A band from Milwaukee (Wisconsin, USA) that has been around since 2002, presenting an in depth view from the hipster-ish underground world in form of jangly pop with 90s garage rock guitars with a flair for "jump around" melodies.
With 'Traps' - their most recent album (their 3rd LP) - released via Sub Pop last year, we find their sound wandering through melodies embed in some psychedelia and an appealing (and often heartbreaking) laid back atmosphere.
site facebook twitter
After the jump, you can get an insight of Jaill's universe with the fun answers Vinnie gave to my questions. We talked about Jaill's origins, inspirations, music evolution, SXSW, Jaill's songs in Arnold Schwarzenegger's movies and their anthropologic party music.
01. How's your day so far? What time is it and where are you now?
Great. It's my birthday and I'm layin in bed in my house in Milwaukee wi. I'd been pretty sick since we got back from our tour to sxsw but feeling better and getting ready to leave on a short tour out to NY tomorrow.
02. What's your first musical memory? And how's the idea of creating Jaill's came up? And why Jaills?
First musical memory is prolly bein pissed my dad was blasting Take 54 by Harry Nilsson at 8am on Saturday morning when I was like 3.
Being in a band was something I'd done since I was 15, so starting this band was the easily just a next step.
The name came from doodling in the margins of a notebook in college. I drew a snarling dog with the word Jail in his mouth and it seemed cool and fitting.
03. I'm pretty sure you've already seen tons of labels defining your music: power pop, jangle pop, slacker rock, geeky pop, geek-syncratic pop rock (the last one is mine). Walking away from labels and thinking about a Jaill's universe: how does it look like? If your music was a planet, what could be found there?
Ha, well I guess I can only picture our universe looking eerily similar to Mel Brooks' Spaceballs. We've gone from ludicrous speed to ridiculous speed, and trying to keep the robot maid from going from suck to blow. Hopefully you'd find Lonestar and Barf there.
 |
| photo by Shawn Fritsche |
Well we made Traps in the basement. It took quite a bit of time. We wanted it lush and layered, but it also has a nice uncertainty. Since we made it ourselves, we had ping ponging emotions of confidence over it to real scary feelings of 'do we even know what the fuck we are doing?' it was a fun adventure. Evolution of our sound is happening. Can't stop evolution. If a band doesn't evolve their sound, there is something very unnatural about that. Frozen in time? Sounds horrifying. Preferences change, influences come and go. New musical ideas arise and need to be explored. The short answer would've been that weed melts our brains.
05. I'm very interested about creative process: I'd like to know how do you create your music? What kind of references and subjects resonate and inspire you to sit down and write?
I write all the time. It doesn't take anything other than some free time, and I got that! Smoke a bowl, grab the guitar, and find something interesting. I get shit outta my head- with often every Intention of the song being a throwaway, don't care, just really addicted to writing and recording. The drive is pretty much always there, and when it's not, i get pissed and write a song about it.
06. I find an anthropological line connecting your songs. It's not like there is a song where you sing about puppies or the sun shining over the houses in Milwaukee, for example. There's always some sort of idea trying to understand, explain or acknowledge people's behaviors and the difficulties of interpersonal relationships (wether from a particular person - like a girl - or a group of people or scene…) casting a light over its weirdness, reason to be or its simple existence. Am I tripping here or is it something like that?
That sounds pretty spot on. I think I often approach lyrics with the idea of describing a scene. Its like any writing, you need a setting. Once that image is solidly in your mind, stories come out of the actions, comparisons, and emotions you add to the setting.
07. You were recently at SXSW. If I'm not mistaken, your second time at the festival. How was it? Share some highlight moments with us. And what do you think about DIIV's Zachary Cole Smith statement "Fuck SXSW… and the glorified corporate network party…".
Mistaken! Ha, was actually our third time at sxsw. As always it was amazing fun. Sunny, great friends, tons of music aided by drinking and partying all day. I really enjoy it. I totally understand someone saying fuck SXSW. If u can't hang, u can't hang. If tons of people partying, music drugs and sunshine is too much good shit and u jus wanna hide somewhere cold and dark, then fuck sxsw.
08. What's next? New album on the making?
We are working out the new songs. They are written and demoed. We just gotta tighten them up, and decide how and where to record them.
09. Time and place to listen to Jaills.
Running. Personally, I'd like it to be in the opening credits of the next Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. 12:30 pm. On the bus.
10. Anything else you feel like saying?
No matter how much I tweet at Kelly Ripa, she will not tweet back. Starting to really unnerve me. Why do you think she's so aloof?
No comments:
Post a Comment