Would-Be-Goods
Jessica Griffin
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For our January 2026 Newsletter, we were pleased to interview Jessica Griffin from Would-be-goods.
Since "The Camera Loves Me", their cult classic 1988 debut for the legendary él Records, Would-be-goods have blazed a musical trail through indie guitar pop, with a garage band edge and forays into other territories - glam rock, tango, French chansons… The result is unique and timeless.
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Their new album "Tears Before Bedtime" came out on 13 February on Skep Wax. With this perfectly-constructed, witty and enchanting album Jessica and her band of pop adventurers have taken things to another level.
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We talked to Jessica about the band’s origins, about songwriting, and about the new album. Thanks to Jessica for answering our questions.
When The Would-be-goods first started did you find the whole process effortless?
Not really. The first Would-be-goods single (’Fruit Paradise’/’Hanging Gardens of Reigate’) came about in rather an unusual way. Mike Alway loved records from the 1960s featuring actors like Sophia Loren and Dirk Bogarde, rather than professional singers. He liked my voice and my RP accent and thought he could do something similar with me. One idea he had was a duet with the football player Vinnie Jones but, maybe not surprisingly, this didn’t come off. In the end he got Simon Turner and Colin Lloyd Tucker to write me a couple of songs. I was quite shy and it was my first time in the recording studio, working with people who knew each other well and were skilled musicians. I had no trouble singing ‘Hanging Gardens’ but struggled with ‘Fruit Paradise’, which is a sort of rap. The producer kept saying ‘Try to sound sexy, like Marilyn Monroe’, which totally put me off.
I felt more comfortable recording the vocals for The Camera Loves Me and Mondo but in both cases I had very little time to do it in, so that was quite stressful.
Was there a community associated with él Records? I think we all start playing music as part of one scene or another, and I wonder if you could describe what yours felt like?
People imagine él as one big happy family, all playing on each other’s records. There was a bit of that (especially with Louis Philippe and Simon Turner) but I wasn’t really part of the élite, although I got on well with Louis and Simon and met some of the other él artists in Tokyo.
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The Would-be-goods only evolved into a full live band relatively recently. Did you avoid this route in the past because the right people weren’t available? Or did you just not like the idea of playing gigs?
We’ve been playing as a full live band since 2002, which is 23 years!
Playing live was not an option when I was on él. Mike hated live music and thought it would destroy our mystique. Having said that, there were a couple of él showcase events, one in London and one in Tokyo, where I sang backing vocals for Simon and Louis. Post-él, I carried on writing songs and made another album but never thought about forming a band. I didn’t know many other musicians and those I did know were already in bands. Then in the mid-1990s (this may be news to you!) Peter wrote to me to say that Heavenly would be happy to be my backing musicians if I ever felt like playing live. This never came to pass but eventually, after we’d recorded Brief Lives and done a few shows as a duo, Peter helped me get a full band together.
Talking of gigs, I do think they can be nerve-racking affairs. Apart from what comes out of your mouth and what comes out of your guitar you aren’t really in control of any of it. Do you enjoy this feeling?
I really enjoy playing live and don’t mind that element of uncertainty. The only times I don’t enjoy it are when I can’t hear what I’m singing/playing, or when I can’t see the audience because I’m blinded by a spotlight. Then I feel I’m just playing into a void.
With Peter, Andy and Debbie, the Would-be-goods boasts a very impressive set of musicians. Do you ever tell the others what to play? Or do you leave them to work out their own routes through the songs?
I usually play new songs to the other band members in rehearsal or send them a demo tape and let them come up with their own parts, but I will sometimes ask them to play something different if I have a particular part in mind or if the part they're playing doesn't fit in with my concept of the song.
For the new album I wrote flute, cello and trumpet parts for guest musicians.
You have been very prolific in recent years: I remember seeing you play a few of the many dozens of amazing songs you’d composed during lockdown. Were there any particular factors that made you engage, or re-engage, with songwriting in such a committed way?
I was driven to it by boredom and loneliness. It’s easy to forget now that we didn’t know how long that state of limbo would last or how it would end. I really do think my songwriting project kept me sane. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. It was like a game - it was fun rather than a chore.
You are wonderfully fearless with your lyrics: you are not afraid to be ‘literary’. Are there are other songwriters you admire who do a similar thing? And are your songs more like poems, novels or plays?
If you read a lot, some of it is bound to find its way into your songs. I don’t know when ‘literariness’ became something to steer clear of in songwriting. In the 1970s and early ‘80s it was quite acceptable - de rigueur, even. I just use the words that the song demands. I try not to be too self-critical while I’m writing or to worry about how people will judge the songs - or me. I can and do write quite simple lyrics too, and I’m not afraid of using the odd cliché. If you’re always trying to be original, it can be very hampering.
Some of Bid’s lyrics (especially the Scarlet's Well songs) are influenced by nineteenth-century poetry and early 20th-century horror fiction (H P Lovecraft, etc). I'm sure there are other lyricists I like whose songs are influenced by literature but I can't think of any at the moment.
When I was very small I told everyone I was going to be an ‘author’ but I’ve never written a full-length novel. I think my songs are a bit like compressed novels but someone said recently that they are more like little films. I do have quite a visual imagination and can see scenes while I’m writing lyrics.
I have noticed that people refer to you and the Would-be-goods as ‘English’; more than they might do in respect of other English bands. It’s always said affectionately, or appreciatively, as far as I can tell. I wonder what it is that makes people say this?
It might be because of my RP accent, which you don’t hear very much in pop music. I was very self-conscious about it when I started making records but it’s the accent I’ve always spoken with and it would feel strange to sing with a different accent.
Another reason may be that my songs feature English settings or are inspired by English novels, poems or music, although I’m influenced by writing and music from other places too.
On the new album, in ‘The Gallopers’ and in ‘Witch Hazel’ you recall, or perhaps re-live, the experience of being a young girl. But the listener is also very aware of a sardonic adult perspective. Do you feel sympathy for young girls trying to conform to expectations, or anger at the adults who attempt to control children’s behaviour? Or have I misinterpreted these songs?
There are aspects of me in all my songs, even though they're written from the perspective of (very) different characters. I’m the rebellious young girl but also the anxious mother, who is only trying to keep her daughter safe, and maybe prevent her from making the mistakes she herself has made. I feel sympathy for both.
Various of your characters shed tears before bedtime. Was this always going to be the album title, or were there other candidates?
No - I didn't come up with the title until we'd almost finished recording. I thought it should probably have the word 'tears' in it as so many of the songs have tears or crying in the title or lyrics (by coincidence, not by design).
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It's not a gloomy album at all, though - no tears before bedtime for our listeners!
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