Where are you from originally?
France : John is from Angouleme and Jehn is from Poitiers, those little cities are both near Bordeaux and La Rochelle

When did you move and where did you move to?
We moved in October 2006 into our manager’s house in North London.

Why did you decide to move there? Was the decision related to your music?
Well, our hometowns were little and this is not a good place if you want to live as a musician. It

was obvious that we had to leave at some point. So we worked hard on our music, we became quite serious about it, we got hard on ourselves! (even more today). An opportunity came from London with people Jehn knew, and we took it straight away.

In what ways is your new home country different from your old one?
Everything is different, everything is faster in London, much more stressful but much more exciting. Our hometowns are really peaceful, they’re nearly like villages, John’s parents live in the middle of the countryside, so it’s really like 2 different worlds. But sometimes it’s good to know that we have those places waiting for us, it feels good when we go back there. Just for holidays though, because in 3 days we miss the

London stress, we became addicted to it a bit like coffee.

Did you have any particular difficulties when you first arrived?
Yes and no, because our host here is making our life quite easy. We didn’t have to look for an apartment and we can rehearse in our bedroom. We‘re paying a rent like everyone else but honestly we are lucky to be where we are. The difficulty is to live with other people to share everything with room-mates etc… Some people love it, we don’t most of the time. But this is a bit unfair to complain, we’re good here.

Musically speaking, well we had to build a reputation around us. So we just gigged as much as we could, meaning that we had to confront ourselves to people’s reactions. We became stronger inside and our gigs got better and better. We managed to bring some genius people on board like our soundman Matt Farrar for example. We now share a strong and unbreakable relationship with him. So now we don’t want to fuck everything up, it’s as simple as that! It became a question of honour. All the difficulties we’ve had or have today must be turned into courage and more songs.

How has moving to a new country influenced your music?
It influenced us a lot. The music changed because we changed. Our music is directly related to our way of life. Art needs to be made « outside » society to have a good look at it, a different view. As « strangers » in a new country, automatically, we were in that outsider position which helps a lot to create. If you’re in a scene, stuck in a « genre » that cities can have sometimes, you become less and less interesting. We seem strange to some people here, we don’t know sometimes if they can really get our ideas and our sense of humour.

What tips would you give to a band/artist considering moving to a new country?
People will always try to give you advice they will always tell you about how you should lead your life etc. Whatever they say to you, always answer « yes, I think that’s a brilliant idea » and carry on your own way, listening to nobody but yourself.

Your art is your church. If you find it hard wherever you are, get more and more involved in it, this is gonna be your best medicine. You will have to protect it as much as you can. Which means work, work and more work.

Don’t compromise yourself but be clever and find some people who will compromise themselves for you. Your place is to be an artist and nothing else, the rest will follow if you believe in it and put enough work in it.

Interview & photograph by Paul Madden
www.myspace.com/johnjehn

Watch the video for John & Jehn's latest release '20L07'