Hi! How have you been?
Yeah we're really good, really happy with release of the album, seems to be going down well, we've had some good feedback, ready to get it out there in later part of this year to as many as possible.
Can you tell us more about Woke And Dagger?
Woke and Dagger is our full representation of where we are at now, It encompasses so much growth and truly shows we we are right now as a band, both sonically and emotionally.
The raw talent and mind space we're in at various stages of the writing, pre and post-production of this album we feel is fully reflected and represented greatly.
We are so happy with how it turned out, the fact it was recorded over a length of time that showed not only change in us as musicians, but the world as a whole, is something we are really happy to have documented and put down for us to look back on.
Did any particular event inspire you to write this album? Where did you find the inspiration for the songs and lyrics?
The album came together in 2 parts. The first stage of writing made up an EP that would eventually be recorded during the lockdown phase a few years back, it was an interesting period, writing had taken place and we were happy with what we had down, we took our time, finding our feet as a band after deciding to make another go at it and exploring new avenues and inspirations.
It was of course new to us and the industry to find ways of making art work against all the rules we were all living under, quite ironic that punk, despite its anti-establishment background still had to conspire to survive and thrive under the circumstances.
Alot of what was going on in the world often inspires the lyrics, as well as funny takes on meme culture and oddball references i can think of at the time.
Songs come together from a base idea either from Lez, Ning or Pk, they are bought together as a group and everyone gets chance to put their marker on it, its how we truly like to express ourselves both individually and as a whole. Its when we feel we come out with the best end result.
The second set of pre-production gave us the time, freedom and true reflection to be able to ensure what we were aiming for was what we got, really honed our mindset to the end goal, and when the good guys at Sliptrick we're receptive to us re-posting the 2 ep's into a full-length effort we were happy for the support and confidence it showed in us as a band.
Are there any plans to release a new music video for one of the tracks?
To coincide with the release, I hit up the archives and found some old footage from early jif days, very nostalgic to watch back a few hours of tape not seen in a while, this with about 4 hours of top gear episodes that somehow got edited onto the DVD from old school VHS tape, someone really must have been a fan of the polar episode.
Out of this archive, I have put together videos for 'We Are', and 'Frozen', both available now on YouTube.
We also have an amazing video for standout track 'Beartrap' that I would implore people to seek out, that's our masterpiece so far, oh and of course we have our first foray in green screen technology with the video for 'Deny Everything', again please seek out and enjoy!
Can you describe the recording and writing process for the album?
The writing is very organic, very relaxed and all together very enjoyable.
We really enjoy the process of bringing ideas together and working through them, we also love the banter when we know something not working, we've all been mates so long, there's no bad blood, no hurt feelings just good old 'you're shit', when and if needed.
Recording is done close to home, so nice and easy not to be away, we can truly focus on the task at hand, no rushing, we have a great relationship with our producer Chris, he knows what we want and gels very organically, it just works.
What was it like working with the Sliptrick Records, and how did that relationship develop?
I had heard good things about them, and randomly hit them up with an idea of maybe working together on a project. I was surprised to hear back very quickly, Carlos and the PR team have been very helpful and supportive. We like being involved with a label that has such a good outreach and can only see good things happening.
To what extent did each musician influence the album?
This is truly a combined effort, we can all walk away proudly with individual elements we brought to the table. A full band effort, we're proud to work as a full unit, everyone has the set roles and desires, we like every track to have a signature that is signed by us all, and we even decided to split royalties evenly so...... hopefully we don't have an oasis style Wonderwall on the cards cos there might be a fallout to that agreement.
Are there any plans to go on tour?
We would love to get it out via a UK tour initially. We are finding getting dates together that work for us and promoters quite difficult. I think the whole industry is in a huge downturn post covid, with costs and venues closing, etc. I think what's most logical at present is a series of weekend dates as close as possible.
All we read about is even bigger acts having to cancel, postpone or scale down tour plans due to the economic climate of playing live, selling merch and physical copy album sales gets so far but hopefully, we can see this change.
What else is happening in the world of JIFNOTCIF?
Erm, well, Ning and Lez are probably going fishing sometime, they love to compare rods, Pk's is either in a back alley watching some up and coming punk band from Bolton or on a bike ride,
Si splits his time between most strip club establishments from east to west midlands and caring from animals at the local sanctuary.
Other than that its rock and roll all night and party some of the day kinda vibes.
Thanks for hitting us up, appreciate the support, and please everyone, check us out, give us a follow and buy a t-shirt.