Joe Armon-Jones Chats To The Groove On Eve Of Hackney Church Show

Joe Armon-Jones interview with The Groove. Image credit: Joe Armon-Jones

‘Thank you for coming, if you came. If you didn't… sorry!’

Joe Armon-Jones and his equally talented ensemble treated London to an evening of reggae and jazz last Friday, including an unexpected but popular rendition of a Chaka Khan song. Midway through his ‘All The Quiet’ tour, currently on its European leg, Hackney Church marked the home city stop for Armon-Jones, and one of his biggest venues of the tour run.

JAJ kept his talking to a minimum on stage — saying he wanted to focus on playing great music. But just after soundcheck, we had a quick chat with Joe about the tour, hopes for the night, and the different vibe in each city.

Read the full interview below.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Interviewer: How’s the tour been going so far — any highlights?

Joe: It's been beautiful. Genuinely. Really, really fun. We just come from Bristol a few days ago, Manchester before that. I mean, the sound in Manchester was incredible, and to be honest, the highlights have just been the venue staff all treating us so nicely man. It makes such a big difference, big up to Band On The Wall and St. George's, Bristol.

So what are you hoping for from tonight?

Joe: I'm hoping to just enjoy it, honestly. I don't need every single little thing, technically and detail-wise, to be right, but if the vibe is correct, everyone's in a good place on stage, and we're all watching each other and listening to each other, it’ll be fine. 

Obviously you’re a member of Ezra Collective, but how's the experience been of doing all the press and so on yourself, and having the focus more fixed on you? 

Joe: Don't really think about the difference too much, to be honest. If people ask me questions, I'll answer them! Do you know what I mean? When I'm on stage, it's not really focused on me anyway. The focus will shift around the band throughout the night. It's about the musicians on stage, basically.

“When you’re in a flow state and you’re fully in it, you’re not really thinking about anything. If I’m thinking about stuff, that probably means something’s going wrong.”

What are you thinking about when you’re on stage? 

Joe: Nothing. There's nothing – they're not thoughts, really. When you're in a flow state and you’re fully in it, you're not really thinking about anything. If I'm thinking about stuff, that probably means something's going wrong.

Do you have any surprises or special guests tonight? 

Joe: Yeah, we've got the incredible Oscar Jerome joining us on guitar. He hasn't played with us for a while, so it's going to be beautiful. Mr Goya Gumbani is going to jump on the vocals. Everyone in the band is a special guest in my opinion. They're all just the most incredible musicians, so it's a real pleasure to play with them.

“Everyone in the band is a special guest in my opinion. They’re all just the most incredible musicians, so it’s a real pleasure to play with them.”

When you're performing, how much is rehearsed, and how much are you improvising? 

Joe: I would say rehearsed stuff is about 25 to 30 percent of the gig and then the other 70 percent we just kind of leave up to the moment. Tunes can be as long or short as they want, there's no click track. There's no time limits really, and I'm happy to cut a song if another song needs to do its thing and is taking longer than we thought. It can be hectic, because it means that sometimes at the end of shows, I'm like, oh man, I've got five minutes left… but I wouldn't have it any other way. There are guidelines and then we just go from there. 

People are going to be reading this a couple of days after your gig, and I’m sure it’s going to be great… but how are you feeling about it right now? You're going on stage in, what, two hours? 

Joe: Yeah. I'm really excited, everyone probably says that in response to that question, but sometimes I'm not. Sometimes I'm more nervous than excited and that can get on top of things… anxious energy and stuff. The soundcheck sounded sick. There's a few extra things I'm bringing tonight, like a vocoder and a few synthesizers that I've never played with on stage before. But other than that, it's a pleasure to play everywhere man. And it's always a different vibe, we just tailor the set to wherever we are. 

What would you say is the vibe in London?

Joe: There's so much going on. It's my home city. So yeah, it's a good vibe. Sound wise is definitely different. You have to change the set list a bit. Accommodate being in a big room that wasn't built for drums and bass, the churches were built for different reasons.

Spiritually, it’s harder to access that side of things in a church, for me personally. Nature has the biggest effect, like if we’re playing underneath a mountain or you can see the sea from where you're playing, those kind of things make a subtle difference. But the church, it’s more just that the room looks so beautiful. It's a massive space, so things echo around more and there's loads of reverb. So, I've added more songs that will benefit from that, rather than be hindered by it.

Like what?

Joe: We're gonna play a tune called ‘Watermelon & Easter Hay’, which is a cover of a Frank Zappa song. That’s built for playing in a venue like this. And other tunes as well, but I'm not going to say them!

Is there anything else you want to say before you go on stage to people who’ll be reading this after the gig?

Joe: Thank you for coming, if you came. If you didn't… sorry!

Joe Armon-Jones’ performs at London’s Hackney Church. Photo credit: The Groove

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Take a look at the best photos of the night and review of Joe Armon-Jones & co. in action in our gig gallery.