Words by Lewis MacLean. Photos by Katie Isham.
Jermaine is a band of three sisters from Australia who are rocking the world with every show.
The members are Georgia (singer/keyboard), Ella (bass) and Clara (drums).
Their latest single, “City Lights,” was released earlier this year and is also the title of their current album.
After seeing them dominating nearly every stage every day at the Isle of Wight Festival last year, I approached them to interview them, but sadly it never happened.
So when we found out that Jermaine would be returning to the UK this year as the supporting band for Tom Jones at Southampton’s Guildhall Square Summer Sessions, we asked them again, and they kindly agreed to speak to us ahead of the show.
So, how was it for you?
We’ve done a lot of touring since the Isle of Wight – we did The Corrs tour in Asia, Australia and New Zealand in November and October last year, and then we did the Tom Jones tour in the UK in December, which was fantastic as it was Christmas time.
Although we weren’t there for the actual Christmas we did experience a pretty harsh but really fun British winter and playing a venue like the O2 was quite surreal!
Then I did the Tom Jones tour of Australia in March and April, and now I’m here with a fun big tour coming up in the summer.
Since I last saw you guys at the Isle of Wight Festival last year, I’ve noticed you guys have opened for Tom Jones and Sting in some very high profile venues, so Guildhall Square is probably the biggest venue in Southampton.
How has 2024 been for you? Lots of shows, any new singles?
Well, yeah, I’ve released some songs already this year and I’ve toured a few times with Tom, but it was really special to come back home to tour Australia. I’ve been working on new music since then, so stay tuned.
And now we’re on tour again and we’re playing some new songs tonight which will be fun to try out.
What is the name of the new song?
It’s called “Chuck n Cherry” and while it hasn’t been released yet, it’s expected to be announced in the next few days, so stay tuned.
You’re coming back to the Isle of Wight Festival this year, right?
Yes, but you will only be there for one day.
Last year I did about eight shows, but a lot of my tours have shows before and after, so I’ll go in on a Thursday night, leave after the Friday night show, and go to the next show on Saturday. So, unfortunately for Isle of White, it’s only one night. There are a lot of great artists this year, so it’s a shame, but I’ll try to go see as many as I can on Friday.
Should be fine.
Have you played any other venues on the South Coast?
Ugh, shit. [laughs]I’m sure it will, but I’m really bad with British geography. I think this tour is going to be great. We’ll be touring around a lot, so I’m excited. But I remember the South Coast being a beautiful place out of all the places we’ve been. Now that we’re in Southampton, we’re already getting the feel of it.
So how many times have you been to the UK?
We have been here several times, yes many times.
We always come in the summer to avoid the Australian winter but have been coming for a few years now as there are also some great festivals at this time of year.
We toured Germany and then came here and played the Isle of Wight. It was our first official festival and a lot of things happened from there. It was really cool. I don’t know how many times we’ve played the Isle of Wight, but yeah, we’ve played a few times.
Ella thinks she probably has seven or eight so there are a few more to come, but we just love them.
It really is a wonderful festival.
Had you heard anything about Southampton before coming here?
If there’s anything in particular I should know, please let me know. [laughs].
Craig David is from here.
Oh really? Oh that’s amazing, that’s pretty amazing.
Have you heard of Australia’s Craig David?
Yes, that’s right, we are getting the information a little later than others, but we have heard of him.
So who are some of the people who influenced Jermaine’s music?
First of all, The Corrs. We’ve been huge fans of them since we were kids and it was so magical to tour with them last year and we’re doing another show with them this year. We’re a band of brothers, we sing harmonies and stuff, and it’s just really great, feel-good music.
We love The Corrs.
My dad grew up playing in New Orleans, so we love rhythm and blues music.
We love Sting.
We love Tom Jones, and pretty much every artist he’s toured with is a bucket list destination for us.
It’s that kind of pop music, just like Little Mix.
We’re a really mixed bunch of people and grew up listening to a lot of different stuff in general, but I’d say The Corrs are our absolute favourites.
Have you decided which stage you’ll be playing at this year’s Isle of Wight Festival yet?
They’re playing at River Stage on Friday night.
After playing, I’m going to go straight to the ferry. It’s a pity, but it’s okay.
Do you have any upcoming shows planned with The Corrs in the UK?
We’ve got a show in Weston Birt in the UK, then Marbella in Spain and then in July we’re supporting Shania Twain in London’s Hyde Park in the same line-up as The Corrs. So, yeah, it’s awesome.
It’s going to be a great night with so many of our favorite artists performing.
You’ve played a lot of arenas here, do you think you’ll ever go back to smaller venues?
Yeah, for sure. A lot of the tours we do now are as a support act, which we love and it’s a lot of fun for us. But one day we’d love to do our own headline shows, although of course they’d be smaller than what we’re doing now. [laughs]at this stage. So we’ll be doing smaller shows again and we’re going to work really hard and get there with something that will be our showpiece.
So how many miles is Germein flying right now?
How many air miles? (A brief, perhaps condescending explanation of air miles)
Yeah, yeah, yeah [laughs].
Well, Claire and Ella are rich, but they’re not anymore. I don’t think they’ll be rich in a year, but anyway, we’ve still got a long way to go.
You’ve toured with The Corrs, Tom Jones and Sting – is there anyone else you’d like to play with?
I’d love to do U2, because they’re still around, so that means that’s the next generation on our bucket list.
It’s possible that this may actually happen.
Haha, that’s great, they’re our mom’s favorite band so of course we love them too.
(The girls are being called on stage and I manage to squeeze out one last question.) If you were to compare your music to food what would it be?
For example, fruit, watermelon, things that are good for you, things that make you feel good, fruit salads, yes, that sounds good!
Read our review of Germein from last summer’s IOW festival.
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