A Quick Q&A With Pearl & The Oysters

Nov 10

Nov 10 A Quick Q&A With Pearl & The Oysters

Pearl & The Oysters have been making seriously big waves following the release of 2023’s critically acclaimed album ‘Coast 2 Coast’; a sonic documentation of time spent across multiple US states. Now a part of Stones Throw Records alongside some of their musical pals, we caught up with JoJo (JP) and JuJu (JD) at Brighton's Mutations Festival to find out a bit more about their incredible journey.

So you guys have just played your first UK show, how was the experience and what do you guys think of the fans here?

JD: We played a show years ago in Liverpool, even before we moved to the US. We were a French band, and that was a turning point for us. Our music had never really clicked with the French audience, but the people in Liverpool were so encouraging and stoked with our music, and we thought “oh, there is a place for our music in this world.”

JP: We were writing different music back then, but given our influences, it resonated so much more with the audience that we encountered that day. We kept on digging, hoping that we could come back one day and that’s exactly what we’ve done!

There’s a key theme across the record based on travel. What made you pack up your bags and move to Florida and how did it influence your creative process?

JP: We both have dual citizenship and Juliette wanted to move to the US and experience that for a bit. I have a degree in musicology with a heavy Brazilian influence, so I started applying for PhD programmes all over. I got an assistantship at the University of Florida in Gainesville, which was luck or fate or chance. I ended up there as historically there’s a lot of Brazilian studies over there. A year later Juliette moved too, and immediately we were influenced by the surroundings. It was very green, it was very noisy. With the sound of critters, it’s kind of a constant metallic buzzing, which immediately we wanted to recreate with the synthesizer.

You guys certainly travel a lot, so much that you’ve been quoted saying you’ve found a home in one another rather than a geographical location, can you talk a little bit more about this?

JP: We’ve been together for so long. It’s kind of corny, but whenever I do look at Juliette I think “This is my home, I’m grounded.” Having this nomadic lifestyle is exhausting and is mentally challenging sometimes. Having this project that’s always been us two keeps us grounded.

JD: There’s also this sense of adventure in one another, which kind of justifies this whole thing of being so far away from home. It’s been so long that at this point what’s home anymore? There’s a circular nature to it, but it only makes sense because we’re doing it together. We’re growing this funny kind of root, but it’s not into the earth, it’s into our music, and this keeps us stable.

‘Pacific Ave’ was a key breakthrough track for you. Alex Brettin from the Mild High Club features on it, how did this collaboration come about and what did he bring to the music that maybe wasn’t there before?

JP: So we met Alex a while back now, about six years ago. We were opening for Mild High Club in Orlando, just after they released the record with King Gizzard. I remember talking to Alex about that, and their album ‘Skiptracing’. We didn’t know about Mild High Club before that show, and there weren’t many bands in Florida at that time. We got asked to open for them even though it was only our third show. After, Alex told us “I like you guys” and then invited us to open for them on a string of shows in Texas. We stayed in touch over the years and he played a solo on our second record. Right before Covid, we moved to LA, and it just so happened that he was also moving back after living in France for a while. I saw him on a friend’s Instagram story and hit him up. It kinda changed my life because we’d never really hung out apart from at shows, but we started seeing each other more regularly and making music together. He’s a genius, but a private person. He said he’ll play on our new record and so we went to his home and he recorded a bunch of solos for us essentially. It was really good fun putting that together.

Finally, this year has been amazing for you guys, but what does 2024 look like for Pearl & the Oysters?

JD: I feel that now we’re on Stones Throw, the train has left the station. It’s going a little fast for us on this train, and it will just keep on going. It’s a little hectic, but what we’re going to do is make music and tour. That’s what we do.

JP: I would love to tour a little bit less than we’ve done this year and focus on recording more, staying in LA and trying to perfect the things we’ve been working on. I’d like to do some festival shows, fingers crossed in the UK, but who knows.