1. Growing Up
Neither of us are trained or from particularly musical families. We both just got a hold of records or saw older people making music and got hooked!
2. Inspirations
NS: My first love was Ella Fitzgerald. I got given her CD as a freebie when I bought some other album and I didn’t put it down for months. I sat there trying to emulate each track exactly as she did for hours on end.
JJ: To name just one is hard, but I could listen to Sly Stone all day. He pushed so many creative and social boundaries with his music. There’s A Riot Goin’ On is a classic example of his creativity – it’s said he played and recorded all the parts on the album.
3. Your Crew
Yum Yum is a duo made up of Jayo James on production and Natalie Slade on vocals. Nat had just arrived back in town and was jamming with people here and there, when a friend of her new flatmate gave her a USB of beats from a guy called Jayo. We met up and jammed a couple times, and before you know it we had our first EP. Since then we’ve maintained the same relaxed approach to it all – we jam together and we’re lucky enough to get to work with other amazing artists like Hau, Daniel San, Tall Black Guy and The Bankrupt Billionaires, amongst others.
4. The Music You Make
We make soul music in the tradition of hip hop and dub in a DIY fashion – we’verecorded everything so far at home in Jayo’s lounge room on a microphone we borrowed from DJ Caratgold (thanks Carat!). Our sound has been likened to artists like Belleruche, Quantic and Alice Russell, which is a great compliment. The live show is something that we enjoy the most. Natalie has a great stage presence and Jayo plays as many parts as he can live, MPC-style; keys and turntables.
5. Music, Right Here, Right Now
Sydney isn’t exactly known for its thriving urban music scene but we’re pretty inspired by a bunch of artists that are brewing on some amazing music. There’s a ‘watch this space’ kinda vibe as there’s about to be a bunch of fresh tunes pouring out from locals like Hau, Sampa The Great, Sarah Connor, Kween G, The Venusians, Wallace, Scotty B and Maniak.
Spell is out Friday July 17 independently and Yum Yum appear at Play Bar, with Sampa The Great, Adverse, Makoto and Benny Hinn the same evening.
