Planningtorock is Jam Rostron, a Bolton-born Berlin-based producer and singer who makes eerie, glitchy electronic music with violin-assisted nods to disco and funky horn-sampling hooks. With a clear political motive in all of her songs, current album All Love’s Legal, (a single all about equal marriage), the orchestral Human Drama, which describes sexuality as liquid an living, ‘There’s no rule/no convention/This love can go wherever it wants’, and slogan-filled tracks such as Misogyny Drop Dead and Patriarchy Over & Out and Let’s Talk About Gender Baby.
Bright and summery, a bit like if Hot Chip went on a rally with Antony Hegarty doing the vocals (Jam manipulates her voice so it sounds genderless), what better day to listen to an album of experimental gender-defying pro-queer music than than the day Britain ushers in its first gay marriages?
We caught up with Jam to have a chat to see where she thinks equality within entertainment is heading.
**The Debrief: Your song titles, which crop up as lyrics, are very blunt. Why is this? **
Jam Rostron: I didn’t want to patronise people or make them feel like they couldn’t have their own opinion. This album is as much about questioning as it is about saying something as well.
DB: There’s been a lot of feminism and gender politics discussed in the mainstream through Beyoncé and Lily Allen. Do you feel the mainstream doing stuff like that makes it easier for you to do what you do?
JR: It’s a different sort of biz, but I think it’s all great. Beyoncé’s been asked if she’s a feminist and she’s been around that word, but hasn’t everybody? You have to allow everybody to not be judged, and you have to share knowledge. Something to be worked on is making it filter down onto the street level. I remember Lady Gaga was very articulate about being judged, saying, ‘I’m very sex-positive, but if I was a man I wouldn’t even have to identify that way.’ Then, the interviewer said, ‘Are you a feminist?’ and she said, ‘No, I love men, I love the whole maleness of men.’ But I think it’s important to not shame people, and it's gotta be talked about.
** DB: Your previous album, W, was a bit more moody, this is very celebratory. Is that something you wanted to put in there?**
JR: Absolutely, singing about these issues is making me really happy, it makes me feel like I’m learning more. I just wanna get the words out there, that’s why I went for the slogan thing. Some people might say the words are oversimplified but, 'Misogyny drop dead.’ I just find it so blunt.
DB: What would you do if you were asked to play Russia?
JR: I would be scared to go. I’ll be very honest about that, because it’s very clear what my agenda is. I would go on Facebook and say, ‘What do you all think about it,’ and open it up. I’ve played in Russia before, right near the Siberian border. It was mental and all the fans were like, ‘Thank you so much for coming out here,’ because they’re really fucking isolated. It’s all very well you saying you support us on Facebook, but actually they’re way over there and they need your support.
DB: How do you want fans to listen to your music?
JR: I just want them to own it. It’s yours, I’ve done that now and I really like the record and I listen to myself, so enjoy it. If you’ve had a really difficult time or if you feel isolated, or whatever, then just listen to it and don’t feel like that.
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.