@jukeboxtheghost / jukeboxtheghost.tumblr.com
Typically interviews are a pretty dry affair....But this one was different. Wanna hear us talk about our history as a band, play a few songs, delve into the songwriting process behind our new record, take some questions from fans, and chat about what it means to be in a band in the era of social media? We never plug interviews of our own band that hard...But this one was special. Google Talks, thanks for having us!
Another little behind-the-scenes take: "Diane"!
This song felt like a huge "a-ha!" moment for me at the time....I'd been revisiting a lot of Beach Boys, early Beatles and the Kinks in 2016 and I wrestling how to marry some of that aesthetic with what I was currently working on for Jukebox the Ghost. I sat down with our friend Kyle at his studio and just started strumming a riff in G when the whole song started coming together. When the lyric "You make me feel like I'm gonna die, Diane" came to mind for the chorus, I knew I was onto something... It felt like a morbid, anxiety-riddled response to "Help Me Rhonda" in a way that I thought was cheeky fun. Ever hear the Beach Boys album "Beach Boys Party"? If you haven't, it's a 'live album' of them in a living room playing acoustic with all their friends drinking and singing along audibly in the background. I wanted this song to feel like THAT.
Another thing about the tune: It was really exciting to maximize flexing my harmony-arranging skills on a Jukebox tune for the first time...And it felt like I had stumbled into new songwriting territory for my role in Jukebox the Ghost. Since then, I've written a dozen or so songs in the same world as Diane and I feel like there are still more to come. It's a songwriting suit that feels really good at the moment!
When it came time for the band to record it, we ended up staying surprisingly close to the demo arrangement and let the acoustic guitar lead the way, with the addition of Jesse's signature fills and some creative synth arpeggios and wurlitzer playing from Ben. I still get giddy every time I hear the chorus drop to that big, unaccompanied harmony stack. We haven't played it live yet, and I can't WAIT to debut it next week. I hope you guys sing along....Because it's hard to emulate a 50-vocal stack as a three piece band (eek!).
Things to listen for in the recording: -That big, messy guitar solo in the last chorus was the first take we recorded! It took a lot of persuading to get me to realize it was a good one. -The super spacey and delayed wurlitzer Ben plays in the bridge. There's no story behind it....I just think it sounds cool.
Oh! And a few people have asked... Yes, I am going to upload a guitar lesson for this video at some point. It's super fun to play and totally play-able for beginners, as long as you're willing to learn a couple of diminished and half-diminished chord shapes...! Be on the look out...
-Tommy
Now that our new record is OUT (!!!), we're gonna be posting some behind-the-scenes videos and stories on how the songs came to be. Today, we're starting with "Time and I":
While writing for this record I got to spend a memorable afternoon with the now 98-year-old Ilana Smithkin. She is a painter who has lived in a one-room walk-up apartment in the west village for years and years. She still paints and draws. Her eyes absolutely twinkle with life and fire. This is also accentuated by her long long bright red fake eyelashes (which she makes out of her own hair). Every nook and cranny of her apartment is filled with rolled up sketches and drawings, drawers overflowing with beads and scarfs and myriad colorful things. She was recently made into a bit of a celebrity when she was featured in the documentary Advanced Style. Do yourself a favor a do a little google search on Ilana Smithkin...
Anyhow - during our conversation she reminisced about the passing of time and her age and said ... "Time and I don't see eye to eye". This stuck with me. If only the passing of time was just a disagreement between two parties. A difference of views. Maybe it is. If I am lucky enough to make it to 98 perhaps Time and I will decide to get along...
-Ben
It's official: "Off To The Races" is out in the world. Dozens of demos were distilled, arrangements were un-arranged and then re-arranged, and harmonies were stacked higher than we've ever stacked 'em before. It's a batch of tunes that we are deeply proud of and we're honored to share it with you. Let us know what you think!! It's finally here!!! AHHDJDKSHSJDJDJDKLLL!!!!!! ❤️ Ben/Tommy/Jesse https://jukeboxtheghost.lnk.to/OffToTheRaces
uh hi WE’VE GOT A THING COMING ON WEDNESDAY
Hey everyone! Ben here - so thrilled to be able to share the first track of our new record with you. I wrote this tune over a series of manic afternoons last year. Each day I tried to add a new part or elaborate on what I had made the day before without thinking of the consequences. During the writing process I recorded over 120 different vocal tracks even before we brought it into the studio as a band - and those vocal tracks are the backing vocals you still hear. From there Tommy, Jesse and I worked to arrange and put it together into something resembling a song and then we brought it into Studio G here in Brooklyn where Chris Cubeta and Gary Atturio made it sound as ridiculously good as it does now. Still figuring out how to play it live (tour starts in April!) but until then... We now present to you the first track of our new record: JUMPSTARTED!!! https://jukeboxtheghost.lnk.to/Jumpstarted Physical preorder: http://store.jukeboxtheghost.com Tour tickets (all shows still on sale!): www.jukeboxtheghost.com
So, uh, we’re practicing a lot this week and doing some brainstorming... what’s the ONE cover you think we could nail that we haven’t played before? Scheming up some surprises for our spring tour (pssst: DATES ON SALE NOW!!!) and trying to think outside the box... HI HAPPY MONDAY, COMMENT YOUR COVER SUGGESTIONS BELOW!! (The whole tour is onsale!! www.jukeboxtheghost.com ...but as you can tell most of the VIP tix are gone now! Get em quick!) xo B/T/J PS please do not ask us to cover Livin La Vida Loca, it simply doesn’t work for us
SPOTTED BY TMZ: Harrison Ford getting ready to bike or something while wearing JUKEBOX THE GHOST SOCKS!!! You too can be as stylish as our dear friend Harrison by getting one of our super rad preorder bundles: https://store.jukeboxtheghost.com/ Arrrrrgh we can’t wait for you to hear the whole album....! xo Ben/Tommy/Jesse/Harrison Ford PSSST: If you’ve ever wondered how to support musicians in the streaming era...sock preorders are legit a great way to do it ❤️
though we appreciate the grammy award for “best album with a horse on the cover that no one has heard yet”, we regret to announce that we simply must return it because the horse is very shy
Our entire national headline tour is officially on sale NOW!! www.jukeboxtheghost.com has all the links... We are so excited to: -play new tunes -play old tunes -unveil some surprises -see yr shining faces YOU COMING? WHICH SHOWS?? TELL US DAMMIT WE ARE USING TUMBLR AGAIN AFTER A LONG TUMBLR HAITUS xo Ben/Tommy/Jesse/a rainbow horse for some reason
ohhhhh helllllll yeah will we see you out on the road? HOPE SO WE ARE EXCITED!!! (Tix go on sale Friday) xo Ben/Tommy/Jesse
TOMORROW!!! AGHHH!!!!
We made a thing. We hope you like the thing. Xo
GUYS WE ARE SO STOKED TO ANNOUNCE OUR BRAND NEW SINGLE “Everybody’s Lonely” off our BRAND NEW ALBUM “Off to the Races”!!! We can’t wait for you to hear it!! https://jukeboxtheghost.lnk.to/OffToTheRaces As many of you know we’re an independent band these days... So yr shares are appreciated-as-hell. Love you all. Ben/Tommy/Jesse PS say hello to our beautiful horse son
hi, um, surprise: WE ARE RELEASING A NEW SONG ON FRIDAY!!! (really!!)
we've made it: we're finally clickbait http://www.buzzfeed.com/annakopsky/17-bands-you-seriously-need-to-be-listening-to-right-now?bftw&utm_term=4ldqpfp#4ldqpfp
ONLY THREE HOURS LEFT TO PREORDER OUR FIRST EVER LIVE RECORD WITH EXCLUSIVE MERCH STUFF! So blown away by the support for this thing. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/849310275/jukebox-the-ghost-our-first-live-album (Rad photo by rad Cortney Armitage) Xoxo Ben, Tommy and Jesse
