The Jezabels

Samuel Lockwood, Heather Shannon, Hayley Mary and Nick Kaloper

‘We’re not a female band or a male band.’

How many bands are able to claim that they are genderless, completely neutral? Not many. Though the Jezabels’ are one of the few, there’s Hayley Mary (vocals) and Heather Shannon (keys) along with Samuel Lockwood (guitar) and Nick Kaloper (rhythm). 

As Heather talks about her role in the band, images spring to mind – The Runaways, The Divinyls.  Whether it be the tight corsets or school uniforms associated with these bands respectively, it’s just so great that the Jezabels are able to transcend that entire stigma.

‘When you look back in history at bands with female front women, generally the band are all males and they’re the standout. I like that I’m a non-descript instrument person, people don’t have to think about my gender which is really empowering.’

Two guys and two girls – it’s the perfect equation; a rare achievement that finds itself among the ranks of yin and yang, sally and harry, honey and soy. Though on a more serious note, this is what makes the Jezabels’ music relatable to a wider audience.

Having just returned from a host of shows overseas the band is coming closer to knowing what its like to be a world wide phenomenon, though this doesn’t make it any less overwhelming.

‘I guess when you’re ambitious and hardworking and you’re willing to put the time in then something good will come of it though I never thought about the repercussion. Once you get to that place its like oh my god, holy shit. It’s really blowing up now, getting more and more scary.’

But you wouldn’t know be able to tell. Exhausting at times the band delivers raw energy and emotion every time. Whether it’s to thousands at Ireland’s Electric Picnic Festival or a roomful of students at Sydney Uni’s Manning Bar, 

‘It’s really hard to muster the energy sometimes, especially when you’re playing every night on tour. Hayley’s really good at that, she puts on her costume and she’s ready to perform. I struggle with that a little bit but I just get in the mood and have a couple glasses of wine, sometimes it even helps to get changed and put some makeup on.’

Prisoner embodies this strength, there’s a vast, endless sound that almost reminds me of an epic. Especially after watching the film clip for Endless Summer, which directed by Mikey Hamer is incredibly wrenching.

‘It was a really intense time, we wrote all the tracks in the space of two or three months… to keep pushing yourself to write another song, make it better, more emotional – it’s very draining you get home and just fall to sleep.’

Even more to their credit, the Jezabels have remained independent during the entire process. Being the band that they are, there’s no doubt there have been offers,

‘We’ve met people and formed bonds, we’re a people person band, our manager has pushed us a lot and we have a really awesome distributing company – there’s a lot of people around us that are really integral.’

There are probably a million things we could say about the Jezabel’s and their unique sound, about what makes them different and their music so moving. Though who better to ask than the band themselves, 

‘I’ve often thought about this, I think from the very beginning we’ve never felt like we’ve needed to write a certain way, we’ve always felt it out for ourselves and tried things. Maybe that’s what makes us different… It’s a true collaboration between four people, no one person has the final say.’

You can get your hands on Prisoner from JB or Itunes.