In the current climate, it’s quite the feat to earn a reputation as one of the most forceful live bands in London. Blasting and manic, Jawharp’s gurgling screams and abrasive guitars harken to emo’s darkest, most violent corners, while yelled lyrics are swallowed by distortion almost beyond recognition. We sat down for a chat with them on the Sheffield night on their first tour to chat about DIY scenes and people twerking at their gigs.
When and how did Jawharp come about?
Jude: Me and Thom, who’s the drummer, met in uni slash through mutual friends and Camberwell College of Art and Design. Shithole. And then we started playing music together, we’re into some similar stuff like, you know, swirlies and hum and stuff like that. A bit of Oasis, Sugababes. Played music for a bit, played some really naff gigs. And then we met Dan and then Dan joined and then Milligan joined. I moved to London to start a band under the guise of moving to go to uni.
Dan: Real. We all were playing in different bands and then we all had a gig together in Archway with Microplastics, my other band. Underneath the Filipino restaurant. Early days. They did a really good cover of Sexy Boy, that kind of sold me.
Was there a moment when it clicked and you knew this was going to be more than a hobby, but a fully formed project?
Jude: Yeah, I think it was the first time that we played with Milligan. We used to practice in the house that most of us live in now, and we just got right into it from the first thing we played. I guess when we started writing a lot of the stuff for the first album, once that came together that was a real moment when it changed for us, to be like, ok this is a proper band – we’re not just art students taking the piss.
This is the last day of your first tour, how’s it been so far and what’s it felt like to escape London for a bit?
Jude: It’s been gorgeous, to be honest. It’s nice to see the country.
Dan: Everyone is so much nicer. Everything’s cheaper. The air is cleaner. The views are nicer.
Thom: Leeds was the best, Leeds was crazy. There was someone at our gig in Leeds who was twerking on someone, which has never happened before. Aggressive blowjob offers from this same dude.
Dan: Had an Uber driver who got stabbed in the hand like three weeks earlier, somebody on the run from the police.
Thom: Leeds is sick, there’s such a cool thing happening with the Private Regcords stuff. Reg is doing it and they’re getting such good feedback from it, it must be so gratifying. Such a mix of stuff as well, and proper hard graft – they’re on it all the time.
Jude: It’s so sick to see that DIY thing in a different space outside of London. It seems massive, just from being on Instagram.
How have you found the crowds? Sometimes when noisy London bands come up north everyone’s stood there with their arms crossed..
Jude: People have been moving. Last night, which was in Manchester at Café Blah, was really good. It was really warm, dripping from the ceiling.
Dan: I’m used to people standing still as well, it doesn’t mean they’re not enjoying it. You don’t need to be throwing yourself about. It’s good to play to different crowds though, we try to do that a lot of the time anyway with playing with different groups or lineups.
Thom: It’s cool to do it in different places and see how people react. It’s been quite eye-opening, you get people that you maybe wouldn’t think are into super noisy music.
Jude: It’s always nice when older people say they liked it. Feel like we’re in with the cool guys. Like, you’ve seen the noisiest shit of the 2000s. They always give you crazy recommendations.
You did the joint EP with Dalton’s Fen. How did that come about, and what drew you to doing a joint EP?
Dan: They are the greatest, they’re fucking amazing.
Jude: Certified awesome. Like Reuben (Troutflies), they’re just friends from online. It was like, oh my god, you’re into this niche of shit, and we’d send super weird stuff back and forth. Yeah, there’s not another band that’s that funny and that serious at the same time. It’s an honour to play with them even though the styles don’t necessarily match up.
Dan: It’s a good contrast between our sounds on the EP, I think. They know how to be quiet and really patient. We’re a bit more frantic, but there’s a similar knack towards horrible recording.
Jude: It felt like a kinship between the weirdos.
Milligan: We did it all on one day and recorded it on our phones as well.
Jude: It was a really cool thing to do a split because I feel like there’s not that much of it in British music scenes as much as there is in America.
If you were to do another split with another band, who would you choose?
Milligan: Probably Troutflies.
Dan: Again, it’s that similar mentality towards making music but there’s also an extreme contrast so there’s no moment where it can be boring, which feels important for now.
Jude: I think any band that has a lo-fi, real crunchy tape recording kind of sound.
Thom: I’d go with Black Fondu. I wanna be his boyfriend.
Dan: But yeah, more splits. There’s a wealth of emo bands in London, it’s quite funny that they could all do a split. Seven bands on a split.
You did the joint EP in one day, and Untimely Divorce was done in two. What caused you to do it in such a short amount of time? Is it to stop you from thinking too much about it, or just practical reasons?
Jude: Basically money, yeah. Those two things.
Dan: The next one’s going to be even worse. 20 songs in two days and then a bunch of skits and shit recorded.
Jude: But it kind of replicates the way we do it live, just rattling them off and not spending too much time. We don’t multi-track so we get it done quite quickly.
Thom: It would be nice to have some time to do other takes between recordings, we want to get a bunch of guests and collaborators as well for this next one.
Dan: True Scrapes. 2026.
Have you ever played with a jawharp? If not, what draws you to that name?
Jude: I have a little red one. I got it after we called the band that. We used to be called Collaps with a K, which is from that German industrial band Einsturzende Neubauten song. But I think there was another band called that so we wanted to change it.
A couple of months ago marked a year since the release of your debut album. How do you think the band have grown since then?
Dan: We write faster songs maybe. And I think we write songs faster as well.
Jude: A lot of the songs on the first album were just me and Thom, so it’s been nice to write fully new stuff with these guys. Living with Thom and Milligan is really fun as well, because we’ll be able to have a little jam and write a riff or something. That’s where some of the new songs have come from.
What are the main indicators of success for Jawharp?
Dan: Bring back that band Rapider Than Horsepower, get them back on our behalf somehow and then play with them.
Jude: Having enough money to buy a prop of a gremlin from Gremlins 2 would sort me out.
Thom: Nah just to release more I guess. Play in different countries, make some money. Do what we want to do.
Words by Donovan Livesey Photo by @fayefotoz
