BIOGRAPHY English (scroll down for long biography / track by track / quotes)
Biography short:
OOR says 'full of passion and awfully strong'
Revolver says 'an excellent and solid Dutch product full of exciting pop music'
Fret says 'Never gonna find it in another story' is a great album for every moment of the week. Rain or shine'
Musicfrom.nl says Never gonna find it in another story 'is a genuine treasure'
Jodymoon is a band from the Netherlands has shot straight up like a rocket over the last year. They are successful as a duo as well as with their band. Jodymoon won last edition's Public Award of the ‘Grand prize of the Netherlands’. March 2008 singer Digna Janssen and guitarist Johan Smeets released their 2nd album 'Never gonna find it in another story'. The reviews are all laudatory. Descriptions such as beautiful, warm, awfully strong, timeless popsongs and 'the best export product we have at this moment', are often heard. Jodymoon has played an impressive list of shows in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and was support act for Joan Armatrading.
Highlights:
-Live on National radio 3Fm, VPRO 3voor12live!
-Winner Public Award of the ‘Grand prize of the Netherlands’
-Support act for Joan Armatrading / Bettie Serveert
-Recording new album in former Pink Floyd studio, Britannia Row, London.
-Live on National radio 2, Spijkers met Koppen
-Live on National radio 2, Tros Muziekcafé
Contact:
Distribution:
Management:
Fast Forward music management & marketing
Roy Maenen tel. +31 (0) 648403258
BIOGRAPHY long
‘Never gonna find it in another story’ is the intriguing title of Jodymoon’s second album that was released on the 1st of March. The record was practically finished when singer Digna Janssen and guitarist Johan Smeets were crowned public winners of the ‘Grote Prijs van Nederland’ (singer/songwriter) in the Amsterdam pop temple, the Melkweg. The Maastricht duo couldn’t have wished for a better start for the release of ‘Never gonna find it in another story’.
Jodymoon debuted in June 2006 with the excellently received album ‘Look at me look at me don’t look at me’. The wonderful single ‘You’re not here’ was even brought back to life by dj Eric Corton and has a bonus place on the new record that has a further 12 exciting, brand new tracks. Both Digna and Johan have not renounced their origins on the new album. Digna used to be a prize winning Jazz singer, and although ‘Never gonna find it in another story’ is more rock-based than its predecessor, you can hear which musical path Digna walked in tracks such as ‘Feed me Love’ and ‘I will get back’.
Johan too found a richer pallet. Although his imploring guitar sound is original, he shows that David Gilmour (‘A Song for Two’) and Jimi Hendrix (‘Feed me Love’) aren’t strangers to him. There has never been a lack of creativity, quality and historical conscience for these Conservatorium graduates. ‘Never gonna find it in another story’is warmer, more substantial and richer than its predecessor. That was mostly written in shady places under Sardinian olive trees, yet now they made their songs in cities such as London, Paris, Aachen and home base Maastricht.
Johan: “It works for us to be away from home. I have to switch over to be able to compose. I can’t do that if the trash still needs to be taken out or the bathroom needs to be cleaned.”
The city inspired Jodymoon to go in to depth into the phenomenon of time: waiting, waking, going and coming back; staying where you are and turning back. The rhythm of the city beats to ‘Never gonna find it in another story’.
The lyrics on the new album tell more stories than the lyrics on the debut album, such as ‘Sleepless Laura’. One of Digna and Johan’s own favourites, ‘Your Return’ was inspired by the film ‘Volver’ by the Spanish film maker Pedro Almodóvar. He personally gave them permission to use a few spoken phrases from his film!
The title ‘Never gonna find it in another story’might be a veiled love confession but it shows that Johan and Digna have finally found the musical formula that suits them best. The title almost casually came in the song ‘I will get back’, when Digna was improvising in a lost moment. ‘It’s magic’ Johan says, ‘suddenly that one sentence covers the load of an entire album’.
On Jodymoon’s debut album the Wurlitzer played a prominent role. The pallet of tones has been expanded a lot on the new album. An old piano in ‘A song for two’, a harmonium in ‘For those who stay’. In London’s ‘Britannia Row’ studio (Pink Floyd, Joy Division etc) they found a mellotron, which they gratefully used. The Beatles had already used it and it’s actually the first sampler that works with a length of tape that plays if you press a button. This wasn’t without success when tried by the Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark in the track ‘Maid of Orleans’.
In a short time Jodymoon has built up a respectable live reputation. Recently they were a support act for Joan Armatrading and their playing was out of this world in the programme Spijkers met Koppen (Nails with Heads) on radio 2.
Johan and Digna don’t only play as a duo but are often also accompanied by drummer Geert Roelofs and bassist Richard Ritterbeeks. Digna: “On the stage we really enjoy the attention and the vibe, we transform into stage animals, but on the other side all of the attention is sometimes a world on the outside, and you think: thank you, never mind. Success and fame isn’t our reason for doing this, we really love to live for tomorrow, to hang on the sofa every night and to go for long walks in the woods. That’s what we aimed our first album title at: ‘kijk naar me, kijk naar me, kijk niet naar me.’ (look at me, look at me, don’t look at me). As long as we don’t have to wait to step onto the cloud, as we call the stage.”
Johan and Digna don’t want to conform to target groups, viewing rates and marketing strategies. Johan: “We don’t even feel the need to compare ourselves to others, we just do our own thing:Never gonna find it in another story.”
Live band: + Richard Ritterbeeks (ex-Volumia) – bass and Geert Roelofs – drums
‘Never gonna find it in another story’
Track by Track
1. I’m here
It’s the first track on the record for a reason. It’s a quintessential Jodymoon song, the Wurlitzer, the voice of Digna, thejoint vocals, the guitar playing, the groove...... 24 years if I only had known......
(see YouTube: Video Diary London Part 1at roughly 6.20min)
2. Sleepless Laura
“Once, we were in the car at night coming back from a concert. There was a talk show on the radio in which the listeners could call in and tell their story. An old woman called and told that for thirty years she couldn’t sleep more than 4 hours per night. She was often bored because she couldn’t talk to or call anyone and that’s why she listened to the radio, and joined in with the games or did crossword puzzles to kill time. She sounded so lively and tried to make the best of it, every single night. Her story inspired us to write ‘Sleepless Laura’.”
3. The maiden in the tower
The fairytale as the lyrics of a fairytale; a secret confession of love from Digna to Johan. The music in the chorus describes the prince who, because of Rapunzel’s enchanting voice, goes to tower where she’s locked up. He climbs up by her long locks and frees her out of the power of the Witch. Later, in the bass solo we exaggerated it and it gets more film-like.
4. Playing around
This is a ‘press on record and we’ll see what happens’ type of song. Digna lets go and Johan gets free play on the Gretsch-guitar. A lot of improvisation, just how we like to play live.
5. Feels like a mistake
Digna was playing on the Wurlitzer when, out of the blue, a simple but enthralling riff that put her in a trance. You can hear it through the whole song. It goes on and on.... The lyrics are about people who decide to leave. Whether they go to the other side of the world or they meet their death. What ever you say to change their route; it won’t stop them from going. You have to respect that decision, even if it leaves you with sadness.
6. Feed me love
In this Jodymoon epic several influences make their return. Firstly the jazzy character of Digna’s voice at the start and the end, then Johan’s wahwah guitar; an ode to Jimi Hendrix. (See Youtube: Video Diary London Part 3 at about 1.20 min)
In the groove of the verses you can hear the seventies funk of Sly and the Family stone come back. In our opinion a delicious album track, coming from a lot of live playing; taking the time to play the track out.
7. Your return (inspired by the movie Volver)
One of the first songs we wrote for this album. It had a Spanish heart right from the beginning, but for a long time we couldn’t find fitting lyrics. Until we saw the film ‘Volver’ by Pedro Almodóvar. It clicked instantly. Digna was so impressed that she wrote her lyrics from inspiration of the film.
We got Pedro’s Madrid address from Sony USA and asked permission to use dialogue from the film. He loved the track and personally gave his permission. Yeehaaa! (Sorry, olé!)
8. No time
The paradox of modern time: computers are speeding up, information is available at the click of a mouse on the internet, automation can’t be stopped, yet people still seem to have less time, and are more stressed. The lyrics try to show this dual meaning; No Time: I have no time, or No Time: Time doesn’t exist today, so I have a lot of time.
We chose a provocatively slow tempo to accentuate the paradox.
9. Let’s wait
A miniature song. Here the time is again, the waiting…… and taking time. Digna’s first (nylon) guitar, bought ‘way back when’ for 75 guilders, was dusted off for this song. Johan’s slide guitar drifts enchantingly throughout the track, and the mellotron melody points ahead to “I will get back”.
10. Song for two
We realised that the piano we recorded in London was too good, so later in Maastricht we replaced this with a clunky sitting room’s model.
The guitar in the second verse did survive, breathes the feeling of “Brittania Row” and is a straight up ode to David Gilmour.
11. For those who stay
This song has two faces: on one side it sounds like a sailor’s song, but actually it’s about people who get stuck in their development and stay behind. Digna plays a nice harmonium here; the harmonium is in our living room, having received it for free from a café owner after a performance.
12. I will get back
Discusses not being able to make new acquaintances due to shyness, but because of great endurance you keep going until you fall flat. The lyrics are a sort of word doodle, and were made spontaneously during an improvisation. The subconscious at work: the sentence: “Never gonna find it in another story” suddenly floated to the surface, and apparently covered the load of the whole album.
QUOTES
From reviews from 'Never gonna find it in another story'
(read full reviews on our website)
OOR says 'full of passion and awfully strong' (NL)
Revolver says Never gonna find it in another story is an excellent and solid Dutch product full of exciting pop music (NL)
Fretsays it's a grand album for every moment of the week. Rain or shine (NL)
Musicfrom.nl says Never gonna find it in another story is a genuine treasure (NL)
All about jazz says it's the unmistaken chemistry of Jodymoon, abundant and rich in simplicity and regularity, but also recognizable and unpredictable at the same time (ENG)
Velvetmusic says singer Digna Janssen and multi-instrumentalist Johan Smeets make a deep impact with their absolutely timeless popsongs on Never gonna find it in another story (NL)
National pop institute calls the songs on Never gonna find it in another story exceptionally beautiful (NL)
Festivalinfosays the binding elements are again the fantastic voice of Digna Janssen and the very colorful guitar sounds of Johan Smeets. The album is absolutely far beyond the ordinary and should appeal to a lot guitar rock lovers (NL)
Musicmakersays Digna Janssen and Johan Smeets made an album that, for me, in this row of five records competes for the first prize with Eldorado by Michiel Borstlap (...) it rocks steady and smart, in twelve beautiful songs that come to you fresh and inspired (NL)
Art.D.Fact says the music on Never gonna find it in another story is marvellous melodious, laidback and is very catchy. We wouldn't be surprised if some of the songs on this album will get airplay on for instance 3FM and other important radio stations! (NL)
Muziekwereld says they wouldn't be surprised if Jodymoon would also gain recognition abroad
(NL)
Playground says Jodymoon is the best export product we have this moment. Wonderful (NL)
Quotes from reviews on first album 'Look at me look at me don't look at me'
OOR says 'You don’t really need much to make a great record (…) The result radiates with warmth, love, inspiration, peace and passion. The songs always sound open, and every note played has its purpose and place. It sounds great.' (NL)
Heaven says Arrangements and production are beautiful and imaginative, but it’s always about the song. Jodymoon combines craft, creativity and openness (B)
Festivalinfo.nl says With 'Look at me look at me don't look at me' Jodymoon delivers a very good debut (NL)
Musicfrom.nl says '...a powerful album, with beautiful songs and with a distinct atmosphere (...) highly recommended' (NL)
Musikansich says '...Jodymoon's first appearance is a success (...) This album is like a rough diamond(...) and in my opinion that's one of the strong points of this cd' (D)
Digg.be says ...how much of that first impression would linger the next turns. Know what: most of the songs kept their strength, and better still, their intensity increased and they became better and better every time I listened to them' (B)