Jake Wherry on how facing adversity has unlocked a fruitful period of creativity
The Founder, Producer and Bassist of the UK hip-hop group, The Herbaliser, has parted ways with the band after 30 years and begun a new era in the exploration of his love for disco, soul, and funk.
Jake Wherry has become prolific with his personal projects since July of 2021 where he has recorded a staggering 144 tracks. Most of which he has not released but intends to share his projects this year, collaborating with upcoming artists Maya, Hmyna and Ratty the Sly. A new project is also in the pipeline with highly praised acid techno DJ Sterling Moss, calling this collaboration “The Brilliant” which he describes as “Gorillaz meets Chemical Brothers”.
Since The Herbaliser parted ways back in 2018, it hasn't been the only separation that Jake has faced, with his wife unexpectedly filing for divorce from within a psychiatric ward after suffering a mental breakdown also in 2018. Jake describes this period as a ‘very dark time’ not stepping foot in his brand-new dream home recording studio that had been built at the end of his garden. “It was a dream come true having this studio, but I just couldn't face going through that door”. Jake had paid for the studio through an insurance pay-out from his critical illness cover from the first time he had cancer, another hardship that he has confronted. However, he got his mojo back when his collaborations with Maya and Hmyna started taking shape, having recording sessions with Adam Phillips (who has worked with Whitney Houston, Cher and Tina Turner amongst other big names) and began to get the joy back from making great music, treating it as a form of therapy).
“Overwhelmed at this sense of profound joy that I was listening to this amazing stuff I had made! “
The upcoming project with Maya is set to be released early this year, which explores an entirely different sound to his infamous jazz fusion hip-hop beats from The Herbaliser’s albums. This was a conscious decision to focus on his love for disco, funk and soul which is what his first love is rooted in. “I remember listening to the tracks at home in bed, obviously really high, thinking; ‘I actually cannot believe I have made this!’ I ended up chuckling aloud to myself like a madman. Guttural chuckles!” Jake begins to imitate this crazed laughter which he needed to suppress at the time to not wake his sons. “I was just overwhelmed at this sense of profound joy that I was listening to this amazing stuff I had made”. Both Maya and Hmyna share the common ground of both being daughters of Jake's two good friends, however, they have very varied musical styles with Jake comparing Maya to Chic and Jamiroquai because of her soulful vocals and up-tempo peppy beats.
Hmyna has a more exotic sound, her Brazilian heritage filters through the music with certain tracks playing around with beats that sound borderline Bossa Nova-esque, especially against her raspy voice. Jake admires her sound which is naturally inspired by the London afro-beats and R&B scene, saying that she is very “in tune with the zeitgeist”, recognising the influx of west-African and neo-soul music with rappers and soul singers like Burna Boy and Celeste being amongst the most popular today.
Ethnic music has become far more prominent in mainstream culture in recent years which is encouraged by this R&B “fusion” style Hmyna is so perfectly executing; integrating the south American samba sound with hip-hop beats.
“We never tried to do anything, we just made music, our luck was pure serendipity”
Deservedly proud of all of his projects, Jake surprisingly doesn't usually listen to his tracks after he is done with the fine-tuning and they are released to the world, but he can define a moment where it was an immensely gratifying moment for him. “It must have been 2002 and the band was in Norway hanging out on a harbour outside of a lovely cafe drinking beer in the sun. It was an “I love this” moment”, the cafe happened to be playing “Blow Your Headphones”, it sounded menacing and relevant and just f***ing great!”
Coming from a band which had such a distinctive style, unlike any artists at the time, Jake now dipping his toe into more mainstream music is an unpredictable yet exciting route to hopefully put him on the map as a solo producer. “I'm not gonna sell out but doing something that I love, which is retro pop, soul and disco music is more accessible, so I’m gonna give it a very good shot and set getting something in the top 20, even 10 as a goal”.
Starting a new chapter in music as a 53-year-old, almost 30 years after being part of a band has proven to be harder than it used to be for Jake, in terms of pitching songs to labels as a solo artist and making a living out of music. “Everything about the Herbaliser’s early days was all to do with good fortune; we never tried to do anything, we just made music, our luck was pure serendipity”. Within 18 months of the band joining the Ninja Tune record label they had a “meteoric” and unexpected rise after their hit 1997 album “Blow your headphones” which is critically acclaimed.
“I'm aiming higher than I ever did in the Herbaliser”
Breaking into a more accessible style of music has the potential to upset his existing fans from the huge Herbaliser fanbase as the 2 female-featuring projects he predicts will be “massive” are significantly different to their early and most popular records. He defends the prospect that fans may think he's sold-out saying “'I’m not compromising on anything it's all fully passionate and from the heart, I'm aiming higher than I ever did in the Herbaliser”. His collaborative project with young DJ, producer, and rapper, Ratty the Sly stays true to his hip hop origins which will please many fans, with cool jazzy beats and an ominous bassline.
The Herbaliser made the decision to leave the Ninja Tune label after the contract of creating 5 albums had been fulfilled, going on to make “Same as it Never Was” (2008) with! K7 which was a successful record but didn’t do as well as anticipated. Jake called the departure from Ninja Tune “a bit of a bad move” with the label going from strength to strength while the Herbaliser was getting less attention. “Bonobo and The Cinematic Orchestra who were both supporting us back in the day have completely eclipsed us!”
Jake and the band were at first “wholly offended” by the term ‘trip hop’ that is connected to them, claiming that it was all down to the industry not having a word for their style of music, which was not their intention. “We were just making hip-hop but didn't know any rappers” so he found a way to adapt; changing and changing the pitch so they could use almost any sample to match with the main sample. They wanted to make it more interesting to make up for the lack of vocals. Jake and fellow founder Ollie Teeba both were inspired by soundtrack music from the 1960’s and 70’s. “I wanted our records to be a journey, so you have a start, a middle and by the end you're somewhere completely different like a piece of cinematic music”.
“I’d like to see the phoenix rise from the ashes, but at the moment he's just dusting himself off again”
This newfound inspiration is incredibly admirable considering the misfortune within his personal life, losing his wife and childhood sweetheart in 2004 in a freak house-hold accident, getting lymphoma cancer and it returning 3 times and the unforeseen separation from his second wife. Through facing these terrible adversities has unexpectedly birthed a spur of creativity from Jake which is exactly what 2023 needs to hear.
His collaborations with Hmyna and Maya project an undeniable sense of joy feeding the listeners positive energy which is a testament to Jake’s admirable optimism that has translated through his music. Treating music as therapy has been a huge part of Jake’s healing process. “I’d like to see the phoenix rise from the ashes, but at the moment he’s just dusting himself off again”. The perfect metaphor literally meaning ‘to emerge from a catastrophe stronger, smarter and more powerful’- exactly what Jake and his new music projects are going to do in 2023.