Jamie McDermott is a surprisingly average name for this far-from-average frontman.
With his band The Irrespresibles, McDermott brings us high-art antics and theatrical delight.
Who are The Irrepressibles?
An elaborately stylised ten-piece performance orchestra who extend their music and performances into an audio visual fantasy. Their theatrical pop extravaganzas have received international acclaim and stages at the V&A and London Fashion Week, creating incredible interactive set designs and light installations. Their ever-evolving live spectacles are definitely worth checking out and continue to intrigue and amaze audiences around the world.
When I was a child I used to…
“Imagine a soundtrack to my life as most gay men do! (Laughs) I also used to visualise scenes, the two are quite synergised in my mind. When I got older I discovered artists like Meredith Monk, Malcom McLaren and Andy Warhol and I felt I had the reason to create these visualisations of my emotional world.”
My dad took me to…
“The youth theatre group where I grew up in Scarborough and I ended up performing in the musical West Side Story, the story of Romeo and Juliet. It really struck a chord with me when I was eleven and had quite a powerful impact on me.”
As an artist and a composer I conceive…
“Visuals. It’s the idea of creating the ultimate performance art where the set, the music, the lighting, the performers and orchestra that I choreograph move together, which then become one object like a Human Music Box or kaleidoscope.”
My next spectacle will be…
“Premiered in Modena, in Italy. We build it here in West London and we work out how it works and then we rebuild it again. It involves twenty-one wind turbines, it’s quite full-on. I’ve also been commissioned to build another spectacle for a festival in Holland, which is going to be in a cave.”
Emotionally there are all these artists…
“Which I have lived up to and appreciated: Freddie Mercury, Tracy Chapman and Rufus Wainwright some of the biggest geniuses on this planet.”
My favourite decade is…
“The Eighties: really amazing… obviously Grace Jones is a huge icon for me.”
Words by Camilla Felici
