Tom and Jess are music mavericks. Not only because of the secret, DIY techniques they use to record their space-pop, 60’s style tracks, but in how they riskily play venues in areas rarely trodden and under-celebrated. Here’s an interview with arguably Sheffield’s most civic-minded (and charming) couple.
Introduce us to your relationship with Sheffield!
Tom: I lived in intake for 8 years, moved to a new build
estate in Westfield – which is actually featured the film, ‘City on the Move’
for being idealised utopian urbanism. You
look at it now and the parks built from wooden timber blocks are all burnt
out. If you walk to the shops on a
Sunday, you’d see one person going from the house to the shops. One car going
past. Like something out of twin peaks. Eerie silence. Perhaps there you get a
truer representation of Sheffield whereas in the town centre there’s a lot more
going on.
JF: Do you think that’s a good
thing? Sundays in Sheffield sees people and places quite traditionally shutting down...
JESS: London Road feels a lot more
24/7, I feel a lot more comfortable with that. You can choose when you
withdraw. I like going to the International Grocery Store!
There’s a real disconnect
between those suburbs and the city centre, and in west Sheffield places like
Sharrowvale, Netheredge, little busy happy bubbles.
Jess: I like Sharrowvale for that
but it feels a bit too self conscious, quickly gentrified with very particular
ideas. Broomhill is the same really, a concentrated area. I lived in Broomhill
for just under a year and it seems nice when you’re walking through, there
isn’t a real centre or place where you can guarantee on people gathering, other
than the York pub. It’s not the sign of a community centre…
Maybe it’s because it’s on a
hill?
Jess: It feels like you’re always
on your way somewhere, up or down...You might be right.
Your songs are available to listen to on Soundcloud. Can you explain
your use of tags like ‘mersey’, ‘beat’, ‘girl group’, ‘beatnik’, ‘1962’?
Tom: Every time we do a recording
I see it in terms of a particular year, time or genre. I guess we’re trying to
paint a little picture of each song. Be in control of how people are pigeon
holing you and create your own pigeon hole. Our first couple of recordings were
kitsch sounding, early 60’s, pre-Beatles pop records similar to Joe Meeks with
a minimal approach. Not what we set out
to sound like - it’s very haphazard.
Jess: Part of me wishes that
people would listen to our songs and almost find it hard to believe that they aren’t
copies of the original. But part of me likes the idea that people find them to
be a slightly warped 21st century interpretation.
Tom: We research what we want to
sound like and take a maverick approach. In the Nichols building we found this
drumming book. It’s like half bitten on the side like a mouse has got to it. I
spent the afternoon reading it, learning secret approaches to get the sound.
Are there some secrets of your own that you’ll share or some that you
wouldn’t?
Jess: Ha! My mother’s recipe. Just
things like not having particularly taut drum skins to get a slightly softer
sound.
Where in Sheffield would you most like to play a gig?
Jess: Not in regular gig venues. We
went to stay with some friends in Liverpool, they were just talking about Liverpool’s nightlife and I
felt really envious. One of them was a Scandinavian church and it was
a night with Scandinavian beer and Swedish biscuits and things, appropriate
music. It made me think that I’d actually like to see about doing some gigs in
churches in Sheffield.
There’s a big octagonal church in Crookes, just from the outside I can imagine how amazing it would be inside. I don’t know if they’d be approachable…
There’s a big octagonal church in Crookes, just from the outside I can imagine how amazing it would be inside. I don’t know if they’d be approachable…
Tom: We’ve already played where we
wanted to play. The Courtyard Café in Attercliffe, an old abandoned department
store. We wanted to get the Courtyard Café a mention in this interview. I want
to get some big names down there like Richard Hawley, I might send him this
interview and ask him to come down. The whole area of Attercliffe is really
interesting. I found the grave where Benjamin Huntsman was buried by this
church, built in the 17th century, a great entrepreneur and
innovator in Sheffield who created so much wealth and jobs. The actual
graveyard is unkempt and mistreated. He was the Alan Sugar of the 19th
Century!
Not many musicians seem to be overtly reacting to the actual social or
political issues of the moment. Why do you think this is?
Tom: I wouldn’t say that we’re
not. If you’re recording in a particular fashion that bypasses record producers
and companies and promoters, then automatically you’re making a political
statement, with a small ‘p’ I guess. If
there’s no money in what you’re doing you should just have the license to be as
honest as possible. I wouldn’t want to be a Bob
Dylan. Or a Jon McClure or anything like that. In terms of having political statements in the
songs.
Jess: We recognise there are parts
of society which are politically and morally corrupt. We’re the work horses
that carry on through what feels like a corrupt system to slowly but surely
make it better from within. Our music is
about love, falling out, being treated badly, it’s about everyday things that
people experience if they’re committed to living within a society.
So you’d consciously choose a venue to highlight something people have
missed?
Jess: It fits in with that idea of
wanting to revive the forgotten.
Tom: I care about these areas and
I’m just trying to get people to look at the city in a different way. We want
to forge our own path. Succeed or fail, it’s not really an issue.
Is there a musician in Sheffield that you admire?
Tom: Cabaret Voltaire.They weren’t
just about music, they were experimenting with videos, printed media,
performance, artwork. Our name L’amour des Reves doesn’t mean anything, just
like Cabaret Voltaire didn’t. It’s a nod to the Dada movement.
Jess: It’s not meant to be the name that’s
memorable. Northern cities seem to be missing a wave movement of music. The
bands I like in Sheffield are incredibly different in their style, like the
Canyon Family who are doing Americana.
Why don’t you have many photographs together as a band?
Tom: We’re not going to do any
band pictures until we get a proper record deal. The more mystique you create
by not doing that the better. Should be writing songs, not posing. We’ve done a
video, we did it in five minutes! We’re trying to embrace this analogue
technology, and again you’ve got to be skilled to use it. We created this
really kind of accidental, amateurish artwork which is real beautiful.
Where do you recommend to spend a Sunday afternoon?
Jess: At the café at the Nichol's building!
Tom: I like the five weirs walk as
well. I’ve only done it fully once. It look a long time. I did that on Saturday
and we saw a kingfisher. You’ve got to be totally on the ball. It’s just a blue
and orange flash then it’s gone. Such quick creatures. When you see one it’s so
worthwhile.
Jess: You sound like you’re in
your element.
Do you have a Sheffield secret – it could be a place or a person?
Jess: It’s all about our flat, there’s
so much going on there! Or Tom and his vast knowledge of Sheffield. He’s taken
me on walks just to show me one building that I’m sure no one else will have
thought is noteworthy.
Tom: Rainbows End charity shop in
Spittal Hill. As soon as you walk in they’re like, ‘Oh, do you want a hot
chocolate? Do you want marshmallows?’ at 7 o’clock on a winters evening.
One final point. When you’re performing, you seem really calm and
contented together – are things always so harmonious?
Tom: We’ve got a level of
togetherness. With musicians there’s often distrust amongst a group dynamic, so
your classic four ego’s.
Jess: It’s an ego-less band.
Tom: We’re a quiet band. It stops people tweeting and taking pictures
and talking. We do demand a lot from the audience I think, it’s probably harder
for people to watch us than for us to actually perform.
Jess: I think sometimes I expect
people to sit down on the floor and cross their legs.
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