Jo-Jo and the teeth are a five piece rock band from… well, all over! Frontwoman and lead singer Jo-Jo, alongside co-songwriter and rhythm guitarist Rylan, originated as a duo, and then met who are now the rest of the Teeth when on tour in the UK. But I’m getting ahead of myself, I wanted to know the whole backstory; how did this phenomenal band come to be?
How did you get involved in music itself, both as a band and individually?
Jo-Jo was, it’s no surprise, a born singer, she explains that ‘There was no “Ah-Ha!” moment’ when she discovered her voice, rather she was ‘always singing, always writing, always making something out of nothing.’ Growing up around music meant she was always immersed in a passion for the art. At the early age of 14, Jo-Jo joined forces with Rylan, the bands rhythm guitarist and co-songwriter, and together they started their journey as a band.
During their tour of the UK, a night at The Hope & Anchor changed the fate of the band forever; ‘the main support was a trio from the Isle of Wight, and that night changed all of our lives…Rylan and I had finally found what we had been looking for’. This trio included Lead guitarist Keir Hicks, bassist Max Battista and Ollie Grant, who had been drumming with them at the time. After a summer tour in Spain, the duo found themselves back home, ‘I decided quite quickly after getting home, disillusioned with the EP we were making and the hired guns we were playing with, that I didn’t know how, and I didnt know why, and I was fully aware of just how insane it all sounded, but I just knew that we had to find a way to make music with these English guys. So, we Facebook messaged them or maybe it was an email, and we proposed that we would come to the Island in the spring and we would collaborate, and that we would pay them for their time.’ Jo-Jo and the teeth were a transatlantic puzzle that’s finally been solved with music. Soon enough, April 1st 2018, to be precise, Jo-Jo and Rylan were moving into an Airbnb in Newport, “we never ended up going back home”.
Jo-Jo and The teeth were fully formed the next autumn after they “joined forces with our drummer boy, Mr. Andrew Barker” and the band officially started, and launched, on February the 1st, 2020. ‘One month before the world stopped and live music died…leave it to us with the incredible timing! haha’.
But a huge part of the band continuing, is the music they make, of course, so how do they come up with their ideas, what does each song mean to them?
Does your music on the whole have a specific message?
The overwhelming theme in the band’s music is placed upon authenticity, whilst the individual songs hold different messages and meanings, they all aim to express the authenticity of the band, ‘For me music is the only way to be my fullest self, I can sing what I want, sing how I want, write from my soul, scream it in strangers faces, rage, dance, be blissful in living in the moment on stage. I don’t think that that is something you can get away with in most other careers.’ Jo-Jo and the teeth make music to remind us to be ourselves, ‘Fight for your damn self! No one can do that for you.’
As mentioned, each song, however, has a different message. Which is why I asked the following questions.
What inspired the song “My Babe”?
My Babe is a song that doesn’t fail to stand out, the first of their songs I heard on the radio (on Crew Rock Radio, closely followed by ‘No More Good News’ on BBC introducing rock), and for good reason.
‘My Babe’ began, quite simply, as a guitar riff, ‘just a killer guitar riff Rylan kept playing over and over…’, but as they practised, the song evolved, and now we can hear the lyrics accompanying the guitar, a story, ‘about a hard working woman who supports her musician partner, who cheats on her and takes her for granted, until one day she finally snaps and kills him.’ The story is most powerful, though, when you know the true, overall message, “to not f**k with a good woman, and that you never know the depths of people and what they are capable of.”
Where did you get your inspiration for “Don’t Get Too Heavy”?
Unlike, ‘My Babe’, ‘Don’t Get Too Heavy’ was born from personal experience, “from a hard and aimless time” in their lives. Ry and I were on our own for a long time, searching for musicians to play with – having no luck, moving city to city, country to country trying to find a home, trying to keep the dream alive, and we knew we couldn’t do it on our own.”
‘Don’t Get Too Heavy’ expresses the dreams they hold dear and the ultimate reminder never to give up. Jo-Jo describes it as “a love letter to ourselves, from ourselves, to keep the little kid inside us with big dreams alive in the face of hardships, unbearable exhaustion, trauma and pain.”
The song is both this reminder, this motivation but also, a proof for us of how far they’ve come, what it means to keep going.
In the stunning and admittedly heart wrenching words of Jo-Jo O’Donoghue, ‘This life, the life of an independent artist in this day and age is not for the faint of heart – this is a hard, long and lonely road, it can feel a lot like treading water in a big, wild open ocean, and the only thing keeping your head above water is your own will to do so.’ Something so perfectly depicted in the following lyrics,
“Dream On, Dream Weaver, I know your heart, it feels so empty – you’re not alone.
Dream On, Dream Weaver, I know your head, it feels so heavy, you’re not alone.”
What’s the idea behind the line, “No more good news”?
The song ‘No More Good News’ is a statement about the ways rock is dying out, how it’s “being smothered out of the mainstream” media. The line “No More Good News”, came to Rylan after the news of Tom Petty’s death. Bad music, worse news, a world of limited riches and a lack of rock, welcome to the modern world, the age of rock stars seems to be dying and we can’t let it! In summary, ‘The radio is full of bad songs and bad news, rock music is being smothered out of the mainstream and it seems the only bands breaking are the children of rock stars and the children of the elite upper class.’ ‘No More Good News’ was finished the summer before covid and following this, was released as a single. Now we recognise the name as the title of the band’s debut album, also, and for good reason. It’s a wonderful and highly relevant song.
So, that’s some of their most popular songs at the moment, but what about their music on the whole?
Where do you get your overall inspiration from?
Inspiration is a fickle thing, it changes and adapts and grows, every writer knows writers blocks and every artist knows artist blocks, but that’s how we create, that’s how we find brilliant musicians, and Jo-Jo outlines that perfectly; “Everything inspires me sometimes, and sometimes absolutely nothing does!”
That being said, we all have our own inspirations, our personal influences. “I love ancient mythology, I love nature, I find the human condition terribly interesting and heart breaking, an endless ocean of stories to draw from.” A stunning outline of the ways their music is inspired, influenced.
Has your creative process changed over time?
‘I don’t think our process has changed too much but has evolved and refined itself. We came together as complete strangers drawn to each other musically – so we had a lot of learning to trust each other to do, and a lot of getting to know one another, but the music has always been a natural flow between us.’, perfectly said!
Speaking of their creative process, I wondered what, I’m sure you are too, what’s next?
Do you have any new projects in the works?
And, I’m so happy to announce the answer (maybe there is some good news!), ‘YES!! It never ends!’ And more than that, Jo-Jo and the Teeth have a new album in the works, ‘and we hope to be workshopping the songs with the band this spring, and recording it this summer… No rest for the wicked.’ Too true!
What’s the process behind your music videos?
Now if you’ve heard of Jo-Jo and The Teeth before, you may have seen their music videos and, if not, you can find them all on YouTube! Their music videos are full of raw energy, beautiful lighting and endlessly fun scenes (and I’ve got to say, epic high heels), but how did they come to be, what was the process? Here’s what Jo-Jo had to say in regards to the wonderful videos; ‘All of our music videos were filmed and directed by The Amazing Kassandra Powell. We come to her with a concept and then she makes it all happen. We LOVE working with Kassandra, she has such a strong aesthetic and a wonderfully creative soul.’ Something you can see is clearly entirely true when watching these videos!
Do you have a favourite song to perform?
I had the luck and pleasure of seeing an acoustic set of the band live, which is why I was entirely curious what Jo-Jo’s favourite song to perform would be. The answer was ‘HellHound’. A brilliant choice, of course, but here’s why: “it’s a stompy, dark mid tempo song, bluesy and dramatic, it leaves more room for me to do my thing than some of the others.” The band is a dynamic and lively act to watch, so this choice is the perfect fit.
What was your favourite gig to play so far? And do you have any upcoming gigs or shows?
In similar fashion to her favourite song, Jo-Jo’s favourite gig’s are the ones with big stages, The Isle of Wight Festival, the O2 Academies. “I love playing larger stages where there’s room to run around and take up space, plus I’m a little claustrophobic… haha, I need my space.” Jo-Jo and the teeth, as a band, are a truly wonderful stage presence with an exciting energy and the type of vibe that makes you want to get up and dance with them. Which is why, I seriously recommend you check out their upcoming shows, which are:
13 Aug / New Rock City International Music Festival at the Black Heart, LDN
6 Aug / Rebellion, Manchester
4 Aug / Rebellion Festival, Blackpool
27 May / Hard Rock Hotel, LDN
21 May / 365 Radio Event, LDN
13 May / Trinity w/ Flesh Tetris, Harrow
21 Apr / The Pipeline, Brighton
16 Apr / Lady Luck Bar, Canterbury, Kent
So, a huge thank you to the wonderful Jo-Jo for indulging me with my questions, and with this, I urge you with everything in me to check out Jo-Jo and the Teeth, their music, their YouTube, their gigs, maybe even all three!
Words by Ani C
Great read, can’t wait to see what this writer does next!