Heartworms

Name, where are you from?
My name is Jojo Orme aka Heartworms, from North London.

Describe your style in three words?
Gothic Military Fairy? Rather indecisive…

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
Let’s see… too many to choose from, I’ve decided to go with one I went to by myself on a whim at Water Rats in Kings Cross a few years ago. One of my most treasured bands The Jacques were playing and two other bands supporting them were Damefrisør and Jean Penne. It was the first time I saw all three bands live. I fell in love with them all, being on my own made it so much more electric, I was so taken by Damefrisør’s set, the performance was beyond compare, powerful with a touch of reassurance, I left smiling so hard and gazing at all the photos I took on the way back home. I was too shy to talk to any of them that evening though so tell them how much they made my evening.

If you could be on the line up with any two artists in history?
Definitely Interpol and PJ Harvey. Interpol because I feel we would have similarity in the audience but also Mr Banks and I would get on very well in a room, share cool lyrics with each other, maybe have a jam or two… maybe become best friends… I nominate 'Leif Erikson' by Interpol, top-notch lyrics, truly besotted. PJ Harvey of course, need another powerful female artist other than myself to rule a line up right? She’s a huge influence on my aesthetic and confidence in being a female songwriter and the brainchild of what I do.

Which subcultures have influenced you?
If subculture means what I think it means, the gothic punk that resonated in the '80s alongside Victorian accents such as Siouxsie and The Banshees, Bauhaus etc definitely influenced my style and music I currently make. Also the Military/Socialist punk scene of The Clash, a band I’ve never stopped loving since a teenager. Also, south London scene, the Windmill has its own thing which just sticks with you once you’ve been there the first time! It’s truly, very special, and influences many.

If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
John Keats on a British summers day upon a little hill. I’ll be walking and picking primroses, while he speaks his works to me as he lays in the meadowland… mainly because it would be such a wholesome moment I would never stop thinking about. A poem I recommend for this is 'I Stood Tip-toe Upon a Little Hill'.

Of all the venues you’ve been to or played, which is your favourite?
Definitely Shacklewell Arms, only played there once supporting the band LICE but the atmosphere is compelling, I couldn't stop thinking about it for so long.

Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
Chopin, I mean I don’t really know many people who listen to him as religiously as I do (it being classical) but piano solos just take my mind to a better place every time. Especially Chopin. I went to Mallorca once and visited Valldemossa where Frédéric Chopin and George Sand stayed in one of the villas, it’s where Chopin wrote most of his works, I even saw the piano he played and the room he stayed in with a grand garden out back presenting the most glorious scenery of green mountain. There’s an album of tracks you can stream only called 'Chopin in Mallorca'. I recommend a piece on that called 'Nocturne, Op. 37 No.1 in G Minor'.

For more on Heartworms, including information on any new releases and upcoming shows, follow them on Instagram at @heartwormsband.