It’s not often I feature a band the day after the release of their debut single, but perhaps it should be. Lord Jane, from Belfast, have plenty of musical cred built up already, being something of a supergroup made up of members from a series of heavy bands located all over Ulster. They’ve been together in a development phase since 2022, but with debut single ‘I Did It To Myself’ seem to be laying down a marker when it comes to self-examination, riffs, and dark themes.
I caught up with the band on the day the single came out, to uncover a little of their backstory and what their hopes are for the growth of a side project that lives in the emo-rock world, stepping away from all their usual musical angles…
First of all, can you give me a little background on the band? How did you come to be?
The band first came about in a moment of madness, or perhaps boredom from Dylan and Sam. A duo that have played together for years, from the iconic North Coast. After a few jams it was quickly established as something with great potential and after a couple more weeks Carl joined on bass followed by Aidan with an additional guitar. This was the basis for it of course, and we had fun as an instrumental band but it was always going to need vocals in our heads. Luckily fate would be on our side, and Clodagh joined the band as our lead singer, which really solidified the sound. The band consists of members from all corners of Ulster and it feels like we have all found a place at our HQ in Belfast to make music together, fully express ourselves creatively and really find a passion for music again.
How do your various other outlets fit in with the new project?
The band is somewhat a supergroup of various other projects from around Ireland. Dylan from Wohn, Sam comes from Ferals, Carl from Mob Wife, Aidan from Big Daisy and finally Clodagh has her own solo outlet. All very experienced in their own ways, but a varied style of music across the board also – considering the styles of some of those bands, Lord Jane is a very different beast. It was always intentional to step away from heavier music from our other bands to express a more soft and mature style of writing.
Presumably you have more than one song ready to go. How did you go about picking a debut single?
We toyed with the idea of releasing a more ‘radio friendly’ song but it always had to be ‘I Did it to Myself’. It was probably the 2nd or 3rd song we wrote together, and the first time we played it together as a 5-some it just clicked. That thought of “you know this is actually not bad” really stuck, but more poignantly we knew we had something, the sound clicked in that moment. We have other songs that are more poppy, and even some that tail the other direction of experimentality, but this is the song that everyone needs to hear first in our opinion. A real statement of what the band does best, crying at a disco, dancing at a funeral.
There’s a real element of self examination in the single’s lyrics. Does it relate to a particular experience?
The great thing about being part of such a collaborative band is that we all inspire each other. So when it came to writing the lyrics of this song, it didn’t come from just one particular experience, but a collective 5-person voice. The funny thing is, before Clodagh came on board, the music that was already written was all assigned random names based on vibes. None of those titles have changed during the process, Clodagh just took the vibe and ran with it, producing introspective writing that’s relatable to a lot of different experiences.
How is your broader music coming along – how many tracks do you have to play, for example?
We have about 10 songs probably in total we’d be happy to show people – and after about a year and a half of playing together that seems very reasonable. The real exciting part is that all the new music we’re writing together is even better than anything we’ve done previously. We found a sound, yes, but by removing any restrictions to really showcase the weird and wonderful ways music can be, it gives us total control of our self expression. The bands we listen to don’t follow an A-B template of how to write music, so neither do we and we’re so excited to show off not only what we have recorded for EP 1 but also EP 2 and even further down the line.
What can we expect from you as a live act?
There are elements of our live show that we couldn’t capture on record, but that was the plan when recording the band. We wanted to capture the live sound as best we could, removing click tracks and really letting the band breathe throughout the songs. If you catch us live, just prepare for a lot of energy. You’ll see the passion and the fruits of almost 2 years of keeping this secret pour out every time we play. It’s like that in the practice room too, we just love what we’re doing and find so much joy in showcasing it to people.
How is the Belfast music scene at the moment? Do you have natural kin within it?
Three of the five members live and work within the city, and mostly within music industry adjacent jobs. We go to local gigs every week, and really have an understanding of the current music scene. It’s been a long time coming for Belfast to become so vibrant, drop the punk label from the 80s and really become a hub of true alternative greatness. It is such a privilege to play alongside our friends, and their talents are being showcased across the world.
The Belfast music scene (and the NI scene in general) is bubbling and overflowing with so many amazing, ultra-talented bands and artists at the moment. It’s a real privilege to share the scene with so many of our friends. I don’t think you can get very far in music without proper good mates within the scene, so many of which have helped us get to the point of release. Photographer Billy Woods, master of mastering Joel Harkin, digital artist Emily McClemments, for all the behind-the-scenes magic, our good friend and song writing genius, Moonlanding, for having us support him for our first ever live show, Problem Patterns for trusting us to support them in the Derry leg of their upcoming tour. The list goes on, and we’re so grateful to be a part of a scene like this.
What are your hopes for the project going forward?
That big ball thing in las vegas – But seriously, we just want to continue to make music that we love and enjoy the time we spend playing together. We want people to connect to our music and have a fun, safe time at our shows. Anything more than that would just add the sprinkles to the top of the already very tasty cupcake.
