Whitney n' Bobby, Cheese n' biscuits, Cannon and Ball, the great pairings of the modern age, but none go more happily hand-in hand than fashion and music. While the catwalk trickles down to the wardrobes of the style conscious music man, so too the designer takes his cue from the latest guitar-wielding idol. The exchange is a long-standing one - Skinheads, Mods, Rockers and Teds all look as important as the sounds.
So, in tribute to this long-standing relationship of glamour and great tunes, SUPERSWEET’s fashion and music departments finally crossed lines to offer you a gem of a shoot, The Tangent Universe , and as if beautiful young things in nice garms wasn’t enough, we paid Brandon Jacobs from Neil’s Children a visit to ask just what role ‘style’ played in their musical endeavours.
SS: Brandon, how did you find playing ‘male model extraordinaire’ for the SUPERSWEET shoot? Was this your first Zoolander experience? Did you enjoy it?
Brandon: I thought it was ok, although I’m always quite self-aware doing photoshoots in pubs and similar places where people are staring at you. I have done quite a lot of shoots over the years but I always feel really grateful to be asked to do so.
SS: Do you remember the first item of clothing you saved up for?
Brandon: To be honest I really can’t! I started working when I was 16 so I guess that would have been the first time that I earned my own money to buy things. Possibly a coat or some shoes maybe.
SS: Describe your look aged 13?
Brandon: At 13 I don’t think I really had much of a ‘look’ although I was into Britpop so I think I would have worn clothes of that era. When I left school and went to music college, that was when I began finding my feet with fashion and discovering my own styles.
SS: Any fashion disasters you’d care to share with us?
Brandon: To the average man on the street I suppose I’d qualify as a walking fashion disaster. Things that we might think were bad a long time ago have somehow come around again and become fashionable. I’m more of the opinion that the more outrageous the better; who cares what other people think.
SS: Fashion and music have always gone hand-in-hand, how important is ‘image’ to (Brandon's other band) Goodnight and I Wish* and Neil’s Children?
Brandon: For Goodnight And I Wish* it was a lot more thought out for me, only because I try to compliment how I present myself to the music I write. By that I mean that I try to absorb myself as a character and subject matter for my songs. Being a solo musician I think you have more of a responsibility to create a strong and unique image and the nature of my song writing enables me to be as mad and creative as them.
With Neil’s Children, we never really thought about what we wore too much. Back when ‘I Hate Models’ came out in 2004, I think we must have been in every fashion magazine printed at the time, but we were never fashionable in a trendy sense and our fans didn’t really look like us. I think we were a bit too ‘DIY’ and as with our music, always slightly ahead of its time. So, by the time people caught on to what we were doing, we had already moved on to our next ‘episode’ as a creative and progressive band.
SS: Describe your current wardrobe?
Brandon: Well, if anyone reading this has ever been to where I live, a factory in Leytonstone with no heating - they would understand the current stock in my wardrobe. Lots of big thick jumpers from this amazing charity shop in Cheshunt called Isabel Hospice. I also make a lot of my stage clothes and have been fortunate enough to get given lots of clothes from April 77, whose Record Label have taken on Neil’s Children. I guess my collection is mainly based around black, but I do love colour and certainly the more unique, the better.
SS: What’s your most treasured item of clothing?
Brandon: An amazing yellow PiL t-shirt. I really like that. And my big black cardigan from American Apparel with gigantic grey buttons.
SS: Image wise, which bands past or present got it right and why?
Brandon: I think David Bowie, Syd Barrett and Marc Bolan. Such strong images but such amazing musicians: ‘style over substance’ was never an issue for them unlike a lot of bands nowadays. Siouxsie, Robert Smith and Eighties Matchbox I thought looked great too. All other new bands pretty much look the same now.
SS: 50s, 60s, 80s…what’s your favourite style era?
Brandon: 80s. Only because a lot of the better underground fashion movements of the time used a lot of 50s and 60s influenced styles as well. Edwyn Collins for example had a great 80s/50s look. I’m a big fan of Goth and new romantic fashions too.
SS: When was the last time you threw on a suit?
Brandon: Keith’s wedding! Neil’s Children’s bass player. I was fortunate to have a Merc suit that I got given for free, I had it taken in and I think I managed to get away with it. It was funny on the day - I went with John, his brother Paul (Electricity In Our Homes drummer) and Thom Foolery, NC roadie. We all looked funny as we never wear suits... John looked like an estate agent!! It was great. We were walking through these posh castle grounds to the ceremony and I said that we all looked like some fourth rate Reservoir Dogs cast offs. Very funny indeed!
SS: Designer, high-street or vintage?
Brandon: A nice mix of all three is best.
SS: What or who inspires the fashion choices you make?
Brandon: Definitely my music. I totally live in my own Goodnight And I wish* world and I think that it works both ways, I am it and it is me.
Brandon wears blue shirt with fine pinstripes by Carola Euler, his own cardigan, brooch, belt and jeans.
Words: Lena Dystant
Photography: Bella Howard