Review: Josh Kemp ‘Chatterbox’ EP Launch Review (+ interview) – 24th October 2014

JOSH KEMP released his Chatterbox EP on Friday night at The Bodega. The release show was also combined with Josh’s 23^rd birthday party, and it certainly felt like that with balloons bouncing across the floor and glow sticks being handed out to audience members. It just oozed fun, laughter and parties, and fit so well with his personality. I got to chat a bit to Josh about the event and his EP beforehand, check out the interview below, and keep reading for a review of the evening’s antics.

So Josh, tell us a bit more about your new ‘Chatterbox EP’?

Well, this EP has been a bit of a long time in the making. We started recording in January with Stupid Cupid, which we released a video for in July. But this year has been a bit of an interesting one really, what with crashing my car and the ending of a long term relationship. Well, I got crashed into by a bus.

Ooh, was it NCT or Trent Barton?

Silverdale coaches actually! In the nine months we’ve been making the EP a lot has happened, so I think the songs are firmly rooted in those different times and places I’ve been, and the EP kind of reflects that I think. It’s personal, but also fun. When I get personal, I begin to think; “this is a bit ridiculous”, and try and lighten it up a bit. But yeah, it’s just been a bit of a crazy 2014 really, and that’s in the EP. I’m chuffed with it.

Are you excited about tonight?

Yeah, ridiculously so. It’s going to be awesome just having all my favourite people in the same room, and playing my new tunes, which for the most part haven’t really been heard before. Then at the same time we’re releasing my EP. It’s kind of the perfect evening.

What are the themes that you look at in your new EP?

So, there’s a song about love, which is called Four Letters. But I also get fascinated by bizarre things, and it’s also a song about feelings in general. I started to realise that a lot of the most expressive words in our language are four letters long; ‘love’, ‘hate’, ‘pain’, ‘fear’. So I thought I’d try and write a song where I knit as many of these words in as possible. Although it’s about love, it’s also about me being bizarrely interested in that kind of thing. Songs like Chatterbox are completely different. That one’s about some experiences I’ve had in Nottingham, some good, some slightly less good, but all based around night life and partying. Stupid Cupid is about a couple of friends of mine that were going out. I think everybody’s had this experience, where you have two lovely friends, but together they struggle with each other. It’s a wide range really, but the most personal one on there is The Swan Song which is about me splitting up with my long term relationship, but it’s not depressing or angry, but just more to say thank you for the six years, and now it’s time for a new chapter. All in all, the EP varies in emotions and stories, but actually it all perfectly sums up the last year or so.

It sounds awesome, I can’t wait to hear it. You have another side project ‘Hood’, do you want to tell us a bit more about that?

Yeah, Hood is just a wicked project that I’ve been on the fringe of for a while now. Adam, who played Cupid in the Stupid Cupid video, is the producer, and we’re good friends. He’s been looking at this idea for a little while, he developed a Robin Hood story which wasn’t quite the typical prancing around in tights, saving maidens from castles and stuff. We wanted something darker and set in a different time. So we’ve been creating this pilot version of Robin Hood which is set in the future, in an authoritarian police state. Britain has been split into sectors and one party rules, and they aren’t fair on everyone. The poor get poorer, and the rich get richer, but Hood is an unlikely hero really. He realises he’s not happy with what’s going on and starts to do something about it. I won’t ruin the story too much, but the pilot will be pitched to various broadcasters, including internet ones like Netflix. That’s the thing, it could go nowhere but it could really take off. For me it’s just more about it being a really good chance to do something really cool.

Well it sounds really interesting!

Yeah, it’s so much fun, but this week we’ve had some pretty gruelling schedules. We’re working 7am- 7pm in the day, having to get up at 5 to get down to the set. But we’re filming in this incredible £80,000 electric ‘supercar’ and a multi-million pound penthouse, so there’s only so much I can moan about! It’s a bit different, but it’s really fun.

Will we get to see ‘Hood’?

Yeah, I imagine so. We will hopefully finish filming by Christmas, and then we should have the first trailer out in January. I’m really excited already.

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Believe me Josh, we’re excited too! I also got to chat to GARY BARWELL, the man behind the original artwork (pictured above), who said; “when I saw he had done a rough sketch with his ideas and put it on Facebook, I contacted Josh and offered to take the idea and improve on it if he wanted. We went through a couple of changes before we settled on this particular face. It is a bit of a mix of Josh’s original idea, and my love of manga and graffiti along with Cibele’s design. I am pleased with the final EP.”

I think it’s pretty snazzy if you ask me, so well done team!

REVIEW

MOLLY & JACK opened the evening with a varied and beautiful set, consisting of some lush harmonies and interesting guitar work which made my ears prick, which I always like. Their voices work effortlessly well together, they’ve found what suits their vocals best and they nail it. Molly owns the lower registers whilst Jack sings in the higher ones, which is non-conventional and adds an intrigue to their performance. They balance each other well, and work with each other to create some gorgeous songs. Apparently Molly has a fear of balloons which isn’t exactly what you want when you’re in a room full of them, but you would never have known, she seemed to be just fine on stage! Together, the two of them draw you in and make you feel both relaxed, and emotionally stirred. As an acoustic act they really know how to snap your attention, and continue to do so throughout their set. They are the perfect act to warm up the audience and can’t help but give you that fuzzy, warm feeling inside.

The next band pretty much parade on through the evening with pop-rock happiness and some massive smiles to go with it. THE RASCELS are a very light, breezy band, choosing to stick to major keys and classic teen angst-pop sounds as their vice. It has feel good vibes oozing out of it. The music is cheesy, which isn’t usually my cup of tea, but they have a bunch of energy on stage and bring it with grins and enthusiasm, which is pretty infectious. Their interactions with the audience fell a little flat at times, but it didn’t last throughout as they got plenty of people singing along, especially to their covers. My Summertime sticks out as a track because it is catchy, but partly because the lyrics; “Your smile’s like sunshine / Your eyes are like the deep blue sea / ‘Cause I’ll be yours and you’ll be mine you see / You’re my summertime” are just too cheesy for me! They played well, with some great guitar work and good solos, and I liked their vocal harmonies. In fact, I would have really liked to hear another dimension to them, a softer one, using those vocal harmonies to bring another side to their music. I think that side could take their set that bit further. But if you love feel-good pop and boy bands, THE RASCELS are totally for you, and you should check out their new EP.

The pop vibes definitely limbered up the crowd ready for the man of the evening JOSH KEMP to take the stage. Josh writes really good pop. It’s well written with catchy melodies and nice progressions, especially with the band, and he delivers it so well… All whilst rocking the cheeky chappy vibe with an adorable smile. He’s so friendly and warm on stage, and talks to the whole audience freely and it helps you get into the groove. Not that it’s hard to, as Josh has talent and is a great performer. He performed so well with his band, and was still very much the front man, commanding the audience’s attention, but the band gave that added impact and oomph to the music which was fun. There were some really lovely guitar and bass parts, whilst the drums push the music to some brilliant places. The audience was loving it the whole time, especially when Josh got his loop pedal out and brought that classic Kemp we know and love, harmonising with himself and his guitar. He played tracks from the EP such as Chatterbox and Four Letters which were both favourites of mine, and it was great to hear an alternative to the Four Letters piano version. Josh also played the classic Hangover Song and First & Last, which saw the audience singing back to him with enthusiasm. They kept showing their love to Josh by singing Happy Birthday to him, and Josh showed his by doing a couple of encores and mashing up tunes from The Killers/Kings Of Leon and evenThe Jungle Book. The evening was a complete success, and the Chatterbox EP was launched with a massive bang, a lot of fun, and plenty of smiles! Ah, I will look forward to seeing Josh again.