More about: Chilli Jesson

I remember back in my first year of university, you wouldn’t catch me without a Harrington on. I was deep in an indie rock phase that I’ve never truly been able to shake and at the very heart of that were Palma Violets. Their LP’s and live shows were a force to be reckoned with. The likes of ‘Best of Friends’ and ‘English Tongue’ bounced off every single wall of Leadmill and in that, I experienced what would be one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to.

That wasn’t the last time I would see Palma Violets, in fact there would be a few gigs I’d go to of theirs, each one better than the last. These days, university is a distant memory, as are those gigs, but that doesn’t mean that same energy and attitude which resonated so well throughout them has to be. CloseUp festival are seeing to that, having ex-Palma-Violeter and now solo artist ‘Chilli Jesson’ as their Sunday headliner.

“We are all very excited to play CloseUp festival,” he said to me, “there is such a great mix of talented artists and bands.”

I haven’t seen Chilli Jesson live yet but I’ve been listening to his new music pretty religiously. Tunes like ‘Carolina Reaper’ and ‘Gucci Want the Suit Back’ are bangers, no two ways about it. The choruses are catchy, they’re packed full of energy and are individual in their own right whilst still nodding to previous indie rock / pop influences.

I’m not alone in this praise either, so I asked Chilli how it felt for the new stuff to be received as well as it has been. “It’s pretty incredible as the band was conceived during lockdown,” he said, “obviously at this time there was no communication with the outside world to road test the songs, so it really felt like we were entering the unknown. To finally release music and get the validation that we were on the right track has meant an immense deal to us.”

As previously mentioned, there is an element of energy which seems to nod to the old Palma Violets days, so anyone who saw those old shows like me will understand why I’m so excited for this headline set. “They are pretty similar in terms of energetic performance,” Chilli confirmed, “but sonically it’s pretty different with a far more modern landscape that I have trod previously. The live show is the best and most sonically diverse I’ve ever been, but I will still occasionally throw in a Palma Violets song for good measure.”

It's exciting to listen to this new music and hear about the live show as it’s a clear reflection that in going down the solo route, Chilli has allowed himself to become a lot freer in his writing. “I just became pretty sick of the hierarchical system of a band and especially the song writing process,” he says regarding going solo, “I always felt I had not released enough music in the past and the goal with this project was to release as much brilliant music as possible. The only way to do that was to strip the old band values and speed the process up with the knowledge and belief that I had gained from the past.”

One song in particular that seems to resonate with CloseUp fest is the new single ‘THICK SKIN’. It talks of trying to find like-minded misfits during periods where you might feel like an outsider. Realistically, if you are a lover of music, regardless of the genre, where are you going to find these like-minded people if not at a bar or in the mosh pit of a festival which brandishes what you sonically identify with?

“Smaller festivals are really important,” Chilli agrees, “especially these days when smaller venues seem to be closing at an alarming rate. Music is definitely a common language that we can bond over and find our tribes within, no matter how niche they may be… we’re excited to see everyone [at CloseUp] but in particular Freya Beer, who reminds us of one of our favourites, PJ Harvey.”

You can grab your tickets for CloseUp festival now!

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More about: Chilli Jesson