Sounds and Sonics: The Spoon - Oscar Jerome

So, you haven't heard of Oscar Jerome?

The Norwich-originating and now London-based musician has asserted himself onto our radar for good reason. Infusing elements of jazz, smidgens of punk and smatterings of politics, Oscar Jerome, after a series of singles and projects, finally unveils The Spoon.

Forming emotional opinions and highlighting masculinity in a reflective way, The Spoon echoes musical maturity and consistency. 12 tracks that reiterate and brood over insecurity and melancholy standpoints allow us to be idle in awe with his arrestingly proficient riffs and melodies. "The main aim is to make you feel something." he's mentioned. But this project isn't inherently sad or yearns to make you feel that way. Instead it gushes with energy, spirit and spontaneity with moments that allow you to drift and others that snatch your attention back in when it needs to.

Sounds and Sonics allows us to take a deeper dive into the psyche of The Spoon, as if it were an autopsy. Gently, track by track, we asked Oscar Jerome why he made the choices he did for his latest album.

Track 01 - The Dark Slide

What’s the importance of having an introduction to a project?

It’s nice to set the tone to the project and ease someone in. It’s not essential, sometimes it’s nice to come on with a bang. With this project I wanted to prepare people for the journey.

Track 02 - Sweet Isolation

In the visuals for Sweet Isolation, what was the significance of having two contrasting characters Jerry and Ice Guycicle?

I wanted to present two sides of an individual dealing with loss, one sitting the baron expanse of loneliness and realisation (Ice) and the other living in a delusional state of mind stuck in the past (Jerry). These characters were brought to life with the help of my brother Alfie Laurence aka Moth and Malcolm Yaeng.

Track 03 - Berlin 1

Was there a reason you chose this track to release as one of your singles?

Firstly it’s a pretty catchy tune so it kind of made sense in that way. It also is slightly different to some of my previous music especially the more rock influenced drum beat. I wanted to make sure people are aware of the new flavours on this record.

Track 04 - The Spoon

When you mention a warped reflection when looking at someone in the spoon, is there a deeper sense of meaning when it comes to the perception of yourself or others?

We are all constantly being fed a warped reflection of ourselves these days. Always worried about what others think of us. I was thinking a lot about the importance to develop one’s sense of self outside of this warped capitalist lens.

Track 05 - The Soup

Is ‘The Soup’ a metaphor for something that goes alongside ‘The Spoon’?

The Soup is a recording from a jam I had with Ziggy Zeitgeist on drums when I first came up with the idea for the track The Spoon. The track felt watery and it was next to The Spoon in the record so I was just having a bit of fun when I named it that.

Track 06 - Channel Your Anger

The sound of ‘Channel Your Anger’ doesn’t come across as an angry song in particular. Would you say that through this ‘jam-session-esque’ track you channel your anger through creativity?

Anger causes a lot of damage to ourselves and others. We can sit around feeling angry, pointing fingers and beating ourselves up. But anger is also a powerful emotion that can be channelled into making some real change in this mess of a world we live in. That’s what I’m talking about in this title track.

Track 07 - Feet Down South

The use of vocals throughout ‘Feet Down South’ is interesting. What sort of effect did you want to emulate through the audio choices you made in this track?

This track features my niece, I wanted to include her to add to the theme in the lyrics of looking to the future we want to create for the next generation. To be honest it is pretty hard to get a 4-year-old to record in a studio so the main bit of her voice in the chorus was recorded on a phone, we accentuated the tinny tone of that recording to contrast with my vocals. The pre-chorus when I say “am I good enough?….” It's supposed to be like voices in your head doubting yourself.

Track 08 - Aya & Bartholomew

This is the only track that’s purely acoustic. What drove you to focus on the guitar when starting your musical journey?

I was always drawn to guitar as a kid. We had some round the house because my dad plays a bit so I just started messing around. I used to listen to a lot of guitar based music when I was young and I naturally started writing and playing in bands. From there it developed into my main way of expressing myself musically.

Tack 09 - Feed The Pigs

You’ve mentioned that ‘Feed The Pigs’ explores inner emotions. What was the importance of producing a project that reflected mental health and internal struggles?

This record touches on a few different subjects and emotions. The middle few tunes are more outward looking at the world around us. Feed the pigs is about being angry at this ridiculous government we have in the UK. Feeding their gross friends and stoking the fires of disparity and division. I wrote it a while ago but everything the Conservative party is doing now relates as strongly as ever.

That being said in times like this it is important to look after yourself and your mental health and not let despair eat you up. I wrote this project at a time when we were all very in our own thoughts and that is reflected in a lot of the music. I think I made a lot of growth in myself during this time and definitely feel a lot better for it. This project was kind of a diary of that process. I hope it might be helpful to some people on their own journey.

Track 10 - Path To Someone

This track feels more like an interlude within the project. Did you include this to try and change the pace of the project at all?

This is another section from the jam I had with Ziggy Zeitgeist where I came up with a lot of ideas for the record. I wanted to put a few of these sections in because I felt the essence of what I was going for with this project was captured in its rawest form in those recordings. It’s also sometimes nice to have a bit of a palate cleanser in a record…like a cucumber sorbet.

Track 11 - Hall Of Mirrors

We love that you chose two different collaborators on the project. But what did you see in Léa Sen that made you want to collaborate with her?

Léa is a good friend and someone I really respect musically. I love her writing style so it made sense to make a tune with her. I only collaborate with people I connect with on a personal level, it’s necessary for the music to be honest. This one was born out of a late night jam with producer Beni Giles - shout out to Beni for helping bring this record together.

Track 12 - Use It

It’s been said that this track was one that reflected the journey of your inner emotions. Why finish off with ‘Use It’?

This track is the ending point of the record because that’s where I’m at now. After a lot of doom and gloom I’m ready for a more positive outlook. We’re not here for long so we might as well try and enjoy what we can. Yes there are many things we need to keep fighting for and working on but there are also many beautiful things in this life too. Music is one of those things and this track focuses on the power of music to uplift.

Listen to Oscar Jerome's new album The Spoon here!

Purchase tickets to his tour here.