Describing themselves as a “sour cream and onion flavoured band”, Kid Jupiter is an indie-pop band that certainly takes some getting used to but the tangy flavour is just awesome! Hailing from London Laurence Morgan (vocals), Tom Ford (guitar), Luke Deacon (bass), Stephen Davies (keys) and Archie Wolfman (drums) combine a retro vibe with some contemporary funk twists. We speak to the lads about their new single ‘Superglue’, staying motivated and much more!
Why did you decide to enter the music industry?
I don’t think we’ve quite opened the door yet! This band started out as my (Laurence) efforts to prove to myself that I could finish a song I really like without help. Since I managed that, it’s gone step-by-step and we’ve been lucky enough to be featured on Spotify’s Hot New Bands playlist. All I ever really imagined was having a small but dedicated fanbase excited for our new music and we’re privileged and proud to already have that.
Can you tell us about ‘Superglue’?
Well, the press release we wrote says it’s a “bouncing retro-pop banger”. Honestly, we just wanted to write something people could dance to; there wasn’t a huge amount of syncopation in our songs before now.
It’s a pretty warm song inspired by a mixture of Stevie Wonder, Foxygen and The Four Tops with a message of solidarity that’s become pretty prevalent since 2020 tried to drag everyone to pieces.
What was the recording and writing process like?
Recording was interesting. I’ve not recorded vocals by myself before which was obviously forced upon us to a degree. It’s very easy to fall into a perfectionist’s mindset when you don’t have someone else in the room with you to confirm or allay your fears. Luckily, we had the song written a long time before lockdown, so not only did we know what to play, but we had a very good idea about the energy we wanted to come from the song.
Does the single have any significant meaning for you?
Every single means a lot to us and to me individually. We always do our best to prove something new about ourselves with a new song rather than tread the exact same path. With this song, as I said, it was all about making people move and dance in the kind of mindless anarchic way I like to when I hear it. It’s a song we love to play live and I have a lot of positive memories of performing ‘Superglue’.
What do you hope people take from your music?
Whatever they want. It blows my mind that something we’ve created could soundtrack an important moment in someone’s life. Since a couple of people have told me that’s happened for them it’s tricky to see anything else as more important.
What is more challenging for you – melody or lyrics?
Melody generally comes easier, but because of that, we’re harder on ourselves to make something better. With lyrics it’s not so much that they’re harder, it’s just rarer that you’re in the right mindset to write them. It’s like a flowchart sometimes: first, you think of a subject you want to write about, then you look around for inspiration from other writing, then you chance upon a phrase you like, then you build from there. What that list misses out is all the time in between when you’re staring blankly at a wall and your brain tenses up trying to be a genius.
How do you keep yourself motivated?
With regular breaks and assurances that while we could always do more we’re doing well as it is. I’m not very good at it, but getting back to meditation during this time has really helped me in all areas of being creative. And then, there’s still a lot of people in the world who haven’t heard our music yet – gotta give them a chance to decide they hate us!
How would you describe your music?
We try a lot of things, but what I’d say is that we always strive for warmth in our music with good melodies in the indie-pop world. If you want actual artist comparisons, that’s tougher. A few people have said that we remind them of an all-male ABBA which I don’t mind hearing at all; though we dabble in playing harder music than that too. I want us to write anthems for all occasions, not just musical content.
What do you think is the best way to discover new music?
It really depends who you are and what you’re looking for. There are definitely benefits to the playlist system of streaming platforms like Spotify, though I sometimes feel a bit pigeon-holed – both for discovery and for the artists themselves. Honestly, I still go to blogs and music magazines to find new artists. You get to pick and choose your music based on more factors than just the blessed algorithms.
What does the future hold for you?
Freshness, newness, writing a song for harpsichord, and hopefully some gigs. We’re all missing that a lot.
Do you have a message for our readers?
Why was Jupiter banned from competing in the planetary boxing match?
He took asteroids.
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