It’s an autumnal Monday morning in September and I’m standing in line for Nemesis Inferno with the St Louis-hailing, California based, rising R&B aficionado Jordan Ward. ‘We gotta go on the front row!” Ward shouts over the Indiana Jones reminiscent backing track to the roaring coaster, as he signals to a separate line cordoned off for only those brave enough to take on such a dare. I oblige, even though I feel slightly uneasy about the prospect.

It’s quite fitting, a week before our meeting, Ward released the deluxe version of his debut album moreward (FORWARD) alongside the project’s third single “Zoomies”, and so we’re at Thorpe Park riding rollercoasters to celebrate the beginning of a new chapter for the professional dancer turned fully fledged musician. The album, full of peaceful lulling moments and glorious intense thrills, feels like a sonic ride.

So, we felt it only right to spend a Day in the life with Jordan Ward, emulating the energetic world of the music he’s just released, whilst injecting some fun into the roll-out of the albums’ much anticipated delivery.

Listen to the album

Read the full interview below…

Jordan! You just released the deluxe version of your debut album. It’s called ‘moreward (FORWARD)’ – why’d you name it that?
I named the album that just to play on the title ‘FORWARD’. We already had that as the album title and we wanted to give the fans more, so we named it more-ward, and forward because that was the original title. ‘Forward’ as in trying to evolve as a human being, trying to evolve with the people I’m around, evolve our sound etc. It’s also for-ward, so it’s a story, a dedication, and a letter to my family. It’s also ‘four-ward’ – being that it’s my fourth project, and it’s a foreword to my story because it’s my debut album. So, there’s lots of meaning, but we are not even at the first chapter, I’m just introducing myself you know what i’m saying?

That’s beautiful. moreward (FORWARD) takes its listeners on a ride. That’s why I’ve brought you here to this theme park to emulate the record’s energy. Can you tell us a bit about the creative process and the energy at the time you were making it?
For sure! The energy around the project has just been super organic from the jump. Lido was my executive producer; over the past few years he’s grown to be one of my closest friends. I mean that’s like everybody that I work with, we’re all homies, we all have a real relationship outside of the music so, we just be in there [the studio] having fun man. We made it over the course of two years during a time when a lot going on in my life man. I was transitioning from full-time professional dancing into doing full-time music, so I feel like this album really made me step into that role of building a world and creating things with other people. Throughout the process I had to learn to know my ideas well and push myself, as well as know my own boundaries. So, that was a challenge to do alongside dealing with the same things in my personal life too. I’m 28, when I started making the album, I was like 25-26, you know what I’m saying? So, a lot of growth, a lot of forward movement.

You’re from St Louis, which has a very rich musical legacy. Do you pay homage to any St Louis artists on this record?
Did I pay homage to them? I mean honestly, I still haven’t beat the Smino accusations. I mean Smino is one of my biggest inspirations yet. Saying that though, I feel like so much music is inspired by what people from St Louis have done. You know, we have people like Chuck Berry the godfather of rock’n’roll, Tina Turner the queen of rock’n’roll, Miles Davis- jazz pioneer, Nelly of course! So, I feel like being influenced by those people growing up, I wouldn’t be doing my style without the work that they did in those styles you know. I pull inspiration from them all. Of course, we do hip-hop and R’n’B, but you know blues, soul…I pull inspiration from all that stuff.

Before you came into your own as a recording artist you spent a long time touring the world with other musicians as a professional dancer. Did you channel your love for dance into the production of this record? There are some bops on there.
Word, yeah. I channelled the dance energy into the music. I don’t know if it was intentionally, besides the song ‘Dance Machine’, which was about being…on molly, but um! You know, the music is very much influenced by dancing, like we be dancing in the studio, Lido is very tied in with the dance community and we have a lot of dance friends in common, and he’ll throw sessions with dancers in L.A, so I feel like we’re both just tapped into moving. Music and dance are one and the same.

You’ve featured some amazing female vocalists on this album, namely Gwen Bunn and Joyce Wrice. Was it important for you to include some female energy on this project?
Yeah! Honestly man, if there’s not any women around, I don’t want to be there most of the time. Not in a weird way of course, but I feel like if you’re making art you need women around, and not only that but, those are just people that I’ve always wanted to work with and they are homies of mine so it was just organic.

You’ve also included some other great artists; Joony, 6LACK, Ryan Trey, Lido and Easton Fitz. How do you go about collaboration as a rising artist? Every one of these features feels so natural on your album, they all fit seamlessly into the wider sound, I’d imagine you don’t just collaborate with anyone.
Yeah, this album was my first project really having collaborations on there, and it definitely was something conscious. I was conscious of the fact that I wanted to have other people on the project, but the way it came together wasn’t necessarily conscious, it was just like I said organic you know. Shout out Joony, that’s my homie, one of my bro’s, I just reached out to him because I was a fan and he became a fan of mine and now we just make music all the time; whenever he’s in town. Lido of course, another one of my homies. Shout out 6LACK, I met 6LACK the first time a couple years back and we kept on seeing each other in passing, just cool vibes, and about a year ago we all thought maybe we should send the song [Mustard] to 6LACK and it just worked out. Easton Fitz is somebody that I met in the studio, and he does a lot of great work with a lot of great artists, he’s super incredible and he has a lot of dope solo stuff on the way so watch out for him. So, it all differs how it comes together, but good energy is usually the basis to most of my collaborations.

If you listen closely, you’ll find that almost every song of the album is guitar-led in some way! Do you play? Where does that ‘guitar music’ influence come from?
Wow, I never even noticed that at all, that’s crazy! Honestly man, I don’t play the guitar, I mess around with most instruments here and there, but I just had so many great guitarists and bass players around me when I was making this album. I’d say the guitar influence is just because a lot of the music we cook up is live too, so there’s usually a lot of instruments in the room. Somebody might start off the drums and then somebody will pick up a guitar, somebody will pick up the bass, you know. I love alternative music, obviously R’n’B, soul – the guitar is often an essential part of making that musical experience.

moreward (forward) as a body of work has a very strong visual story. Across the video’s you seem to have built a visual world for all the songs to live in. Did you have a hand in producing or directing the music videos too?
I didn’t direct the video’s or produce them, shout out Brent Campanelli, he directed most of the videos for the project. Gaptoothshorty shot and directed the “Zoomies” video, one of my favourites, and also my homie Alex Oh who worked on a lot of the visualisers. I don’t directly produce, I more creative direct. I like to come up with the concept and tell the director, ‘This where I’m trying to go’. I might draw up a whole handbook, draw out a bunch of pictures of what’s going on in my brain and give them to the team. I did have an actual creative director for the project, my bro Ricky Alvarez. He was the main creative director and we collaborated on a ton of ideas. Ricky helped to build the world a lot visually.

I think fashion is another thing that ties the whole world together too!
Yeah, that’s true, shout out to my stylist Angelo Saunders, he’s been my best friend for like ten years damn near, he’s incredible.

There’s a structure in the back of a few of the videos that kind of looks like the ride ‘Stealth’ here at Thorpe Park! Is that a St Louis landmark? Why was it important for that structure to anchor the visual storytelling of the project? Does it have any nostalgic value to you?
So, that is the St Louis Arch! To quote Sexyy Red, ‘bend it over, I’m from St Louis say he likes my arch’, and to further quote Smino ‘arch that thing like where I’m from’. That arch is like the gateway to the West for us man, big St Louis southside shit. Growing up in St Louis, within the city limits, anywhere in St Louis really, especially in the city, you can see the arch everywhere. I grew up ten minutes from the arch and in St Louis that’s our landmark so there’s a lot of nostalgia attached to it for me.

Did you have any purpose in mind for the music when it comes to the listener? Any feelings you wanted to invoke or messages you wanted to convey?
I mean, honestly making the album I really tried to make something that engages you all the way through. I don’t know what messages I was trying to convey; I more so look at it like it’s a painting, I’m very visual with the music so it was just like putting together a painting, an art gallery, or a series of paintings, for people to look through. Every song is like a painting and the album is like a gallery, or an art show.

In your mind, what’s the perfect setting to listen to moreward (FORWARD) in?
Any setting! I’d ideally like to listen to moreward (FORWARD) outside in the sun, sitting down in some grass…with some grass, you feel me? I think whatever, it’s a good outside listen, I think it’s a great intimate listen. You know what I mean if you’re in the airport, if you’re on a flight, at the beach you know what i’m saying? I don’t know shit, at the theme park!