Christopher Nosnibor
We’ve been digging both Salvation Jayne and Chess Smith’s solo work here at Aural Aggro for a while now. With live dates in the offing to support the release of their new EP, Moves That Make The Record Skip, Christopher Nosnibor welcomed the opportunity to have a virtual chat.
AA: Ok, let’s get the lame, predictable, off-the-peg questions out of the way first: why Salvation Jayne?
SJ: No depth to it really. We were once in a cafe in Camden, and there was a sign on the wall that said ‘Previously called Salvation Jane’. We thought it sounded cool, so we just added the Y.
Would you care to introduce yourselves? Who does what?
Chess (pronounced like the board game) is the vocalist, Holly plays guitar and does backing vocals, Tor plays drums, and Dan plays bass/does backing vocals and also records and mixes our stuff.
Chess, you’ve been in music forever and things started happening when you were 17, back in 2008. Having been in electro act Mooli, and then working as a solo artist, what made you want to be in a band again?
I’d always loved being in bands, and had recently tried starting an all-female band of my own which didn’t really work out. Initially I’d agreed to just stand in for SJ, but it really worked and so I decided to stay.
Your bio describes you as ‘a young, female driven alt-rock band with a distinctive dirty sound which combines elements of rock, nu wave and blues’. How do these elements combine to create something that uniquely defines Salvation Jayne?
We have the big fuzzy single note riffs of bands such as Royal Blood, and QOTSA, but often mixed which dark lyrical themes/chord changes and a chorus effect on the guitar/bass! There’s some big brooding sections not unlike Sisters of Mercy!
Anything that’s got big brooding sections that tip a nod to the Sisters gets my vote. Hit me: influences?
It’s really varied for all of us. In our sound you’ll find elements of Wolf Alice, Kill It Kid, Girls Against Boys, QOTSA and even some hip hop influences in terms of the cadances!
These guys get cooler by the second. In the three-and-a-bit years you’ve been in existence, you’ve accumulated some name-droppable fans, including AC/DC drummer Chris Slade, and The Clash drummer Topper Headon. How did that come about?
Slade is actually a customer of Dan’s. Dan records his other band and played him our stuff. Both he (Slade) and his partner have come to see the band live and really enjoy our stuff. Topper is an old friend of Tor’s Dad, and he has known Tor for years too. Tor often hangs out with him and he was keen to hear the EP, which he loved. He then came to see us live and was totally into it!
You recently released a new EP, Moves That Make The Record Skip. Would you like to talk us through the songs on there?
‘Burn It Down’ is the most recent, and the only one that was actually written with the lineup as it is now. That track nicely combines the elements of our sound described earlier. ‘The Jailer’ is probably the most blues influenced. Featuring slide guitar, although very heavy. That one is actually written about a serial killer, really gloomy in terms of the lyrics! ‘Thrillride’ was inspired by the film Natural Born Killers. It’s about a hedonistic couple indulging in a night of sin. Has a cool kind of ‘desert’ feel to it. ‘Whorehouse Down On The SE’ is another one with dirty slide guitar and even dirtier lyrical theme – it’s about the activities inside a Whorehouse!
There are a lot of people under the age of, I dunno, 30, who have never experienced the skipping of a record. Are you fans of vinyl? And what moves have you got?
Everyone loves vinyl right? Holly can moonwalk, that’s about all we’ve got.
You have a handful of live shows coming up: given the live rep you’ve managed to build, I’m guessing you quite enjoy playing live?
Yeah we love it, get to relieve ourselves of the stress of everyday life! Haha. We always put lots of energy into our performances.
How do you fit playing further afield with non-music commitments, and are you planning more live shows to promote the EP?
We’re pretty fortunate as we all work for ourselves. So taking time off is easy, something we’re thankful for. And yeah, you will catch us all over the UK in the forseeable future!
Final, superfluous and utterly frivolous question, which I’m asking for a friend: what are your favourite crisps?
We had a massive discussion about crisps on the way to a show once. Tell your friend it’s a closely guarded secret.
Moves That Make The Record Skip is out now. Tour dates are listed below.
Forthcoming Live Dates (so far)
Aug 15 The Prince Albert Brighton
Aug 17 Hawley Arms London
Aug 25 The Good Ship Kilburn
Aug 27 Dover Music Festival Dover
Sep 23 Camden Rocks Presents London
Oct 13 Ramsgate Music Hall Ramsgate
Dec 13 NME Presents London
Aural Aggravation 