Lux Jury is a vocalist and guitarist who’s set to bring her angular, queer-positive musical take on life to the masses. We caught up with her before she gets far too famous and in demand to bother answering our questions.
Give us a potted history of yourself
Hey Craig and Backseat mafia I’m a vocalist and electric guitarist and make a hell of a racket under the name LuxJury. I fronted a band called NIFE, which toured the UK and the Netherlands. I sang backing vocals for Goldfrapp when I was pretty young. After a few years of touring I metaphorically dropped my guitar in the bin and decided to do other stuff for a while because the music industry was doing my head in. A growing sense of life-fatigue led me to dig my guitar out of the bin again and to try to recover the soul I lost to the vacuous void of capitalism. I learned that when I dropped the shackles of money I was able to become the judge of what’s luxurious and what’s not – hence the name: LuxJury.
Who inspired you to start making music
My mum, who was an opera singer. I actually never wanted to sing because she was so good and I never thought I’d ever be able to sing like that so I just decided to concentrate on becoming a boss at playing piano instead and then eventually picked up the guitar because it enhanced my cool status at school. And I needed all the help I could get to become cool.
And the one or maybe two records that inspired you artistically
Horehound – The Dead Weather (this one really taught me attitude and the power of stripping things back and adding things in gradually to blow people’s faces off in the landscape of a song)
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Green River (John Fogerty – songwriting 101 for me)
If you’re trying to explain whom you sound like to someone that’s never heard you, what do you say
Alternative, extremely positive, autobiographical pop guitar music. Like if Prince went down more of a singer songwriter route than outright sex machine
Tell us about your new track
Jungle Cat is a musical hommage to my guitar and amp. I play a ’63 pre-CBS mustang (yes I traded my right kidney for it) through an old 50w Carlsbro head – it basically sounds like a Jungle Cat and reminded me of the first woman I ever dated who knew how to dominate a dancefloor and make people feel like she wanted them but didn’t need them
Where can we get hold of it
Literally any major streaming platform.
Tell us how you write
There is no process. It’s all magic. Sometimes it’s a groover, sometimes it’s a line, sometimes it’s just the way the guitar or guitar riff sounds that day (hence jungle cat)
Tell us about your live show and how much have you been missing it recently
Our live show is what we do all of this for. We love making racket – pulling people into our narratives about life, love, futility and queerness.
It was tough not playing through lock-down but it rekindled our love and respect for live music and live venues that managed to stuck it out!
What can we expect from you in the near future
Hopefully a bunch of live shows, an EP and dare I say and album?!
Tell us your favourite records that’s rocking your headphones/tour bus/stereo
S.G. Goodman’s 2020 Album – Old time feeling. Saw her at Thirdman records in London doing a secret basement show under the record store and it blew my away ya’ll.
Find out more via Lux Jury’s Facebook
Check out the track Hot Mess, below:
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