INTERVIEW

AN INTERVIEW WITH permanent (joy)

Image Source: Ian Cheek Press.

Words By Emily Jade Ricalton

Permanent (Joy) are a new music project put together by the former members of Blonde. Forming in Liverpool, the epicentre of popular music, Blondes had numerous successful tours that were followed by their viral hit Coming of Age. With the band coming to an end because of personal circumstances, songwriters, Alex Davison and Dan Stroud, chose to reform and embark on their new musical journey together. With a moodier aesthetic and realistic approach to music, the duo were joined by Davis Annis, a touring member of Blondes, and bassist Noach Roche to form Permanent (Joy). 

Since forming in September 2024, the band have released three singles - Josephine, Aeroplane and I Wanna Go Home - and what a reaction they have received. From an upcoming tour with Inhaler to supporting Blossoms at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Permanent (Joy) seems to have slotted themselves nicely into the indie scene. With this, we got to sit down with lead singer and guitarist Alex and discuss this exciting project that is paving the way for new indie artists and bands. 

How are the sessions at the moment? Obviously, you're coming back and doing to the industry, what does this look like? 

A: Today is the only day that I'm coming in, because today is like the setup day. The boys and the producer are upstairs, setting up drums, setting up mics and everything. We'll probably set up to record live and then use a live recording and drums, and then overdub guitars, vocals, that kind of thing. We're currently doing two songs. One of them will probably be the lead single off the next EP. We haven't quite picked what order we're doing everything in yet. 

How are you finding being in Permanent (Joy) so far? 

A: It's been a really, really great experience. I think that it was obviously a very daunting thing. When we first decided that we would start a new band, we were going for a few years just as friends out of university when we were Blondes. We were in a different stage in our lives than we are now. We still want to be in a band, but we're going to start again. It's been a really rewarding process, because it was a gamble. I'm really pleased. We're all really pleased with the way that this first project is going. The first few singles have been received really well. We've got some really great shows coming up, so it's been nice.

Where did the name Permanent (Joy) come from? What was the inspiration behind the name?

A: We spent so long trying to come up with a name, because there was so much freedom for it to basically be anything. It just took so long to find something that everyone agreed on. I was keeping notes of things that I saw and liked. It would be like things from books, or song names, album names, things in movies. I had ‘Permanent Joy’ written down, and it was the first one that everybody at least didn't disagree on. Our guitarist thought about it, and we googled it to find out if it was anything that already existed. There's a Joy Division album called Permanent - it's a compilation. So, when you google ‘Permanent Joy’, what comes up is ‘Permanent (Joy Division) album’, and our guitarist really liked the joy in brackets. We just thought it could be a cool motif. It was just something that’s a bit different, and it sort of puts you in the place that we wanted to put people in artistically. It's the same with the artwork and the videos we put out. This time around we really put a lot of thought into what this band is creatively. We wanted to create a world around the music. 

What is the world of Permanent (Joy)? 

A: It's quite difficult to describe. It's sort of something that I feel. It's a kind of concept EP about the journey of a relationship through death, and it's about these characters that have grown old and have basically come to face death and what that means. It was just something I wanted to explore existentially when I was writing. Visually, we've just sort of used what we have. What I like about what we've done visually is that there isn't an explicit storyline. We've used projectors, old TV monitors and camcorders to create our visuals. The thing that I like about great art is that you can't always explain it perfectly. It's just like a feeling you get. You know, there's music and poetry that I don't fully understand what it is that they're saying, but at a deeper level I kind of get it. That's what we've tried to strive for. It's slightly existential, it's slightly gloomy, and it's a bit surreal. 

Was there any reason as to why you wanted to step away from Blondes? 

A: The main reason that Blondes came to an end was because the singer left due to personal reasons. There was a sort of conversation about whether we would carry on as Blondes. I think we felt like as the project came to quite an abrupt end, the music was a very sort of cathartic experience after that. I think that's probably why, almost without thinking about it, we started to move in a different direction. We had grown as writers and we were sort of done with the sunshine, indie pop thing, so we wanted to see what else we could do. Without really any intention that this will be a new band, we just started making music based on how we were sort of feeling and the headspace that we were in at the time.I was obviously singing it, rather than having someone else sing it, I think that's when we started to realise that this was a new band. 

Would you say Permanent (Joy) has been currently received better by audiences, listeners and fans of Blondes?

A: That is a tough question, because Blondes had its moments. We had one particular moment with the song, Coming of Age, and that song really connected with a lot of people. That's been the most successful thing that I've written so far, so it's sort of hard to judge on what's more well received.  I think that the thing that we've heard the most about the new music versus the old music is that it's a little more unique than Blondes was. That just came from the freedom of being able to completely start afresh. Permanent (Joy) was an opportunity to be completely authentic about the direction that we wanted to go in. So for me, it’s a real positive that there is greater authenticity in the writing. There is much more of myself in these songs, especially because I’m both writing and performing them. 

Do you feel more connected to the songs? What sort of topics inspire your writing for it to be perceived as more authentic? 

A: No, definitely, it's a totally different experience. I feel like it's galvanized me as a musician, I think that it has helped inspire the band and drive the band. I'm no longer writing songs for somebody else, they are much more like my songs. That's not to say that they don't belong to the band, because they do. I think we all feel equally that they are our songs. I just mean, from a writer's point of view, it's like this is something that I've invested much more of myself into. In terms of what's inspired the music, I don't want to just write about myself or from my own perspective. I decided I would write things about characters, and I would kind of create stories about these characters. I was very inspired by an album called In the Airplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel, but I think the biggest inspiration was just to explore some themes that we haven't explored before. This EP is very much more existential, and it's more about life and death and exploring that through characters rather than myself. 

How are you finding being the frontman of Permanent (Joy)? 

A: It's definitely different. I'm probably the loudest person in the band, but it works because we always balance each other out. Everyone has different things that they bring to the band, so not everyone has to be loud and talkative, but in that way, it's been kind of natural for me to take on that role. There are other much more challenging things about it, but  I wouldn't have considered myself a lead singer before I started doing this.I had a huge amount of encouragement from our producers and from our management. They were just like ‘they're your songs, so you sing them’. It's been one of the most challenging things, but also one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. I I never thought I would be the front man in a band. I just sort of loved being in a band. It's been a really, really great experience, and I'm learning constantly about the role. 

You're going on tour with Inhaler and doing a show with Blossoms. How does this feel? 

A: Honestly, it's amazing. It's really validating the project. It's a tough competition to get on those gigs. We're so excited to go out and play, because the Inhaler and Blossoms crowds are true fans of indie music. They get it in the terms of like if you turn up and you see an opening act, you might see a new band that you fall in love with. To be able to get the opportunity to connect with those audiences is invaluable. 

Are there any songs, especially from the new EP, that you're looking forward to playing live?

A: So, when we do our live set it always ends with Untitled, and then I Want To Go Home. Those are the last two songs. Untitled is like this long, slightly jazzy spoken word track. It probably sounds a bit pretentious, but it's like this moment in the set where we show that we do things slightly different. We don't just make guitar music. We have something more interesting to say, and then we follow that with I Want To Go Home, which is our most recent single. It's just a massive cathartic release of all that. I really involve myself in those performances, I put everything into it and I love doing that. People always come up to us and they tell us that those final two songs are where we won them over.  I'm really, really excited to go out and do those two tunes and be like, this is this band. 

If you could listen to five albums for the rest of your life, what would they be?

A: I would say I need to pick a Radiohead album, so I think it would be The Bends. I would pick Pink Moon by Nick Drake and Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. Oh, this is so tough. It would probably be Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, and Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel. 

Permanent (Joy)’s EP EP1 is out on the 7th of March. The new music project also go on tour with Inhaler in February, with their headline Liverpool show taking place at the Jacaranda in March. View below for their up and coming tour dates. 

FEBRUARY

Fri 14 LONDON Brixton Academy (with Inhaler)

Sat 15 BRIGHTON Centre (with Inhaler)

Mon 17 GLASGOW O2 Academy (with Inhaler)

Tue 18 GLASGOW O2 Academy (with Inhaler)

Fri 21 MANCHESTER O2 Apollo (with Inhaler)

MARCH

Fri 07 AYLESBURY Waterside Theatre (with Blossoms)

Sat 08 LIVERPOOL Jacaranda (Headline)