PRIMARY 1

A varied upbringing has produced a varied album for long-time-arriving newcomer, Primary 1.

Solo outfit Primary 1 (aka 26-year-old Joe Flory) is soon to release his debut album, Other People – a record that has been near a decade in the making.  The creative process of the album has been as sporadic as Flory’s varied upbringing – taking him from Ipswich to Singapore to Norway and London, writing and recording the album in tiny rooms in various locations.
    “I mastered it today,” he beams when we meet in an east London café. “I just came from the studio, so that was a pretty good feeling.  What I realised was that my music is a bit of a mess – but that is its strength.  It’s very eclectic.  I like to try a lot of different stuff.’
    Assisting with the “eclectic” feel of tracks is an impressive roster of collaborators including Paul Epworth (Plan B, Florence and The Machine) who co-produced recent single Princess, John Hill (who has worked with Santigold and Shakira) and Nina Persson of The Cardigans who lends her vocals to duet on The Blues.  The end result is an album of varied sounds including pop, folk, blues and all with an undercurrent of electronica. “Ironically it has ended up being quite a collaborative record, which is great,” says Flory of the album. “When I started out
I didn’t want to be on my own – I wanted a band, but I just couldn’t find anyone and so I just did it on my own.  And now I have got a band and the album is called Other People.”
    Vocally, Flory has a voice that some have likened to David Bowie – a comparision that finds no complaints.  ‘I don’t mind that!’ he laughs. ‘He’s cool. Bowie’s music definitely wasn’t an early influence, but maybe [it was] later on when I started trying to sing. For the early stuff I was singing tonnes of vocals on top of each other – really messy and fucked up. With The Blues [before becoming a duet] it was just my vocal and it’s very clear and direct.  I think I was trying my best just to sing well and that must be the closest reference – a very clear voice.”
    Having lived in various parts of the world, music served as something as a constant growing up. ‘I lived in Singapore for most of my life from when I was seven until I was 17.  The thing about that was that I didn’t get to see much live music and there wasn’t any NME.  Wherever I went I was interested in finding music that I liked and there wasn’t any guidance like: ‘oh, check that out’. I just went through CDs looking at the cover and thinking: “That’s going to be good.”  When I started, I would make music that I wanted to listen to.’ With the album now complete, Flory is looking forward to hitting the road. ‘I always loved playing in bands in school but we never went and did gigs.  I’m really enjoying it now with the band I’ve got.  That’s my main focus – I’ve got to make a really good show.

[Originally published in Wonderland Issue 23, September 2010. Photograph Kristin Vicari]