Let s be honest: there is one thing that Warm Jets are noted for above all others. It is not their songs, their gigs, or their rather fine debut album. It is the fact that their lead singer was, until recently, Zoe Ball s paramour.
Louis Jones is the name of the man in question. Did he find the press frenzy which the affair provoked irritating?
The tabloid stuff was, yeah, he replies. A lot of the time you just think, surely people can t be interested in this stuff ; the fact that I went to a restaurant with my girlfriend last night, or something.
Obviously a respected magazine like Hot Press couldn t be seen to descend to the level of the scurvy tabloids by asking Louis about such frivolous matters. So, luckily, he volunteers the information instead: We still get on well, but she seemed to thrive on that stuff. It was never going to work out, really. Her world is much more showbizzy, and, you know . . . em . . . lighter than mine.
The subjects of tabloid attention and showbiz girlfriends out of the way, we move on to music. Formed in 1995, three of the four Warm Jets hail from Bristol and its environs. Although that city has become synonymous with the sound of trip-hop via Tricky, Portishead et al, the Jets have a much more traditional approach. The band adopts the classic guitar, bass and drums configuration, and Led Zeppelin are among the influences namechecked approvingly.
They re not as retro as they sound, however. On their debut album Future Signs, the band bring their own identity to bear on an admittedly familiar formula. Tracks like Hurricane and Never Never capture the Jets at their most impressive and bode well for the future.
Although the band produced the album themselves, they felt that a more experienced hand was required at the mixing stage. Enter Glyn Johns, legendary producer of The Eagles and The Clash, amongst others. He, it transpires, held fast to the punk values of immediacy and simplicity.
Louis takes up the story: The mixing was done in Glyn s own studio which he d installed in his farmhouse. We d ask him for different effects, and he d just say, Nah, don t have it. He d mix a song in two hours, which is unheard of.
frenetic schedule
Much of the critical comment on The Warm Jets has centred around the subject of their lyrical style; it s considered individualistic by some, and a little nebulous by others.
One of the criticisms people had of the album was that the lyrics were too abstract. I don t know about that, Louis replies. I think as long as you evoke something, that s good. To me that can be done just as effectively through imagery as through a more direct lyric.
If you take Hurricane as an example, it s just a simple love song. But I think it s so crap to write Hey, I love you baby . We would try to do a bit more than that, he laughs.
Throughout our interview, Jones comes across as having a very definite idea of the direction he wants his music to take. Is this clarity, I wonder, partly the result of spending his formative years in the West Country, far removed from the manic, fickle, trend-obsessed whirl of cities like London or Manchester?
It could be. Certainly, by the time I came to London, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. In the country it s easy to slip into the delusion that people are going to suddenly come down and find you. You have to get out there yourself, and make people aware of your existence.
One thing that certainly made a wider audience aware of Warm Jets existence was their participation on the NME s Bratbus Tour at the start of this year. Together with theaudience, Asian Dub Foundation and Stereophonics, they toured the UK and Ireland, playing to capacity crowds, including those at Dublin s Red Box. An enjoyable experience, according to Louis.
It was brilliant. It was great to be part of something quite diverse, where there isn t too much emphasis on any one act. The bands got on really well together, too.
Warm Jets have used the Bratbus tour as a springboard for a headlining sojourn of their own, which will visit Dublin soon. Their second album will be recorded before the year is out, while festival appearances at Glastonbury, T in the Park and Reading are already confirmed for the summer.
With such a frenetic schedule, Louis and his bandmates could be forgiven for getting carried away. Somehow, that seems unlikely to happen. When we talk, Louis is pondering the forthcoming American release of Future Signs. He does so in the languorous, slightly detached manner which defines him and, indeed, the music of his band.
They re just about to release it, except they won t say anything that simple there. They have all this peculiar terminology. They re about to get it out of the box . With legs . Or something.
Whatever happens, music fans on the other side of the Atlantic should soon be converted. And they don t even know who Zoe Ball is. n
Warm Jets play The Temple Bar Music Centre on Sat 18th April.