JLS
Powerpop / A'cappella / Electro
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"New Possibilities"
United Kingdom
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| | Record Label | Epic | | Type of Label | Major |
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| About JLS |
Biography:
He had a dream. ‘It was this idea of taking elements of the members of the greatest boybands of all time,’ says Oritsé Williams, one quarter of and visionary behind Britain’s favourite new boyband, JLS, ‘And you’d end up with a supergroup.’ He could well just have turned that dream into a reality.
JLS is Oritsé, JB, Marvin and Aston: a blizzard of showmanship delivered with pure energy, passion and commitment. If their ambitions are high – they see the Jonas Brothers as their only real competition for global musical affections – they have the work ethic and sensational performance dexterity to substantiate the dream. ‘We work hard,’ says Jonathon ‘JB’ Benjamin. ‘That’s our ethos. It’s important to do things properly. JLS is all about excellence.’
You might think that you know JLS already (part 1): For most of the British public, Oritsé, JB, Aston, and Marvin are only the most successful group of all time to enter The X Factor, Simon Cowell’s star-making vehicle that ascended the ratings scale last year to become the most popular show on British TV. What lurks behind the scenes in JLS is an altogether more focussed proposition.
JLS were formed in the summer of 2007. Vision firmly in mind, Oritsé had put up signs online and around his University of North London campus. He had been into the guitar shops on Charing Cross Road in London’s West End and begun a tireless trawl through MySpace pages to scout people he believed could turn his boyband supergroup dream into life. He knew exactly what he wanted.
In the event he found them: first Marvin, who he met outside Niketown on Oxford Circus and auditioned on the street. Then Aston, who he called on a football pitch and persuaded to try out. The final place was reserved for JB, who he’d been given the name of from a contact at University. They met at Starbucks. He toyed with different line-ups on his computer, pitting face next to face, working out how they would fit together, before alighting on his dream team. ‘And as soon as I saw the four of us, I knew it was perfect.’
The boys soon formed a brotherly bond, giving over all their time to rehearsals, polishing their act in blagged down time at The Dance Attic studios in West London. Their fervour for JLS bordered on the devotional. ‘It clicked immediately,’ says Aston now, ‘Oritsé had put in the groundwork and we felt like a group from the start.’ There was no time for time-wasters. ‘If one of us was late for rehearsals,’ says Marvin, ‘they’d have to pay for the rehearsal time.’ The dream was not just to be slick and solid, it was to fly.
Various parties, both within the boys families and industry contacts they had amassed, began mentioning the idea of trying out for X Factor. ‘We were quite anti the idea of going into it,’ says JB now. ‘We were of the opinion that through sheer hard work we could get there. It was about creating our own path. We’d won a best-unsigned act award, we’d arranged photo shoots of our own and we were doing paid gigs by the time we entered. We were our own industry, doing our own management meetings, organising our own showcases, sorting out our own lawyers. We got stylists and photographers to work for us for free. We had that level of achievement before any of the X Factor thing started.’ ‘The Leona effect changed the perception of the whole show,’ confirms Otis, ‘The chance to become a global superstar existed through it now.
JLS were primed and ready to go. ‘The name,’ says Marvin, ‘came from our British identity.’ Jack the Lad Swing was a composite of their cheeky onstage persona and the US music genre New Jack Swing that had birthed their favourite boybands, Jodeci and Boys II Men. ‘Britain had never had one of those before,’ says JB. ‘There were a lot of quality UK solo acts like Lemar and Craig David, but Oritsé had spotted a gap in the market that we wanted to fill. But to do it with a British twist.’
From the outset it was clear that JLS were not usual X Factor fodder. A year’s worth of disciplined rehearsal had turned them into something special. ‘Everyone said to us’ says Oritsé, ‘from the producers to the judges to the back-stage crew at X Factor ‘we can’t believe that you’re a real group.’ That was alien to us. We couldn’t believe that people would go for it if they weren’t.’
They took their X Factor path one step at a time, from auditions to boot camp to the judges houses right up to the live show knock-out rounds and eventually the final. ‘We just had to do what we do and do it well. We just had to stay focussed throughout the whole thing. We weren’t sitting around and letting things happen to us. I looked after our MySpace page 24/7. We managed ourselves.’
It became similarly clear to everyone around JLS that they weren’t in this for the short haul. Sterling examples of black British talent, they were ready to step into the realm of positive role-models. ‘Everyone at The X Factor has a TV show to look after,’ says JB, ‘we had our lives and our careers to look after.’
Throughout the series one name kept on being mentioned to them, that of Epic Records Managing Director Nick Raphael, responsible for the platinum careers of Lemar and Jay Z. They are not in the slightest bit concerned about losing out in the final to Alexandra Burke. ‘Sometimes,’ says JB sagely, ‘you have to lose the battle to win the race. Not that this is competition with Alexandra, because of course we wish her the best. The thing about X Factor last year was that any one of 6 or 7 of us could have won. There were genuinely shock exits from the third week.’
They are all delighted with their experience on the show. ‘That sort of thing,’ says Marvin, ‘opens up so many doors for you that you didn’t even know existed before. Without that platform it would’ve taken us much longer to get to where we are now.’
You might think you know JLS (part 2): As it swings out of radio speakers up and down the country, the instant hit of JLS debut single, the infectious, addictive, street-savvy pop gem Beat Again, has skewed perception of the fourpiece. ‘I think people might have expected a black Westlife,’ says Oritsé. ‘But that wasn’t what we wanted to do. We have our own sound and you can hear it on the first single.’
In one sense he is right. But in another, well, the arguments about JLS’ second, third and fourth singles are still going on behind closed doors. ‘There are so many to chose from,’ says Oritsé, testament to the fact that the hard work put in before their major break arrived has all been worth the effort. For the record, the favoured second single at the moment, a phones-aloft, swinging anthem is even more failsafe hit material than Beat Again. ‘The music we are making,’ says JB, ‘is exactly what we wanted to make.’
Breaking every boyband rule as they go, JLS are involved in every aspect of the creative process as they put the finishing touches to their debut album. The boys have got involved in the writing, making sure that the sound of JLS is exactly what they first had in mind when they met to audition. They all talk excitably about the process and delightedly of the results.
So is the dream becoming a reality?
‘Everyday I have to pinch myself,’ says Oritsé, ‘that it has worked out exactly as I wanted it to. This is closer than I ever could’ve imagined to the original idea for JLS. Let’s just hope people love it as much as we do.’
Really, how could you not?
JB, Aston, Marvin, Oritsé (O-ree-shay), 4 young guys who came together through a shared passion & love for Music.
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