JAWS formed back in 2012 and quickly established themselves as ones to watch from the so-called 'B-Town' scene, alongside contemporaries Peace and Swim Deep.
Their first album was released independently in 2014 and charted at 73, an impressive feat for an unsigned band's debut album.
'Be Slowly' illustrated a young band with plenty of potential and they are now only a few days away from the release of their second album 'Simplicity'.
Clash caught up with lead singer Connor Schofield to discuss the band's influences, their new album, and the upcoming tour.
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So how did you get into music, who were your very early influences?
My first instrument was the drums, so I always loved Travis Barker from Blink-182, so when I started playing guitar, they were the first songs I played. For the music we're playing it's a weird sort of band but that was the first band I kind of loved, and they got me into bands like The Cure, who I knew that they were massive fans of. Then from there I found bands like New Order and Joy Division.
Is there an influence that people may not expect, either your style of music or how you work?
Before we were in JAWS, a few of us were in hardcore and metal bands, there's an ethic of that scene of doing it yourself, working hard and the community aspect. This new album is self-released, we still have that in there, that was an influence that wasn't necessarily musical as well.
Some of the biggest metal groups ever, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, have roots in Birmingham, is there any influence from those bands?
Yeah there is a lot to be honest, I'm not like a massive fan of those bands, obviously I know them but our drummer – you could ask him a question about either of those bands and he'd know it, he knows every song and he's like, not even a secret metal-head, he doesn't even care, he loves it.
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There's an ethic of that scene of doing it yourself, working hard…
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How about the bands that came up around in the same time in the so-called 'B-Town' scene as JAWS, have the band learnt from those other guys?
When we started this band there was no goal or no aim, when things started getting a bit serious we were chucked in the deep end, I learnt quick from the bands we were playing with – like Peace and Swim Deep – I learnt a lot just playing shows with those guys and then just working out how to act on stage and the gear we were using, our first tour was with Swim Deep and we learnt a lot during that.
Your first album 'Be Slowly' charted at 73 and was released independently, how did that feel?
It was really cool to be fair, we were just chilling in the van on tour then I think my dad or someone was just on the Official Chart website and was just refreshing it when it released. It was definitely cool. I'm quite proud of it.
Was there a moment around the release of 'Be Slowly' that felt like, we've really achieved something here?
There was a moment at a show, we did the Garage in London and I just remember playing the first song and I could hear the crowd over myself, it just went really slowly and time froze for a second and I was just like – fucking hell. That was crazy, I always just look back to that moment for some reason, that was around the time of the first album. When your performing there's that emotional connection straight away, you remember the feeling.
The new album is self-released, is joining a major label something that would interest you or are you happy to carry on independent?
It's something that if it ever came up we'd look into it, to be honest with you we've never had that opportunity. It's a bit weird, I don't mean to sound a bit arrogant, but it's a bit surprising when you look at what we've achieved. We don't mind though, everything's working out as it is. It's quite inspirational to look at Boy Better Know and Skepta, all their stuff is self-released and you think if they can do it, why can't we?
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It's quite inspirational to look at Boy Better Know and Skepta…
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Your second album 'Simplicity' is out in a couple of works, how would you describe the evolution between the first album and this one?
I don't like the word mature, I can't think of the word. But I've grown up a lot in the last few years, like I'm 23 now and I was 18 when I started the band. So, I just think the more songs you write, the better you get. Lyrically, I was saying to someone this week, the first album and earlier stuff, the lyrics didn't really mean anything. Now I think I've put a bit more thought into it and what I wanted to say, drawing from personal experiences.
Is there a song in particular your proud of writing?
Do you know what this sounds quite big headed and arrogant but I'm so proud of the whole album, we wrote so many songs. I listen to it and think, how did we make this? Like I'm not sure where it came from, I really like every song on there. I think if I had to pick one I'd pick the last song – 'The Invisible Sleep' – I think there is real energy there. There's something about it that's a bit different, a different direction I enjoyed working on.
You sounded more confident vocally on the first album compared with JAWS early releases, are you even more comfortable on this album?
100%. The producer we worked with made me feel like I was Beyonce. We were doing harmonies, different textures and layers. It was good to have that confidence in myself then have that boost of confidence from someone else.
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That's what we're working on now, trying to make these songs sound even better live.
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Are you looking to match or surpass the success of the first album with 'Simplicity'?
Yeah whatever happens happens and I'd love for it to do even better. We're so happy with how the albums turned out that even if it sold one copy, I'm proud I made this album. We all feel like that, but obviously it would be nice if it sold well because then we could make another one.
Has doing more live shows changed the way you've written, are you more conscious of the live experience when you write?
One difference from the first album is that there was songs that there were songs that we struggled to play live because they just didn't sound the same. Because of how we worked on them in the studio and how they were written before recording them, but then with this record we made sure that it sounded amazing. That's what we're working on now, trying to make these songs sound even better live.
Is there a song off the new album you are really looking forward to playing?
There's a song called 'Cast' that I'm really looking forward to playing because it has like two choruses, one gets even bigger, I'm looking forward to playing that. We haven't really played any of these songs live so I'm looking forward to seeing how it all goes.
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Words: Will Rosebury
'Simplicity' is out on November 4th. Catch JAWS at the following shows:
November
23 Bristol Thekla
24 London The Dome
25 Leeds Headrow House
26 Newcastle Think Tank
27 Glasgow King Tut's
29 Hull Fruit
30 Manchester Sound Control
December
2 Birmingham Rainbow Warehouse
