Backseat Mafia caught up with Sarah-Jayne Riedel (SJ) aka alt-rock artist Dutch Mustard as she prepared for her recent London headline show celebrating the release of her new EP – Beauty. SJ shares her love of Jeff Buckley, her recent passion for contemporary dance and reveals her perfect day off in London…
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m SJ (aka Dutch Mustard), and I’m a musician, producer and songwriter.
Tell us about your new EP?
The latest EP ‘Beauty’ is a blend of heavy and soft, somewhat similar to my debut EP in that way.
However this time, I decided to throw fresh colours into the mix, and show a more vulnerable, calmer energy too. The softness of ‘Beauty’ matched with the heavier track ‘Wake Up’ (which turns into chaos at the end), is just the way I like to present my music. We all change day to day, and we grow, and I feel like I’ve grown musically, which has a lot to do with the song choices. I didn’t want to just recreate what I’d done before. It’s exciting to dive into a new world of sound, just as it is when you try doing something new in life.
On this EP I wanted to take a more dynamic approach to genre, though not steering too far from my love of guitar music, which is a huge element on ‘Feel Everything’ and ‘Dirty Queen’ and the EP as a whole.
Backseat Mafia checked out your latest music video for Beauty – love your contemporary dance moves – what’s the story?
Thank you! I’m glad that’s your response to it.
I’ve always wanted to dance, but never felt like I was good enough because I didn’t grow up dancing. I love dancing at gigs and for fun, but I’ve always been curious to see if I could dance for real.
When I wrote “Beauty”, I just felt like there was so much emotion there, I started picturing contemporary dance for it almost immediately.
I’d met Matt Petty on a Netflix series that we both worked on. He mentioned that he was a dancer and if I ever needed anything dance related to just give him a shout. So I did.
Without hesitation he jumped on board and choreographed the entire thing. We trained for weeks to get me up to speed. And it worked! I adore what Matt and his assistant Clare made, it exceeded my expectations for the initial idea I had. Their work combined with the extremely passionate director (editor and DOP!) Josiah Newbolt & Producer Cerys, and wonderful styling by Daniel Philipson, made the dream come alive.
Learning to dance with Matt and the filming of the video has been one of the most beautiful experiences in my life.
Do you get out to see many gigs yourself?
I’ve seen my friend Dominic Rose play a lot this year. He fronted the band Fake Turins, their headline at Village Underground was mega. Dom has started a new project called Max Fulcrum and the Win which I’ve seen a few times this year too.
I’m an engineer too, and had the pleasure of doing sound for Tony Njoku, whose music I love. His set at Crouch End Studios was amazing.
Recently saw a shoegaze band called Boy Marina. They’re super dreamy and a good time. The show was at Paper Dress Vintage, great venue.
I saw LCD Soundsystem and Bon Iver as well. They both had me speechless. Just love them.
So I guess the answer is yes! I do get out to gigs.
Who are your music heroes?
This is such a hard question! So many, I’ll try and name a few.
Jeff Buckley, Talking Heads, LCD Soundsystem, TV on the Radio, The Beatles, U2, Nirvana & many more.
Most memorable gig you’ve played?
My headline show at The Lexington last year & opening for Fake Turins at Village Underground.
Both shows felt explosive!
You’re headlining, obviously, but who else is playing your dream festival line-up?
Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, TV on the radio, PJ Harvey, St Vincent, Foo Fighters, Bjork, My Bloody Valentine, Tame Impala, Pond, Blur, Gorillas, Cola
Which song do you wish you had written?
Again such a hard question. This might change depending on where I’m at in my life, but “Last Goodbye” by Jeff Buckley is always one that speaks to me.
You have Dutch heritage – but are you now a fully-conditioned Brit now?
I feel like having a Dutch heritage is a big part of who I am. As much as I feel like London is my home too, (I’ve been living in the UK for 17 years!) I still feel very Dutch. I’ve been visiting back home for all these years, to see family and friends. So I genuinely feel like a mixture of both, my Dutchness definitely shines through in my mannerisms I think. Just a culture thing that’s always stuck. Which I’m proud of.
What’s the best thing about living in London…and the worst?
One of the best things about living in London is definitely the music scene. So many venues and gigs to see! I also just love how most of the time the people that live in London are very open and accepting.
The worst thing about London is the noise on the northern line, and getting mugged in Camden. But don’t worry, I actually chased the thief last time and got my phone back… London definitely teaches you to toughen up.
I last saw you live 4 years ago at Dublin Castle…what have I missed?
No way! Played some super fun gigs there. You’ve missed so much!
Released two EPs since then. Three music videos, and headlined the Lexington & played loads of cool venues like Village underground and Heaven.
How do you approach the creative process?
In many different ways. Which keeps things fresh I feel. Normally if I have an idea, I grab my phone if I don’t have an instrument nearby, and mumble the melody/song idea into my phone. Then I get the chance to actually make a demo/write a song I figure it out on whichever instrument and start recording pretty much straight away onto my laptop. It’s funny because in almost every song I’ve released there’s a lot of instrumentation that’s actually kept from the demo. Something about the energy that comes out when you first have the idea and the way I capture the initial sound makes it special, and trying to alter or change it sometimes kills the vibe.
Are you excited about the EP launch gig? What can we expect?
I’m super hyped to play the new songs live with the band. The musicians are amazing! Also I just can’t wait to welcome everyone into the sonic world I’ve managed to create with this new EP. It’s so many flavours, and I hope that everyone there finds a song that they connect with and that seeing it live will give it even more meaning to them.
Backseat Mafia has magical powers and has arranged a day off for you in London! Where are you taking us?
A day off? This is genuine magic!
I have very simple pleasures…we’re going for coffee at my favourite café in Crouch End, they do the best coffee, and amazing food. Then doing a nice long big walk from there, through the trees and greenery, all the way to Highgate, where we meet my best mate Luke who works at a cute pub there. And then we play shithead for ages (the card game).
Finally, tell us a secret?
If you listen closely to my lyrics you might discover some secrets, however, if I start telling you them then they won’t be secrets anymore…
Dutch Mustard – ‘Beauty’ video here:
