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JP Oldfield

Review Zoo catch up with the Suitcase, Kazoo wielding Singer Songwriter JP Oldfield

JP Oldfield

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Photo Credit: Alex Beardshaw


You had a life-changing health scare before stepping into the limelight. How did that experience shape your approach to music and song writing?


I had been out of music for a long while, playing at home just for the fun of it. It wasn't until I was diagnosed with cancer last year (from which I have made a full recovery) that I realized that going outside of my comfort zone and playing live music was something that had reawakened. I had never written any blues based music in my life but somehow felt drawn towards it and just let it naturally flow. I suppose I let the music move in the direction that it wanted to and didn't stand in the way of it.


Your sound pays homage to the rhythms of The Deep South. What drew you to Southern Gothic blues, and how did you cultivate that style in your music?


I've always enjoyed southern Gothic music and the ideas that underpin it. Life isn't perfect, far from it, the music is raw and encapsulates how it feels to live in the real world.


Being compared to artists like Tom Waits and Nick Cave must be an honor. How do you feel about these comparisons, and how do you differentiate your sound from theirs?


It certainly is an honor, I've been a massive Tom Waits fan for years and enjoy any music where they are doing something a bit different. I think the key thing with this is that I don't aspire to be anything like anyone else, of course there will always be similarities and comparisons drawn but generally i keep that out of my mind and just continue unapologetically writing what I want to write.


With your beat-up suitcase bass drum, kazoo, and acoustic guitar, your setup is quite unique. What inspired this minimalist, yet powerful, arrangement for live shows?


I approached this solo endeavour with a simple idea in mind. I wanted to be able to play completely unplugged, not rely on any added things like backing tracks and be able to play everything myself at once. The choice of instrumentation kind of evolved from there, those limitations meant I had to search outside of the box for ways to make an ever bigger sound with what I had. Limitations can bring out your most creative side and I've always admired bands or artists that stick to very strong limitations, it often brings out something really unique during the song writing process.


Your music explores the darker side of human experience. What themes or stories do you find yourself most drawn to when writing lyrics?


I've always preferred darker themes, I think some people naturally do. I view the human experience as very morally grey and so I try to represent that in anything I write. Sometimes we do good things for bad reasons and visa versa, every tragedy has a catalyst and it's a subject that has always interested me.


Can you tell us about your song writing process? Do you start with a melody, a story, or a specific feeling you want to convey?


For me song writing is a weird one, I'd love to say I follow some sort of formula but I don't. I usually start with guitar, if something I'm playing sounds good to me I'll play around with it, sing some random words and record it, quite often I tease a song out of it that way, it's like untangling a mound of cables.


Southern Gothic blues and jazz are genres with deep roots. How do you balance respecting the tradition of these sounds while incorporating your own contemporary twist?


I'm a big fan of blues and jazz but I also have an interest in its history and origins, I've been to the southern states and spent time in New Orleans and often think back to the feeling of that city during my song writing. I think all of that combined allows me to be respectful towards the roots that I value while putting my own spin on it but mainly I just let the music do its thing and I'm along for the ride.


Your live performances are known to be dynamic and engaging. How do you keep your shows fresh and unpredictable for both yourself and the audience?


Above anything else I love performing live, I have a set list and all your usual things but never go into it with a plan. I love talking with the audience sometimes on an individual basis and although I'm not a comic I take a lot of inspiration from improv comedy on how they work the crowd.


With your deep baritone voice and storytelling abilities, how important is narrative in your songs? Do you see yourself as a storyteller first, or a musician?


I see myself as a musician above everything, the storytelling aspect has come as a bit of a surprise to me but has been something that really draws people in. I prefer writing in the third person most of the time, which has led to a more storytelling style that can be fairly relatable to others as it's more of a shared experience than a personal one.


You’ve developed a reputation for your quick wit during performances. How do you balance the serious, often dark themes of your songs with lighter moments of humour on stage?


To get a little bit high brow about the topic I'm interested in the Greek concept of pathos and the concept that tragedy and comedy can share the same space and that we look for a bit of joy in everything. I naturally like having a joke with people and see a live setting as a great time to bring that out of people.


How has your music evolved from when you first started performing to now? Have you noticed any shifts in your sound or approach over time?


The music has evolved very quickly but also very organically. I started off rewriting songs into acoustic jazz covers but once I started writing music it went a much darker direction, the inclusion of a suitcase bass drum was my most recent change. I wanted something that could bring more life to the sound but I didn't want to get anything traditional. It needed to be easy for me to carry but also would need to be able to be played unplugged, it's the strict adherence to my self imposed constraints that bought about the adoption of the suitcase into the sound and I haven't looked back since.


Southern Gothic often explores themes of religion, death, and moral decay. Are these themes present in your music, and if so, how do you approach them?


I'd never really thought about my lyrics like this until I read this question but yes those aspects are present in all my songs. These subjects are all part of the human experience, we all have run-ins with each of these concepts during our lives and that leaves its mark. I don't tend to think too much about lyrics when I write them, instead I try and let them come naturally and so when approaching these topics like any other I at the very least can say I'm being honest and authentic.


Your performances seem to be highly interactive. How do you feed off the energy of the crowd, and does their response ever change the direction of a performance?


I love talking to the crowd, interacting with people even on an individual basis and sometimes making up inside jokes between us just for that night. Live performance is always fascinating because it's a group of people together in a room that are probably never going to meet again and it's really fun to play around with that dynamic and connect with everyone.


With jazz undertones blending into your sound, are there any jazz artists that have had a significant influence on your work?


Django Reinhart has got to be an immediate answer in this, I've always been fascinated by gypsy jazz and the chord structures that come from it and really that was my jumping off point when getting started with all of this.


What can we expect from you in the near future in terms of new music, tours, or any upcoming projects you’re excited about?


I'm currently playing a fair amount of local radio stations around the southwest as well as playing a lot of open mics. My main objective right now is to get my name out there and let people know I'm here.

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