Charge at Grow: Behind the Music with Sister and James Józef
Two years after their first collaboration, Guildhall School returns to Grow for Charge, a free summer showcase spotlighting some of the most exciting student talent from the Electronic & Produced Music (EPM) department.
In line with Grow’s ethos of supporting the local music scene and platforming emerging artists, this special night will feature a dynamic line-up of live bands, electronic artists and DJs. It reflects both the diversity of the Guildhall cohort and Grow’s eclectic programming. Expect original music spanning alt-folk, experimental electronica, cinematic alt-pop and more.
Ahead of the show on Tuesday, 24th June, we caught up with two of the featured artists, Sister (S) and James Józef (JJ), to learn more about their creative process, musical influences, and why grassroots venues matter.
1. What formative experiences shaped your musical identity?
S (Sister): We grew up on music introduced to us by our dad, either played in the kitchen or in the car on the way to Saturday music school. Sonny and I used to play in a band at the Rhythm studio on Saturdays which really solidified our love for playing live. Sonny always only played drums and didn’t have any understanding of music beyond that. Our dad suggested he tried writing songs and Sonny immediately pursued that and taught himself piano.
JJ (James Józef): I was a musical theatre performer for many years before discovering a love for writing and producing. I still admire that side of the arts and am using my background in contemporary dance as the primary visual medium that my music is presented in.
2. Which artists or genres have most influenced you, and why?
S: We grew up on so much different music and styles and it has all become so important in influencing the music. Luckily Sadie and I have very similar musical tastes and interests, growing up with The Beatles, Crosby Stills & Nash and ELO. I’d say that all the genres of music we listen to influence us, whether it's in the music or how we want to present ourselves. Recently, we’ve been inspired by Genesis and a new band - Geese. We’re always trying to blend the old and new references as that’s what we listen to.
JJ: In general, I find myself most attracted to music which has been carefully considered, where all elements of the performance, lyrics and sonic choices being wholeheartedly in service to the song or feeling.
Joni Mitchell, Jeff Buckley, Bon Iver, Adrianne Lenker and Blake Mills are a few of the heroes who I believe do this best and find myself inevitably running back to.
3. Walk us through your typical workflow: from idea to final mix.
S: I (Sonny) will usually come into the studio with a few ideas that I have been working on and then bring it to Sadie and she’ll tell me if it's worth working on or not. From then, we work on the song together, me mainly focusing on the production and chords, and Sadie focusing on lyrical content and structure. We usually write, produce and mix at the same time as my production often informs the direction of the writing.
JJ: With my recent project, I decided to bring my trio (Ben Wedlake: Drums & Corin Veitch: Bass) into the writing process. I would bring them seedlings of song ideas and we’d flesh them out together at my recording studio in South East London.
I wanted this new music to translate live in a similar way to how it would digitally. When it came to the tracking sessions I invited my good pal Sean Rogan (Acoustic guitar, Slide guitar) to help assist my engineering brain, allowing me to focus on vocal performance. I was already adamant on us recording without a click track and Sean suggested recording without headphones, something that I believe Phil Weinrobe is big on doing.
Currently I’m in the mixing stage where I’m juggling a hybrid/digital approach. Re-amping things through outboard units, tape, my pedalboard; getting tactile with the entire creative process is what really excites me.
4. What's a challenge you face regularly, and how do you overcome it?
S: Being siblings is a challenge in itself, let alone spending most of your week together trying to express yourself. We have our moments but never let it get in the way.
JJ: The patch bay, man even if you fully understand signal flow, that thing can sometimes be a headache.
5. Share your favourite plugin or hardware — how do you use it to craft your sound?
S: I recently purchased the Soundtoys plugin bundle and have enjoyed experimenting with these interesting effects, especially the plate reverbs and the microshift plugin of which adds a nice stereo width to a mix. I also use mainly fab filters and digital pultec eq’s from UAD; fabfilter for the control and the pultec for the analogue warmth. I also use a decapitator quite often.
JJ: Either my pedalboard or my 4-track Portastudio 424. They’ve had quite a resurgence and price increase since Mk.gee has blown up, but I’ve always loved using that machine the character of its preamp and generating ideas via tape loops.
Recently I’ve been doing this ADT double-track trick the Beatles did on ‘Revolver’. Sending my vocal a semi-tone down to the cassette tape and then using the pitch dial to record it back up a semi-tone. It provides a similar width that double tracking usually does, but better preserves my initial vocal take.
6. Any unconventional techniques or experiments that pushed your art forward?
S: I don’t reference or listen to a lot of songs when in the studio and producing music. I think this allows things to stay interesting. If something stands out, that's always a good thing. We also rarely come into the studio with a fully fledged idea and will often mix and match different ideas into one project/song, which can help with this otherworldly vibe that we are trying to achieve within our music.
JJ: Using contact mics! Whilst recording this new project it became a bit of a joke in the studio that I would stick a contact mic on anything and everything. Especially on electric guitar, it directly picks up the acoustic vibrations from the instrument, adding a layer of depth and ‘woody-ness’ to your amplified signal. Sounds wicked on drums as well. Kind of shitty, but in a good way.
7. How has Guildhall supported your growth as an artist?
S: Guildhall has given me the freedom to express myself in any musical form that I want to, not pushing me in a certain direction but nurturing my artistic vision. Being at guildhall has also given me time to not only pursue my main career path to the max, but also experience other professional work outside of university.
JJ: A special shoutout to my 1-2-1 tutor Jo Wills, he has been so gracious with his support and guidance through the next formative steps in my career.
8. Advice for newcomers seeking a similar path?
S: I'm in no position to really give advice, but if you really, truly believe what you're doing, then you should fully pursue it, without any self doubt, and put everything into it, with no hesitation. You have to be a bit mad to enter a career of music, especially the career of being in a band or artist, so using rational thinking shouldn't be a main guiding factor in your career. Be bold, undeniably yourself, and confident.
JJ: No one really knows what they’re doing, myself included. We’re all just trying our best to make it work and there’s no one right or wrong way to do so. I would say try not to compromise on your artistic integrity; lean into those things which make you you.
9. Why is it important for people to come and support grassroots venues and artists like yourself?
S: Over the past few years we have performed solely at grassroots venues and these experiences have shaped us as musicians and as a band. It has been crucial for us to play live in order to develop and grassroots venues have been there for us from the beginning.
JJ: Spaces like Grow allows writers and musicians to test new ideas, build community, and develop a live identity that is honest and evolving. There's something deeply human about sharing a room with people who are there just to listen. It’s difficult for new artists to often feel heard and in a industry governed by algorithms and numbers, this kind of connection is something that cannot be streamed.
Join us at Grow on Tuesday 24th June from 7pm for a night of original live music from some of Guildhall’s most exciting new artists. Entry is free reserve your ticket now via DICE.