If his notes didn’t originate in Clapton Pond, London, Jean Clark could be straight out of a late 60s California. The name itself is a tribute to the Byrd who flew alone, Gene Clarke, with whom Matthew Oliver - Jean Clarke’s name when he’s off stage - shares both his sartorial style and the love for retro rides.

About the project, Oliver said: “Jean Clark kind of started during lockdown - I hate to say that it’s a lockdown project, but it kind of was. I was in another band before the pandemic started, for which I had written some songs. With everything that happened that ended up falling apart, so I decided to record them myself with the help of some friends.”

He continued: “I usually start writing some chords, and then I write the lyrics. I then go back to the lyrics like a month later to refine them. The words I sing are highly personal, and I always try to talk about things and the feelings I was experiencing when I first wrote them”

True to the giant that his stage name pays tribute to, Jean Clark played solo for a while, the live session at Act Cool Records was his first performance with a band. “I wrote and recorded the songs myself, and then I sent them to my friends who added their input and gave me feedback. This performance was the first time I got to play the songs live with a band - they’re all incredible musicians, so I really trusted them to get the feeling I wanted” Oliver explained.



Jean Clark’s husky vocals are truly the element of his performance that lands the most, as he narrates his experiences with painful sincerity.
“I’ve always loved classic singer-songwriters - Townes Van Zandt is one of my favourite artists, with his style of commenting on the mundane and simple things in a way that hits with the melody. I guess I’m trying to be inspired by that and to replicate that in my own way. This kind of artists also have a fragility in their voice, a note of sorrow and despair that I think comes across in my songs, too.”