INTERVIEWS MUSIC
PAVE THE JUNGLE AHEAD OF THE RELEASE OF THEIR STARTLINGLY GOOD NEW EP, WAITING FOR NOTHING, PAVE THE JUNGLE’S RACHAEL WHITTLE TALKS TO CLAIRE DUPREE ABOUT THE EVOLUTION OF THE BAND’S VISCERAL ALT. ROCK SOUND IMAGE BY AMELIA READ One of the many frustrations, and perhaps necessary evils, of being an independent musician is being unaware of how your music will be perceived or even if it’ll get heard at all. An interesting by-product of this can be that artists feel more able to honestly lay their emotions and true opinions bare, unaware of the impact they may be having; that someone could hear their music and have it resonate so completely with them, must be exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure. It’s this conundrum that Rachael Whittle faced when writing songs for Pave The Jungle’s first EP, The Hissing, back in 2019/2020.
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Roundly celebrated for its acerbic takes on alienation, mental health and addiction as much as its rhythmic heaviness and off-kilter swagger, Rachael wrote with a ferocious intensity and honesty which thrust her and drummer bandmate Scott Jeffery into the limelight. “The first EP was written before Pave The Jungle really existed. I didn’t think about people listening to the songs, or hearing those lyrics, I just wrote for myself.” Rachael explains, as the duo prepare to unleash their second EP in as many years, Waiting For Nothing, this month. “I guess this time I was more aware we’d be putting these out. Perhaps I’ve made them less personal lyrically as a result.”
