Jean-Pierre Sutcliffe
Drums and Vocals
JP began his musical journey as a child, when he first became acquainted with the piano. Growing up, JP and his brothers were surrounded by all types of music, but it was people like Johnnie Johnson, The Beach Boys, Status Quo, and AC/DC which fuelled JP’s desire to play blues piano. From the age of 7, JP began working out piano chords and solos by ear, which has always been his process of learning music. With brothers Raphael and twin brother Jean-Michel, JP regularly exercised his musicianship playing rock ‘n’ roll tunes. The three brothers would also sing in harmony on family holidays, often borrowing chords and vocal inflections from The Beach Boys, who provided the soundtrack to most French trips.
By his early teens, JP was playing various gigs with his brothers singing lead vocals and playing piano. Increasingly rockier sets resulted in him shifting to the drums, often learning his new instrument during performances.
In the summer of ’99, JP discovered The Beach Boys’ 1966 masterpiece ‘Pet Sounds’, and soon became obsessed with the band’s albums from the ‘60s to the ‘70s. After meeting future BBS member Jon at music college, a vocal “a capella” group was conceived which would eventually become BBS. It was through Jon that JP and his twin met Rich and Ben.
Aside from being a BBS member, JP continues to play in The Sutcliffe Brothers and creates his own albums under the name Amberglow. Although he is a multi-instrumentalist, JP always feels his main instrument and source of musical expression is his voice.