Talking to: Maximum Joy
Maximum Joy, Birdcage Walk, Bristol, 1981. © David Corio.
If you’re a fan of post-punk and / or Bristol music you really need to get to know the music of Maximum Joy, if you haven’t already. Sounding as fresh as they did when they formed, mixing punk, dub, funk, free jazz, Afrobeat and hip-hop with wild improvisation, seminal post-punk band Maximum Joy rose up from the fertile Bristol music scene of the late 70’s and early 80’s. It was a scene that centred around St Pauls’ throbbing underground blues and reggae parties in venues like Ajax, The Dug Out, Trinity Centre, and the Black & White Café. Fuelled by Thatcherism, political and social unrest and growing protest amongst the young and the old, Maximum Joy’s primal, joyful sound and punk attitude spoke to a generation and quickly pushed them into the national spotlight.
Their only album, the Adrian Sherwood-produced Station MXJY, was released in 1982, with the band disbanding shortly afterwards. This fast and bright entrance and then sudden exit from the music scene may go some way to explaining why the name Maximum Joy is less well known than musical counterparts such as Gang of Four, A Certain Ratio or ESG, because musically they deserve to be cited alongside them as the leading lights of post-punk. They are also seen by many as being amongst the most important pioneers of, as much as the term seems trite and jaded nowadays, the ‘Bristol Sound’.
After reforming in 2015 to perform live at Simple Things festival, two of the founding members, Janine Rainforth and Charlie Llewellin, began recording together again as MXMJoY. On the 1st July they will release their new EP Joy Again. May saw the release of a newly remastered 5-track EP of two exclusive Maximum Joy sessions recorded in 1982 for legendary BBC radio DJs John Peel and Kid Jensen.
Culture editor Kerry Mead caught up with Janine recently to talk about the band’s formation and rise, the external elements, both musically and culturally, that fused together and sparked their unique sound, and the music they are making now. And also, especially interesting in light of the fact that the genre ‘post-punk’ has a more defined sound now it is being reproduced for a 2010s/2020s audience than the mash-up of attitude and genre it was originally, she also floats the ultimate question - what even is post-punk?
Janice Rainforth
Tell us a bit more about where you are and what you are doing at the moment.
I’m in North London – I’ve been working on restoring some Maximum Joy tracks for recent release and working on new music.
How did Maximum Joy form?
I’d been wanting to form a band for ages and met Tony [Wrafter] who also wanted to form a new band – we initially recruited Charlie Llewellin (drums) and Dan Catsis (bass) and then John Waddington (guitar).
Maximum Joy’s sound drew on a huge amount of influences. Talk us through some of these and what you loved about them and took from them?
I’ve always loved all sorts of music; I was lucky to hear a lot of different music growing up. Music that takes you to other places has always appealed; things were a bit different then without the internet, so music made by people from other countries had an added dimension. That was maybe more relevant pre-internet and even pre-cheap air travel, you were getting a window into different worlds and different cities as well as great music and feelings, everything from modern jazz to folk to African throat singers to reggae to disco to funk to pop.
This carried over into the band – we all seemed to share this need to soak up as many different sounds from all over the world. Of course, we were riding on the back of the DIY Punk explosion – this was like a switch to me that turned on. When punk took off this was when I felt really empowered to make a band too.
Live at Lyceum 1982 © David Corio
We loved all sorts – punk of course, soul (Marvin Gaye), funk (Bootsy Collins), disco (Chic, Patrice Rushen), modern jazz (Pharoah Saunders, Sun Ra), dub/ reggae (King Tubby, Dennis Bovell), and latterly when New York hip hop started exploding it hit us spectacularly. We loved to move and dance; we loved the upbeat disco and funk music but also the soulful spiritual depths of modern jazz and the political torch songs from reggae and the sounds of far-out dub – topped with the DIY in your face movement that was punk - that was what we were listening to.
What was it like being part of the music scene at that time? Both nationally and also the local Bristol scene? Do you have any particular memories that stick with you from that time?
The music scene was very active – punk was happening and the indie labels were taking off and breaking away from the major labels’ hold at that particular time – things felt possible. We toured the UK and played in some pretty crazy, unlikely places like men's social clubs up North, and in Italy we played the outdoor socialist family festivals where families were sitting eating their dinner whilst we played!
Live at ICA 1982, © David Corio.
Bristol was a great music scene. I grew up and lived mainly in St Pauls; home to a lot of Bristol's black community and to reggae and dub and the late-night blues shabeen, it was part of growing up. There was a club we all went to which drew people from all over the city – the music on the speakers was disco, funk, soul, reggae, punk and hip hop.
Maximum Joy came out of a very distinct period politically and socially, what was it like making music during such a seminal era for British music and politics?
Yeah, I think it felt a bit like an island for us – of hope! We were lucky, it was something we could do; we were a working band when there was so much unemployment, especially amongst the young people. I think most of us were on the dole but then we could still work in the band whilst being on the dole!
You reformed in 2015 - how was that? And why did you decide to reform?
Reforming was a very important thing for me personally, to reclaim my connection with the band that I’d formed but had had to leave, and of course it was a big moment for Maximum Joy as a band. We’d been approached to reform before but now it felt right and possible. Simple Things Festival approached me to ask if Maximum Joy might be up for performing there. I was doing my solo music and was in a position to get the band together along with Charlie (the original Maximum Joy drummer). It was comprised of some original members and some new. It really did feel like a seminal moment, especially playing in Bristol where we’d originated from.
MXMJoY’s sound is obviously rooted in your earlier music but has a more laid back, mellow, electro feel - how do you feel the music you make now has evolved, and why?
Our influences and sounds have evolved but that was always our nature as a band and individually I think. We still have this huge appetite and curiosity for new sounds and music; techniques, growing and evolving. I think perhaps we were heading towards the more mellow (beginnings of) electro feel with our last Maximum Joy single Why Can’t We Live Together (previously unreleased featuring Man of Tribes).
MXMJoy, © Dami Oyetade
I came back to making music in about 2014. It took some doing for various reasons but I was and am over the moon. I love the autonomy and power of being able to make a tune from scratch in a DAW [Digital Audio Workstation]. I also make solo music and am working on solo projects.
When we made the MXMJoY album, it happened quite fast but we worked in a different way to how we worked with Maximum Joy when we’d jam in a room mainly. With MXMJoY we often work across continents and use the digital technology available to us as well as normally latterly analogue guitars/bass/drums/voice. I’d work on and construct ideas at my place, I use a DAW anyway for my solo stuff, and then Charlie would contribute/ work on them at his place in The States. We’ve made the new MXMJoY EP in a similar way – using Zoom where we could.
What is glaringly different about the music scene now in comparison to when you started out?
The internet and streaming mainly.
What are your thoughts on the recent upsurge in postpunk music? Are the next generation doing a good job of carrying the postpunk torch? Do you feel they are true to its roots?
Yeah, all power to anyone making music actually is what I say. What is post-punk? I’m not sure I know! What are its roots – now and then even? They’re pretty personal to the band or musician I guess? Pretty subjective? If you look at each original ‘post-punk’ band from that era they’re coming in with pretty different influences, vibes, feelings, beats and messages. The next generation of post-punk I guess will be doing the same. All I know is we were Maximum Joy! I guess we became a post-punk band because of the era we were in.
Who have you loved working with the most in your career?
It was a great honour to work with Dennis Bovell and Adrian Sherwood for Maximum Joy. I’ve loved collaborating with the core players I’ve played or worked with now in MXMJoY– you can’t beat being in a room or on a stage with fellow musicians and creating a collaborative sound. Recently Jay Glass Dubs and Will Memotone remixed some MXMJoY tracks for us; it was special to have them remix those tracks. I’ve loved working with the sound engineer and co-producer David McKewen; I’ve worked with him a lot in recent years, on solo material and on MXMJoY and Maximum Joy material.
Tell us about the EP. How does it feel to release old material out into the world again? Was revisiting and reworking the demos a good experience?
It’s been great to restore these Maximum Joy BBC Radio 1 Session tracks; Dave and I worked on this. They were running at the wrong speed also. I selected some tracks from a few BBC Radio 1 Sessions; I think the ones I’ve selected reflect Maximum Joy well. I particularly love the energy of the Kid Jensen session tracks, it feels positive.
What music is exciting you at the moment?
Finding new (or new to me) music always excites me; on Bandcamp, hearing it on the radio or Shazamming it. Is it Shazammable or not? If it's not, it’s even better. I’ve got a fan Bandcamp under my name! For my DJ playlists, it’s my form of crate digging. I’m not locked into a particular sound, anything can strike me, but soulful music and a good tune and singing (I love unison and harmony singing) do work for me, or great beats, an unusual sound, how the track is put together.
I love how disco and funk seem to be making a comeback and are sounding so good with a new twist on them and I’m loving some of the music coming out of the Total Refreshment Centre, Brownswood Recordings and the new jazz coming out of London and Bristol and the rest of the UK. Ishmael Ensemble’s new album, Moses Boyd, Theon Cross, Kokoroko, The Comet Is Coming, Chelsea Carmichael – we were lucky enough to have her guest with us on some of our live gigs in 2019. It is great that Dennis Bovell is releasing his back catalogue, which is sounding fresh. I’m also loving something I heard on Tom Ravenscroft’s show yesterday – Bastien Keb. The list goes on!
What is next for you?
We have a new MXMJoY EP coming out at the start of July which I’m excited to get out into the world now. And we hope to be playing live later in the year as well. And I’m slowly working on a solo album and a few other projects.
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