It’s fair to say that at tQ we’re very excited about the arrival of Heartworms, who over the past year or so has released a clutch of excellent tracks that, for all the monochrome aesthetic and gothic sensibility, are fierce, sparky, unusual. There are also not many other young musicians who you’ll find working as a volunteer at the RAF Museum in Hendon and appearing on model kit manufacturer Airfix’s instagram feed with updates on the build of their Avro Lancaster. That’s not to say that Heartworms – AKA Jojo Orme – is writing songs about the relative merits of the radial vs inline engine in Allied fighter production, for new single ‘May I Comply’ (which you can listen to and watch the video for above), is a another direct and fiery pop cracker about affairs of the heart: "When I wrote this track I just wanted to get over an ex and to tell my little brother he’s good enough… turned out to be a lot darker than I thought,” says Orme. To mark the new sing and ahead of Heartworms’ biggest headline show to date at London’s Village Underground on 21st November (buy tickets here) we dropped Jojo Orme a line for a bit of an update:
Can you tell us about some of the inspirations for May I Comply?
Jojo Orme: There were no obvious inspirations for this track when it was written. I wrote it in minutes, there was no plan, my frustration and constant confusion at that time in my life pushed it out. Sometimes I think it’s good to let instinct guide you and find meaning after. Trust your mind to wander because it might surprise you.
I was wondering how writing is working for Heartworms at the moment – how has it evolved since ‘Consistent Dedication’ and ‘A Comforting Notion?’
JO: I have a lot more time to think and brew ideas now. I’m in a more settled part of my life, healthy lifestyle and eating well as I never used to in the past. My writing has matured, I’m structuring things more carefully and also feeling even more experimental than ever before.
It seems that Heartworms is a massively DIY operation, what with you making your own merch and individual artwork and so on. Why is it important for you to do that?
JO: I need to be able to move away from my writing headspace because I can get fed up with it so easily. I don’t like to pretend music is my life because it isn’t, I’ve always been so interested in getting to know how to do everything myself and so making merch and learning how to sew, t-shirt printing, paint, knit and make things for myself has helped me grow my image more and make it my own.
What’s been the latest on the task list at Hendon?
JO: Currently as I write this answer, I am in RAF Hendon waiting for the technical crew to arrive from their lunch so we can start building up the Kittyhawk P47 which was previously taken apart (also by me). Extremely excited!
