Ryan Clancy (drums, vocals), Adam Pressley (bass, vocals) and Ryan Spencer (guitar, lead vocals) are a relatively new band from Detroit known as Jamaican Queens. The trio grew up listening to the sounds of electronic music and dancehall which helped shape the music that they create today. And bucking the usual trend for electronic music producers today to write songs with words, Spencer helps Jamaican Queen’s music sway from just the bleep and thump of electronic and pushes it into a new realm. Their sound is part Bowie and part Flaming Lips, but contains subtle hints of post-punk with and some really addictive hook laden songs that creep up on you. They recently released Wormfood, their first full length album and they have been touring heavily for the past months.
I first caught wind of them with a few shows in Raleigh at the Hopscotch Festival where they played a killer day set at Slim’s before packing a small room next door called the Hive later that night. I caught up with the band at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia a week after Hopscotch and recorded this interview and performance. The interview should be taken a bit tongue and cheek with the band making up a reason for their name plus a few other shenanigans. However, the interview offers the a nice peak into who Jamaican Queens are and more importantly how they sound as a band. They have something special going on early in their career and it’s worth the listen.
