Behind the very extravagant, over-the-top character that is Jazz Emu is Archie Henderson, a writer, musician, and comedian extraordinaire. Despite the signature narcissism of Jazz, Archie is humble and soft-spoken, and to my opening question of ‘Do I call you Jazz or Archie?’, he laughs and replies, ‘Just Archie, I’m out of character right now.’ Throughout the interview, we dive into the ins and outs of the Jazz Emu psyche, thinking about what the disillusioned, 70s-inspired artist desires and explores in the most recent album, ‘Ego Death’.

What inspired your persona Jazz Emu? How close is that to your own identity?

The character is an arrogant, deluded, 70s character. I always liked the idea of playing someone very over the top and in their own head, completely stupid and idiotic so I kind of leaned into that. It’s come from a very deep part of my psyche. The songs that I put out often have an element of me in the angle that I come into the song with. The character that I do on stage is the most distilled, over-the-top version of a cartoon character, but in the songs I like to add a bit of personal nuance.

Your music is described as ‘unpretentious pseudo-comedological proferrings’ – which is quite a complex, pretentious, even, description. Could you expand on what you mean by this exactly?

The way the character talks is very verbose, pretentious, over-intellectualising everything. He’s always thinking he’s a lot cleverer than he actually is, and he’s really desperate to show that by using extremely long words that don’t make sense in the context. I like writing in that tone when I’m describing the character or the show. He always has higher aspirations of grandeur than what he’s actually pulling off.

Where did the idea come from?

I always liked big cartoon characters like Austin Powers, so I wanted to do something similar and maximalist. There is something very graspable about connecting the character with music; a lot of my songs are very specific and weird, and having a very simple framework to it- of an arrogant musician, makes it a good way in. And that gives me more license to be weird with it.

What does being pretentious mean to you?

Presenting yourself in a way that you can’t quite attain. I’ve always found that funny.

And how would you describe your music?

It’s definitely intense, very all over the place in terms of genre, and it’s very fun. I like high octane music.

If there was one musician, dead or alive, that you could have dinner with, who would it be?

That’s actually an easy one, definitely David Bowie. I think a lot of styling that I put into Jazz Emu is half ripped-off of someone who is trying to be David Bowie. I find him very inspiring: he had such an eloquent way of speaking in interviews, and such a dedicated, precise, perhaps sometimes unhealthy approach to his art.

How do you approach your art?

Not in the same way as David Bowie, though maybe I should do big drug benders in Berlin [laughs]. I spend a lot of time at my desk, coming up with a funny idea and starting there. I’ll usually start with the music and think of it in the compositional sense if I’m working on a cohesive piece of work like an album. But if I’m doing something short for the internet, I’ll start with lyrics – write a poem basically, and then put it to music.

Do you think your narcissistic character is capable of love?

I think he’s desperate to be loved, which is a different thing. He is actually very tragic and needy. He’s always coming up against something whenever he tries to be loving or attentive. He wants to be generous to people, but he never quite gets there. If I explore different stories, I can find out what that looks like, but he hasn’t learned his lesson yet.

Tell me more about your live performance. Have you always been so confident on stage?

The performance I’m taking on tour right now is like a jukebox musical: it’s the best of my songs. It’s really fun, and in between that I’m doing big character bits – some stand-up, and it’s very all over the place. I always wanted to be on stage. I was a big attention seeker when I was ten or eleven years old, and I always wanted to be the funny character, no matter how big the part was. I felt more comfortable doing characters, rather than being myself.

Would you ever want to tap into being more yourself in your music?

I think so, music is a really fun mode for me to do that. The stand-up that I did was very much a character, and I was definitely avoiding any level of connection to my personal life. The amazing thing about music is that there is an inherent emotional journey in a song, and there is something very liberating about being more vulnerable.

Have you ever felt fully satisfied with the work you create?

I don’t think I have ever felt that, but I think that’s a good thing. It’s that driving force that has always made me come back, that unattainable perfection. And if I fixate on perfection, it only slows everything down. I’m always going to say ‘If only I had three more days…’, which isn’t true, but you need the psychology of that to keep you going.

In ‘Ego Death’, you experiment with different tempos. Do you have a preference towards slower or faster music?

Up-tempo stuff is a comfort zone for me. I find it easier to make groovy beats, and much harder to make slow songs. When there’s no production tricks to paste up the cracks, it’s definitely more difficult, so I massively respect folk artists who can make a song with only one instrument and vocals.

What inspired the album ‘Ego Death’?

Reflecting a lot on ego and the core of a narcissist gone wild. It made sense for the character that I’ve developed so far that I felt gave me a journey I could go through.

Do you think there is a story that you’re telling with the sequence of tracks on the album?

I wrote a lot of the songs in a flurry at the beginning of last year, and I had a vague feeling that they were thematically connected. I was thinking about the visual story-telling that can fit over the vibe of the songs. I’ve never done that before – writing a song and then thinking about the atmosphere and the music video. Really distilling the idea that the album needs a visual story going for it.

What’s your personal favourite song on ‘Ego Death’, and why?

‘Fun Kitai Furai Dei.’ It feels like the essence of what I’m trying to achieve. Tonally, it’s the complete opposite of the other songs. It’s very simple – it’s about an alien whose dream has been to come to Earth and experience Funky Thai Fridays. I thought the simplicity of that is so funny and weirdly moving. I experienced the most when writing that.

What plans do you have for future music? Is there a particular direction you are interested in?

Ego Death felt like a logical endpoint to all the visual stuff we’ve been doing. I’d like to do something totally different next, but I’m letting it mull for a bit and give myself some space. But I’ve always got songs on the back burner, and it depends on how excited I get about the new songs.

Jazz Emu commences his national tour on 17 February and is performing in Birmingham Town Hall on Wednesday 12 March 2025.

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