“Yeah, the whole buzz around anonymity shocked and surprised us,” J reflects. “It just naturally happened that way when we put the videos out. People just assumed that we were the High Rollers [the extraordinary skaters appearing in the clip for The Heat], but we never said that.
“In Jungle, being ‘J’ removes the ego,” he continues. “It’s not about status or being a leader. There is no lead singer. Anonymity became a byword for the band. It’s weird because in different parts of the world, they are more hung up on the anonymity, in other places it’s more about the sound.”
J is obtuse about what the pair were doing right before Jungle hit their straps. He is happy, however, to talk about how they met and the longevity of their friendship. “We were neighbours,” he reveals. “We didn’t live immediately next door to each other, but there was this fence in our neighbourhood running behind the houses and it was a congregating place for ten-year-olds. That’s where it started – not in a full production suite when we were 21. T had this guitar with three strings and we started talking about guitars, even though we didn’t know how to play them. Over time, the band became an excuse for us to spend more time together and hang out. It still is.”
J attributes their enduring friendship to a lack of ego. “We know what works for us and what doesn’t,” J continues, “and keeping ego out of the room is what works for us. Jungle is an escape from ego. It’s a place where we can go and create. If you get defensive or angry – that’s ego. Once you identify that, you can just drop it. You don’t have to be consumed by it.”
There’s a sense of fun in what they’re doing too. For instance, everyday sounds are transformed into something beautiful, such as the creaky door on Drops, and Jungle are amused. “It’s part of the music of life,” J smiles. “Everything around us is musical. Coke cans, a packet of crisps. These are found sounds … With Drops we laughed a lot thinking is that possible – a creaky door? T opened it, kind of in tune with the track, but it just happened! He had a door solo. He played the door like a violin. I’ve never seen someone play the door so well. You can hear it in his playing, that laughter.”
On the topic of their success generally, J emphasises the importance of staying in the moment and gives food for thought. “Everyone has that voice,” he assures. “The one that says, ‘What if this, what if that’. It’s just [fear] – but the past and future don’t exist. There’s nothing to worry about in the now. It’s difficult to subdue that thought, when you’re saying to yourself, ‘No, I’m being stupid’, but if you let it take over, you will struggle.
“Creativity doesn’t happen when you are worried about, ‘What if people don’t like it?’ We’re not Zen Buddhists though – we’re always learning. You have to understand though – you need to eliminate the future and the past. Take a failed relationship – that doesn’t exist anymore. A bird doesn’t think about a failed relationship does it?”
BY MEG CRAWFORD
