“I don’t know what I’m trying to portray, but it’s always going to be uncomfortable and vulnerable”: Meet Heartworms, the six-string experimentalist who went from busking for rent to playing the Royal Albert Hall with St. Vincent

After securing the sought-after support slot on St. Vincent’s All Born Screaming tour in the UK and Europe earlier this summer, Heartworms’ post-punk powered ascent to prominence appears to be in full swing.

While the name might suggest a collective, Heartworms is in fact the solo project of guitarist, singer, arranger, performer, theremin sorcerer and dramatic onstage death-stare specialist, Jojo Orme.

Raised in a sleepy Cotswolds town where her talent went unrecognized by peers, her unique vision received its first major endorsement in 2022 when she was picked up by Speedy Wunderground, the taste-making label that first introduced us to black midi, Squid and Black Country, New Road.

She recently launched Jacked – an intensely jarring banger of a single – and reports that the writing of her debut album is done and dusted, with sights set on an early 2025 for its release.

Whether it’s tight, driving synths that descend into cacophony, vocals that morph from a whisper into a scream, or a catchy guitar hook that gets downright flirtatious with tonal dissonance, Orme’s creative spirit seems to feed off of putting herself and the listener on edge.

“I don’t know what I’m trying to portray, but I know it’s always going to be uncomfortable and vulnerable,” she says. “I might write a riff, then write another one on top. I don’t think about what I’m doing – I just know that it makes me feel weird.”

The same applies to tone: Orme is a big fan of pedal combinations that include the ProCo RAT for distortion, Boss’s RE-2 Space Echo and the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Max for its reverse reverb setting. It’s worth giving EP track 24 Hours a listen for the particularly cool “synthy distorted sound” she gets from pairing a Nano Big Muff with one of Dreadbox’s Komorebi BBD Chorus Flanger pedals.

Self-taught and self-motivated, Orme’s experimental approach comes from a mixed bag of influences from Ben Howard to Prince, Mac DeMarco to Interpol and stacks more. It began when, as a 12 year-old, she found herself grounded for an entire year, unable to see friends or access social media.

Heartworms – Jacked (Official Video) – YouTube

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To stave off the boredom, she borrowed a nylon-string acoustic from her brother and taught herself the ropes. She says her “independent mindset” and a fraught relationship with her mother drove her into the foster care system at 14, before she took up residence at the local YMCA as a 16 year-old.

“It was very constrained and difficult to be myself at home; moving out was the way I could pursue what I wanted,” she explains. “The only downfall about growing up on your own and having to make your own rules is that you don’t really understand how to regulate certain emotions and problems in your life – you’re dealing with them as a child, and trying to be an adult at the same time.”

She channeled that turbulence into music, busking with an electro-acoustic guitar and a mini Vox amp to pay her rent. Her passion for playing grew, but, as one of the only female students on her production and performance course at college, she felt compeled to hide it.

“I was never really openly showing that I wanted to play,” says Orme. “I’d play, but I’d never be like, ‘Look at me! I can play guitar!’ because I was always afraid that guys would be…” she trails off, giving a tell-tale eye roll, before letting out a slight laugh.

Heartworms – 24 Hours (Official Music Video) – YouTube

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“I discovered for the first time what a Gibson Les Paul was at college,” she recalls, by way of example. “There was a guy who used to bring his in, show it off and tell people not to touch it because it was too expensive…”

Fast-forward to 2024 and Orme’s just been presented with a Les Paul Standard by Gibson. To suit her military-goth aesthetic, she’s ditched the cream scratchplate, making it a sleek, all-black affair.

She’s already taken the six-string for a spin in front of a full house at London’s Royal Albert Hall, after being selected to open the show for the “very mysterious” yet “lovely human being” that is Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, aka reigning queen of the alternative guitar world.

They do say that success is the best revenge, don’t they?

• Heartworms kicks off a UK tour including festival appearances on July 11.