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Putting a modern twist on the vintage 60s & 70s sound, Creeping Jean are a Brighton six-piece offering up huge Indie-Rock tunes to cut through the haze. Having picked up ongoing support from BBC Radio 6 Music, Radio X, BBC Radio 2, and BBC Introducing among others, the band are now back with a new single ‘Fluorescent Orange Skies’ set for release on March 11th. Drummer Josh Cassidy was on hand to fill in the blanks on our introduction to Creeping Jean, connect with Josh, below…
What are the origins of Creeping Jean, how long have you been playing together?
Creeping Jean was the love child of our Sheffield-born and bred lead singer and guitarist Oliver Tooze. The band started in Brighton around…must be coming on to 5 years ago now.
What should people expect when they check the band out? Is there a definitive Creeping Jean sound?
Yes absolutely. We are heavily inspired by the rock music of the late 60s and early 70s. We want people to hear the heavy sounds of Zeppelin & Deep Purple, the storytelling of Bob Dylan & Neil Young, and the psychedelic world of The Doors. Within our debut album, you will hear a mix of all of these legendary artists. But of course, we have a modern twist on it, taking inspiration from Jack White, Black Keys, Rival Sons.
How did you feel performing your first gig as a band, and how was it?!
We love playing gigs. It’s the most free you can feel as a musician. We’ve all been gigging in bands for a long long time, but nothing can beat the feeling when you know you’ve smashed a gig. Every gig feels like that. So the feeling of the first is the same as all of them.
New single ‘Fluorescent Orange Skies’ is out March 11th [pre-save, here], a bit of a toe-tapper this one, a great top-down open-highway tune with some killer guitar licks…what can you tell us about it? How long have you had it brewing for? And had you just decided that the world was grey enough and needed some light?!
Fluorescent Orange Skies is very much a song that makes you feel free and liberated in a place you love. When we wrote and recorded it, we focused on the song painting a picturesque scene. Like you say, driving down a coastal road with the top down, the sun is setting and filling the sky with incredible colour and bringing hope back into what has been a grey time. The song has been with us for maybe two years now and we recorded it with our album ‘When’s the Blowout’ in December 2020.
The previous single ‘Don’t Touch Tomorrow’ was featured on Classic Rock magazine’s ‘Track Of The Week’; that must have been a pleasant surprise when you found out?
You could say that. When we found out that we have been featured in Classic Rock we were ecstatic. It is such an iconic magazine we have all admired for years.
Debut album ‘When’s The Blowout?’ is set to land April 29th [pre-order, here], from what we have heard of it so far, there is a great deal of variety on the album; what do you put this variety down to?
It’s very much down to our inspiration. These days, pop albums offer very one-sided albums, you hear pretty much the same thing throughout. Going back to the ’60s and ’70s the albums were so much more dynamic and took you on a journey. We hope we’ve emulated that as well.
What track on ‘When’s The Blowout?’ should people especially look out for?
It’s very hard to pinpoint to a couple of tracks really. All of us love different tracks for different reasons. We just hope people enjoy it as a whole as much as we do.
In terms of a similar audience, which band out there at the minute do you feel you would be best suited to open for?
Jack White, Black Keys, Rival Sons, Greta Van Fleet, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Temples, Band of Skulls to name a few.
Excluding yourself, which new band would you like to see break out and become a success?
We’ve played with a band called Hourglass a few times now, they’re fantastic. I think with the right backing they would do very well.
What are your own first musical memories? And what was the lightbulb moment that made you go “I want to do that”?
Well, we would all have our different stories. But personally, I had no interest in music when I was a child. My parents listened to great music but it never triggered anything. Then on my 11th birthday, I was given Red Hot Chili Peppers; Greatest Hits as a present. When I heard Chad Smith playing drums on that I was completely sold to music, started having drum lessons and here we are now.
What was the last gig that you attended as a fan?
Wow, it’s been so long. We’ve all been to watch gigs since venues opened back up, probably for me it would be Demob Happy, but as a die-hard, it’s been so long. Hopefully, with what we have booked this year, it’ll make up for lost time.
The album that you have in your album collection/Spotify playlist that would surprise most people?
I have a misprinted first print of Led Zeppelin II in my collection. It’s framed and on my wall at home. Probably not a surprise in terms of a band, but definitely for what it is.
Although 2021 was another year to forget, there were some amazing new albums released, what would be your album of last year?
Black Keys; Delta Kream is definitely up there for me. Yes, it may be a covers album, but it took the band to their origins of blues and country music.
What does 2022 hold for the band?
This year we will be releasing our album, When’s the Blowout on the 29th of April, and hopefully will be following that up with a UK tour shortly afterward. We have some festival dates we will soon be announcing, inc Isle of Wight, Kendal Calling, and Great Escape, which we will be playing one of those shows at a very exclusive location. Then another UK tour in the Autumn and an EU tour at the end of the year.
How active are you on social media and where can people connect with you?
Very active on socials. Best place to find us is on Instagram for news and dates and TikTok where you can find us doing some covers on occasions.
All photos – credit Alex Amoros
