Hello Jovel! We’re going to start with some quick-fire random questions, that are fun for us, and hopefully for you too. So, are you ready?
Hello, hello. I am ready.
What trainers are you wearing today?
I’m wearing Nike, what are they called again? Old school Nike Air Max like. Red and Black.
Nandos or KFC?
Ooo! See you’re throwing me the good questions man! Do you know what? I have to say Nandos – cos it’s a more long-term thing. You don’t wanna be eating KFC every day of the week.
On the subject of food…another important question. What are your favourite crisps?
Oh these are all good questions man… umm, fucking, bloody hell. Ok, Walkers crisps, yeah? They’re quite rare – but the cheddar cheese flavour.
Pickled onion were good and quite rare – have you seen those?
Yeah pickled onion were good too. You know what it is? (Pause) I can’t believe we’re having a deep conversation about crisps – but do you remember when the ydid the combination flavours? Cheddar cheese and pickled onion flavour were really good.
Have you got a bit of wisdom, which you’ve been taught by your parents that you can pass on to us? Share with the world?
Yeah my mums actually got a good one. “Pressure makes diamonds.”
That’s a good one. Thanks mum.
So, this interview is for Who’s Jack Magazine, as you know.Who is ‘Jack’ to you? Have you got a friend or family member called Jack?
Argh, i should know this. I’ve never actually asked who Jack is – I should know this! But i do have another Jack – he’s the guitarist in a band called Fuzzy Logic.
You’ve worked with Rizzle Kicks and Ed Sheeran – what are they like to be around? Give us the low-down.
Ed is one of the coolest guys in the world. He’s super cool. Rizzle Kicks, well. Jordan is nuts, totally nuts – he’s too hype for anything. And Harley – Harley is fairly mellow. They definitely balance each other out though. It’s been really good working with them all. Everyone’s really friendly these days – it’s not like how it used to be on the music scene with my gang vs your gang etc. It’s a bit like a big family. Everyone supports each other.
And what about Raf Riley? He’s a bit of a man of the moment – being bigged up by Diplo and his amazing EP with Etta Bond.
I haven’t actually met Raf Riley yet! He just remixed my ‘Overload’ track – I’ve chatted to him on twitter but haven’t had the opportunity to meet him yet. He seems wicked.
So it’s almost time for the re-release of Overload on February 25th – are you excited?
I’m looking forward to it. I’m quite excited; but, I’m more excited for the release after this one, cos this is the second time releasing Overload for me. Because I’m signed now, It’s a bit different though.
Oh nice! Ok, what can we expect from you after Overload then? Can you reveal anything?
Yeah, i can reveal i’m more excited! It’s going to be very different. Before, everything that came out was from my bedroom, but this was recorded in a studio – much higher quality stuff.
What you can really hear in ‘Overload’, and in the album sample i’ve been lucky enough to listen to, are your different musical talents. What other instruments do you play?
Everything. All the instruments on the songs.
Wow, that’s impressive! How did you learn?
You Tube! I typed in how to play guitar/ how to play bass/ drums… taught myself.
That’s amazing, well done you! Instrumental don!
So, you’ve got a headline gig at Cargo on February 28th. What would you say to someone to make them buy a ticket to your gig? How would you entice them to come and see Random Impulse?
It’s gonna be one of the most interesting, high octane, action-packed events you’ve ever been to. You’re gonna love it; it’s gonna be hype.
We’re excited for this high octane gig! Who else are you excited to see perform, or release material in 2013?
David Stewart. He’s supporting me on the 28th .He used to be Example’s guitarist; but, he sounds a bit like The Weeknd. He’s really cool.
A couple of tracks on your album sampler reminded me a bit of Plan B. Was he an influence for you?
I’m a fan but I wouldn’t say he’s one of my influences. I listen to him though. I definitely can see similarities but I think at the stage when ‘Ill Manors’ came out, I’d already recorded my album. I really enjoyed listening to it though.
My favourite track was ‘The Heroine.’ Is that based on a real life experience? Are you pulling on true experiences of drugs and death, or are other things factored into the lyrical content?
It’s weird man, you kinda hear stories from other people. The story of ‘The Heroine’ in its entirety isn’t actually true; but elements of it are. Someone explaining to me what it’s like being on heroine and someone telling me how they’d lost their child because of drugs … it all comes together, you know what I mean?
Definitely. Ok, bit of a silly question; but, what is your ‘Overload’ situation? Overloading the washing machine….?
My overload situation is…When I was living in LA, when I came back for a bit – I took this really expensive amp from this one guy – and it had some next power supply and the voltage was different, so even though I had a converter, I plugged it in and it overloaded straight away. He phoned me saying he needed it back, I was shitting myself but I sent it back and didn’t mention it and he didn’t mention it. Awkward.
Oof. Awkward situation. At least you didn’t have to stump up any cash though! Right, we love London at WJ Magazine. What’s your favourite place in London?
I’m born and raised here, so I love all of it. But, my favourite restaurant is this Lebanese place on Blackstock road in Finsbury Park – they do amazing grilled lamb and all that kind of thing. Yeah it’s wicked man. It helps even more that it’s like 5 minutes from where I grew up. I like to support the area.
Sounds delicious. We love Blackstock road for food, so many good smells! Ok, the last question is more of a task than a question. We love a good photo-bomb. Do you think you could send us a Random Impulse photo-bomb? Whether it’s you ruining an otherwise lovely photo, or just a solo-bomb. We’d love that?
Haha! Definitely. I haven’t got one now; but there’s no doubt in my mind that I can produce one – yeah no problem!
We’ll be sure to update you with said photo-bomb as soon as it hits our inbox!
Get your tickets to see Random Impulse HERE.
Visit the Random Impulse Facebook HERE.
