We caught up with Sydney producer, Jerk Boy after his big move across the pond to London to see how he’s settling in and discuss his recent release with The Baroness on Tinted Records – ?Satellite?. The Baroness? powerful vocals are recognisable from Beth Yen?s ARIA chart topping hit ?Ocean feat. The Baroness? and as the official touring vocalist for prolific Australian duo, Peking Duk.
With a lazy day at the beach in mind Jerk Boy, wrote ?Satellite? which seamlessly blends a classic RnB vocal with jazzy synths, to create Jerk Boy?s signature house sound. Lyrically, the track tells the story of the challenges of trying seeing eye to eye with someone when you are just not on the same page.
You recently moved to the UK. What are the main differences between Sydney and London so far?
It?s kind of like Sydney, just on steroids and with lots my sirens!
There?s so much going on every night here in London. Last Friday I was just planning on having a chilled night and we went out to grab a burrito, walked past Ruby?s Bar in Dalston on our way home and John Morales is playing all night and it was free entry so we go down for a boogie and a few wines. I?ve always wanted to see John Morales play and to do so in an intimate little bar with 50 other people for free, 5 minutes from my apartment was a dream.
You just feel spoilt for choice here ? the city is so big and there is so much to do its almost overwhelming! Being a short flight from Europe is also awesome ? dropping in to Amsterdam for ADE the other week was great especially getting to do it for the first time not jet lagged.
I do miss being a 20 minute drive from the beach ? but I?ve traded sand for the snow and have Lots of snowboarding trips planned!
Have you found any favourite coffee shops, bars, restaurants yet?
I?ve been coming to London for quite some time but it?s always a quick stop so I never really get to explore. Now that I?m here I guess there?s a lot of awesome spots to check out. I hope I?m not stating the obvious ones ? there?s so many here but my pick of the bunch are the Allpress Espresso Roastery & Caf? on Dalston Lane which does an awesome coffee and has a great garden vibe.
There is also an amazing bakery in Dalston called The Dusty Knuckle where I would eat at every day if I could, but I would triple in size. Newcomer wines on Dalston lane is my spot for vinos ? great little vibe and walking distance from the house. Brixton Village Market is my pick for a dinner and drinks vibe ? you can find everything there, including some of the best Jamaican food I?ve ever had.
We cook a lot at home and there?s a really good fresh produce market across the street from our apartment called the Ridley Road market which has been there since the 1880?s ! it has amazing fresh produce with a lot Caribbean based ingredients which are quite hard to find back home. So the home cooking experimentation will be flourishing.
We caught up for our ‘Crate digging’ session in Sydney a few months back. Did any of your records make it across the pond?
We went crate digging with JERK BOY in Sydney and had some fun along the way. “It legitimately is worse than drugs”.
Featuring: The Record Store | Something Else | Kawa Cafe | Papa Disquo Records | Newtown Record Fair
Vid: Sam Brat Video
More info here: https://mag.beatstravel.com/sydney-crate-digging-jerk-boy/Geplaatst door Beats Travel op Donderdag 6 juni 2019
Haha yes that was a good time! Yes, my turntables are on their way here in a shipping container. Fingers crossed they make the journey along with one big bag of records. This was a strategic one. I will be coming back to Australia quite regularly so I plan to bring some over in trips back n forth. The ones I sent over are lots of doubles and newer records that I know I can most probably replace if they go missing on the way, and I?ve been buying a few since I landed so I guess I?ll be preoccupied with all the amazing record shopping that can be done in London and Europe.
Who do you feel are your main musical influences?
There?s so many people that influence me and ideas for music, everything from House music royalty like The Masters at Work, Mike Dunn to legends like Patrick Adams, Leroy Burgess and Arthur Russell to DJ Premier and Norman Cook. I get inspiration from buskers I see in Tube station walkways and parks. There isn?t a second of the day or night when I?m awake that I?m not thinking about an idea for a song.
What inspired your latest track, Satellite?
Back home my wife and I spent a lot of time at the beach on weekends especially down at Clovelly which is such a nice place to swim. I was there one afternoon and just thought about the kind of song I?d like to listen to if I was chilling there in the sun. I started to hum the bass line, I went home and started working on it right away.
We?d just moved into Redfern and I guess I was super inspired to be back in the city fringe and amongst all the madness of summer season. So I guess it was an ode to our move back into city from the suburbs. I sat on the instrumental for a little while till I found the right vocalist. I guess the stars were aligned and Michaela wrote and sang such a perfect vocal top line which I could Identify with too.
You can keep up to date with Jerk Boy on socials below!
