Jess is a writer for GoldenPlec. A BBC 6 Music devotee, she delights in curating the perfect playlist for every situation.

  • Q What album would you bring with you to a desert island?
  • A It’s got to be Talking Heads’ ‘Stop Making Sense’. Sure, Robinson Crusoe could only be improved by the addition of a Tina Weymouth bassline.
  • Q The first concert you ever went to?
  • A The Feeling, at Southampton Guildhall. We queued up early with my friend’s mum, who’d brought sandwiches incase we got peckish. Rock and roll it was not.
  • Q Most single embarrassing album you ever bought?
  • A Girls Aloud - Sound of The Underground, on cassette, from Woolworths. I went halfsies with my sister and we played it constantly until the tape unspooled.
  • Q If you could rob the vocal chord of any singer who would it be?
  • A Ella Fitzgerald. She makes it sound effortless.
  • Q What song is your speciality at karaoke?
  • A Fleetwood Mac ‘Everywhere’; tipsily revelling in the sparkly opening bars, congratulating self on surely irrefutable vocal resemblance to Christine McVie, then never hitting the high note on ‘Oh IIIIIIIIII…’
  • Q If you could erase one band from history who would it be?
  • A 1970’s prog rock band Yes. My Dad is a huge fan, so Jon Anderson’s undeniably weedy vocals accompanied almost all childhood car journeys. As a result Yes’ extensive back catalogue is now imbued with childhood nostalgia and I know all the words. A distressing conspiracy to grow the next generation of fans, and there’s no doubt I’m the victim.
  • Q Out of all the venues in Ireland which is your favourite?
  • A The Olympia. Who knew that architecture alone could create such magic?
  • Q Tell us something about you that people don’t know
  • A I used to live in China, so can eat rice neatly with chopsticks and breezily navigate the Beijing subway system.
Read More