JERO11 | Framed Noise #2

23 May

When I started Framed Noise, it began with a simple realisation: a single photograph, no matter how striking, is just one frame of a much louder story. It’s about that raw, unfiltered energy of the London music scene, the kind you only find in the sweat-soaked basements and the high-intensity festival stages.

But as I’ve continued to capture these moments, I’ve felt the need to go deeper. I want to introduce you to the people behind the instruments, especially the independent artists who are the lifeblood of this city.

This isn't a polished magazine interview. It’s a collaborative project where I’m dusting off my PR background (from about 20 years ago!) to help these artists tell their stories in their own way. Whether they’ve sent me a typed message or a raw voice note from their studio, I’m keeping it real. It’s a format that will grow and change as I do—eventually moving into video calls and in-person chats—but for now, it’s about the raw, honest connection between the frame and the noise.

Spotlight 01: JERO11

I first met Jero11 through mutual musician friends (at a gig) a while back. He is a truly unique fixture in the scene, a performer who manages to weave the aggressive precision of modern metal with the ancient, percussive beauty of the Japanese Shamisen. I’ve captured him in various settings, but whether he's on a massive stage at MCM or tucked away in his studio, his energy is unmistakable.

Here is the noise behind his frames.

Jero11 - Pawaa Up - Hope & Anchor, London |
*Settings: Nikon D750 - Nikkor 50mm F/3.5 - Shutter Speed 1/250 - ISO 500*

Jero11 - Pawaa Up - Hope & Anchor, London |
*Settings: Nikon D750 - Nikkor 50mm F/1.8 - Shutter Speed 1/250 - ISO 500*

Q1: How would you describe your sound to people discovering you through my photos for the first time?

JERO11: I would say it's Japanese inspired instrumental metal . Okay, so Japanese-inspired instrumental guitar metal. Uhm or if you want to get really specific, you know, metal is really what I would go with, like modern Shamisen Metal.

Q2: Which photo we’ve done together feels most successful in capturing your identity as a musician?

JERO11: So the one photo shoot that we did, we did kind of two I suppose in MCM at the time was when you photographed me while I was performing. Um, there’s awesome performing Powaa Up, and there’s also the one we did, me and Yuzu together. The one I really, really love, I, I love all of your work to be honest. Um, I think the one that really captures me is the one at MCM actually. Uh, live at the MCM. So, in that photo shoot where you took pictures of me interacting with the audience and stuff, um, I am stupidly happy, I’m in my element you see. I think I like photos that really showed me in my element, really enjoying life and really enjoying the festival. So, I really want to portray having fun who say like even though my music is quite heavy, I want everyone to have fun and I think the photos that you too at MCM were just, they really captured that.

Jero11 & Yuzu - MCM Comicon - London |
*Settings: Nikon D750 - Nikkor 85mm F/1.8 - Shutter Speed 1/160 - ISO 1000*

Jero11 - MCM Comicon - London |
*Settings: Nikon D750 - Nikkor 85mm F/1.8 - Shutter Speed 1/160 - ISO 1000*

Jero11 & Yuzu - MCM Comicon - London |
*Settings: Nikon D750 - Nikkor 85mm F/5.6 - Shutter Speed 1/160 - ISO 800*

Q3: What does a normal day of writing or creating music look like for you right now?

JERO11: So making music for me is all about exploring traditional Japanese scales and mixing that with traditional Japanese technique, so and as well as guitar technique. So a lot of the time I'll just sit in a dark room in my in my dark studio and just start shredding on guitar and then try to shred on Shaminen and they try and incorporate traditional Japanese scales, specifically the Hirajōshi scale (平調子) which is from the Koto (箏) and then also incorporate shamisen technique and shamisen playing into that as well. So yeah it is it really does spawn from the scales so Hirojoshi scale, it really does spawn from that as a starting point and then the motif come when playing guitar and shamisen technique. I hope that makes sense.

Q4: Is there a specific artist, book, or place inspiring your creativity at the moment?

JERO11: So in terms of artists or books or something that has inspired me lately…a lot of my music is inspired by Yōkai (妖怪), the little japanese spirits in Japanese folklore in particular there's a book by Toriyama Sekien (鳥山石燕) which is like the Illustrated Night Parade of like 100 demons, Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, I think this is how it’s pronounced, so yeah that a lot of the traditional Japanese folklore inspires my music but lately I've been trying to write music that has just kind of got me inspired by Japanese culture.

So my current EP at the moment, Kuroi Ito, which means black-strings, is about things that have inspired me to play shamisen and inspired traditional Japanese music, specifically like Yatai is about food - I love Japanese food - ano, eeto [he uses Japanese filler words, like the English for “um”] - Sode no Yakubarai (袖の厄払い - The Sleeve of Warding) is about kimono, I love Japanese fashion. There's another song Souji Shiyou (掃除しよう - Let’s Clean) about Japanese films and then another one about Japanese music, Inazuma No Raimei (稲妻の雷鳴 - Thunderclap of Inazuma), in Genshin, which is a Chinese game but the whole realm is based in Japan.

So, yeah, just to round up, lots of Japanese culture, um - [moment of mumblings]- the thing that’s currently inspiring my music at the moment is the stuff that gets me interested in traditional Japanese culture. So, film, music, food, fashion. These things are quite big right now. Actually, fashion is a really big one for me right now. Um, specifically trying to create new outfits and new different sort of ways of expressing myself through clothing.

So, I hope that … I hope that that makes sense. Also, as well, there’s also musicians that have been currently massively inspiring me. Um, my teacher is a huge inspiration to me at the moment, Sayo Komada, um because she creates, she’s basically teaching me to play Tsugaru Shamisen, which is like the traditional way and that is really influencing how I play mine, as I mentioned earlier, with the music, how I make music. Um the different techniques, that I am learning from Sayo sensei (teacher), are starting to make their way into my work. Um so yes, that’s a huge answer [laughs]. So like basically, pop culture and my Tsugaru Shamisen sensei.

Q5: What are you working on now that you’re excited to share soon?

Jero11 - MCM Comicon - London |
*Settings: Nikon D750 - Nikkor 85mm F/5.6 - Shutter Speed 1/160 - ISO 800*

JERO11: The stuff that I’m excited at the moment, that I’m super excited to share, annoyingly, I actually cannot share right now [laugh]!!! it's so frustrating because it's not been officially announced, so I can't, I can't share the thing I'm super excited about that I'm actually working. Um, but what I can say that I'm really really excited, I've been, I've been working on some brand new animations, some visual elements to my show. Obviously, I’m, as I’m sure you know, all of the stuff I make, I produce, I do it all myself and I really love trying to express that, my music and my art in the 3D animations as well.

So trying to visually represent like, you know, just it’s funny because, when you write, when you write music, like, there’s like a theme. I don’t know, so, for example, one of my songs is about kimono, and how kimono helped me to become more confident in expressing my art but then having a backdrop, the backdrop itslef, it has to kind of add to that, to that story, has to add to that, to that feeling. So, like, I’m really excited for creating these, I’ve got some brand new visuals that I’m going to be showing out, some really, really big shows that I can’t talk about but, yeah, so that’s something that I am working on at the moment, so, um, yeah!

I want to give a massive thank you to Jero11 for being the first artist to jump into the "Framed Noise" experiment. Sending over honest replies and digging through voice notes while juggling a studio schedule isn't easy, and I appreciate the transparency. As for those "unannounced shows" he mentioned? I have a sneaky suspicion we might find him shredding at Hyper Japan or somewhere equally steeped in the culture he loves so much. Wherever it is, I’ll be there with my camera ready.

Keep an eye on Jero11! the noise is only getting louder.

Jero11 - Pawaa Up - Hope & Anchor, London | *Settings: Nikon D750 - Nikkor 50mm F/2.5 - Shutter Speed 1/250 - ISO 500*

Support JERO11:

Jero11 on Spotify
Jero11 on YouTube
Jero11 on Instagram
Jero11 on the web https://www.jero11.com

Jero11London Music SceneIndieIndie MusicIndependent ArtistMusic PhotographyJapanese MetalShamisenTsugaru ShamisenLive Music LondonMCM ComicConLondon Photographer

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JERO11 | Framed Noise #2

Spotlight 01: JERO11

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