Jenners Field
Gig Seeker Pro

Jenners Field

London, England, United Kingdom

London, England, United Kingdom
Band Rock Alternative

Calendar

Music

Press


"Single's Bar - Jenners Field - Drunk Drive"

a good old slice of late 70's, early 80's new wave dragged kicking and screaming into 2011 - that's the best way to describe Jenners Field new single 'Drunk Drive'. It's the sort of music that had Weller salivating around the recording of 'Sound Affects', it's metallic beat harks back to an era of Wire, Department S and Joy Division, all good reference points seldom explored by today's youthful bands. Music with a menace that demands that you sit up and listen!
you will be hearing more from Jenners Field, this i guarantee, one of this south London's band's tracks has been chosen for a Burberry advert and the lead singer has a successsful career as a model.
But please, don't take my word for it, dig the new breed! - Find the Torch Burn the Plans


"INTERVIEW: JENNERS FIELD"

A couple of weeks ago I met up with the lovely boys from Jenners Field. Based in New Cross and with the Goldsmiths success factory attached to their name , we can expect great things from them in the next few months. With Christopher Bailey loving them featuring a song in the Burberry Brights Ad Campaign they seem intent on taking hold of more than just the music market. I went to the pub with them to find out a little more.


How did Jenners Field Start?
Laurie: Danilo, Jed and I all met at school, Grant was at the same school but in the year below. He joined us a few years later, we have actually been together for about six years. It's kind of amazing we haven't killed each other yet.
(We then speak about killing people,kids stories and German sex games for a little bit)
Danilo: That's kind of how we started this band, we started talking about loads of weird stuff and suddenly started making music.
Jed: I imagine he battered it. (referring to the German man who ate his lovers penis)
I'm pretty sure it was fried actually. Moving on...Who does what creatively?
Laurie: It varies really per song. Some of them I wrote and brought to the others and we would work them out together. Other songs are more collaborative.
What bands would you most like to be compared to?
Danilo: Well we do get told we sound like The Killers every now and again.
Jed: It's a bit dubious though that reference.
Well bands that big are compared to quite a lot of people I suppose.
Laurie: going back to who we would like to be compared to, I think Arcade Fire would be nice! We are big fans of them.
How important is image to your band, Is it important to look good?
Jed: Yes definitely, I think.
Is there an image you guys try and go for?
Jed: At the gigs it's all shirts and ties. It all started off with Laurie, who is obviously into his fashion and stuff. He kind of dragged us into it kicking and screaming
Would you get a stylist in the future? Not that you need one...
Laurie: Are you offering your services? No Seriously, it's something to consider in the future. I find that there are things you like when you go shopping, whereas if someone else takes you and tells you 'you look great in this' you start to realise you can wear things you wouldn't have expected. It's important to look good on stage too.
Danilo: We like to consider all aspects of our image on stage, we are big fans of having loads of lights and stuff.
Laurie: Yeah it's the whole visual package which is important really.


Have you ever had a bad review?
Jed: I don't think there has ever been anything bad, we have had people say it isn't really their thing. I don't think we are important enough to get bad feedback yet.
Laurie: The only place people think it's okay to write bad stuff is on Youtube. On the Burberry Brights advert people have written comments like 'love the advert, hate the music.'
Yeah, Youtube is full of haters...
Danilo: They always seem to relate things back to Hitler.
Jed: I saw one on the Burberry Ad that said 'I think they should take music out of the fashion industry.'
How do you feel about being featured in the Burberry Brights Advert?
Danilo: Well it kind of came about out of nowhere, one of our managers sorted it out. But it is really cool for us and we think it looks really good too!
Laurie: Yeah we really hope people like it, it's a song that we never thought they would have chosen, it's a recording we did in the front room of my Gran's house in Dorset. It was really budget but somehow it ended up in the advert!
Have you always been into fashion Laurie?
Laurie: Well when I was younger I liked to dress up. I wasn't ever concentrating on what was going on or what was cool. Sometimes what I wore was hideous. Actually the first day we all met I was wearing full denim, flairs, cowboy boots, a denim jacket and a cowboy hat. So yeah always been into clothes, but the modelling came about later.
You guys have a blog too..tell me a little more about it?
Laurie: Well I probably post the most stuff up. Out manager keeps telling the others they should too, probably because I'm awful and blab too much! I put this picture on the blog of a vajazzle actually, really good tactic if you want more hits. There was a story behind it though. We did a gig in Portsmouth and met this girl who we thought probably had a vajazzle. I went to google and got a picture of one, it looked like a bird or something. But that one got censored so I had to change it to a less offensive one. It ended up being really good exposure for us in the Portsmouth vajazzle market. We are probably the second down if you google 'Portsmouth vajazzle.' Anyone looking for one in Portsmouth will find us instead.
Jed: The photo is quite classy now. It's a 'Juicy' Vajazzle. I think a vajazzle is for people who don't want a long term tattoo.
Laurie: You wouldn't get a tattoo down there anyway though would you Jed? What would you put on a dream rider?
Jed: Well every week for the last six years we have had ham sandwiches and crisps at practice. So we would probably just go for that. So as we are a relatively unexciting bunch, we would probably just got for that.
So for the dream rider, you just want ham sandwiches? Nothing more imaginative?
Jed: Well I suppose we could swap the ham for chicken.
- No No Coco


"E Tautz Honourable Mention by Patrick Grant"

Honourable Mention in GQ Magazine by fashion designer Patrick Grant

What music are you using for your show and which new bands do you like?
Not sure yet: we've a piano in the space so I might bash out "Chopsticks" while the boys walk. Sadly I've little time for new music, but Laurie, who models in our shows, is in a pretty cool band called Jenners Field. I heard a band called Morgan O'Kane at the Bedford Avenue subway in Brooklyn and they were cool too. - GQ


"RIVER ISLAND A/W 2010 MEN'S LOOKBOOK"

River Island Ad Campaign / Jenners Field - River Island


"Four Piece Band Jenners Field Hotly Tipped for Big Things"

Described by Depeche Mode as having “a confident spirit of adventure in their arrangements“, four piece band Jenners Field are hotly tipped for big things and have an eclectic sound that borders on Florence And The Machine, Interpol and The Cure. Their single launch party takes place at the 100 Club on Wednesday May 11th with other London dates set to follow. Frontman Laurie Belgrave is an established model, often featured in GQ, Vogue and does regular work for various fashion houses. I will be DJing, warming up the set from 6.30pm. They are due to be on stage at 9pm. It’s set to be an unmissable gig. Expect to be taken on a epic and mind blowing journey. - ITV Music Review/BBC Music Consultant


"Jenners Field Looks Set to Achieve Big Things."

Laurie Belgrave of Jenners Field popped in to see us today. Laurie, who has been with Models 1 for 2 years now, has modelled for the likes of GQ, Vogue, Daks and River Island, to name but a few. However, his main focus is his band of 4 years, Jenners Field, which looks set to achieve big things. He talked to us about the perks and the of being a model, and why appearance means everything when performing on stage. - Models1


"Burberry Brights"

*featured song for Burberry Brights Campaign - Burberry


"New Cross band Jenners Field release debut single Drunk Drive"

DRUNK Drive begins at a lively tempo and instantly grabs your attention.
After a string of sell-out headline gigs which have been causing an audible buzz on the indie scene, Jenners Field's debut single may not have the power to storm the charts, but will certainly please indie fans.
Laurie Belgrave on vocals is clearly an accomplished singer despite his young age and he delivers the lyrics in style, finely accompanied by his three colleagues.

The New Cross band have been writing and playing together for the last six years and have been hard at work with top producer John Fortis, whose previous credits include working with Razorlight, Ellie Goulding and Prodigy.

The result is an edgy but polished sure-fire hit single.

If you like furious guitars and an instantly catchy chorus you will love Jenners Field. - News Shopper


"Check out the new video from Depeche Mode tip-offs Jenners Field..."

Check out the new video from Depeche Mode tip-offs Jenners Field... - Art Rocker


"New Band Jenners Field Prepare for Life in the Fast Lane"

Jenners Field’s leadsinger Laurie Belgrave, dressed in a stylish red shirt under a smart jacket, introduceshimself and his band through a slow and long intro. His voice is reminiscent of Kings of Leon’s Caleb Followill and his looks like he’s just sprung from the last River Island advert (which he was in, so that might explain that).
The four-piece band is wrapping up a successful month with a gig on Shoreditch House’s fourth floor.
The young guys in Jenners Field go full speed ahead this summer, releasing their debute single Drunk Drive on 4 July. Despite the fact that none of them are older than 21, they have been playing together for six years now and have a very clear chemistry.
“We don’t really talk to each other anymore unless we really have to,” says Belgrave, giving a sample of the crispy humour that seems to connect the band members.
Guitarist Danilo Borgerth, basist Grant McNeill, drummer Jed Kellett and the charismatic lead singer Laurie Belgrave met in school.
They could not know then that, six years later, they were to be the first group signed by publisher Eagle-I Music, a new venture that started in May and is led by Bug Music’s group’s former VP of International, Roberto Neri.
The head of Eagle Rock Entertainment’s publishing arm is happy with their debut act, saying: “Jenners Field ooze talent and I look forward to putting them on the platform that they deserve. All the band members are tight ‘real’ musicians and Laurie has the presence of legendary frontmen such as Morrissey and Freddie Mercury, but also the dynamic and spine tingling vocals of Thom Yorke and Jeff Buckley.”

Singer Belgrave, a successful model featured in GQ, Vouge and various fashion houses, says: “It is great. You do what you are doing for so long, you find yourself stuck in a rehearsal room, and then someone else says ‘We love it, we wanna do something with it and get it out to more people.’”
John Fortis, a producer who has worked with groups such as Razorlight and Prodigy, has crafted the single that (according to Belgrave) is about “being young and not giving a sh*t.”

The song not meant to encourage people to drink alcohol and then get behind the wheel, but if Jenners Field are trying to make a car-commercial song then this, despite a great hit potential, might not be the one to push for.
“But we’re making it googleable,” drummer Jed Kellett says.
The band have already broke into the lucrative world of advertisements – perhaps thanks to Laurie’s fashion connections – with their song Camberwell Grove, featured in a Burberry campaign in January.
Back in Shoreditch, the band build from their slower intro into songs that ripple with intensity. With a music style that they describe as rocky/indie/electro and is often compared to the Killers, Jenners Field takes the audience through many potential second singles, among them the great 1980s.
Described by Depeche Mode as having “a confident spirit of adventure in their arrangements”, the band are enthusiastic about the future. Jed jokes: “If we don’t all die in car accidents we will hopefully step up soon.
“This year we are not really doing any of the big festivals but hopefully we will next year.”
Laurie is even more forward-thinking: “We should have our second album out in three years,” he prophesies.
Finishing off with the soon-to-be-released hit Drunk Drive, Laurie and his band leave the crowd stunned. Surrounded by fans, photographers and friends they have a beer before leaving the private members’ club. Not Laurie though – he’s driving. - BEEHIVECITY


"Jenners Field Live at the 100 Club"

The era of the so-called New Romantics here in the UK ensured that ever since then it has proved wise to approach ‘fashion’ bands with extreme caution. So many of the acts emerging then put looks above musicianship, posing above composition. Not only that, they were often supine in the hands of trendy producers who piled on the tinny guitar timbres, squeaky keyboards and hideous gated and harsh drum sounds, rendering a lot of recordings of the time pretty unlistenable – then and now. So how come an absurdly young London group fronted by a male model can produce a splendid debut single and launch party to match ?

Make no mistake, this four-man outfit Jenners Field have a lot going for them and the turnout for what really is a private party crosses all demographics, both sexes, all ages. I don’t think anyone there can have left unimpressed, the band’s potential is almost tangible.

If at first glance they might be taken for a ‘Ninety-minute make up, ninety-seconds tune up’ crew, any of the songs performed tonight knock that notion into touch. Jenners Field might look good and singer Laurie Belgrave might be newsworthy lens fodder BUT he plays a crisp Telecaster rhythm guitar and sings like the offspring of LeBon and Sylvian. Hence the group are much closer in sonic impact to, say, heyday Talk Talk as opposed to this month’s Visage. A lot of care has been taken over the backing vocals, principally the achievement of sturdy bassist Grant McNeill who steams through the set. Guitarist Danilo Borgerth spins out chords, spiky lead runs and many tones, some verging on spooky yet just right for each song. Drummer Jed Kellett is an absolute powerhouse, equal parts skill and ferocity. He sounds as though it is New York bands like Television and Talking Heads that have influenced him most, the frantic ‘city’ attack is pretty evident from what he plays tonight.

Right, the new release – it’s called ‘Drunk Drive’ and it’s the edgiest single I’ve heard in ages. The drums thunder out of an ambient synth cloud and don’t let up for a moment, dark guitar and bass spark out a staccato tempo, sometimes veering off into the old Mel Torme four-descending chords figure found on “Coming Home Baby’ and the later Spencer Davis ‘I’m A Man’ but here thrown into the maelstrom as a hook. The more I play this record, the more I hear the stamp of Thom Yorke on Belgrave’s vocal but this is no RadioHead rumination, it’s a rush of a rock song, crashing into an abrupt ending.

When the current pop charts remain full of anodyne ‘r & b ‘ tunes that go nowhere, how does a young group that often sound like Duran Duran being chased into a Black Hole by Hawkwind fit in ? They probably don’t, but all the more reason to savour and encourage them….

The first selection is ‘S.O.F’ – ‘Soul On Fire’ ? – all plucked guitar and plaintive singing, delivered in semi-darkness and featuring a solemn falsetto crescendo, ‘Brave’. ‘Camberwell Grove’ and the flamboyant ‘Lifehouse’ establish the Jenners Field sound, intense drumming to the fore. The young females are dancing in front of the stage, the rhythm section sounds more and more comfortable and the guitar sounds keep exploding. The singer’s mini Korg is used for keys interludes and riffs. ‘Frozen’, ‘Hope There’s Someone’ and the ace composition ‘Sail On’ woo the crowd whose enthusiasm is maintained throughout the show, Then after the catchy and stabbing ‘ 1980’s ‘ is spat out, the single gets a tuneful hammering.

The encore ‘Wolf Like Me ‘ sees all traces of self-consciousness vanquished, the whole band opens up and roars through the song like a supercharged Talking Heads. A fabulous rendition.

Very minor carps : the moody intro number works well but 90 seconds is the most you can run at that tempo for maximum impact when a show starts, so maybe better to slot a faster song early into the first number and then come back to ‘ S.O.F’ ? also they might think about a call&response vocal passage in one of the songs to harness the audience’s energy. Needn’t be a corny anthem or ‘ AgaDoo ‘ type song, but a crowd likes to sing sometimes, so let them.

If Jenners Field can sustain their energy and keep writing good songs, they will be a huge asset to the London and hopefully national music scene, probably internationally successful in time. - Fair Hearing


"Listen to More... Jenners Field"

Death-Pop stylings a la White Lies, the vocal pomposity of Tom Smith, and the experimental electronic-indie feel of Me My Head, stirred in a lo-fi, endearingly under-produced and raw blender. These boys also happen to have written one of the most stirring, atmospheric and infectious tracks I’ve come across in a while in Brave: an experimental rock track which transcends cultural barriers, combining middle-eastern guitar melodies with western popular traditions, and not to mention one hell of a chorus. And they use a theremin.. ’nuff said. Check them out here. - Fan the Fire


"Jenners Field: Drunk Drive"

For a young band in which the oldest member is only 21 Jenners Field sound both remarkably confident and mature in sound. One should not perhaps be totally surprised, however, as the South London-based four piece have been writing and playing together for six years already.

‘Drunk Drive’, their debut single, which is being released on MP3 and in an edition of 500 vinyl copies, is a dark throwback to the late 1970s and early 1980s. With its bleak, cascading guitars, it recalls bands like the Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Vocalist Laurie Belgrave meanwhile has all the twitching nerviness of Wire’s Colin Gilbert and Josef K’s Paul Haig as he describes a night out that will go tragically wrong and end in death.

Jenners Field have recently sold out the legendary 100 Club, and on the evidence of this strong opening offering, like White Lies before them, seem set to meet with major success. - Penny Black Music


"Jenners Field London Shoreditch House 31/5/2011 View: from the bar"

An evening of several bands showcased at this rather trendy East London club, and London’s own Jenners Field were well appreciated. The indie-rock four- piece are fronted by Laurie Belgrave, a model whose voice and guitar do the band proud. The opening track was a slow haunting number, an atmosphere that could’ve waited until deeper into the set. But from then on, things picked up, their second number being more uplifting, with an offbeat Eastern feel. Their guitars worked well together, while the vocals were smooth and seem- ingly from someone far more mature; hard to believe that the oldest band member is 21. There were nods also to funk and 60s garage, with plenty of melodies, the 40-minute set finishing with current single, Drunk Drive, a catchy upbeat number that stands out. Definitely a band to watch out for. - Record Collector


Discography

Independent Single Release
"Drunk Drive" - July 2011

Photos

Bio

The South London four-piece Jenners Field, have recently gone back to the road after a period of committed song writing and recording. Their recent sold out headline shows and support slots have been causing quite a stir amongst a buzzing crowd.
Jenner's Field take you on an epic, yet still intimate journey - one filled with peaks, valleys, and everything in between - a story to captivate even the most discerning audience. One can’t help but wonder how such a young group could be so gripping and insightful; a mere 21 marks the age of JFs’ eldest member.
Their intensity on stage is magnetic, as the audience is lured in by a performance that rages and soothes all in the same breath. Front man, Laurie Belgrave’s bravado immediately demands the attention of eager fans, with his trance-like vocals and rousing innuendo.
With an arsenal of thrilling new tracks produced and recorded under the eye of some of the industries greats, Jenners Field have created something many are calling "impossible to deny". They are beyond question an act you’ll be glad to say you saw first.