Meet The Jupiter Gallery: A group of musicians based in Suffolk, England on planet Earth. With their foundations being built around a blend of multiple genres including funk, rock and soul, the team are set for a journey of exploration into the realms beyond planet Earth’s boundaries and into the clutches of Jupiter. Source: About The Jupiter Gallery, Spotify.
My Kind of Music, with The Jupiter Gallery.
Let’s Meet in THE MIDDLE.
There’s no way to describe how hyped I am about my first English guests! No. Really. HYPED. I got interested in this band a little while back, when their first song was uploaded to TJMC, by Akara. I keep telling you, if you’re into the same genres as I am, go and subscribe, there’s loads of great music there and a lot of artists who get a chance to reach a larger audience! That’s exactly what happened to The Jupiter Gallery. (And why do I keep thinking about one of my fav movies ‘Jupiter ascending’ ?? Cheesy, I know).
On the 25th of July this year, one of their songs was posted, followed on the 11th of November by another. And that’s where I first heard about them. I am talking about ‘The Middle’, part 1 and 2. Part 1 was added to my playlist when I was working on Spotlight on Akara, where I went through the whole list to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. Since then, Akara and I might DM each other a couple of times a week, mainly talking Music and yes, Shoes 😂 but also random other stuff.
Akara deserves a Shoutout, not only because of the above, but also because he is such a nice guy. I always feel honored whenever he asks my opinion regarding any song, which sometimes includes his own creations. He is still very humble about it all and he can laugh at himself, I really love that. That’s why I will always refer to him, whenever I get the chance, he deserves it. (I can ‘read’ his response already in my mind hahah).
So it was totally conform the way we communicate, when ‘The Middle’ (Part 2) was uploaded, I sent him a DM, showing my appreciation for yet another great song he added to his list. After which I added it to mine of course. Want proof? Here you go;
While I was waiting for my previous guest’s reply to finish up his Spotlight, I was searching social media, to see if there were any interesting people for me to follow. And Lo and Behold, I stumbled upon The Jupiter Gallery on Instagram. Noticing that their account was pretty new (well, they’ve been there longer than I am lol) and they could definitely use some more followers. Not that I needed much persuasion, because I already thought their music amazing, based on the 2 above mentioned songs.
So yeah, I clicked ‘follow’ and thought: ‘well, at least I can now keep an eye out for any new developments’. Much to my surprise though, I received a message a little later, with a ‘Thank You’, for following them. You know, these kind of things always get me going! Since I wasn’t really active on social media before starting my blog – and only talking Facebook here – I knew how precious new followers are, every one counts.
And so I ‘met’ A-Siege, their producer and spokesman and a really, really nice person! From there on it kind of escalated real quick and I guess all you people who know me aren’t surprised about that one bit. You see, I just can’t shut up at times – and now you know too. But seriously, we had a real nice conversation and I wouldn’t be myself, without dropping a little ‘if-you’re-interested-let’s-do-an-interview-some-time‘ bomb. Sorry-not-sorry. (click some pics 😉 )
Since they only just celebrated their one year anniversary of their first release, I will take my time to break down each song they’re offering the audience so far, as good as I can. Though I already can tell you there are 4 members, I will leave the introduction to themselves, like I always do. Their music is infused with funk, rock and soul, as their bio says and for me the end result makes for a really happy disco sound. Music made to give you a good time. (Though sometimes accompanied by serious lyrics!).
Can I just first mention their awesome logo and choice of color? Being a total color freak, not only literally but also by ways of what it expresses (hence the name of my blog lol), The Jupiter Gallery scores a lot of points with their logo right away, you can’t miss them. Their posts on Facebook, as well as several of their video’s on YouTube, show some pretty impressive visuals, gotta check them out, scrolling down a bit more, you can!
Credits to A-Siege for those creations, though the band members help out sometimes with the idea’s, being a graphic designer and animator on top of being a producer, he usually deals with the graphics. Ugh, all that talent in one person, not jealous at all 🤐 Oh yeah and to finish it off: we share the same love for Level 42…I’m done.
We will go through their songs by release date, so on to the first song: ‘Break of Dawn’. Released 11/29/2019, I feel this song differs a bit from the ones after that. Not a bad thing at all, but since any playlist on e.g. Spotify, starts with the last song first, I ended with this one and that was a surprise.
Opening with a screaming guitar, which basically keeps on going the whole song, interchanged with a melodic line and culminating into a crazy solo, which really shows skill. The bass however, has a definite funky streak. No straightforward boring bassline as I think Rock music often offers – sorry… Nope. Funk and Variation it is, and most of you know by now, that since I am married to a funky bass player myself, I am just a tiny bit biased 🙄
Growing up with Jazz-Rock and Fusion, rock is no real stranger to me, except the jazzy side of it took off the ‘rough’ edges. In a way this is exactly what I hear in ‘Break of Dawn’. It’s raw, but the bass and synth seem to balance things out in my favor. Add in the lyrics and you know they’re meaning funky business here: DANCE till the break of dawn. Available on several streaming platforms, such as Spotify. ( find all links below) So… Funk-Rock perhaps? Don’t worry, it will grow on you, whether you want it or not…
The second song The Jupiter Gallery released was ‘Satellite’, on 2/1/2020. A song about needing some guidance and light to follow our way. Well, guess we can all sign up for that. But also a song about trusting someone enough to give them your all, reaching beyond your own limitations and letting go. I’ve always found lyrics can make or break a song, this one definitely passed my test. An appropriate song title for a band named The Jupiter Gallery.
The synths – bells! – make it sound like the song was created in space, very creative and the rest of the sound is less rock than the previous one and definitely more funk. You see, I might have a tiny bit of music experience, but all those official terms musicians use… Yeah… Let me just stick with what I know. The beat is relaxed, the bass carrying the song for me and wait, I haven’t even mentioned the male vocalist yet!
For a singer I reckon there’s nothing better than to have your own distinctive sound, a voice people would recognize everywhere. Yep, that’s the voice here. I am listening to a LOT of music these days and a song can start out really great, but when the vocalist’s voice does not agree with my ears, they’re out. Not The Jupiter Gallery though. I am pretty sure, that if I would someday, somewhere, unknowingly, hear their latest song, I would recognize the band immediately. Skilled, very easy on the ears and filled with soul. Hey, that’s what you need.
The third song The Jupiter Gallery released on 4/30/2020, is ‘In the Movies’. The heat is turned up and so is the tempo. I love up-tempo songs 😅 Obviously a song about being ‘in the movie’, where everything is possible and where you can be in control, as opposed to real life, where we often Think we’re in control. Singing about how they ‘want to be somebody’ and at the same time projecting their presence. With another reference to space and space travel, it’s clear that The Jupiter Gallery is aiming beyond the stars.
Great hook, earworms left and right, this song will stick with you from the start. Amazing vocals, some great percussion, perfectly timed claps, tickling synths and ooh yeah that bass. While writing all this, I keep wondering how many times I will annoy you by repeating myself. To make sure this article would showcase every song as they deserve, I have been playing them on repeat for DAYS. (well that’s nothing new for me actually).
Due to the fact that music played such a great part in my upbringing – which you can read about in My Kind of Music – I am sort of able to listen to music and concentrate on every instrument separately. To make sure I hear every part to the best my hearing allows, it takes a certain amount of plays. A lot of them. But the more I listened to their music, the more I got to appreciate it. Now, I never claimed I am an expert, but again, I know what I like and what I look for in music. They Got It.
Up to number 4: ‘When Freedom Comes’, released 5/24/2020. ‘How does it feel, just to be free again?‘. I guess as with most lyrics, this one is open for multiple interpretations. However, on YouTube and Facebook, The Jupiter Gallery mentions: ‘This song was written as a thank you to the key workers keeping us alive and well during the Coronavirus pandemic’. Just have a close look at the lyrics and it should be pretty clear what the band is telling us here.
They managed to put into encouraging words, that we are all dealing with the same situation and what kind of personal consequences isolation can hold for us. Though the lyrics are hinting at the emotional state we can experience, they’re also nudging us to positively look forward, to that new start that awaits us all. And though the key workers played (and still play), an enormous important role, we all need to take responsibility.
‘When freedom Comes, you know you played your part’, such a nice way of saying: ‘Please let’s all stick to the rules and we’ll be okay’. With an easy, relaxed beat and lingering vocals that compel you to go with the flow of the song, it should have no problem to reach peoples ears and hopefully, hearts.
And so we’re almost back where I started and arrive at ‘The Middle’ (Part 1), released 7/4/2020. the very first thing you will notice is the addition of a female vocalist. And what a voice! The two of them complement each other so well, chemistry is lighting up the song. After listening a couple of times I kept on thinking her voice reminded me of something from my past and when I finally remembered I shared my thoughts with A-Siege. (Ever heard of Shakatak??)
For me, the song is about two lovers, who seem to struggle to meet each other halfway. In my opinion literally as well as figuratively. You get hit with some beautiful chords followed by a funky guitar after which the singers carry the song with such ease, it’s unreal.
Again it strikes me how closely knit the bass and drums sound, such a perfect pair in every song. Unlike in many other genres, especially the bass plays a much bigger role here. Not without a tight beat though. When I recently heard someone say that any bass player should stick to their role, which meant the background, I was almost fuming. I wasn’t the only one.
And though in many songs in this genre, the guitar seems to play a more supportive role, I never underestimate the strength that comes from it. Without it, the song would miss that specific element, that makes a song funky. No funk without funky guitars nu-uh. And the many awesome riffs in all their songs, as well as the amazing bridge in this song are completely proving my point, where the guitar lifts the song to a whole new level, man I love this!
Arriving at their latest single, ‘The Middle’ (Part 2), released on 10/28/2020. It intrigues me, when a band releases a ‘sequel’. At first glance it’s easy to link the two together, following the lyrics from Part One and assuming this is where the lovers story continues. Seems like they’ve finally found each other, only to realize they arrived at a point from which they’re not sure how to go on. The other option in my opinion would be: they had written so much material, there was enough for a couple of songs… Of course we’ll have to wait and see what the band will have to say about that below.
I love everything about this song: keyboard filling up every space, the vocals, the rhythm, the beat, the groove… It’s disco meets funk in its finest form to me and abso-freaking-lutely a banger. I wish I could tell you how many times I have been listening to this one in particular, but it still feels fresh every time.
Only one more thing left to say: Special artwork (which you can find on their social media!) was created by the male singer of the band, to mark their six singles and showing the six countries who have been streaming their music the most. You’ll find out his name in a minute 😉 and just for this occasion, I will replace the original cover for this little piece of joy. Other than that, I Can’t Words Anymore. Just listen for yourself:
It is high time for The Jupiter Gallery to answer some questions, since I guess you’ve had more than enough of my starry-eyed comments. So let me just wrap up here and say: Big Thank You to The Jupiter Gallery! The only way this could have been better, is if I had found you a year ago, when you guys started. But I am very happy that you have been willing to take the time to be a part of my blog, really appreciate it. Wishing you all the blessings and Groove on your musical journey. I will add you to my Spotlight page, where you will stay indefinitely and where I will update any new stuff you guys will release, already looking forward to that!
The Interview
As a special treat, the bandmembers as well as the producer, all did their part answering the questions, to give us their personal outlook on things!
Let’s start with the obvious: Could you please introduce yourselves and tell us, who is The Jupiter Gallery? Has the name a special meaning? How many are you and when and how did you meet /get started? Who plays which instruments and who sings?
Seb: ‘Hi, I’m Seb and I am a vocalist and keys player for TJG’.
Georgette: ‘Hiya, I’m Georgette and I’m a singer in TJG!’
Alex: ‘My name’s Alex and I attempt to play the big guitar’.
Ryan: ‘Hey I’m Ryan and I play guitar. I’ve been playing with The Jupiter Gallery for the last few months, since I came back to Ipswich from London’.
A-Siege: ‘Hey, I’m A-Siege and I am a writer, graphic designer and the producer for TJG’.
‘Regarding the band name’s origin, we had thrown around several ideas for band names that never quite reflected our intention to make people forget their worries and dance their troubles away, until eventually, we joked that we’d need to look to another planet to find the name for our big intentions, hence Jupiter became our planet of choice.
The ‘Gallery’ part of our name came from the desire to take people on a visual journey alongside our music; something we hoped to achieve with our debut single, ‘Break of Dawn’ which just recently celebrated being one year old!’
I initially found you via TJMC and was excited to hear the happy vibes your music is sending into the world. Some of those vibes really remind me of Shakatak – also from the UK – especially the female vocalist, Georgette. Where do you guys get your inspiration from and how would you describe your music? Do you feel like this is the genre you’re going to stick with, or do you feel like trying different styles / sounds, in the future?
Ryan: ‘Ryan: I would say that our music is Nu-Disco, a modern take on disco, with elements of classic funk and soul. A little bit of house music thrown in for good measure also. The first band I ever got into was the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I loved guitarist John Frusciante’s minimalistic, funky style and tried incorporate it into my playing. This led me to discover classic funk and disco artists like Nile Rodgers and Chic and Chaka Khan’.
Georgette: ‘Inspiration is a tough one for me. When it comes, it flows, and when it doesn’t, I want to throw my notebook out the window. But I tend to write lots of ideas in the moment and then piece them together.
I usually go back to my creations multiple times (I’m a bit of a perfectionist) and being 100% content with my creations is a struggle. That seems to be a recurring theme amongst many of the artists I’ve spoken to, so I’m not alone!’
Seb: ‘As far as I can remember my earliest memories are of myself being awoken early in the morning and every morning without fail by the warm tones of my parents valve radio as they would tune in to Classic Gold.
My voice has always been me trying to imitate singers of yesteryear, specifically soul and R&B singers like Stevie wonder to Marvin Gaye and so many more who I’d hear regularly through my mother’s vinyl collection. In short, my voice is constantly evolving, so I always have something up my sleeve when A-Siege sends me an idea, long may that continue!’
A-Siege: ‘My inspiration comes from classic artists such as D-Train, Roger Troutman, Level 42 and many more. I also feel like modern artists such as SG Lewis, Le Flex and Jay Diggs influence my approach to production.
Our roots are firmly in the genres of funk, disco and synth-pop, but we are fairly open minded musically, and the future could hold some interesting changes. We’ve been exploring neo-soul recently and 2021 could see us releasing something that varies from our previous material’.
Alex: ‘I was lucky enough to grow up listening to bands like Chic, Sister Sledge, Brothers Johnson, Donna Summer, Jamiroquai etc. etc. My dad was always really into bass guitar so he would always point out these great funk bass lines to me when I was little. My main influences are Bernard Edwards, Marcus Miller, Louis Johnson, Joe Dart, Tina Weymouth and Flea.
I’d say our style is definitely funk! But we’ve got some nu disco, synth pop and dance with splashes of rock and soul thrown into the mix for good measure as well!’
Can you tell us a little about your creative process, for instance: Do you all participate in writing the music / lyrics? Do you have like a specific order which you follow? Do you even live close enough to actually meet up for this? (though since COVID that would be limited too I guess).
Ryan: ‘I don’t think distance has really affected us too much. We all live pretty close and when I joined, we had to sort everything out online because of COVID’.
A-Siege: ‘For us, the creative process usually begins with a demo from myself which I send to the rest of the gang to write to. Despite all living in the same town, the coronavirus pandemic has meant all of the band currently find ourselves in an unusual situation where we’ve never actually written all together in the same room, yet it works so well! However, we can’t wait until we can all be in the same room to get creative for the first time’.
‘The Middle’, has two parts, which I both got to know through TJMC. They both have their own charm and sound, but are equally awesome. What’s the story behind them, since I strongly suspect there’s one? On social media there’s is an offhand remark referring to Lockdown part 2…?
Georgette: ‘I got so excited when I heard the backing track for The Middle (part one). I had lots of love lyrics already written but the music was too fun and sexy for a sad or cringy love story. I decided to make it about a fun and exciting night, using stories I’d remembered from friends and my own personal experiences.
The chorus was completely different to begin with and I really wasn’t happy with it. The night that I recorded it to send over, I ditched the whole chorus and completely rewrote it. I’d just started seeing someone and I wanted things to progress but didn’t want him to feel it was moving too fast… I wanted to “meet in the middle”.
As it turned out, TJG had a song from years ago called “Caught In The Middle” and the story nicely led on from mine, which is when we decided to make it in two parts. We rewrote some of Part 2 in a socially distant writing session and It all just came together very nicely!’
Seb: ‘Now, my role in The Middle Part 1 was basically the secret lover that Georgie’s character ran off with to Tuscany of all places, hence the line “you said look at the moon, take in the Tuscan air” which is personally my favourite line in the entire song!
Before my part was even written we always intended to have the talkbox accompanying my lines. It portrays my character’s thoughts as he falls in love with this girl. I think it’s a great way to show the emotions of excitement and elation that one goes through when they encounter love, we’ve all been through it, it’s like a party in your head.
The Middle Part 2 is along the same lines. She was in the middle of a failing relationship on one side and on the other side, a blossoming relationship that offers a brave new world, which one are you going to choose? It was such fun to work on this track and I feel it has laid the groundwork between the two voices of this band capturing a really great chemistry.
As Georgette mentioned, when writing ‘The Middle Part 1’, we realized that in The Jupiter Gallery’s vault we had an early demo called ‘Caught In The Middle’ and had the bright idea to marry the two. The story of that version was, in a nutshell, you’re cheating on this guy with me, don’t you think its high time you told him?’
Alex: ‘Regarding lockdown part 2, spirits on the whole have been fairly low this year with the U.K being in lockdown for most of it and then going into a second lockdown in November.
The music scene and the arts world in general has taken a huge blow so I think we all wanted to be able to input a little bit of light into people’s worlds in the only capacity we were able to, and The Middle, Pt. 2’s release closely coincided with the U.K’s lockdown “part two”.
And since I now mentioned our ‘challenge of the year’, how did COVID affected you guys? Since it feels like you were just getting started before this all began. Apart from any negative effects, did you manage to give it a turn for the better somehow? ( I saw that awesome artwork from Sebastian!)
A-Siege: ‘Thankfully, with the technology we have available to us today, we’ve been able to work through the new challenges COVID presented. It even inspired our song ‘When Freedom Comes’ which we hope has given it’s listeners a feeling of hope when it seemed like there was so little in the world’.
Seb: ‘I’m glad you like my doodle, notice the references to ‘Break of Dawn’ and ‘Satellite’! I decided to go for a vibrant striking approach mimicking a kind of vintage sci-fi comic book style!’
I feel like there’s a connection in between the lyrics of your songs so far. A lot of positivity radiates from it. Am I just imagining things or do you have a (specific) message you would like to share with your audience? A goal to achieve?
Ryan: ‘I want the audience to lose themselves in the music and get fully immersed in the listening experience’.
Seb: ‘Whatever they might be going through, big or small!! We want to be the ones they turn to for an escape and have a pretty bangin’ time doing so!!
Any themes that are explored in our songs are usually open to interpretation and we invite our audience to come up with their own perceptions on what our songs are talking about no matter how much it might differ from the original intention’.
Alex: ‘I can’t help but listen out for the bass in any song I’m listening to. My favourite thing in the world is when the bassist makes me pull that “what’s that smell?” face.
Being a part of this band allows me to really let go and just have all the fun that I want. We all have a great bond and work super well together which I believe comes across in the way that we play and our songs in general. It’s an absolute ball!’
While the other songs have a pretty distinct disco vibe, the ‘Break of Dawn’, sounds more raw. Screaming guitars, a heavy bassline and quickly dipped in a far east sauce. Could you enlighten us about what makes this song different?
Seb: ‘Break of Dawn’ was the first thing that A-Siege, our friend and former guitarist Drew, and I started playing when we all got into the studio for the first time, it just flowed, the energy was amazing!
The reason for its’ raw sound lends itself simply to the fact we hadn’t established our sound yet. It started off sounding much more like traditional funk but it wasn’t hard hitting enough so we did what we thought was best at the time… turn it up to 11 and rock out!’
A-Siege: ‘This song had a life of it’s own. It was far separated from the route we initially wanted to go down but the huge, bombastic nature of the track lent itself to exactly what we wanted our audience to experience their first time of ever hearing us – something to make you forget about the world’s troubles, to keep on partying no matter what life throws at you’.
What about your dreams / plans for the (near) future, is there anything exciting in store you can share with us? Or is there anything else you would like to add / share with your audience / the readers?
Georgette: ‘For me personally, my hope is that TJG’s music can be shared and danced to. It’s funky, upbeat, happy vibe makes me want to jiggle, and dancing is always better with someone, right?
I’m really excited for everyone to hear our cover of Levitating by Dua Lipa that’s incoming very soon, featuring our friend ‘The Count’ on guitar (who performed on ‘In The Movies’). It was really fun to record, we’ve got some super slick harmonies in there and some sweet added extras from all of the instrumentalists too’.
Ryan: ‘I’d like to see us releasing even more music and getting out on the live scene’.
A-Siege: ‘We have nothing but high hopes for the future and we hope that anyone reading this will want to hop on board, join us for the voyage and keep all their troubles at bay. 2020 has been an uncertain year for many of us, but from all of us at TJG, we want to assure you that a certainty you can expect from 2021 is that we will not stop aiming to please.
The support we’ve received so far has been amazing and we thank our followers hugely. We’re already working on our new single so we’ll have an update soon for everyone!’
Alex: ‘All I want for us is to just be able to write and play the music that we want to play. We all have the best fun when we’re in a room together so I’m very much looking forward to being able to do that again whilst churning out some sweet funk!’
Seb: ‘I hope for us to one day create a live show that goes beyond just a band performing live. I want it to be a visual spectacle that will leave people staggered’.
Again Big Thank You to The Jupiter Gallery! And you, my readers, I sure hope you will all make the effort to listen to their music and give them a follow on social media, find them here: Spotify – YouTube – Instagram – Facebook – Twitter , or for more streaming platforms, simply go to linktr.ee/The JupiterGallery
Wishing you all a great week and please, let’s meet in the middle ❤
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