Jutebox

We catch Jutebox at the end of what has been, admittedly, a very busy summer. Their brand new era all began at Belladrum Festival in Inverness, where they premiered their latest single, Forever Young: “When that fast ska bit (at the end of the song) came in, everyone was just dancing. We packed out the whole stage.”

Now, we’re at the end of festival season and at the time of speaking, Forever Young is about to be released. Anticipation is high. When you’re reading this, it’s already out there. Thinking back to Belladrum, fellow performers Rizzle Kicks came along, just shy of the mosh: “I think they were getting hassled by all their fans trying to take photos so we didn’t have a chance to actually meet them!”

Forever Young not only marks a new genre for Jutebox, but also a brand new line-up from the original Dundee group. Nevertheless, the same vision, goals and writing techniques are present as when Dan started out with the OG boys. 

Before starting Jutebox, Dan performed in a band called Corduroys. In 2022, his bandmate Lexi tragically passed away. Forever Young is written in tribute to his long-time friend. 

“When something that traumatic happens, it can spark lots of ideas in terms of songwriting and to remember that person for who they were, as they were a very close friend and it was a rough thing to go through at that age.

“The lyrics do encompass that to an extent, but it’s more about the feel of the song, as they were one of the first people who got me into ska music, and what we do now with Jutebox is very ska-influenced.”

Taking inspiration from 80s genre legends like Madness and Bad Manners, Dan regards ska as an important medium to tell stories about the stories truly important to the people behind the music.

“Ska in its original form was created off the back of early Jamaican reggae music coming to the UK. People get the wrong idea because they see the whole skinhead thing with belts and chequered shirts. They think it’s a racially motivated thing, but it’s quite the opposite. It bonded people from different cultural backgrounds together.”

Having largely been introduced to ska through his friendship with Lexi, Dan first channelled very different influences into his work. 

“The first ever music listening device I had was an MP3 player my dad gave me. He downloaded the wrong things and downloaded his songs, so I got a lot of Credence Clearwater, The Kinks, Simon and Garfunkel, old school proper 60s rock and roll, proper good music. 

“Being a piano player, there was a lot of Billy Joel on there. That was kind of where I started, with blues and jazz, too. I was lucky enough to be with different line-ups that have different influences musically anyway.”

One of Jutebox’s main haunts is King Tuts, a venue which comes up often when chatting with Scottish artists. Oasis were also discovered there in 1993. 

“Being from Aberdeen, having to come down to the central belt to have an opportunity to be in a band in Scotland feels unfair. Tuts is a renowned venue in Scotland and for a lot of bands it’s a great landmark. If you’re having chats with bands coming up they’re like, ‘oh, you’ve played tuts, that’s impressive.”

Their ambitions are bigger than that. After ticking Belladrum, which Dan regards as one of the finest Scottish festivals, off the bucket list, their eyes are on heading to more UK festivals like The Great Escape. Right now, though, fresh from Forever Young, they are about to tick one more thing off that bucket list.

“We’re supporting PorkPie, who are Scottish ska legends. We’ll be at the Lemontree in Aberdeen on 24th October, so please buy tickets and come and see us live!”