South London guitarist, activist, producer, and singer-songwriter Jelly Cleaver has released her debut EP with her group “The Forever Presence” (which features members of Levitation Orchestra and Steam Down).
The EP Forever Presence is out noe via taste-maker independent label Gearbox Records (Binker & Moses, Levitation Orchestra, Abdullah Ibrahim, Thiago Nassif), and follows the recent release of her singles: ‘Forever Presence: Pt. 2′, which saw Cleaver introduce her unique and progressive style of ballad; and the environmentally-charged ‘Black Line’, which saw Cleaver merge expansive jazz, psych, lofi soul, and blues rock, as well as including an impassioned, blistering guitar solo.
We had a chat with Jelly all about the EP, her influences, activism and more. Read the Q&A below.
Hi Jelly! Firstly, what was it that led you to make music? Who were you influenced by growing up?
"I guess I’ve loved music since I can remember and I was playing the guitar since I could hold one. I really got into music and started spending all my free time writing songs when I was about 13 or 14 though. Pretty much all I used to listen to was music from the 1960s; I loved Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell and Nina Simone. Apart from all things 60s I also loved the jazz singers, Ella, Billie and Sarah, and I had a best of John Coltrane CD I used to fall asleep to, but I was pretty much the only person I knew who liked jazz at the time. I was also obsessed with Jeff Buckley and Destiny’s Child but not much else from the 90s. That pretty sums up teenage Jelly."
You've just released your debut EP Forever Presence. What is the story behind the EP and what do you hope listeners take away from it?
"In some ways it’s quite a classic lockdown EP story. Us musicians were forced to take a break from gigging, and I started looking at some of the songs I’d written which I didn’t tend to perform because they were all ballads and didn’t really fit my live set. All the songs were inspired by some kind of deep loss and grief, whether loss of a loved one, loss of a community or climate grief. It was something I felt was particularly pertinent at the time when so many people were dealing with some kind of loss of grief due to covid. When restrictions had lifted enough I managed to persuade a bunch of really gifted musicians (half of whom were my housemates, luckily enough) to jump into a recording studio with me and we put the whole thing down in a day without ever rehearsing those pieces before as a band. It all happened very organically as I wanted to really capture our emotions and immediate reactions on the day. The record is really an offering to those who are grieving or dealing with loss, I hope it can help them in some way."
Please take us through your creative process for Forever Presence. Which part did you enjoy the most and what about it did you find the most challenging?
"Like I said, I’d already written all the music, and the hardest part was organising getting all the musicians in the recording studio on the day. Minus the logistics, the creative process happened quite naturally. Before we even played a note we all sat down and I chatted very candidly about what all the compositions were about, and I’m really grateful I was with the kind of people who would get what I was talking about. I thought once everyone knew what the music was about it would come out sounding right. We’d then play through it once or twice just so people understood the structure, and then we’d hit record."
You perform at activist events and organise workshops and gigs to celebrate freedom of movement and migrant rights. Please tell us more about that? How did you get into it? What does it mean to you?
"I’d always been into volunteering and fundraising as a teenager but as I got older I started to realise that so many problems in the world are systemic, and the best thing we can do to help people is to actually try and change those systems. Migrant rights in particular is something I feel really strongly about, and I hope if more people knew what was happening they’d feel the same way too. With the Black Lives Matter movement last year I think more people are aware that they should try and tackle systemic racism, and I think fighting for migrant rights is one of the most urgent things antiracists should do. Standing up against charter flights and fighting against horrific legislation like the Nationality and Boarders Bill or the Police and Crime bill are just some of the things people can do."
You've had an incendiary rise over the last year. What has been the biggest highlight for you so far? And what are you looking forward to in the future?
"One of the biggest highlights was probably being nominated for an Ivors Composer Award. I stood out from the rest of the jazz nominees for quite a few reasons, mostly being the only woman, but also being a self-taught musician and composer and having a completely self-released and self-funded composition. It’s a huge amount of work having to be completely budget and DIY about everything, especially as it’s something a lot of my contemporaries don’t have to deal with, so it was really nice to get that recognition. I’m looking forward to recording the next Forever Presence album and releasing some new projects too in the future. It’s very open musically so even I’m not sure how it’s going to sound yet!"
Photo credit: Kasia Kawalek
Forever Presence is out now.
