I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee

As the devoted fans of this small but perfectly formed podcast will know, I’m a big believer that emotional intelligence is one of THE super powers for navigating the world, especially nowadays with all its complexity, volatility, uncertainty and division. It often feels like the critical components of emotional intelligence – like self-management, self awareness, empathy and social skills – are out of reach, I mean I also feel that it’s getting out of reach for myself, such is the helplessness and rage that I feel sometimes. It’s the hardest time I’ve ever known for keeping raw emotions in check, at least it is for me.

I went to a talk given by John Robb a month or so ago and he posed the question “Do you believe in the power of rock n roll?”. It made me think: Do I? What can music do? Music is always my friend, even when the world is going to shit – and believe me, being in the UK this past week really makes me think it is. It has been and always will be a constant in my life. It’s made me laugh, made me cry and dug me out of holes.

I’ve always believed that politics, protest and social commentary belongs in music. So, I always feel positive when I hear about or listen to musicians that care, ones that believe that we need to strive for unity.

Marquise Fair is doing just that with music to try and bridge those divides with messages of unity, peace and freedom.

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently.

Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.

- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™
- cover art by Giles Sibbald 
- doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

A few years ago, after I quit my job and decided to go self employed or freelance or whatever, I fell into the trap of trying to start a bit of a hustle which - I still think was a great idea – but was still with a mindset of doing things in “work” mode - how to start something and grow it. It was a bit of a fun concept but I was way too serious about it. It wasn’t where my head was at or where it should have been at and it was only through some fairly grumpy and anxiety filled days, weeks and months, that I started to see that. I mentioned that I still think the idea as great, and I do – it was also about mindset. So what I did, with a massive, inspirational push from my partner, was to flip the idea around and do it in a way that was way more fun and involved a bunch of people that I’ve been listening to since I was a kid: talking to musicians about their mindset and how they’ve navigated their way through life, Yes, everything evolved into this podcast. If this isn’t fun, then I’ll go and stand on the naughty step reserved for big fibbers.

Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten of Chinese American Bear are my wonderful guests today and, if my dodgy research – just for once  - doesn’t let me down, have their own stories around serious and fun and how those two things play out for our creativity and sanity. 

They have just released their latest single, Heartbreaker, which is a magnificent slice of 60’s nostalgic, lo-fi pop and I just have the perfect TV soundtrack for it.

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently.

Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.

- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™
- cover art by Giles Sibbald 
- doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

Nostalgia. Such a layered, gamut-running emotion. That experience of having what you lost or never had, of a band that split up before you could see them, of seeing a band in a venue that’s now a bunch of this-could-be-anywhere apartments, of lovers long lost, of finding yourself. Then there’s the nostalgia for the present, knowing that it won’t last forever and then there’s future nostalgia where we perhaps blend our past experiences and project them into the future.

I’m gonna read out some lyrics from a song by the Buzzcocks called serendipitously….wait for it…..”Nostalgia”

“About the future I only can reminisce
For what I've had is what I'll never get
And although this may sound strange
My future and my past are presently disarranged
And I'm surfing on a wave of nostalgia for an age yet to come”

It's wild when you try to get your head round it!

Jason Kwan has been heavily influenced by 70s and 80s pop and has brought this into the present with his debut EP, Déjà vu, a magical, romantic and, yep, futuristically nostalgic dream-pop record.

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently.

Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.

- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™
- cover art by Giles Sibbald 
- doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

I’m really intrigued by instinct and the circumstances in which it can really flourish. For example, I’ve been classically trained – admittedly many more years ago than I’d care to mention – and that training can stay with you, or at least the modality or mindset of it can, if not the skills! I also have a tendency to analyse things, which is like watching a political debate – mind numbingly tedious and utterly pointless. I have got far better at going with my instinct – must be that thing of not giving a fuck as you get older. But, it intrigues me how an analytical nature and the pull of instinct have co-habited through my lifetime – it sometimes feels like a metaphor for the many paradoxes that exist in the world today.

Instinct is very much evident in the music of my wonderful guest Anna von Raison , a real clash of musical styles and there’s a noticeable evolution in the soundscape from her first EP 5 years ago with her latest album - and LP end-of-a-trilogy - Salvation, and makes me think about our own evolution - life, identity and experiences as well as a desire that I think we all possess somewhere – and that’s to experiment, let the subconscious do its work and see where it goes.

Really enjoyed this conversation with Anna about her life, her views, her ways of being and her honesty about so many things including herself. 



#avr #annavonraison #salvation #experimental #mindset #iwannajumplikedeedee #musicpodcast #selfawareness #emotionalintelligence #jazz #crossover 

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently.

Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.

- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™
- cover art by Giles Sibbald 
- doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

For me, emotional intelligence is one of the most important attributes we need today  – things like empathy, self awareness, self regulation, and the ability to interact socially - well, I just feel that they should be taught from the day we are born and, if we don’t, then  generation after generation is going to be born into a world where, in the context of our social and political climate, we’re not given those tools, selfishness, indifference and dehumanisation in the very widest sense will continue to grow.

I mention all of this as it’s 45 years since The Ruts released their first single, In A Rut, famously and very importantly on Misty In Roots’ label People Unite and still to this day one of the most memorable, anthemic debuts and the first of a seminal series of singles that are still as potent now as they were then. Forward to where we find ourselves now and I find myself thinking that the strong, singular message that David Ruffy and The Ruts and Ruts DC projected - that of People Unite - is as relevant and important as ever and that their own emotional intelligence continues to be the driving force behind their entire ethos. 

Ruffy is obviously best known for his beautifully rhythmic and melodic drumming with The Ruts and Ruts DC  - and, in fact they are just about to release their 3rd acoustic album and go out on tour to support this - but he's also worked with a vast array of legendary musicians and bands – Sinead O’Connor, Prefab Sprout, Aztec Camera, Kirsty MacColl,  Adam Ant, Pete Townshend, Mica Paris…I should probably stop here otherwise we’ll be here all day??!!

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently.

Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.

- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™
- cover art by Giles Sibbald 
- doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

I’m finding it harder and harder to know where to even start talking about the world’s malaise, but I just want to touch on one area of our lives that has got markedly worse over the years and that’s accountability. It’s the one thing that has actually trickled down – and not in a good way - from the elite into our everyday lives so much so that I often feel that the basic covenants or foundations by which we live our lives are being decimated and we’re heading towards some form of Purge-like Reality TV that doesn’t last 12 hours, it becomes the norm. You might think that’s being kind of melodramatic, that we’re better than that, but when I think about the human cost of what happens next when politicians, corporations and industries are allowed to bypass fundamental accountabilities and that starts to creep into personal life accountability, I’m not so sure that it is melodramatic.

The base feeling I have with all of this is disappointment. That’s the base level and it soon elevates to anger and fear. I’m very conscious of how this all plays on my own mindset and how I have to keep that anger and fear in check.

I’m really interested in the link between accountability and disappointment. Do we have an aversion to accountability because we perceive there is too large a threat to us from not meeting those levels of accountability? And what are some of those threats - conflict, blame, judgement, disappointment?

Magdalena Stephens has written a brilliantly ferocious, raging EP with her band Cathari in which there is a lot of focus on her own disappointment. At life, at ex-friends and perhaps at herself. It’s called It Will Hurt the Entire Time You Are Alive and this record will make a difference to your life.

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently.

Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.

- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™
- cover art by Giles Sibbald 
- doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently.

Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.

- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™
- cover art by Giles Sibbald 
- doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

There have been plenty of times when my shyness and tenuous self belief has turned up like the proverbial bad smell. Like the naughty people in my ear telling me why I shouldn’t do something. They almost stopped me from taking the plunge and doing this podcast – but I did need more than a push. I’m managing it far better than I used to, but still there a few situations that I get into that I’d rather not have got into. A few weeks ago, I had a complete chance encounter where I got over myself and ended up having the best conversation with a musician and artist whose work I’d admired for a long time.

I drive myself nuts sometimes.

Anyway, Nick Llobet has lived with shyness, imposter syndrome all the while having a prodigious talent for songwriting - their songs are daring and unpredictable, forceful yet tender, confident yet coy and it’s this enchanting kaleidoscope that makes them so compelling. 

And….thank fuck for those chance encounters and bravery – you might know that they had a very special one themself with Patti Smith that has helped to bring their band, youbet, to the disciples!

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently.

Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.

- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™
- cover art by Giles Sibbald 
- doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

Naël is an artist who has made me realise that I need to up my game as far as awareness of new music is concerned. He has the most incredible voice that brings in influences from soul, gospel, RnB, hip hop, jazz. He has been on tour with the amazing Jeanne Added. A couple of weeks ago, he released a really beautiful track called Roses and is going to release his debut solo EP called Last Words on the 7th June. 

He has also lived with a loss of hearing. Total silence in one ear and noise in more or less distant snatches for the other ear, meant that he learned to lip read at a very young age. Singing has helped him immensely to relax and find some peace. 

For me, the human ability to continually adapt to circumstances that we find ourselves in by design or by chance is tremendously inspiring. 

I’d strongly argue that adaptability is one of the crucial skills that we all need these days.

Thanks to Naël for this wonderful conversation and for tackling some difficult subjects with intention and respect.

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently.

Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.

- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™
- cover art by Giles Sibbald 
- doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

I’m gonna start with a quote that I remember coming across about 7 years ago now when I started thinking about what we needed as human beings to navigate through what is best described as a 100 year life – and credit to Dr Lynda Gratton for that term – or multi stage life - which is one that breaks away from that model of my parents generation – education-work-retirement - to something much more multi-hyphenate and less linear and one where longevity and technology play a much more prevalent role. 

I was also having a lot of thoughts about changes in my life at that time, which made me veer from excitement and possibility, through to panic and huge identity shifts. 

The quote might be familiar to you....

'There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have changed.’

 This was Nelson Mandela

I’m saying this as Hua Li 化力 by and large wrote the songs for her second album in 2020…a year which, instead of being a year in which she built on her success and achievements, turned out to be a period of extreme turmoil, grief and disconnection. Fast forward to 2024 and those songs have – after four years - appeared on that second album, called Ripe Fruit Falls But Not In Your Mouth, a wonderfully shapeshifting, almost chameleon-esque storybook - it’s wild how the music can veer inter-track from her fabulously sparse, old school rapping style to a more RnB vocal style, each track really showcases her vocal versatility. Each song feels like a journey in itself – an urban journey if that makes sense.

Dig in!

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently.

Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.

- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™
- cover art by Giles Sibbald 
- doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste