Review Fix Exclusive: Hybrid Spirit’s Voodoo Jade Talks Influences And More

Review Fix chats with Hybrid Spirit’s Voodoo Jade (Vocals and Lyrics) about the band’s origin, influences, goals and more.

Review Fix: How did the project start?

We formed in 2017 after Paul Kirk met Voodoo Jade via a collaborative project.  Before that, Paul and Nigel were in a band for many years called “Aus der Asche” which became known as “From the Ashes UK”. After the collaborative project, Paul and Nigel invited Voodoo Jade to join them in their music venture, and Hybrid Spirits were born!

Hybrid Spirits are:

Nigel Rooke – Vocals, lyrics, keyboards and drum programming.

Paul Kirk – Vocals, lyrics, keyboards, guitars and drum programming.

Voodoo Jade – Vocals and lyrics

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Voodoo Jade: It varies, and depends who has started writing the song. Sometimes the lyrics are written before the music is started, and then music is created around the lyrics. Other times, an instrumental track is created to which lyrics and vocals get added afterwards.   It can also depend on who is writing the music or lyrics as Nigel can write music and lyrics from scratch at the same time, whereas Voodoo Jade will write lyrics based on the instrumental version of a song.  Nigel can often write lyrics which have an emotional link, whereas Voodoo Jade will work with feelings and images which a piece of music creates for her.  Sometimes, it can just start with a good guitar riff or a synth sounds, and the song will be developed from there.

It can depend on the song or project as well.  For example, in 2018 we released our debut ambient album “Astral Whispers” which was based around NASA’s recordings of soundwaves of planets in our solar system.  This dictated that the music, vocals and lyrics would be relative to the exploration of space.

Our “Fear” EP was a dark and alternative release and to suit the music the vocals and lyrics needed to match.  Our charity single “Rain or Shine” was during the first Covid-19 lockdown in England, and we wanted it to be an uplifting song. So the music was upbeat and the lyrics reflected feelings of hope and solidarity during the pandemic. 

Our latest EP “Mirage” has music written by Paul and Nigel, with lyrics by Voodoo Jade who will write with whatever seems to fit with the music. This EP includes the charity single, as well as songs based on horror movies, a song about a vampire, and a song set in Paris, France.  As you can see, subjects and styles vary depending on who is writing the music and who is writing lyrics at any given time.

Review Fix: What’s your standout song? How was it written?

Voodoo Jade: Our dark song “Fear” has proved to be very popular with fans and radio stations. Released just over a year ago, it is still getting regular air play.  It is a dark, atmospheric song with driving guitars.  This song was first started by Paul, who recorded grungy, compelling guitars along with drums.  It was passed to Nigel who added synths, lyrics and vocals.  Paul and Nigel recorded the first version of the song several years ago, then it was revamped in 2019 when Voodoo Jade added backing vocals.  It was released on Halloween 2019 as the title and lyrics were perfect for long dark nights!

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2020?

Voodoo Jade: Although 2020 is almost over, it has been an interesting year what with Covid-19.  In a way, the first lockdown was great regarding music because no-one had to go to work and so we had time to write and record new music.  We managed to get our latest EP “Mirage” mixed and ready for release on Halloween 2020.  We are lucky in that we all work on music individually and remotely, and we don’t play live at the moment, so we could keep on making music. We wrote the music for a new song called “Rain or Shine” a few days before lockdown, and the lyrics hadn’t yet been written. We thought that lockdown would be a perfect opportunity to write a song which reflected the mood and the situation, addressing feelings of solidarity and giving hope to people. A lot of people were fundraising in England at the time to help with Covid-19 related causes, and we decided to release the song as a charity single so that we could play our part too. The money which the single has raised so far is helping people across the world who have been affected by Covid-19, and we will continue to raise funds until the end of April 2021. Let’s face it, it doesn’t look as though the pandemic will disappear overnight unfortunately.

So, for now, as well as trying to #staysafe with Covid-19 around, we are focusing our attention in promoting our latest EP “Mirage”.  We are also fundraising until the end of April 2021 for our charity single “Rain or Shine” which is raising money for the International Committee of the Red Cross for those affected by Covid-19 across the world : https://www.icrc.org/en/donate/covid-19-emergency-appeal

It’s not too late to buy a copy of the charity single (£1.50 or more) to support the cause at our Bandcamp page : www.hybridspirits.bandcamp.com if any of your readers would kindly like to buy the song and donate. Thank you!

Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?

Voodoo Jade: We have recorded and released various styles of music, so it depends on the album/EP!  For example, in 2018 we released our debut ambient album “Astral Whispers” which was based around NASA’s recordings of soundwaves of planets in our solar system.  This dictated that the music, vocals and lyrics would be relative to the exploration of space.  It is a good album to listen to whilst relaxing or generally “chilling out”.

Our “Fear” EP was a dark and alternative release and to suit the music the vocals and lyrics needed to match the mood.  Our charity single “Rain or Shine” was designed to be an uplifting song.

Our latest EP “Mirage” is a mixture of dark and light music which includes the charity single, as well as songs based on horror movies, a song about a vampire, and a song set in Paris, France.  As you can see, subjects, moods and styles vary depending on who is writing the music and who is writing lyrics at any given time!

Review Fix: What’s next?

Voodoo Jade: We have already started recording some new songs which will be on a future release. Again, it is a different feel to the music which we’ve already released, and would be classed as darkwave/electronic. We are still writing more music for the next EP/album so everything could change yet! We do alternate vocals between Nigel and Voodoo Jade, and the next EP will predominately be Nigel on main vocals. His voice is perfect for darker songs!

Paul is focussing on writing a few more songs in the style of “Fear” as it has proved so popular and people really like it.

The band is also recording relaxation music for a series of meditation tracks which Voodoo Jade is currently working on. There are some tracks for general meditations, and some for the development of psychic awareness/abilities

We chose the band name “Hybrid Spirits” because the word Hybrid describes our music, as we don’t believe that we sound like anybody else. Our music can’t be pigeon-holed, and our releases can vary. We chose to add the name “Spirits” to our band name because we all get along really well, like 3 kindred spirits.  To date, our music releases have ranged from alternative to ambient, and from electronic to rock. We can never predict what we will write next, as we have so many ideas and influences!

We all have different music tastes and influences. Paul likes anything from heavy metal to classical music, including Rammstein, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, The Cult, Neil Young. 

Nigel loves electronic music, but also Rammstein, Marilyn Manson, Gary Numan. He also loves Ska music, Goth, Rock,  new wave, synthwave.  He particularly relates to songs with strong emotional connections.  

Voodoo Jade loves most of the music which Paul and Nigel like, with some folk and new age music thrown in for good measure! Growing up, she was a big fan of Blondie, and now she loves Evanescence, Indigo Girls and Enigma.