Jungle (band)

Background

Jungle was founded by Tom McFarland and Josh Lloyd-Watson. The pair had been friends since they were nine years old, where they lived next door to each other in Shepherds Bush, London. They both attended Latymer Upper School, and played together within a number of different groups, one of which, Born Blonde, saw some success. They went on to form Jungle at the beginning of 2013, choosing to put an aesthetic emphasis on the music’s surrounding artwork and videos, and not on the pairs' own identity, (McFarland and Lloyd-Watson came to be known as J and T). Throughout the following year Jungle developed its nature as a collective by working with different artists across diverse disciplines. To perform the music live, Jungle expanded to a seven-piece band, fronted by J and T. The pair wished to challenge themselves, resisting the temptation to simply re-produce their music from their laptops, and instead translated their songs into a full and organic live experience. J and T have explained that Jungle stemmed from a desire for ‘honesty… true connection and friendship. It’s about being in a collective and collective energy… [a] team spirit.’

Musical career

Jungle's musical style has been described as "midtempo 1970s-style funk" and their music is intermixed with "tropical percussion, wildlife noises, falsetto yelps, psychedelic washes and badoinking bass" The band has a fearsome live reputation: "Jungle are a spectacular live band," say DIY.

They released their single "The Heat" on 21 October 2013 through Chess Club Records. In December 2013 Jungle were nominated for BBC's Sound of 2014 prize. The group played at South by Southwest in Texas in March 2014,. On 16 June 2014, the band played on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and played Glastonbury Festival later that month.

Their debut album Jungle was released through XL Recordings on 14 July 2014. To celebrate the release the band played a special launch party on a Peckham rooftop. The show was filmed using drones. During launch week the band played live sessions on BBC Radio 1, 2 and 6 Music.

During August 2014, the band played Reading and Leeds Festivals. During September 2014, Jungle played live on Le Grand Journal (Canal+), played with Pharrell Williams at London's Roundhouse for the iTunes Festival, and played live on Later... with Jools Holland.

The album "Jungle" was shortlisted for the 2014 Mercury Prize in September 2014.

Their song Busy Earnin' is added in the playlists of FIFA 15 and Forza Horizon 2 and was featured in TV productions several times, e.g. in the opening sequence and credits for Episode 1 of Tales from the Borderlands, as a background music in a bar in Season 2 Episode 6 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine as well as in a club scene in German television series Tatort (episode 916: "Der Wüstensohn").

It was also voted in at Number 67 in the 2014 Triple J Hottest 100 Countdown in Australia.

In early 2015, it was announced that the band would perform at the Boston Calling Music Festival in May 2015.

On 26 June 2015, Jungle played on the Other Stage at the 2015 Glastonbury Festival.

On 2 November 2016, their song Drops was played in the closing of the final scene of Season 1 Episode 9 of Queen Sugar.

On 10 November 2016, their song Busy Earnin' was played as part of the background storyline for the Season 2 Episode 9 episode titled 'Black Friday' of Superstore.