Im Plausch mit: Poppy Jones (Shake Shake Go) + Konzertbericht

If you dream, you gotta dream big.

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Konzert und Interview am 11. Mai 2015 im Privatclub
Fotos, Interview & Text: Corinna Sauer

Der Soundcheck der Band Shake Shake Go war in vollem Gange, als ich am Montag Nachmittag im Kreuzberger Privatclub eintraf. Hier sollte am Abend das Konzert der fünf Londoner_innen stattfinden. Zuvor war ich mit Sängerin Poppy Jones zum Interview verabredet. Ich wartete auf sie an der Bar des Clubs, erhielt eine erste Chance, die Band live performen zu sehen und war unmittelbar von Poppys Stimmgewalt und ihrer, im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes, ungeschminkten Bühnenpräsenz überrascht. Das darauf folgende Interview war herzlich und Poppy ein wahres Sweetheart. Aber dazu später mehr.

Ich freute mich auf den Auftritt der Shake Shake Go’s, hatte ich zuvor doch nur Gutes von den Live-Qualitäten der jungen Band gehört. Und ich kann nur sagen, dass ich nicht enttäuscht wurde. Schon der erste Song „Doors to Heaven“ startete mit einem fulminaten Drum-Intro und gab einen ersten Eindruck einer energetischen, mitreißenden Performance.

Die Band trägt zwar das Label Folk-Pop und ihre Studio-Aufnahmen mögen sich auch unter dieser Bezeichnung, wenn man sich denn für eine entscheiden möchte, zusammenfassen lassen. Live mischen sich in die Musik jedoch diverse andere Stile, die geprägt sind von fast tribal-artigen Rhythmen, hard-rockig anmutenden Passagen und viel Soul, der vor Allem durch Poppys charismatischen Gesang transportiert wird. Ein Adjektiv, dass ich mit dem Live-Auftritt von Shake Shake Go verbinde, fällt mir noch ein: authentisch. Große Gefühle, Leidenschaft und Spielfreude wurden von den fünf, die eine gleichwertig hohe Präsenz auf der Bühne und nebeneinander hatten, unmittelbar auf das Publikum übertragen. Die Menschen wurden zum Teil der Performance, das Klatschen mischte sich fortwährend mit den Percussions, es wurde mitgesungen, in den Pausen zwischen den Songs gemeinsam gelacht und Funken sprühten in beide Richtungen.

In der UK supporteten Shake Shake Go im letzten Jahr bereits James Blunt und andere Größen der Musikwelt. Die Fangemeinde der Londoner wächst und sie wird es stetig weiter tun, wenn sie, was zu hoffen und anzunehmen ist, weiterhin so besondere, herzerwärmende und nicht zuletzt musikalisch anspruchsvolle Konzerte, wie das, was ich im Privat Club erleben durfte, spielen wird.

Weitere Fotos von Poppy findet Ihr bei uns auf Instagram – und das Interview, das ich mit Sängerin Poppy Jones vor dem Auftritt geführt habe, gibt es hier zu lesen:

Hey! First of all: How are you today? When did you arrive in Berlin?
P: I’m good! A bit tired maybe. We arrived a couple of hours ago. We drove from Hamburg. It’s our first time in Berlin.

So, please introduce yourself. Who are you and where are you from?
P: I’m Poppy Jones, the singer of Shake Shake Go and I’m from Wales.

Ah, you are from Wales?
P: Yeah, but I live in London.

Maybe you wanna talk a bit about the history of the band. When and how did you form Shake Shake Go?
P: Me and Marc (Le Goff) started working together about five years ago. We both met in London at a music college. We liked the same music and we had a couple of song ideas. We got together and started writing together. So we were a duo back then and a couple of years later we realized, that we should be a band and we got everyone involved. All of us met in London. And then it was probably two, three years ago, that we became a band. We got the name while we were busking all over the UK and there was this little boy, who picked our name on the street. We did a competition for people to pick the name, ´cause we were really bad at picking our name ourselves (laughs), so we put it in the hands of someone else. That’s how it started.

Yeah, I read that. It’s a really nice story. So, that leads me to the next question: this little boy came up with „Shake Shake Go“. Can you explain, why this bandname felt right to you?
P: Well, Archie, that’s the kid’s name, was watching us play and we had loads of instruments around us, that people could play and join in. He picked up the shakers, so he was shaking with us and then his dad said: My son thinks you should be called „Shake Shake Go“. We liked it straight away. And we were quite surprised, because we really had a lot of names coming in and a lot of them were like… really bad (laughs). For exemple „Space Cabbage“ was one of them. But this one, all of us liked right from the start and it made sense to us. And also Archie is a really nice kid. So, yes. We are really happy with that one.

Sounds perfect. The name is nice and also you got a great story to go with it.
P: Yeah, true!

How would you describe the process of songwriting? You are five people, so is each one of you involved from the beginning? You write the lyrics, right?
P: We kind of came up with a way, that works best for us. Usually what happens is that Marc, the guitarist comes up with the basic idea of the song. Then he passes it on to me and I work on the lyrics. Then once we’ve got that, we all come together and everyone puts their stamp on the song. Like Kilian (Saubusse) will make up some weird drum thing. So basically throughout the process we all put our individual touch on it.

You just released your first EP „England Skies“. So, after the process of songwriting which you just described, you are now touring and you present your music to an audience. How does it feel?
P: We are really happy and super excited. We are going to loads of places, that we never got to go before. This is our first time of doing a headline-tour in Germany, yesterday was our first gig. And it’s just really cool to see that people actually come (laughs). Like a few years ago we would do a gig in London and it would just be our friends in the audience. But now, the audience is full of people, that we don’t know. So, it’s cool to see that. We are still surprised every time. It’s like a dream coming true. It sounds really cheesy, but it’s true.

[Shake Shake Go bei unseren Freundinnen von In Bed with:]

Please tell me a bit about your musical upbringing and your influences. Which bands and musicians did you grow up with and who do you like nowadays?
P: All the boys will get very angry with me if I say that, but when I was a kid, I was really a lot into those pop bands. I still like them, they are good. Like Spice Girls. You couldn’t get around Spice Girls in the 90’s. But now I’m more into Arcade Fire. They are like my all time favorite. When I was like 15, my Mom and Dad knew, that I was a lot into singing, so they bought me a few albums like Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfield. So they have probably been an influence on me. At one point my aim was to be a gospel singer (laughs). But there are not many gospel singers in Wales, so that wouldn’t have really worked out.

Could have been interesting.
P: Yeah, maybe! Marc’s really into bands like Oasis. I am too. But still I think, that we have a lot of different musical influences.

And it blends all together, I guess.
P: Yeah, true.

I think I heard something about a reunion of the Spice Girls.
P: Really? Oh, that would be so cool (laughs). I was always Mel C. At school we would play those games where we made the band and we were playing shows on the playground. I was always Sporty Spice.

That’s a cute image. Is there a particular artist, that you would like to collaborate with at some point?
P: There is. I mean, I am aiming really high here, but I wanna say Bruce Springsteen. I really don’t think, that it’s gonna happen. But if you dream, you gotta dream big. I love him and I also think, that my Dad would be really happy, if that happened.

What are your plans for the nearer future. Like for this years. Will you be performing a lot?
P: Yeah, we’ve got a few more gigs left. We’re going back to the UK to play some concerts and we will also be playing at festivals, especially in France. We are working on the album as well at the minute. It’s all being mixed and mastered just now. It will hopefully be released by the end of the year. So, yes, that’s all we got planned.

Sounds like a good plan! Where do you see yourselves as a band in five years from now? What would be your dream scenario?
P: I just hope, that we can always be making music. I would be happy to keep on gigging and travelling and having fun, while doing it.

Thanks, Poppy. I’ll see you later tonight at the concert.
P: Great. Thank you, too.

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Fakten
Gründung: 2012

Mitglieder
Poppy Jones (Gesang)
Marc Le Goff (Gitarre)
Kilian Saubusse (Schlagzeug)
Virgile Rozand (Gitarre)
Toby Barnett (Piano, Bass)

Veröffentlichungen
2015 England Skies (EP)

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Mindestens genauso sympathisch und ebenso musikalisch sind Groenland aus Kanada.