Interview with Annie and the Jays

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

Annie: My Dad was in a band in the 70s called ‘Bilbo’ and then years later he formed another band with some work friends that he still plays with, so my brother and I grew up with music, and that definitely sparked the interest in pursuing music ourselves. Because we’re an indie band and we started a little later in our 20s, we actually all still work 9-5 jobs! I’ll let the readers guess at the different jobs we do though… 

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

Annie: Outside of direct band stuff, Roddy is currently learning banjo, Ryan is directing a short film, Ben does outdoor bouldering, and George is an avid Formula 1 follower. For me, I’m a bit terrible about putting everything into the music, which actually isn’t good for creativity, but I used to paint a lot so I’m trying to do that more again. 

How long has your band been around? Also, please tell me about the dynamic of the band of what brought you all together.

Annie: we first started gigging and releasing music in May of 2024, but it’s actually been a long time coming! My brother George and I tried out a couple of bands over the years that didn’t stick until George met Roddy at a murder mystery party, and they convinced me to be a little trio in April 2023. I remembered that my friend from uni, Ben, played bass so we asked him to join and we just rehearsed and worked out the songs for the rest of 2023 and the start of 2024. Before our debut gig in May 2024 I persuaded one of my best friends from school, Ryan, to join us on keyboard ‘for just one gig’… and the rest is kind of history. 

Where are you based and how did that influence your music?

Annie: we’re based across the central belt of Scotland, and I think that’s definitely influenced our sound. Scotland has always had a rich musical history with artists like Annie Lennox, Biffy Clyro, KT Tunstall, Texas, Simple Minds, and many more… so we’re proud to be a Scotland-based act. 

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

George: It’s actually quite an interesting story! Once we ironed out having Annie’s name and also a band title, we realised we actually had to name ourselves. We rehearse out at our dad’s house in Dunfermline where you get little jay birds flying about. Out of curiosity, I looked up what a group of jays is. Turns out a group of jays is called a band of jays! We absolutely had to use it after that, so we briefly became Annie and the band of Jays before settling on the shortened Annie and the Jays. 

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

George: The first one has to be our first show as a full band. It was a gig we arranged ourselves and we somehow managed to sell out our first gig! That has defo stayed as a memorable one for sure! 

Annie: I think our most memorable show to date has probably been headlining King Tut’s. It being such a landmark gig would have been memorable anyway, but my brother George came down with food poisoning during the soundcheck and it was completely down to the wire whether he would even make it on stage! Somehow he pulled it together in a very rock and roll way and it was actually a great show.

Ben: King Tuts - amazing to play such an iconic venue

Ryan: I would say our first gig at King tuts. It's such an iconic venue and it's wild we got to play there.

What is your favourite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

Roddy: King Tuts is always a blast. SWG3 in Glasgow is definitely on the wish list.

George: Ooh that’s a hard question! The voodoo rooms has been an awesome venue, but King Tuts is pretty special to get to perform at. In terms of venues not yet done, I would love to play some England gigs, especially places like Liverpool and London.

Annie: Sneaky Pete’s is one of my favourites we’ve played, and King Tut’s was a huge dream venue of mine so that’s always very cool. I’d agree with Roddy, next on the dream list is probably SWG3… and then in my most delusional dreams, the Hydro. Why Not?

Ben: King Tuts, and would love to play a bigger or festival venue.

Ryan: I mean my dream is the Barrowlands in Glasgow. One of the best venues in the world plus who doesn't love a big neon sign. 

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

Roddy: Alvvays, Sex Bob-Omb 

George: Now you’re really making it hard haha! If we could play a lineup consisting of Noah Kahan, Stevie Nicks and Paramore that would be the dream!

Annie: for me it would 100% have been to support Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour or maybe Stevie Knicks at the Hydro. I would also love to support Callum Beattie at some point because I think he’s a fantastic Scottish artist right now.

Ryan: The rolling stones have got to be up there for me. Kneecap would be on the ticket for sure and Talisk. A nice eclectic mix there!

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

Roddy: A little bit of music theory knowledge doesn’t hurt!

George: I would definitely say that spending some time away from the spotlight bonding as a band before looking for gigs is a great way to come out the gates looking and feeling like a band that can keep up with others who have maybe been in the game longer.

For my younger self, I would tell them to not stop drumming as a fun past-time, because who knows what drum knowledge I could have now if I’d kept at it when I was younger!

Annie: to quote one of the best movies of all time - don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game. Also start learning guitar earlier, it’s not as hard as you built it up to be in your head.

Ryan: Make sure you give yourselves room to have fun. 

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

Roddy: Shipwrecked, cause I had the guitar line written out for years before it was put to good use in this song.

George: Famously in the band, this is a running joke. We all co-wrote ‘shipwrecked’, but the original concept came from me and a difficult time in my life I was still wrestling with the emotions of. Getting to hear it performed and knowing why it was written is pretty incredible for me, especially when knowing why it was written 

Annie: for me it’s Drifting Out. I wrote that song about a very bad place I was in mentally that at the time I wasn’t sure I’d get out of. I challenged myself to write the song almost as literally as I could, without hiding things in metaphors, so it’s actually a pretty raw account of what depression felt like for me, and people have now told me it really connects with them because of that. That’s what means the most – getting to show other people they aren’t alone.

Ben: Hungover - just my favourite song and favourite bassline to play

Ryan: If you wanted to you would. Our first single and the first one I learned when I started in the band.

Which songs are your favourite to play and which get requested the most?

George: Lost In The Fire is one of my absolute favourites to play (that’s a future release, so watch this space), but I also love performing ‘Too Shallow’ as the opening of that song really gets the crowd going!

Annie: I think Too Shallow definitely gets requested the most, but my favourite to play is Lost In The Fire because it has my favourite bridge I’ve written to date. Like George said, it’s a future release so if you want to hear it you’ll need to come to one of our shows!

Ben: I think between Shipwrecked Too Shallow. Both are big crowd pleasers

Ryan: Love playing too shallow, i just think it's so much fun.

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

George: Annie is the creative process for the band! No no I joke, but it’s not far off… Annie comes to us with her song, Roddy works some guitar magic, I translate Annie’s brain into a drum track and the rest of the band bring the sparkle to really make the songs shine.

Annie: I write most of the songs alone in my living room on guitar or piano, with at least a musical vibe or soundscape in mind. I then take it to the band and try to translate what I’m hearing in my head into some kind of a description and the magical thing is that they always completely get it.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

George: It really varies! A lot of these songs we are releasing at the moment are about mental health, loss, rejection and basically how to deal and process with all of that.

Annie: on our EP, the songs cover attraction (If You Wanted To You Would), insecurity (The Understudy), bitterness (Too Shallow), loss (Shipwrecked) and sadness (Drifting Out) but I think in all of that, the connecting message is that we are all going through all of these emotions and experiences together, and you can get through all of it if you look for the light.

Do you have any new singles, videos, or albums out that you would like to tell me and your fans about?

George: We do! We have our first EP out at the moment called ‘DUSK’ which we are all really excited about as it has been a year in the making for us!

Annie: we are very happy to be able to say that our first EP is finally out in the world! DUSK is a culmination of our work over the last year, and a proper introduction into our music. I will also say we are very excited about what we currently have waiting for next year, so definitely watch this space!!!

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

George: For the future, we have several gigs in February (full details of which can be found on our insta- Annie and the Jays). After that, we have some plans to start hosting our own gig share series and invite bands and artists we have gotten to know along to do some gigs ran by artists for artists.

Annie: I think George summed it up perfectly! We’ve got some gigs to announce, some community shows to put on, and some releases to put out in 2025, so future announcements coming very soon…

How can your fans best keep up to date with you, any socials you want people to check out?

We have all the socials- Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and an email. Other than that I also have my own Instagram where I also post our band stuff called ‘George the Jays’

Annie: we have Instagram and Facebook at Annie and the Jays, a Bandcamp that we are going to putting some exclusive things on, and I have TikTok under Annie Liddle where I post a lot of snippets about what’s coming up!