We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: 1-800 GIRLS has all the tools in his armoury to become one of the country’s most beloved electronic artists.
The producer, known to friends as Jake Stewart, has been releasing tracks and remixes into the world for close to a decade now; notching up collaborations with the likes of Barry Can’t Swim, Real Lies and house legend Joe Smooth along the way.
The beauty of 1-800 GIRLS’ compositions lie within their simplicity. Stewart deals in a currency of heart-on-sleeve, concentrated human emotion which cuts straight to core without a hint of pretentiousness. Jubilation, longing and that lingering nostalgia that you never quite shake off as the years roll by each play their part in a treasure chest of a discography which just gives more and more with each revisit.
1-800 GIRLS takes to the stage at YES Manchester today (27th March) as part of BBC 6 Music Festival, sharing the bill with Overblown favourites Fat Dog.
How long ago did 1-800 GIRLS make the pivot from solely working on the decks to recruiting a fuller live operation?
1-800 GIRLS, for me, is about moods and not genres, although it is electronic music based in breaks, house, electro – or new wave electro house, which is how I’d describe it. My plan from the very beginning has been to move into live performances, because this focus on mood over genre has made DJ sets quite difficult at times; I like everything from 160 jungle to stripped-back, downtempo ambient and a set which is put together with all of these different styles and tempos doesn’t always flow so well. I’ve been toying with different live setups for two or three years but, because I’m a perfectionist, the set is never ready, it was actually my agent, Jason, who was like “I’m going to book these shows in and get it done, you just need to go out and do it” – so props to him. The first live shows were booked for November last year and from now I’m going to be doing a bit of both; my DJ sets will be more of my deeper, darker stuff and music that I couldn’t replicate myself, and the live set will be all my own love-y dove-y, wet tunes! I write solely on analogue, so these tracks have always been rooted in live jams.
What exactly does the live setup look like for this run of shows?
The set was originally written with no laptop, on an electron. I was using a MS1 and a DX7 reface along with a chaos pad and various effect units. 1-800 GIRLS is a solo operation and I wanted to make everything really transportable, so I ended up moving away from that setup because it was so heavy to carry anywhere. I’ve stripped it down to using Ableton and an Akai controller which triggers the samples, along with keeping the DX7 Reface and a Korg Minilogue. I’ve also got this wicked little controller which is called a MIDI Fighter: it’s completely programmable so the Akai controller does basically nothing now, the MIDI Fighter is the best thing I’ve bought! I’ll probably add more tech or people to the show at some point in the future.
Having previously played in New Wave-inspired bands, it must be feel like something of a homecoming to be playing live on stage again?
It does feel great to be playing live on stage again, especially because the live set is built around my forthcoming TBA body of work I’m putting together – which is coming out soon alongside a lot of other exciting things which we can’t talk about yet. To be able to perform my own track live and hear them as they were intended has been has been really nice. As I said, it isn’t always easy to play all of my songs in DJ sets, if I’m playing from 1am-3am then I’m not going to be playing ‘By Your Side’, because it’s too slow and too emotional for an energetic slot in the night. I’ve loved coming to more intimate venues, playing my softer stuff, feeling it and seeing people’s reactions has definitely felt like a homecoming. Juggling the live setup can feel like a puzzle but, for me, it’s a lot more rewarding; it’s a lot more personal.
The 1-800 GIRLS discography is a treasure chest of genre magpie-ing, are there any sonic influences that find their way into your work which we might not suspect?
I listen to post-punk mainly, and I grew up on indie and new-wave music: from stuff like The Strokes to newer post-punk and alternative bands like Do Nothing, HOMESHAKE or Sean Nicholas Savage. Some people have compared my music to Boards of Canada and New Order, and I’m influenced by the big build ups and breakdowns of post-rock, but I also listen to electronic music every day, too.
Your first single of the year, ‘there 4 u’, keeps things minimal with a short n sweet vocal line, did you source the sample or is this a specifically-recorded topline?
The sample was a very happy mistake! I had it sat on my computer for years in a folder and I originally threw it in as a placeholder just to see what type of thing might work – and it ended up adding this sort of cute simplicity to the track that I ended up running with and building around!
What’s in the diary for the rest of 2025? Any new music or live shows en route?
Yes to both! Lots and lots in the diary, I’m going to be in Canada for the first time in summer, also I’ve got bits in London, Belfast, Paris locked as well as a few festivals yet to announce. I Also have sooo much new music I plan to churn out this year. I’m sitting on a lot of stuff I’ve been working on for years now and it’s finally all coming together so I’m super excited to share it and hope that it resonates with people like ’there 4 u’ has. There’s BBC 6 music festival this week which I’m really excited about too! Hope to see ya at a show soon 🙂
