The Big Moon's LP Is Like A Snake In A Jar, Says Juliette Jackson

Making their debut LP, Love In The 4th Dimension, London quartet The Big Moon wanted it to be "energetic and live and exciting," says singer/guitarist Juliette Jackson. "Because that's what we've been doing, most nights, for the past two-and-a-half years: playing these songs, loud and fast. It's our first album, it's joyful, it's wild, there's no sad songs on it. I like to think of it as one of those jars that you open up and a snake pops out. It's colourful, it's surprising, and it hits you in the eye."

Jackson grew up in suburban London as the middle of five siblings — "I'm definitely the quiet one, and definitely the weirdest one" — in a family that was hardly musical. "My parents only owned two CDs: Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, and an ABBA album, the one with the helicopter on the front [Arrival]," Jackson remembers. Her own first musical interests were "a lot of shit that was big in the UK that you've hopefully never heard of: Steps, the Vengaboys, A1, Boyzone". And, when she took a 200-question career aptitude test in school, the verdict was grim. "At the end, it said I should be a wigmaker," Jackson laughs.

"Everyone always told me 'you should go to university, you need a back-up plan'. But I always thought university was the back-up plan. You're only young once."

Everything changed when, at 14, Jackson tagged along with a friend to see White Stripes play the Brixton Academy. "I'd never seen anything like it, never heard anything so loud. I remember thinking: 'I have to learn how to play guitar!'" After plunking away — "I was rubbish at it for years; it's harder than it looks, and I'm pretty lazy" — she finally threw in on rock'n'roll upon moving "into London proper" at 18. "Everyone always told me 'you should go to university, you need a back-up plan'," she recounts. "But I always thought university was the back-up plan. You're only young once."

For years, Jackson played in forgettable outfits on bass or rhythm guitar, enjoying the social aspect, but feeling frustrated by both "dealing with egos" and the lack of creativity. Finally, in 2014, she set out to write her own songs. Two of her first were The Road and Sucker, future Big Moon singles. After recruiting the rest of her bandmates - guitarist Soph Nathan, bassist Celia Archer, drummer Fern Ford - they cut some demos and posted Eureka Moment online in 2015, "thinking nothing would happen."

Instead, they were suddenly next-big-things, fielding record label interest and growing buzz despite never having played a gig. Not wanting "to play [their] first-ever shows in London in front of a load of record label stooges", they set up some secret shows. Since then, The Big Moon have played endlessly, finding their identity on stage.

"It feels like the four of you against the world: you're facing one way, but everyone else is facing the other way," Jackson offers. "I always feel very silly on stage; there's something in me that always wants to ruin the rockstar vibe. I want to show that we're not better than anyone else, we're just all here being doofuses together."