tunesday – five minutes with jazz johnston of jeane

Ahead of the release of their debut EP Sicko, frontwoman of Melbourne/Naarm-based band Jeane caught up with us for five minutes to chat about friendship, music and what makes someone a true sicko. 

Describe your music in a sentence. A little cheeky arse slap from your best friend, while you’re mid-cry.

Who’s in the band and how did it start? Our project started when I met my best friend, Luke Moseley, in a beautiful chance of life. Sometimes you meet people who unlock a new side of you or allow a new element to be pulled out of you creatively. Everyone in Jeane has done that for me – like a family that accepts your weirdness. We are so lucky to be joined by Pelaya Arapakis on drums and Connor Black Harry on bass.

Where did the band name come from? Ever since I was a teenager, I loved David Bowie. I was enamoured with how expressive and creative, daring and wonderful he was. I wanted to pay homage to that wild essence. “The Jean Genie” is one of my favourite songs of his – it’s rock ’n’ roll, tongue-in-cheek, sexy and mischievous.

How did your debut EP Sicko come together? Sicko is take two for a Jeane debut EP. We finished an EP almost two years ago but decided not to release it, mainly because it felt a little aimless. From this, Sicko was born – we culled the old EP (saving two songs) and started with a fresh vision. I produce and engineer all of Jeane’s music (alongside Luke) in our Naarm home studio. We spent the next year writing new music, recording, re-recording – the aim was to not get too serious about the process and actually have fun recording.

What makes someone a sicko? We are reclaiming the word sicko! It came from thinking about my religious upbringing – where women who were proud of their sexuality and power were looked down upon. The whole idea is that, in some way, everybody is a sicko – everyone has their own shit they’re dealing with and ways they want to express themselves.

What’s the perfect context to listen to Jeane? Jeane is for the entirety of a night out. Some songs are for when you’re getting ready; others are for the melancholic late-night ride home, your feet sore, head out the window, driving through the city, blurry flashing lights speeding past.

This rad music chinwag comes straight from the pages of issue 132. To get your mitts on a copy, swing past the frankie shop, subscribe or visit one of our lovely stockists.