by the BBC:

“Guildhall in London has some pretty famous former music students. Legendary cellist Jacqueline Du Pre went there as did famed trumpeter Alison Balsom, Dido and Robbie William's songwriting partner Guy Chambers.

It's also the birthplace of the uniquely-named duo Jockstrap (be careful searching it on Google).

"I like the fact that it's quite shocking," says singer and violinist Georgia Ellery, who is studying for a degree in jazz music and is one half of the band. "But it's quite anonymous.

"I don't think people really think it's me and Taylor behind it. It's just a bit of fun, really.

"Also, there was no Jockstrap on Spotify."

Ellery met electronic music student Taylor Skye a little over a year ago and began making music which defies categorisation. Mixing strings, electronic beats, samples and flutes, with a bit of French new wave thrown in for good measure, thanks to Ellery's half-whispered lyrics - delivered in the style of French wave ingénue.

"We didn't say, 'Oh we want it to sound like this or that', we just wanted to see what came out," she says. "We just had what we had in our experience, which was a lot of classical music for me, loads of electronic music and the degrees that we're studying, I guess."

"We also both like Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and James Blake quite a lot," adds Skye”

In terms of new interviews, there hasn’t been too much out recently, but there is more than enough information online about Jockstrap and their music. If you want to get to know them, there are great articles that let us into their world. It is a shame Jockstrap won’t be able to gig for a little while, but I know there will be a big demand when they back on the road. I want to quote from a DIY feature from last year where Ellery and Skye discussed their take on Jazz and how they are expanding their horizons:

"It's important to make the classical, jazz, electronic thing fun," Taylor affirms. "So often, we're surrounded by people who take it ridiculously seriously, and I think the best things are those that are heartbreaking and funny at the same time. There are so many examples…" he continues. "Connan Mockasin - he's ridiculous, but his songs are so beautiful and heartfelt."

Singular in both its sound and vision, Jockstrap is a project like few others, and it's one that gained them a hefty collaboration before even releasing a note of music under the name. The pair contributed strings to Dean Blunt's 2018 EP 'Soul On Fire', which features A$AP Rocky and Mica Levi among others, after the producer saw them at a show and got in touch via Cherish Kaya, founder of the band's label, Kaya Kaya Records.

"I think he was just wanting to work with loads of up and coming people," Taylor remembers. "We were at the top on the credits - above A$AP - cos we had the most contribution on it. Jockstrap, then A$AP"

Make sure you follow the incredible Jockstrap, as they are so bright, brilliant and original. I think they will put out an album very soon, as they have a healthy body of songs that they can put out there. Until that – and touring -, check them out on YouTube and Spotify and make them your new favourite band. You only need to hear a few notes from them to be spellbound and hypnotised. The music of Jockstrap is…