Composed of Owen Lyons (vocals, guitar, trumpet, keys), Matthew Watt (guitar, vocals), Gareth Arnold (bass, vocals) and Henry Wilson (drums, vocals), Jumper Boy present an approach to indie, math and emo that’s effortlessly endearing. Yes, whilst it has to be said that many an act within the realm of this genre can also be presented with such an accolade, what makes Jumper Boy so brilliant is just how authentic and natural they sound. Organically amalgamating elements of twinkly math, midwest emo and home-brewed indie with a kind of intricate chemistry that can only come from close-knit friends inhabiting the same wavelength, the Sheffield quartet’s output is rich with a sense of intrinsic sincerity that can only come from full creative commitment to their craft. Whilst their 2019 EP Pictures From Your Birthday presented such a fact, it’s their most recent release Songs About Furniture that makes such a statement irrefutable.
Harkening thoughts of genre defining acts as Delta Sleep and TTNG whilst also enriched with the earnest charm synonymous with emerging acts in the vein of Toodles and the Hectic Pity and Slash Fiction, Songs About Furniture see’s the band addressing difficult times with inspiring optimism. Whilst the record may be on focusing on the rediscovery of oneself in the wake of trauma and grappling ones own dwindling mortality, here, Jumper Boy address such trepidations with a kind of warmth that’s illuminating and inviting. In fact, the record is positively aglow with kindred musical affection.
In fact, as the album yearningly glides from the carbonated math rock of ‘There Is No Lake At Camp Greenlake’ to the serene midwest emo longing of ‘Times New Roman’ prior to concluding with a sweeping eight plus minute chronicle with ‘Burnt Toast’, Jumper Boy’s personal ruminations become shared. It’s a record that address and accepts the woes that the human condition bestows upon us, but one that states that we don’t have to wander through the shadows of existence alone. As the band explore such fears with the kind of progression that can only come from a band birthed forth from the fertile soil of the Yorkshire scene, Jumper Boy ultimately come to pass to be the musical equivalent of a sympathetic shoulder to lean or a trusted hoodie to seek comfort in; always reliable, always understanding and always consoling.
With Songs About Furniture out now via Stereo Brain Records, we got in touch with Jumper Boy to discuss their approach to songcraft, their growth over the years and making warm wooly music.
For those new to Jumper Boy, how would you briefly describe the band?
Owen: “I’d say we’re an Emo, Indie and Math Rock band from Sheffield. We write stuff that tends to fit in the triangle between those genres but I think I’d struggle to pin one of them down as our primary genre. We’ve got a bit of fast riffy dance-y stuff, some twinkly stuff and unusual time signatures and some slower, more atmospheric stuff. Lyrically I guess a lot of our stuff is just about stuff that’s happened to me or things that I think about. I think our lyrics can end up being on the sadder side but I try to get some nice imagery and a bit of a positive spin every now and then.”
Musically and topically, what are your primary inspirations?
Owen: “I like to think of our influences like a big venn diagram. All of us individually have overlap but there’s actually very little that all of us listen to. I grew up with the standard mid 2000s emo and pop punk as well as a lot of music from the British indie scene like Bloc Party and Libertines. I think that stuff really shaped my sense of songwriting and lyrics. When I went to University I met the other guys in the band and then got really into the math rock that was happening here in the 2010’s with stuff like Colour, TTNG and Delta Sleep who I think are all big influences for specific things like chords, progressions and guitar lines.”
Matt: “I remember when Owen and I were trying to start the band in winter 2017/18 we’d just discovered math rock and got super excited about trying to get into that scene (when we could barely even play any of it!). I think because we were so new to it, we still brought a lot of our own preferences and sound though, which came out as a real mix of genres in that first EP. I think that continues now – if anything our individual tastes have branched out even further – so we’ll arrive at rehearsals with totally different ideas of notes and rhythms to fit around the songs we’re working on.”
You released your latest EP Songs About Furniture back in September via Stereo Brain, looking back how did the release go?
Owen: “It’s been good yeah, there were a whole bunch of reasons why we had to take quite a long time to put anything out after our demo EP in 2019 but after gearing things back up in 2021 we wanted to take time to write songs and find a producer and sound that we were really happy with so it’s been a long process getting it released. We’re happy with the final result and the reception has been really lovely whether it’s from people who knew us or people who found out about us through the EP or our tour with Pillow Fort last summer.”
In a similar vein to your namesake, your take on emo and math rock sounds effortlessly cosy, soothing and cathartic. How do you go about music that carries this feeling, is it intentional?
Owen: “When I was in bands before University I used to write a lot of bad music in all sorts of styles. Something I struggled with was writing music that felt like it came from somewhere genuine. Even if the lyrics were often personal I think you could always tell that it always came out of a desire to sound like something else and wasn’t really representative of me. With Jumper Boy, I’ve always tried to write songs that feel as genuine as possible so I think a lot of the moods that we cover just come out of how I’m feeling as I write rather than shooting for a specific emotion.”
Henry: “With the guitars often being at the forefront of the sound, I definitely tried to have the drums take a back seat rather than trying to compete with them – it’s easy to get carried away and make something really intricate but completely unsuited to the song. Like with ‘Times New Roman’, I think I’m not playing anything at all for like half the song, but I’m much happier doing that than playing something ‘fun’ and ruining the song.”
Matt: “I don’t have much to add to the other guys’ thoughts on the writing, but I have a little story on the name: I was at a Car Seat Headrest gig with a friend who hadn’t heard them much before, and as the gig finished and we headed home she said to me “I thought they were going to be a bunch of Jumper Boys but they were actually really fun!”, and I instantly knew she’d given me the perfect band name, it fit the feeling of the music so well.”
A lot of your lyrics are quite melancholic and despondent, which is certainly a contrast to your rather upbeat songwriting. What’s your approach to balancing this contrast?
Owen: “I approach the lyrics quite differently to the music I think. With the music I try to write how I’m feeling in the moment but when it comes to lyrics I prefer to look at things that happened in the past so I can write about them with a little more detachment. I’ve found that normally if I write about something that happened very recently the lyrics can become straightforward and there’s less of a narrative to them. It can get a bit ‘say what you see’ if you know what I mean? I think a bit of distance helps to balance it out with the instrumental as well.”
You previously stated that the EP is the end result of you as a collective trying to improve as songwriters and people. Personally, do you feel like you achieved that and was the creation of the EP a validating and cathartic experience?
Owen: “Oh gosh, I don’t know. We’re all very proud of the record. I think it’s a big step up from the demos that we put out in 2019 in pretty much all aspects. It wasn’t easy to put together. After the first recording session back in the first half of 2022 I got myself into a real state because I had no idea what we were actually going to release. Alan, who mixed and produced the EP, was fantastic at keeping things on track and giving us space to breathe and experiment with different ideas. Then by the second recording session in 2023 I had a much clearer idea of what we were doing and it all really came together. By the time we were talking to Luna from Stereo Brain it was all pretty much complete and she just helped us actually get it out there.”
Henry: “With this being the first musical release that I’ve been involved in, I’ve definitely had a bit of a trial by fire with coming up with and playing the drum parts on the EP but I think I’m happy with how it’s all gone. The recording process was interesting in that we wanted to record as best we could without being too clinical and perfect – that’s just not really us, when we were recording the drum tracks as a full band for guitars and stuff to be layered over, we tried using a click track for a couple of takes so we would be ‘locked in’. Once we listened back to them, all of us (including Alan), knew that the other takes had a much better energy and vibe to them so we went with them – stressing over any slight changes in time wasn’t worth it if it was lifeless and boring.”
Matt: “To me the studio stuff is the absolute best part of being in a band, when you’re trying to take the energy and sound you hear in your heads in rehearsal every week and condense it into something other people can experience. I think we had a lot of inertia to overcome after we got the band going again in 2021 and it took a long time to figure out what ‘Jumper Boy’ really sounded like with partially finished songs that we’d written years earlier and the newer stuff we started on when we got back together. To get something out there that feels like a real expression of ourselves, music we love to hear and play, is so rewarding and I’m glad we didn’t rush any of it and waited for the right time.”
The national DIY math rock scene seems to be in great health right now. What’s your thoughts on the scene as a whole?
Owen: “Math Rock is a funny one because it encompasses all sorts of stuff. There’s the more indie side of things where you’ve got bands like us, FES, Real Terms and Scumbag Lion and then the really technical side of it where there’s some proper mad instrumental stuff coming from bands like Demcats and WHAT? NAH. It’s a broad range of bands but I think we all love each other’s stuff and share lineups and that so it’s a lovely scene to be a part of. To be honest, it’s been a really hard time for promoters, venues and bands since the pandemic. But it’s been great to meet so many fantastic bands and promoters and be part of such a supportive scene even during what is a pretty crap time for local music on a national scale.”
Henry: “I think even things as simple as the experiences of performing at small, DIY venues makes a real positive difference to the whole vibe of being a band in this kind of scene – DIY venues like Hatch near our old rehearsal room can be so much more relaxing and nice when discussing putting on a show and that’s not even talking about the show itself where you’re almost always playing to a room that’s barely ever dead and empty.”
Finally, what do you want listeners to take away from Jumper Boy?
Owen: “If they’re at a show, taking away a T-Shirt and a physical copy of the EP would go a long way towards getting us to write and record more stuff haha. But really I just love to know if people are enjoying the music or the shows. We’re very much doing this for ourselves but it’s honestly amazing when people tell us that it’s affected them in some way. It’s really something else to know that there’s people out there who are appreciating the music we’re making and that it’s had an impact on their lives or made them think about things differently.”