10 questions to… Jive Me

Jive Me Interview (10 Questions to…)

When Jive Me released their new album, I thought it would be a brilliant opportunity to interview the band. Especially because there was a lot to talk about, as the songs from ‘Welcome to the World’ are totally different in style and concept from the Electro Swing songs from their first album called ‘Jive Me’.

In the interview I conducted with Tara, the singer of Jive Me, you will read not only about ‘Welcome to the World’, but also about the behind-the-scenes of the making of this album. And at the end of this article, Tara will tell you the secret of what artists and bands the members of Jive Me listen to on a daily basis. It was a very inspiring conversation and I hope you learn a lot of interesting information from it!

01. LadyDot: It has been three years since the release of your debut album, ‘Jive Me’. How long did you work on creating ‘Welcome to the World’? Were the singles from this new album created in parallel with material from the previous album?

Jive Me (Tara): Hi Anna! Welcome to the world took 3 years to make, and because of covid we had a lot of time on our hands to create which was the only highlight of this period ! We had about a 100 demos that we didn’t use for our first album, so we reworked some of them but most of the album was fresh and spontaneous. Although the creating process was pretty much the same, Baptiste, the musical producer, still used samples from the 20’s to create unique sounds.

02. LadyDot: ‘Jive Me’ was definitely an Electro Swing album – I can say that the songs are a mix of electronic, swing and pop music. ‘Welcome to the World’ is definitely more electronic, with a touch of pop. Does this mean that there will be less Electro Swing in your songs now?

Jive Me (Tara): Our music tastes have evolved since 2019, and Baptiste and I are real fans of all genres of electronic music. We barely listen to electro swing music now, but it remains our first love, and the foundation of our band ! I feel like we’re not going to release electro swing in the near future, but will always play it live because it’s CRAZY on stage !

03. LadyDot: Haha, I’m going to go back to the ‘Jive Me’ theme again – because I love that album! Were you inspired by other Electro Swing (or swing, of course) bands or artists when creating these songs?

Jive Me (Tara): Our inspirations mostly come from other genres of music ! But of course Caravan Palace was a big inspiration on this first album, we think that they are masters of the electro swing world aha !

04. LadyDot: In my opinion, the ‘Jive Me’ album was completely danceable. “Welcome to the World” also contains more peaceful, nostalgic songs (e.g. “Link’s Lullaby”, “Welcome to the World” or “A Different Way”). Was the creation of these ‘calm’ songs influenced by the events of the last few years (e.g. lockdown)?

Jive Me (Tara): Of course this period was hard on all of us, and we had to put it in our music. It was a huge shift of mood for us. 2020 paralyzed and terrorized us, because we realized that live music might die.
Welcome to the world is more emotional, and intimate. We talk about our dreams, our fears, our friendship, and our quest as a band. We’re glad you felt it !

05. LadyDot: It is said that you created all the songs on the ‘Welcome to the World’ album yourselves, without collaborating with other artists. Is this true? Or did someone, however, help you compose these songs?

Jive Me (Tara): It is true ! Baptiste is the main composer, Yoann (clarinets) and Arnaud (guitars) are composing their parts as well. And then I write the texts and the melodies. Baptiste and I are making everything from the music to the promotion. All the visuals, the videoclips, the artwork of the album… It is our full time job aha and we’re so happy to be able to focus on Jive Me daily, it is pure happiness !

06. LadyDot: Tara, I am impressed by your distinctive, wonderful and incredibly emotional vocals. Is Jive Me your first band to feature you as a vocalist?

Jive Me (Tara): Thank you so much ! Yes it is ! I used to sing with my brother but just for fun and then I aspired to be a comedian and focus on theater, but before I could go to theater school I met Baptiste and fell in love with Jive Me aha !

07. LadyDot: I feel that the album ‘Welcome to the World’ is a real demonstration of your skills – both vocally and musically creative. You show versatility, excellent mixing of different musical genres and visionary. In your opinion, which of the tracks on this album most reflects your energy and why?

Jive Me (Tara): Again, thank you so much ! To be honest, every track has a huge meaning to us and reflects our mindsets at different times throughout these 3 years. “Strange Man” is our dearest track, it talks about our friendship, how we cherish it, and how much it changed our lives. It was the first track that we wrote after the lockdown, we needed to reconnect ! It’s also a transition from electro swing to electro pop.
“Welcome to the war” is the track that describes our darkest times, when we thought everything was over, and the world was falling apart.
“Welcome to the world” is the last track that we wrote. It’s all about hopes and dreams and we love it for that !

08. LadyDot: Okay, you have made two albums and played hundreds of concerts. What are your musical plans for the near future?

Jive Me (Tara): We would love to work with other artists in the future and make a remix album ! Also we can not wait to go back on tour with our new album !!!

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09. LadyDot: I love the French touch. I have mentioned many times that, in my opinion, French artists are the best in the world at making electronic music. Your band too! And what kind of music do you guys listen to on a daily basis? Maybe you can recommend to me and the readers of the Electro Swing Thing blog, some new musical inspirations?

Jive Me (Tara): We couldn’t agree more ! French electronic artists are so inspiring to us ! Baptiste is a huge fan of film music, downtempo, drum’n’bass and underground producers. Just so you know he’s been listening to “Sarah Schachner” EVERY MORNING since 2017 haha. He recommends “Mura Masa”, “Noisia”, “Pleeg” and his latest obsession is “Lorn”.

Yoann is a true Neo Jazz addict and he recommends “Gabriel Gosse”, “Beeseau” and “Devils of Moko”.
As a true guitarist, Arnaud listens to guitarists aha ! His latest discovery was “Polyphia” and the entire band recommends them !!
I had a HUGE crush on “Parcels” and “Aurora” lately ! I always listen to a lot of reggae music and would highly recommend “Fat Freddy’s Drop” !

But there’s some artists that will never leave my playlist such as Stromae, Woodkid, Marvin Gaye, Amy Winehouse, Wu Tang Clan, and of course Daft Punk, Laurant Garnier, Jean-Michel Jarre and all of the french fathers of french electronic music.

10. LadyDot: You played concerts in France this year. Are you also planning to visit other corners of Europe and maybe even the world in 2023? I would love to go to your concert, for example in Poland. :)

Jive Me (Tara): We would love to !! Just hook us up with a festival in Poland and we’ll come ! Seriously !
We noticed that a lot of our audience is based in the US, and in Europe and we would be sooooo happy to meet them !

LadyDot: Tara, thank you so much for your fantastic, inspiring and comprehensive answers. It was a great pleasure interviewing you!

Interview by LadyDot (Ja, Wizeruk) Date: 2022-12-19