| Plans, Shapes, and Patterns | Play |
From the great city of Greensboro, North Carolina comes a band that will make you want to hear their music over and over again. JONAS SEES IN COLOR, recently signed with Right Hook Records, will be releasing their debut album entitled "Avalanche" in summer 2007. These five intelligent musicians know how to work the crowd, whip them into a frenzy, and send them home wanting more. Their work ethic can clearly be heard on "Avalanche", as their precision and perfectionism fuel all of the tracks.
XR VOLUME EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH
JONAS SEES IN COLOR!
What does the name “Jonas Sees In Color” mean and how did you come up with this as the name of the band?
RYAN: I came up with the name while reading a children's book called "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. The main character, Jonas. lives in a black and white world and none of the people in his village have memories or emotions...all those things, those very "human" things, are given to a single person who carries the burden for everyone. Jonas is chosen to be that person and begins to see in color as his eyes are opened to the actual depth of human experience.
What has been the biggest difference you’ve seen since signing with Right Hook Records as opposed to being an unsigned artist?
JOHNNY: First and foremost, we have mastered the term, “Re-coup.” It’s like our joke, that anytime we see something we can’t afford, or is completely unreasonable, we just look at each other and say, “Re-coup,” and start laughing.
On the other hand, we aren’t necessarily playing more shows, but the ones we do play are with more established bands at more prominent venues, and more people are coming out. They are taking some of the burdens off us so that we can focus more on the music aspect of being in a band. When Danny or Jeremy from our label come to our shows, we end up making more money. It’s amazing that having older and larger people asking for our cut of the door winds up getting us paid more… curious…
What has been your favorite song to perform live?
JOHNNY: Definitely “Luck and Love.” Not only is this one of our most honest songs in general, but it has a great balance between a catchy melody that people can sing along with and a solid harmonic structure. Discrete moving lines keep it interesting to play night after night, while it is not too complicated to really rock out to. Also, there is such change in dynamics and timbre between the verses and the rest of the song that it really brings out one of our most powerful choruses. Basically this song makes us feel like real men, even when we are all on stage wearing tight pants with straightened hair.
Jonas Sees In Color is releasing its debut album this June, and no doubt that the record you worked so hard to put together has a message in it. Can you tell us a little bit about the message portrayed within your music?
RYAN: The first song on the record is basically me telling myself to get up and live...to quit waiting around and live my life; the last song is essentially asking if all the effort is really worth it; and the songs in between are about different experiences that have been important in deciding whether or not it's worthwhile.
Is there a particular show that you remember the most, like your very first gig together?
MIKEY: Very first gig all together? Well, we were playing shows before we found David, and he was our merch boy at first, but he ended up just getting thrown in as soon as he could write parts for everything. Our first show with the full line-up was quite interesting, let me just put it that way. But I would say our best show was at Governor’s School West last year. Hundreds of students tied down with school all summer long makes for a very appreciative crowd; it was great to have them be as excited about what we do as we are. Our music has grown so much since then.
The music industry is one of the hardest businesses to be in. How does your passion for making music and performing live fit in with the business aspect of it all?
JOHNNY: We all have a strong passion for music. David, Mikey, and I are all pursuing degrees in music, while John has been apart of Elon University’s drum line. Actually most of us are starting to take lessons again as well, because you can never stop learning when it comes to playing music. By playing in a band, this is giving us the chance to continue to chase our dreams and do what we love. But from a business aspect, I think what helps us out the most is that we all come from different backgrounds and have held numerous types of jobs. Simply stated, we have all had plenty of experience and been screwed over in the business world in different ways, so that we are definitely not naive to what can happen to us or to what we need to do in order to succeed.
Almost every musician we’ve met has an artist that they truly admire, and we know that these artists can be an integral part of forming the musician’s own sound, because of their influence. Who are the artists that you draw inspiration from and how did you incorporate all of these different elements into your own individual style?
JOHNNY: One of my favorite bands has always been Third Eye Blind, during their Kevin Cadogan days. Not that I don’t think their new lead guitarist, Tony Fredianelli, is amazing, but there is just something so intoxicating about the songs that Kevin and singer Stephen Jenkins wrote. I used to listen to their self-titled CD constantly and wish I could write songs as solid as “The Background” and as anthemic as “Motorcycle Drive-By.”
Have there been any life-changing moments you’ve had together as a band either when touring or performing?
JOHNNY: The time I wrecked David’s Jeep.
DAVID: That time Johnny wrecked my Jeep.
MIKEY: I just put a full tank of gas in David’s Jeep, but Johnny ran it into the back of a brand new Chevy HHR in Connecticut. Just for the record, we live in North Carolina, and that’s quite a way to travel without a means of transportation.
How would you describe your style of music?
RYAN: Fall Out Boy and Death Cab for Cutie make babies, and the result is Jonas Sees in Color. We don’t have a better way of putting it, honestly.
If you had the opportunity to play with any band, who would it be and why?
JOHNNY: ‘The Academy Is’ or ‘The Working Title.’ Both bands have great, well-written, upbeat songs, while still knocking audiences of their feet with some of the best anthems in their styles of music. I have so much respect for both bands, and would love nothing more than to be on the same stage as either or both of them.
Do you have any funny or interesting stories from the studio while recording your album?
MIKEY: No, "Strict is Fun" is our motto while in the studio. We actually have fun all of the time, but none of us have enough money to blow while joking around, so we really did try and get in and out as quickly as possible, while still being happy with all of the parts. And then, when we were done, we would all go hang out and eat Taco Bell.
DAVID: I want to be credited for playing a synth part with my nose. Johnny was there; he saw it.
JOHNNY: David definitely tried to be as creative with his parts as possible; I’ll just put it that way. I, on the other hand, ended up having to re-track almost the entire album because we had some intonation issues with the guitar I played (It wasn’t mine, by the way…). Needless to say, after spending an extra eight hours, I think my parts all sound great.
What will be the name of your debut album and is there a story behind the name?
RYAN: It's called "Avalanche" (which is also the title of the last song on the record). We all felt that the song "Avalanche" best represented the album and us because it is basically our reaction to the events that the other songs are about. I know that sounds strange, but it's basically a huge reflection on everything that's happened to us.
What has been the most unique thing a fan has done for/in support of Jonas Sees In Color?
JOHN: Wow. There are plenty of interesting stories, but the one that seems to the most common is when girls make food for us. We love it. We had a girl, the other night, make us brownies and we had never even met her before. There was also this one time on tour when a guy had us stay over and decided to set his couch on fire, I guess to entertain everyone? Yeah, good times.
Do you have one parting comment that you would like to share with your fans about the entire Jonas Sees In Color experience?
JOHNNY: All we want from every show is just to look out and see people having a great time with us. We’re very approachable people, and we give pretty good hugs, too. We’ve been blessed so much with all of the people that have supported us so far, and the greatest part about it is that we have so much farther to go.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JONAS SEES IN COLOR
IN CONCERT!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
XR VOLUME would like to thank Jonas Sees in Color for answering our questions, and for their AWESOME participation. For more info on Jonas Sees In Color, please visit:
www.myspace.com/jonasseesincolor
The interview posted above is copyright 2007 of XR Volume and its respective owners.
Photos are courtesy of Jonas Sees In Color.
