Jack Peñate
LABEL: Beggars Group , XL ||| PHOTOGRAPHY: Ewen Spencer
When he was a kid growing up in London’s Blackheath neighbourhood, Jack Peñate rebelled. Not by going out all night, being a nuisance, binge drinking and the like. But by deciding clearly that south London’s newly, negative interpretation of street culture simply wasn’t for him – so by doing something more positive instead. “A lot of our friends were so afraid of looking not cool they’d be going out being dicks, wearing hoodies, trying to mug people. It was so embarrassing. I decided to stay out of that whole fake world. So we all decided to watch films and listen to music and put on festivals in our back gardens. There was a lot of garden action.”
Back garden events like their “No Drummers Allowed” festival or the film they made as 17-year-olds involving a flight simulation game, a pretend airplane crash, and flesh-eating zombies clearly had an impact on both Peñate and his best friend, Felix White. They started a band together – Jack’s Basement – which eventually split into two; one became The Maccabees, the other Peñate’s band, where he’s backed by friends Joel Porter (bass) and Alex Robins (drums).
In autumn 2006, Peñate signed to XL Recordings, via hip club night and label Young Turks. “When you sign to a label you get to take copies of all the records they’ve put out,” he says. “But with XL I already had them all. It was well annoying. There’s a strain of quality and a love of music there.” And yes, Peñate is his real name. “I’m an eighth Spanish. My friends always take the piss – ”˜you’re more Welsh than Spanish!’ – but it’s the Spanish eighth that beats my heart.”
Right now, the 22-year-old is riding high. Of course, there’s the joyful, soulful, indie-rockabilly of chart-topping single ”˜Torn on the Platform’, the highly sought-after Spit At Stars EP and 2006’s limited edition ”˜Second, Minute or Hour,’ which first alerted the world to his energetic pop concoctions. Then there’s his debut album, Matinée. That’s not to mention two sold out UK tours, a brilliant Glastonbury Festival set which included a blistering cover of Beats International’s ”˜Dub Be Good To Me’, videos which look set to enter straight into the classic file (think A-Ha’s ”˜Take On Me’ turned into a Victorian pop-up theatre) and colourful, doodle-magic artwork, all penned by Peñate himself.
The creative gene is strong in family Peñate. His granddad, Mervyn Peake, wrote and illustrated the Gormenghast trilogy. Peñate had started his Classics degree at UCL— he’s one of a minority of pop stars with a favourite Greek myth (it’s Sissyphus in case you were wondering)—when he hooked up with the indie club and label, Young Turks. It soon became clear that music was going to win out over Homeric script. Well, in terms of his day job, anyway: “I love Classics. There’s a lot to learn from people who lived 2,000 years ago.”
So which are the records that formed him? Well, for starters there’s Prince, Todd Rundgren, JJ Cale and Daryl Hall and John Oates. “I like stuff that’s soulful, happy and intelligent – and I don’t like music ironically. I don’t understand that ”˜guilty pleasures’ thing. Why should it be guilty?”
Peñate’s newly-trademarked dance styles have also marked him out as a trenchant individualist. For those who’ve heard about his electrifying live shows all over the UK– and he’s done enough of them, touring pretty much non-stop over there for the past 18 months, though the faint-hearted should watch out for the regular stage invasions during ”˜Torn On The Platform’ – or the early black and white footage of ”˜Second, Minute or Hour’ live, it’s a kind of skank that pitches up into a lurching, Breakfast Club ”˜80s kick-out. It’s a cool manoeuvre. “I’ve always been into dancing,” he grins. “Me and the boys at school’d lock ”˜n pop in a circle for hours and hours.”
Produced in the main by Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys, Editors and Kasabian), Matinée is a positive pop gem and a brilliant introduction to the super-talented young man behind it. Recorded in London, Los Angeles and Philadelphia – the latter thanks to a recording session with electro hip-hop maestro RJD2 on the track ”˜Learning Lines’ – it’s possibly one of the most playable records of the year, one you’ll want to rewind and rewind and rewind ”˜til you can sing along to all of it. “I didn’t write this album to sell loads of records,” Jack says. “I did it because I wanted to create something joyous.”
Visit YouTube to watch and listen to Jack Peñate's pop hit single, Tonight's Today
Preview & purchase JP's albums from eMusic (subscribe and get 35 FREE downloads)
SHOWS
Sep 06 2009 • Jersey Live • St. Helier
Sep 12 2009 • Bestival • Isle Of Wight
Sep 14 2009 • Johnny Brenda’s • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sep 15 2009 • Mercury Lounge • New York, New York
Sep 16 2009 • Mercury Lounge • New York, New York
Sep 18 2009 • Rock N Roll Hotel • Washington, Washington DC
Sep 19 2009 • Maxwell’s • Hoboken, New Jersey
Sep 20 2009 • TT The Bear’s • Boston, Massachusetts
Sep 22 2009 • Le Petit Campus • Montreal, Quebec
Sep 23 2009 • Wrong Bear • Toronto, Ontario
Sep 25 2009 • Empty Bottle • Chicago, Illinois
Sep 26 2009 • 7th Street Entry • Minneapolis, Minnesota
Sep 29 2009 • Richard’s on Richard’s • Vancouver, British Columbia
Sep 30 2009 • Neumo’s • Seattle, Washington
Oct 01 2009 • Doug Fir Lounge • Portland, Oregon
Oct 03 2009 • Bottom of the Hill • San Francisco, California
Oct 04 2009 • Echo • Los Angeles, California
Oct 05 2009 • The Casbah • San Diego, California
Oct 06 2009 • Detroit Bar • Costa Mesa, California
Oct 07 2009 • Spaceland • Los Angeles, California
Oct 17 2009 • Village • Dublin
Oct 18 2009 • Spring & Airbrake • Belfast
Oct 20 2009 • The Arches • Glasgow
Oct 22 2009 • Rainbow Warehouse • Birmingham
Oct 23 2009 • Warehouse Projec • Manchester
Oct 24 2009 • Met Un • Leeds
Oct 25 2009 • Trent Uni • Nottingham
Oct 27 2009 • Anson Rooms • Bristol
Oct 29 2009 • The Fridge • London
Oct 30 2009 • Uni • Southampton
