London punk-jazz quintet WorldService Project on their influences, obsession with clowns, and second India tour

The recipe for artistic revolutions is built upon shredding rule books — and embracing one’s spirit of adventure and creativity. Be it the free jazz of the late ’50s or punk in the mid-70s, many great artists thrived on shaking up the status quo and pushing musical boundaries. [caption id=“attachment_5663661” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] WorldService Project[/caption] The London-based “anti-Brexit” quintet WorldService Project has attracted attention worldwide with their exciting and edgy blend of music — combining punk’s abrasive attitude with jazz’s improvisatory essence. Inspired by the sounds of Charles Mingus, Frank Zappa and John Zorn, and the playful impertinence of Monty Python, WSP has released four equally well-received studio albums and performed at festivals across the world. WSP — comprising keyboardist and composer Dave Morecroft, saxophonist Ben Powling, trombonist Raphael Clarkson, bassist Arthur O’Hara and drummer Harry Pope — have moved to the forefront of the global punk-jazz scene with their wild polyphonic melodies. Currently on tour in India, WSP has already left an indelible mark on music lovers at the Jazz India Circuit International Festival Goa (1 December) and Kolkata International Jazz Festival (2 December). They’ll soon be performing in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru before wrapping up their tour at NH7 Weekender in Pune. Excerpts from an exclusive interview with Dave Morecroft: Why the name “WorldService Project”? How did it come about? My father worked for the BBC World Service for decades, and when the band first recorded a demo EP in 2008, I was able to sneak the band into a recording studio in Bush House, London, where the World Service record radio dramas. It was therefore a project that was born out of the World Service somehow, and the name stuck. [caption id=“attachment_5663641” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] WorldService Project in a promo for their album, Serve[/caption] You’ve often been referred to as a punk jazz outfit. Can you explain how two such distinct musical genres best define your sound? For us, punk is more of an adjective, and jazz more of the genre that has been ‘punkified’. Of course, we never look to escape our jazz roots; we have two horns up front, the music involves improvisation (both group and individual) and much of the rhythm section interaction has its base in a jazz methodology, however we are louder, brasher and more anti-establishment than most of our peers in the UK and Europe, hence the word punk seems most appropriate. Were you all formally trained in music? Between the band, there is a mix of the University of York, Trinity College of Music, Leeds College of Music and Goldsmiths University in London. All were quite performance-heavy, however, and involved playing in numerous bands playing various genres, from rock to funk, electro to jazz. Do you remember the first record that you ever bought or one that made a great impression on you as a kid? How did it influence WSP? I remember Rage Against the Machine’s self-titled album was huge at the time. Mingus Ah Um, Heavy Weather by Weather Report, Mr Bungle’s self titled, Living with a Tiger by Acoustic Ladyland (some fellow Brit punk-jazzers) were all records that we remember well and often listen to in the tour van with a mix of nostalgia and shock at how fresh they still sound. These artists were for sure important, along with the usual jazz giants (Miles Davis, John Coltrane, etc), other artists such as Frank Zappa, John Zorn etc. And more recently, as also the musical landscape has changed, I guess we’re more influenced by our peers (trioVD, Polar Bear to name a couple), and newer groove/electro influenced outfits such as Snarky Puppy and Knower. How do you assimilate the influence of the various members in the band? Do you borrow from all the various influences and traditions of the members? I write all of the music and arrangements, so naturally the sound has my compositional voice at its core. But, in music that involves such talented improvisers and a mix of influences, naturally the individual voices of each player come out too. It seems to be a constant balance to strike — as the unity of a ‘band sound’ is one of the most interesting things about WSP, but moments of each individual’s flavour and colour give a dynamism and flux to the music, adding spontaneity and excitement. [caption id=“attachment_5663611” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] WorldService Project live in concert[/caption] Do you all have solo projects of your own or perform with other bands in London? How does that feed into what you do as a group with WSP? Everyone has other bands in which they play. In London these days, most people have 5-6 regular full time bands, as you simply have to do this to survive. Arthur O’Hara has just released something under his own name, a trio that pulls in influences from jazz, funk and electronic music, and Ben Powling plays in dozens of projects — Mansion of Snakes probably being one of his best known in the UK. The clown, Mr Giggles, has been a regular feature at all your shows. How did you come up with the character? And what do you think is his primary role? I have always had an obsession with clowns (from being scared as a child, overcoming this fear and reading Stephen King’s It). When I walked into a joke shop in the UK once, I saw the mask hanging on the wall and immediately knew that this would be something that would change my life. It was so grotesque and a perfect fit to the mask I had in my head. His role and positioning in the band has become more and more present from the second album, where the presence alone was flirtatious and cheeky, but his self-titled track on For King and Country (third album) developed him into the malicious menace that was seen last in India in 2016. He is a man who has lost all reason to care, and goes about his destructive ways in whichever context he finds. Recently, however, we’ve begun to see another dimension to the character, as ‘The Tale of Mr Giggles’ shows us that there are reasons why he became what he is, and, in fact, as a society helps us reflect on commercialism, capitalism, the media, publicity, TV and film and the role they play in the mental health of others. What do you think of the contemporary jazz scene in India?  Jazz seems to be in the middle of a resurgence in the UK, with many new exciting acts emerging, and more UK bands making it over to Asia, the US or beyond than ever before. India in 2016 was amazing, and one can feel an energy amongst a young population who are ready and hungry for new music, experimentation, progressive sounds and innovation. This relatively young scene has an opportunity to embrace music from across the spectrum, and to really build sustainable music scenes with dedicated audiences — which to be honest is becoming rarer and rare in the UK and Europe. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what ‘jazz’ is — a scene of musicians who are playing together, experimenting, collaborating, supporting one another and welcoming in people from outside is where the strength lies, and let’s hope long may it continue in India.

Do you remember any interesting anecdote from your first tour in 2016? Well, without giving too many details away, the individual members had very different fortunes after Goa Jazz Festival in 2016. Let’s just say that one of us had to immediately take four flights to arrive at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu for other work; two members went almost immediately to bed; and the other two ended up swimming in the sea with some Australian women. We will leave it to you to guess who did what! What are you most looking forward to this time around? We’re very happy to be coming back to India. Our tour in 2016 was amazing and Goa was a particular highlight. The audience was great, the festival welcomed us very well and looked after us very generously. The reactions and energy from the audience really gave us a boost theatrically, and allowed the band to develop in many ways, so we’re excited to see how they respond to the new material. Any upcoming projects that you’re all excited about? Come 2019, we will be back to writing, preparing and eventually recording the fifth album, which, by the way, already has a name, concept and some material ready. But we can’t giving that away now. So you’ll just have to wait and see. Catch WorldService Project at the following venues: 5 December: Delhi, India - The Piano Man Jazz Club 6 December: Mumbai, India - The Quarter 7 December: Chennai, India - Bay 146 8 December: Bangalore, India - BFlat Bar 9 December: Pune, India - NH7 Weekender Festival