Jacana People x Antony Szmierek - Twist Forever (Official Video) + 10 Questions
UK production duo Jacana People return with their latest offering ‘Twist Forever’, a stunning collaboration with much lauded Mancunian artist Antony Szmierek, out now via Hide The Moth. The single is taken from their forthcoming EP, ‘Sunblind’.
Jacana People’s talent for faultless production has seen them included in Mixmag’s tip for 2023 and had them all over R1 and R6 playlists since their debut - with tastemakers from Jaguar to Mary Anne Hobbschalked down as fans. Something their collaborative partner on ‘Twist Forever’, Antony Szmierek can also very much relate to. Dubbed ‘the Manc Mike Skinner’ since his breakout single ‘Hitchhiker's Guide to The Fallacy’ was released last year and fresh off the back of his critically acclaimed EP ‘Poems To Dance To’, Szmierek’s knack for playful narratives - stemming from his background first as a novelist and then as a poet - has blossomed into his own unique brand of introspective hip hop. A sound that’s seen him embraced heartily by all at BBC 6 Music from Lauren Laverne to Steve Lamacq, and highlighted as one of the stand out acts of the recent 6 Music Festival alongside the likes of Arlo Parks, Loyle Carner, and Christine and the Queens.
‘Twist Forever’ is a beautifully realised meeting point of the best of these two creative forces. With echoes of both Real Lies and The Streets, Szmierek’s keenly observed lyricism burns with melancholic euphoria and nostalgic warmth. Jacana People provide a mesmerising backdrop of headsy beats and blissful melodic loops that carry us to being lost in the dance as we ‘fall through the sky man, you can’t miss’.
Directed and produced by Oska Zaky (Circa Waves/Sad Boys Club), the video was shot on location in South London, and plays into the tracks lyrics, life is short, so you ‘might as well move man, cut some shapes’, posing the question; if we’re only here for a short time, then how do we make it matter? Sometimes it’s as simple as dancing and holding those you love close.
And miss they don’t. The bond formed between these two acts during the making of ‘Twist Forever’ radiates through the track and the vibes are immaculate. Part of a new wave of young artists making some of the most exciting electronic music coming out of the UK, it’s not too early to say this pairing has cooked up a track of the year.
Jacana People sat down with Wordplay Magazine to answer our infamous 10 Questions:
1. So tell me, how did it all begin? What sparked your love for music?
We both come from families of music lovers so we were always being shown records and getting taken to gigs which is an influential thing when you’re growing up. When we met at school one of the first ways we connected and bonded was through music; everything from The Chemical Brothers to Nick Drake to Talking Heads. From there we went to shows together, shared new music we’d found and just kind of fell into playing in bands with our mates. Then as you become more invested in the whole thing, you develop more of your own tastes and ambitions for what you might want to create - that led us towards electronic sound and club culture.
2. Your latest single, ‘Twist Forever’ is taken from your forthcoming EP, ‘Sunblind’ - what can you tell us about that, and what was it like to work with Antony Szmierek?
Working with Antony has been a joy - we’ve got a lot of love for him. When we first got in touch we didn’t really know what to expect; we were big fans of his music but we hadn’t worked with an artist like him before and there was definitely an element of the unknown. We sent over a few sketches and he came back with something that just felt right. There was something so nostalgic and personal in his performance. The meaning in his lyrics really influenced how ‘Twist Forever’ came together and gave a whole new life to this sketch that we’d sent over. From there it was just about capturing that energy in the right way. ‘Twist Forever’ is an important track to us and forms a key part of this upcoming EP; when we’re putting together a body of work we want to show different sides and shades to what we do and ‘Twist Forever’ is an especially unique track for us, in the context of our other output.
3. Who are some artists that influence you and is there anyone else you’d like to work with in the future?
A big part of this project has always been about pulling influence and inspiration from a world beyond electronic music. There are artists we have always looked up to; David Byrne, Brian Eno, Dan Snaith have expanded what it means to make electronic music and made it possible for artists like us to do what we do. They transcend genre and are key to the progression of the music we love and that continues to inspire us - we’d jump at the chance to work with them haha. Generally though collaboration is important to us so we keep a very long list of artists we would love to work with - in our more immediate world, people like Nabihah Iqbal, George FitzGerald, Elkka would all be amazing collaborators - Kassian are mates of ours and are making consistently crazy good records, they’re just round the corner from us so would be great to get in with them!
4. How would you describe your sound?
This is always a tough question haha. We were actually chatting the other day about how we’re starting to feel like our releases do have a common thread and share some kind of sonic identity. It all revolves around this desire to bring the natural world and organic textures into electronic music - making things feel alive and tangible. We often come back to the theme of escapism, aiming to capture an emotional response that can’t always be expressed in words. We like things to feel transportive but that isn’t necessarily confined to one style or type of track. We try to vary the ways we use electronic sound and that process has always served as a way of getting to something new, the next idea. We tend not to think about making electronic music specifically, it’s just the natural way we express ourselves.
5. You’ve been getting some great support from the likes of Lauren Laverne and Jaguar, and recently toured with Porij. What has been your proudest moment to date so far as an artist?
We’ve been really fortunate to have had a load of special moments since starting this project. Getting our first play from Jaguar, on Radio 1 will always stick in our mind - she has done so much for our careers and that felt so huge to us. More recently, we were added to the 6 Music playlist at the start of this year which felt like a turning point for us, as big fans of 6 Music and the kinds of artists supported there. On the live side, that Porij tour was mad, as was supporting George FitzGerald at Koko right round the corner from where we went to uni - a very full circle moment. The great thing about playing live is you can see firsthand how your music might connect with someone and that’s a really humbling thing. With each release we feel like we’re learning and achieving something new creatively and that’s arguably the most rewarding part of this whole process.
6. Do you have any advice for our readers who may be trying to play the mad game of music?
Don’t wait for your work to be ‘finished’ - as an artist there’s something empowering about drawing a line in the sand and moving onto something else. Probably something bigger and better, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time. Once your music is out there in the world, try hard to separate yourself from all the external factors - if you have faith in what you made, and it resonated with you, that’s the most important thing. Everything else will follow if you’re patient. We love the idea that once your music is out there in the ether it takes on a whole new meaning, which varies person to person and doesn’t necessarily align with what you envisaged when making the track.
7. Are there any artists on your radar right now that we should check out?
So many names come to mind - we’re currently working on a new club mix series that we’ll be shouting about soon, so our heads are very much in that space. Tibi Dabo is doing some crazy stuff in the alternative club world - loving his work. Russian producer/DJ oqbqbo is killing the emotive, trancey thing that is having a moment right now. Our friend Mona Yim seems to be playing everywhere and we’ve heard some of her unreleased bits - look out for those! Al Wooton, Space Dimension Controller, Villager and Eden Burns have also all released some excellent stuff in the last year - highly recommend.
8. What albums are on heavy rotation on your Spotify playlist currently?
There’s always a lot of beautiful music dropping around us. James Holden’s new record, ‘Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Space Of All Possibilities’ absolutely floored us - a proper legend of the scene and an artist we’ve loved for ages, a special record with loads of interesting moments. Pépe’s ‘Reclaim’ also just dropped - some amazing sounds and otherworldly production on that. burger/ink’s ‘Las Vegas’ is an album we discovered recently - a great German 90s ambient techno, downtempo record that sounds ridiculously fresh. ‘Desire’ by Dylan is a classic of course - that is getting some playtime currently in the quieter moments.
9. What do you like to do when you're not making music?
It sometimes feels that music takes up every thought you might have in a day - from the creative to the release plans to the live show, it’s always there. In the in-between moments, we love being out and being social, travelling as much as we can, cooking, film-watching, galleries, walks - all the good stuff. There is also a big unsaid element to what we do outside of music - like most artists we work alongside Jacana People to make things financially viable. That naturally takes up a chunk of our time, but it’s got to be done!
10. Name Three things you can't live without when in the studio?
In terms of instruments we have to play with, our Roland Juno 106 is on pretty much every record we’ve made in the last couple of years - it’s an amazing creative tool and just sounds so good. As does our collection of pedals - we tend to run all our synths through them for all the life and colour they bring. Shoutout to the Chase Bliss Mood, which again is on almost everything we make - after playing with Neil Cowley’s for a while, we gave in and got one ourselves. And finally - green tea has become a fairly recent addition to the studio process thanks to a newly purchased kettle but that is proving to be the perfect antidote to the mid-afternoon lull. Can never have too much green tea.