'Romance' with Trampolene's Jack Jones

‘Romance’ with Trampolene’s Jack Jones

Jack Jones is not your standard musician. The man keeps himself busy by fronting Welsh rock band, Trampolene combined with him playing lead guitar in Pete Doherty’s newest venture, Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres. But Jones also takes his poetry as serious as his music. He professes he never dreamed of fronting a band; the writing he enjoys but the spotlight was never something he craved (which is hard to believe when you see him on stage) and being lead guitarist for Doherty gives him that outlet.

Jones and I get ushered into the green room at the Dublin Castle in London prior to Trampolene’s headline show with Mi7 Records. I say ‘green room’ but in reality it is a tiny storage cupboard painted green, harbouring just a single drum stool and barely fits the two of us in. “You take the stool,” I gesture. Jones refuses profusely and insists I take it whilst he plants himself on the floor up against the wall. I take the seat and it becomes clear that it has been left in here as it’s broken and it almost collapses under me like one of those comedy chairs. “In fact, you might be comfier on the floor” he suggests. He squeezes up and I perch next to him; we both have rather long legs so the space really is limited on the ground. He brings his knee up to his chest, giving me more room, and we precariously balance the dictaphone on his knee as we begin to discuss his birthday. Quite fittingly for a poet, his birthday falls on Valentine’s Day. “I should change my name to Valentines Jones” he jokes as we swap romance fails. Jones is what I would describe as a ‘pretty boy’ yet, no arrogance is repelled from him throughout our interview. His sunglasses remain firmly on his face throughout our chat- which I find impersonal and frustrating- but his kind personality continues to shine through.

Our interview topic stays on romance, due to the Welsh poet’s fortunate and fitting birthday. He tells me about his romantic stories and gestures, including the time where a former partner and himself didn’t see each other for a whole year then agreed to meet at the top of the Eiffel Tower. “I think she just wanted to work on her life and I was trying to work on mine. We thought it would be a good idea. It didn’t really work. But that was a big deal in my life- quite a big chapter”. We continue to trade romance fails, including funny school ones that we agree no one is exempt from. Jones publicises he declared his love for a girl at school and she swiftly moved after that and he admits that his declaration “probably” had something to do with it. But beneath all of  the stories he tells me, it comes as a shock to learn that he doesn’t actually consider himself a romantic. “I don’t know, I could be seen that way. I do kind of believe in all that, you know, love and romance. I have a lot of  faith in that and hold it with a lot of value- more than anything else I suppose”. His poetry however, isn’t all romance based,

“When I started, [my poetry] was quite cliché. I was writing about all that goofy stuff. And then it changed quite a lot when I started writing about everyday things that have got nothing to do with love”. 

Certain examples of his poetry such as, 'Poundland' and 'Ketamine' spring to mind when he talks about his poetry evolvement. However, Jones jokes that Poundland could be quite a good place for a first date before confessing he got banned from Poundland for stealing a pack of gum. “I only wanted one pack of gum and it came in packs of five. So I was like, ‘I know, I’ll leave 20 pence on the side and take one of the packs!” Obviously, that didn’t work.

Returning back to the romance theme of our chat, I then begin to ask him ’60 Questions People Want to Ask on a First Date’. I warn him some are rubbish, some are quirky and some are more fun than others. Examples include, favourite drink, (he replies“Whiskey and ginger ale”); favourite book (he replies, “Stoner”); and favourite film. Jones drags out his phone as I ask this question and shows me a list of about 70 of his favourite films that he carries round on his phone. “Why on earth do you carry that around with you?” I ask. “Because I like to remember them and watch them again” he states innocently. He recites them all to me, throwing suggestions left right and centre in between us bonding over ones we both love (Reservoir Dogs to be precise). His manager, Tony Linkin knocks on the door telling us our time is up. Jones leans over and locks the door before saying, “Can you hear that squeaky floor board?” and we continue chatting about the (many) films he loves.

We conclude our interview by talking about his dream first date and what he notices first in women. He reveals that his ideal first date would be in a bedroom (cheeky) before he discloses that the first thing he notices in a woman is her voice,

“I notice I fall in love with the sound of someone’s voice usually: what it says, the nuance and pronunciations. That really attracts me to people and I could really fall in love with anyone then. I could just listen to them all day and never speak myself.” He tilts his head up against the wall behind him and seems to get lost in his thought. “I love a voice. I find a lot of times in relationships people can be uptight and anxious and not that easy going. But the people that I have been with have all…” he pauses. “When I’m around them, that disappears. All of a sudden I notice something being let go in them, like a tension. To kiss someone feels nice as opposed to guilty. Things like that, I notice the absence of sadness you could say. Does this make sense? I’ve never really thought about it before.” 

He admits that he doesn’t hold physical attributes in women in the same regard and says that isn’t what initially entices him. “I’ve never been that way. People have their own visions and own life they live: I’m usually attracted to that. When girls don’t need me and have their own life: that’s attractive…”.

It seems hard to believe that Jones has never given this any thought due to the elegance behind his answers. And for a man sharing his birthday with Valentine’s Day and with such eloquent beliefs on romance, I also don’t believe that he doesn’t consider himself a romantic for one, single minute.

You can listen to Trampolene HERE

You can listen to Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres HERE

You can check out upcoming Trampolene shows HERE

Image sfrom Wikipedia and GigWise