Inspired #354 - JARPSY
North East rockers JARSPY return with recent single ‘Desolate Towns’. We caught up with them to find out what exactly it is that inspires them.
Who are your top three musical inspirations and why?
Chris Macknight: “Inspiration” is a strange one for us in terms of pure instrumentation, because I don’t think there’s any single artist you can point at and say “Jarpsy sound like these guys”. But in terms of direction in my playing, John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Seamus Coyle (Sticky Fingers), and of course the incomparable Jimi Hendrix, all fellow strat-slingers.
Tom O’Donnell: I’d say the most important inspirations to us, in terms of just giving us the motivation to make music are probably… Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Enemy. It’s weird to have two American bands in there, because we have a fairly distinctive “British Alternative” sound, but they were these absolute gods we aspired to, especially in the beginning. I mean, the first songs we ever played together were Pearl Jam’s ‘State of Love and Trust’ and the Chili Peppers’ ‘Soul to Squeeze’.
Is there a certain film that inspires you and why?
C: I really find Pearl Jam’s ‘PJ20’ documentary pretty inspiring. And Peter Jackson’s new Beatles documentary ‘Get Back’, because if you don’t like the Beatles, you’re a stupid, stuck-up contrarian with no taste or music knowledge.
T: I watched “The End of the Tour” recently - it’s a film about the author David Foster Wallace, and the Rolling Stone writer David Lipsky. It really gives a fresh perspective on what it is to be a creative, and how to deal with the thoughts and feelings that come along with that.
What city do you find the most inspiring and why?
C: It’s not so much the city doing the inspiring, but I spend a lot of time in Newcastle, and a lot of that time is spent alone with my thoughts and my music. I find a lot of inspiration in that time. As for an actually inspiring city, the music coming out of Sydney and Melbourne has been insane for a good ten, fifteen years now.
T: This is probably going to be such a cliché to so many people, but Tokyo is it for me. I’ve been seriously getting into Japanese jazz and City Music, so the idea of 1970s Tokyo to me is just this landscape of amazing music.
Who is the most inspiring person to you and why?
C: To get all sentimental all of a sudden, the boys - as in the rest of Jarpsy - inspire me most. I never work more creatively than when I’m making music with them, and I never feel quite so invincible than when I’m in their company. It’s a really motivating thing to be a part of.
T: I can’t think of any one person in particular, so I’m inclined to agree.
What were your inspirations when writing ’Desolate Towns’?
C: Instrumentally, it was a jam from the very start. Everything you hear in the verses of the tune was the very first thing each of us played. It started with that rhythm part you hear at the very start of the track, and it built up pretty much as you hear it. Jamming is a massive source of inspiration to us.
T: Lyrically, it’s inspired by the lack of opportunity in our region. It’s about losing yourself in clubbing, drinking, shagging culture because there’s very little else for a lot of people. It’s work all week, sesh all weekend, rinse and repeat. Unless you’re in a rock and roll band of course.
How would you like to inspire people?
C: I’d like it to happen organically, really. I’d be lying if I said I go out of my way to “inspire” anybody. I just want to keep making the music I want to make, with the people I want to make it with. If someone finds that inspiring, so be it, good for them. If they tell me it’s inspirational, that’d obviously be beyond humbling, but it’s never going to be my primary concern.
T: I want people from similar backgrounds to us to realise that there’s no shame in being a creative. Sometimes in more deprived areas such as ours, you’re expected to get a ‘proper job’. We all still have our ‘proper jobs’ at this point, but if it comes to a point in which I can make a living making music, I don’t see how that would be a shameful thing.