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JUMP JUMP are a six piece
band formed in 1990 in During their career they have released ten independent
studio albums plus two live albums and recently have released
their first E.P. (reviewed in Issue 3). They have toured
extensively both in their own right and as an opening act
for artists including Marillion,
Fish, Midge Ure, Sam Brown, Wishbone Ash, The Blockheads, IQ,
Arena, Arthur Brown and John
Young. I caught up with frontman John Dexter Jones following their recent acoustic set supporting Katie
Buckhaven at The Limelight Theatre in Aylesbury. For those new to JUMP could
you explain the JUMP sound? Er...no...
not really... we've been described by Classic Rock Mag as the
band that's impossible to pigeonhole... our sound is what we
write, what we fancy and...er... so that'll be a bit of rawk...
folk... bit of blues... some (apparently) prog... I honestly
don't know... we just like it and we've recorded 13 albums so
it seems a few other folks enjoy it too! For a band that have been
together for 19 years, how have you managed to maintain such
a stable line-up? Well we've had a couple of personnel changes over
the years... but the nucleus of the band remains...I guess that
we understand each other... we can really fizz creatively in
a work situation (and we certainly DON'T agree about everything)
but we have built a trust and respect for each other that means
that by the time we reach the pub/service station/next day...we've
learned some more....JUMP is very democratic but has clear cut
values that we agreed on before our first gig in 1990 and the
band won't compromise our own code. JUMP played at the 2008
Aylesbury Festival in Kingsbury. How did you find the event? It was a fun thing. Over the years we've done some
pretty intense stuff... more than a thousand gigs including
supporting some pretty big acts all over the place so doing
the Kingsbury gig on a breezy summer's day with not far to travel
and a carefully choreographed road-sweeper and drunken dancer
was just typically JUMP! Also since we had no permanent bass
player at the time (still haven't) it was memorable ‘cos
I met Naz (bass dep) for the first time that afternoon! Mind
you he was brilliant... Have you heard much about
Hobble on the Cobbles and how do you feel about playing the
event this year? Oh
yes...we were dead chuffed to get the invite.... it's funny
‘cos a few of our friends have played it so we feel connected!
Fish did it... we toured with him a while ago and guess what...
we're doing a gig for him a couple of weeks before Hobble...
the wheel keeps turning! At HOTC you will be playing
in your acoustic guise as ‘John Dexter Jones & The
Steven Twins’. How did that come about? Well
we'd done some 'JUMP acoustic' things opening for Sam Brown,
Wishbone Ash and Arthur Brown and the like, and then we got
a call asking us to do some shows with Midge Ure... after a
few of those we started getting serious requests for an album of acoustic stuff so we did the
JDJ album when a guy from the U.S. dipped into his pocket and
financed it! Really it IS just acoustic JUMP but hey, I've got
a fancy long name so we thought it would work better - particularly
when you're getting half hour theatre support slots and people
can associate your name with a forensic scientist TV serial
killer.... You hold your own mini
festival in Lacey Green every summer. What is the story behind
that? Perhaps
not strictly every year but certainly for 8 out of the last
10. We began an event in the Old Nags Head in Wycombe and then
the venue underwent some problems so we decamped to Lacey Green
where I live in a vast mansion (The Black Horse...) Recently
we've been doing an outdoor acoustic 'Gig in the Garden' thing,
but over the years it's been electric as well and we've put
on some great stuff... Mostly Autumn, Karnataka, White Buffalo...
they've all been there...we do some acoustic sessions on cold
Sunday nights in the pub and then we get everybody back to play
in the sun with a barbecue and loads of beer... The band released
its first E.P. at the end of 2008. Why did you go for that format? Andy
Faulkner our bass-player at the time had decided to leave JUMP
to follow a new path and we had those songs knocking about.
It wouldn't have been right to hold them over for the next album
because he was very much part of writing them so we did them
as an EP. There had also been a huge demand from the fans for
the songs too, so it was a neat way to plug a gap and buy some
time. The next album is now underway! And the New full length
CD is due later in the year, what can we expect? You are between two gigs
at Aylesbury's Limelight Theatre. Firstly you have just supported
Katie Buckhaven as JDJ & The Steven Twins. How was that? It was an excellent event. The gig sold out and that helps but the
really good bit was reaching an audience that were perhaps a
little out of our normal sphere. Katie is a wonderful talent
who covers a wide spectrum of jazz-tinged stuff whereas we come
from a more rootsy/folky brash place on the acoustic shows.
But we went down really well...proving that music-lovers aren't
stuck in one genre. Mind you Steve Rundle was playing guitar
with Katie so it was a good job they liked us... otherwise he
might have got some stick!... hopefully some of that crowd will
come to the JUMP gig and then to Hobble... And then you will be headlining
with the full electric band on 30th May. What are the plans
for that show? Same
as always. To step on the stage with a loose set list and see
what happens... entertain, give people value for the ticket
and hopefully throw in some spontaneous combustion of the improvised
sort.... gig one or gig 1000... enjoy it... and who knows maybe
preview some new stuff!? You include the occasional
cover in your sets, how does the band decide what to include? We
honestly, honestly don't decide anything. Actually we tend to
incorporate 'snippets' from other peoples' songs in our own
structures and they are just tangents that 'happen'. We're not
ones for being bothered to learn other peoples stuff... so it's
pretty organic. If you can do some Iron Maiden alongside some
Steeleye Span in the middle-8 of your own song you're going
to promote a smile somewhere. It started out as a way of grabbing
attention in pub gigs and then became part of the fun... Finally what other plans
do the band have for the rest of 2009? Well many thanks for spending
some time with us John and we'll see you at The Limelight on
30th May. For
more information visit: The Quick Fire Five ... What was the first gig
you attended? Ginger Baker and Friends,
Bangor University Refectory. Who is your biggest influence? Bill
Lewis my old English teacher... developed my critical faculties. What is your musical high
point? Finishing
a new song that you know is going to knock 'em dead. What are you currently
listening to? My
son Sam's ipod which dominates the house. I have no choice. What item can't you live
without? Wales... it's not an 'item' but I'm hardly going to
say car, pen or Shure SM58 am I...? so Wales... simple! |
