JAGUAR JONZE TALKS ANTIHERO

Interviewed by Culture Coast Talks editor Daniel John. Interview transcripts might have been edited for length and clarity.

After such a strange year filled with so many shifting feelings and perspectives, how cathartic has working on your second EP been for you?

It has been absolutely everything for me. Music is seriously what got me through the pandemic, being separated from friends and family for six months and being in an industry that couldn't exist normally in the environment of a pandemic. I was able to just focus on my creativity and take solace in pouring my emotions into my music and art.

How are things looking where you are?

We are in a really lucky place now, apart from a few flare ups here and there which might throw plans about, we're now able to have a sense of normalcy. I feel grateful that we can play shows again and that all of my friends and family are healthy.

Do you think people might come out on the other side of everything wanting to express themselves even more than they ever did before?

I think it is happening already! Art is so important through these times as it documents the emotions and stories that science and history does not and because we haven't been able to spend time with each other and communicate face-to-face, I feel like a lot of that communication and expression is happening in creation.

Would you come out to Scandinavia to perform after this?

I have never been to Scandinavia but it is my dream to come over there, please let our band come over to play for you!

Not all pop is as guitar-driven as yours is. Gwen Stefani was kinda there in her nineties era, though she came out of punk music which naturally is just guitar-heavy. How do you think starting out with a guitar shaped the way you do pop?

For some reason, the guitar gives me this unbounded freedom that allows me to explore when I write. Every other instrument seems to kind of contain me. I have no knowledge of guitar, I don't know the chords or the scales but I can just throw my fingers around and hopefully land on something that my ear likes, and keep doing that until a song gets put together. I really like that about playing the guitar. I see guitar a lot like a vocal, and in my songs I treat it almost like a second vocal, accepting all of its imperfections too.

You found your first guitar at a garage-sale, would there not be a Jaguar Jonze today if it were not for someone putting their old guitar there?

(Laughs) Maybe! Or maybe Jaguar Jonze would be a clarinet-based band who knows! (laughs) I think I was always going to find my way into expressing myself.

Jaguar Jonze is very much your creation but you also have some key collaborators?

I have definitely found my collaborators within my band. Aidan Hogg on bass, Joe Fallon on guitar and Jacob Mann on drums, they are amazing and I feel really lucky to have them by my side. I also love co-producing with Aidan as we exist on the same wavelength for where we want to take Jaguar Jonze, but we also have enough differences to continue pushing each other with each new track. I like collaboration as it keeps me thinking outside the box, and playing outside of my comfort zones. I will always try to collaborate with different people but also have a core team that understands who I am as an artist.

'Antihero' has a real sense of togetherness. The five songs clearly belong as one story. But if you had to single out one track, which would it be?

'Astronaut' was written as a poem first, and it then evolved into a song. Over the course of three years, I played with different arrangements and finally landed on what it deserved. 'Astronaut' is also the very first song I wrote about anxiety and at the time, I was too scared to share it with the world. I am really proud of how hard I worked for 'Astronaut' both musically and mentally, and so that's my baby on that EP.

When you close your eyes and drift into that endless world, where do you most often find inspiration?

Honestly, emotions and stories are the inspiration behind most of my creations. That can come from my own experiences but also what people are willing to share with me or that I picked up along the way from reading, seeing and listening. I spent my entire life being suppressed that by the time it was safe for me to explore expression, it came out like vomit and now emotions, connection and stories are the foundation to my art.

Is there any place you can go and feel inspired?

Yes, I like to ride my motorcycle two hours away from where I live, to a small retirement island and take a day trip. Sometimes I'll stay for a few days or a few weeks but it is usually a day trip. I'll spend time at the beach, bushwalk in the forest til I hit the pier, look at antique and second-hand shops, eat ice cream and fish and chips, not in that order or together, and visit my old local friends. I love seeing them the most, as all my friends on that island are retired, I get to learn and absorb from people who are much more experienced in life and usually come home with a handful of fresh herbs and vegetables grown in their gardens.

Having such a visual presence and even with how cinematic your music is, do you think you would ever be inclined to expand on the concept around Jaguar Jonze into other mediums such as a graphic novel or a film?

Wow a graphic novel is an amazing idea. I love that! Definitely would be open to doing that. 'Antihero' was actually conceptually created as a short film, which will come out soon, basically it is just all of the music videos stitched together but I would love to explore like a film in the future. I just love creating in every different way, I am always up for learning and for expanding my mind.

Any final words before Swedes listen to 'Antihero'?

Please enjoy and tell all your family and friends if you do. It would mean the world to me to have an audience there so that we can come over to play a live show one day, and then I can finally try a kanelbulle-cinnamon bun. Nom nom nom nom!