Planningtorock

Jam Rostron, better known by their stage name Planningtorock, is an English electronic musician and record producer who lives in Berlin, Germany.

Planningtorock
Planningtorock (credit Goodyn Green)
Background information
Also known asJam Rostron
BornBolton, United Kingdom
GenresElectropop[1]
Occupation(s)
Years active2004–present
Labels
  • Rostron Records
  • Human Level
  • DFA

Life and career

Early life

Rostron studied at Blackburn College of Art on the Foundation course in 1990 together with Patrick Bridge, Andrew Hine, Lisa Roberts amongst others. Rostron then enrolled in an Art school in Sheffield before moving to Berlin in 2002. In 2004, they launched their label Rostron Records with Planningtorock's EP Eins, following it in 2005 with a compilation LP Carousel of Souls that featured songs from The Knife and The Soft Pink Truth.[2] They sang backing vocals on the Badly Drawn Boy track "Outside is a Light 2", a B-Side from the 1999 single "It Came From the Ground".[3]

2006–2009: Have It All
Performing in Munich in 2007

After signing to Chicks on Speed's record label in 2006, Planningtorock released the limited edition 7" single "Changes/I Wanna Bite Ya", before their debut album was released the following summer.[4]

In 2006, Planningtorock remixed the song "Marble House" by The Knife.[5]

2010–2011: Tomorrow, In a Year and W

In 2010, Planningtorock collaborated with The Knife and Mount Sims to write an opera for the Danish performance group Hotel Pro Forma. The opera, titled Tomorrow, In a Year, is based on Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. Tomorrow, In a Year was later released on 9 March 2010, by Mute Records and received generally favourable reviews from contemporary critics; according to the music review aggregation of Metacritic, it garnered an average score of 67/100.[6]

Rostron worked as the sound designer and componist for the Bruce LaBruce film The Bad Breast; or, The Strange Case of Theda Lange in 2010.[7]

Rostron began correspondence with James Murphy after he sent them a fan email that said 'Really like the Planningtorock stuff – just saying." Murphy later invited them on LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver tour before signing them to his label DFA Records. Planningtorock co-wrote the song "Answering Machine" from the album From the Cradle to the Rave by DFA label-mate Shit Robot in 2010.[8] DFA released Rostron's second studio album W on 17 May 2011.[9] Rostron had been working on the album's songs since 2007, eventually writing more than 27 songs.[10] W received positive reviews from contemporary critics; according to the music review aggregation of Metacritic, it garnered an average score of 72/100.[11] The album included a cover of Arthur Russell's song "Janine."

In an interview with Resident Advisor, Rostron stated: 'Last summer after touring W, I had a bit of a creative meltdown and wasn't sure about making music any more—then I wrote "Patriarchy Over And Out," and suddenly the goal of the next album became clear'. During this period Rostron legally changed their name from Janine to Jam so as to have a non-gendered name. They also revealed that in the Spring of 2012 they set up a studio space with Olof Dreijer (of The Knife), Hermione Frank (AKA Roxymore) and Paula Temple.[12]

Rostron states that "Patriarchy Over And Out" was a turning point 'which was the beginning of being more direct and experimenting with being more political'.[13]

On 8 March 2013 Rostron released Misogyny Drop Dead EP[14] and in mid-July released a vinyl-only remix of "Full of Fire" by The Knife "Let's Talk About Gender Baby".[15]

On 29 October 2013 Rostron announced a third studio album All Love's Legal[16] along with a music video for its opening track "Welcome".[17]

2018-present: Powerhouse

On 31 August 2018, Rostron released, "Transome", as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Powerhouse. It was followed by a second album track, Much To Touch on 12 October 2018. Both were released via Human Level / DFA Records.

Rostron identifies as genderqueer and non-binary, using singular they pronouns.[18] Powerhouse includes several tracks in which they sing about their family and childhood in Bolton, England. The title track is a tribute to Rostron’s mother: ‘She’s basically the powerhouse of the record. It was the hardest track to write, to pin down and express my love and adoration for my mum, because there’s so many things that she’s done for me, for the family, for my sister. She’s the powerhouse, for sure.’[19]

Artistry

Planningtorock has stated that the distortion of their vocals allows for the "playing around with gender alongside communicating what I feel is the emotions within the songs. Because I am really interested in expanding upon the limits that we live in – how we are defined – and it is an experiment."[10]

Discography

Studio albums

Collaborations
  • Tomorrow, In a Year (with The Knife and Mount Sims) (2010) No. 79 Belgium (Flanders), No. 24 Sweden, No. 10 US Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums, No. 32 US Billboard Heatseekers Albums

Extended plays
  • Eins (2004)
  • Topics on a Foreign Mind (2004)
  • Have It All Stringed Up (2006)
  • Misogyny Drop Dead EP (2013)

Mixtapes

Singles
  • "Changes" / "I Wanna Bite Ya" (2005)
  • "Doorway" (2011)
  • "The Breaks" (2011)
  • "Living It Out" (2011)
  • "Patriarchy Over & Out" (2012)
  • "Misogyny Drop Dead" (2013)
  • "Human Drama" (2014)
  • "Transome" (2018)
  • "Much To Touch (2018)

Remixes
  • The Knife – "Heartbeats" (2005)
  • The Knife – "Marble House" (2006)
  • Telepathe – "Devil's Trident" (2008)
  • Austra – "Lose It" (2011)
  • CREEP featuring Nina Sky – "You" (2011)
  • Vicious Circle – "Cerebre" (2012)
  • The Knife – '"Let's Talk About Gender Baby, Let's Talk About You And Me" (Full of Fire Rework)
  • Robyn - Ever Again (2019)
gollark: Also, some of the quests are in weird orders.
gollark: It's open-plan.
gollark: This is the (better) GTech™ base (mostly).
gollark: Also, the lower plank yield is just annoying.
gollark: Furnaces cost compressed cobblestone and coal and such, and this really seems pointless.

References
  1. Williams, Holly (9 February 2014). "Planningtorock interview: 'A song about patriarchy saved my ass'". The Independent.
  2. Martin Piers. "Girlie Action". Girlieaction.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  3. "Badly Drawn Boy - It Came From The Ground". Discogs.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  4. "CHICKS ON SPeeD RECORDS". Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  5. "Knife, The – Marble House (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  6. "Tomorrow, In a Year Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  7. "The Bad Breast; or, The Strange Case of Theda Lange (2010) – Full cast and crew". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  8. "RA News: Shit Robot goes From The Cradle to the Rave". Resident Advisor. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  9. Fitzmaurice, Larry (4 March 2011). "New Release: Planningtorock: W". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  10. Mcfarlane, David (23 May 2011). "Planningtorock interview: "It's all I do. I love it."". Dummymag.com. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  11. "W Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  12. "Planningtorock returns with All Love's Legal". Residentadvisor.net. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  13. "New Sounds Battling the Fear of Queer: Planningtorock – Telekom Electronic Beats". Electronicbeats.net. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  14. "PlanningToRock - Misxgyny Drxp Dead". Discogs.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  15. "The Knife - Let's Talk About Gender Baby (Planningtorock Full Of Fire Remix)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  16. "PLANNINGTOROCK". Facebook.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  17. "Welcome - Planningtorock". YouTube. 29 October 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  18. Planningtorock on Twitter
  19. "Meet the genderqueer pop star you didn't realize you need in your life". Gay Star News. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  20. "RA Podcast: RA.266 Planningtorock". Resident Advisor. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
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