SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FOUR PIECE ‘ THE JACKS’ BRING THEIR ROCK N ROLL WITH THEIR NEW SINGLE ‘SHE’S A MYSTERY’ AND TELLS ME ALL ABOUT IT! TAKE A READ HERE!

 

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What are your names?
Jonny Stanback – Lead Vocals and Rhythm Guitar
Tom Hunter – Lead Guitar
Scott Stone – Bass Guitar
Josh Roossin – Drums/Percussions

 

How did you come up with the bands name?
Kind of a strange story but we were playing at one of our local dive bars called the Blue Beet. We had just finished our four hour set and a person in the bar told us we were “a bunch of Jack of all Trades” because we could play the classic hits and some of the newer age music. We shortened it down to The Jacks and we liked how it sounded. It’s an easy name to remember and has a classic sound to it.

 

 

What is your genre of music?
We are a rock n’ roll band. We are heavily influenced by the British Invasion of the 60’s and 70’s as well as the newer age rock revival bands in the United States such as the Strokes, Cage the Elephant, and the Black Keys.

 

Give us a little bio about you as individuals and a band
We all grew up in Southern California and shared the same love for music. We all listened to the same bands throughout childhood (The Who, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and Led Zeppelin) and I think you can definitely hear those influences in our music. Tom Hunter and myself (Scott Stone) started playing music together when we were about thirteen years old. We formed a band to cover our favorite music throughout middle school and high school. We met Jonny through an open mic night and got him to join the band at the end of college. We immediately started writing original music and the whole process just came naturally. Josh later joined after our original drummer quit. Josh brought a whole new sense of direction and much clearer idea of a sound.

 

 

You guys have just premiered your single ‘ She’s A Mystery’, tell us more about it
For that song and for a lot of our music, we were really influenced by the Rolling Stones. We wanted to write a song that doesn’t take itself too seriously and has a fun sense of rock n’ roll. The song is about relationships and the thrill of uncertainty in those relationships.

 

 

Describe the track in two words
Gritty and lively

 

 

What was the recording process like?
For this EP, we wrote, produced, and mixed it on our own. We wanted to give a raw and unpolished feel to the EP so it was as authentic as it could be. We stayed away from auto-tuning and click tracks so it was similar to how our favorite records from the 60’s and 70’s were recorded. It was very frustrating at times but I believe it showcases our band’s gritty sound.

 

What was the writing process like?
Each track is different but typically, Jonny or Tom will come to the studio with an idea for a song, sometimes it’s just a chord progression or it’s a melody line. We then will mess around with it as a band for a while and see where it goes. If we like the way it sounds, we will keep working on it. Usually, we will play a song live at one of our shows and see how the crowd reacts to it and then we continue to develop it. “She’s a Mystery” actually went through 3 or 4 different versions live before we completed it. Most of the time, we will play a new song before the lyrics are finished and Jonny will have to freestyle. He usually comes up with great lyrics on the spot that we end up using.

 

You also have video premiered on vevo, how was the video filming process?
For our music video, we wanted to keep it simple and showcase ourselves as a band. We chose to do a performance video to give the audience a sense of what our lives shows are like. We worked with an awesome director named Brecht Van’t Hof. He’s worked on huge projects but he was able to make the whole filming process feel really natural.

 

You also released your new EP, tell us more about it.
We’re actually releasing it early 2018 but it has 5 songs on it, including “She’s a Mystery.” We started writing these songs March of 2017. We wanted to deliver a very cohesive and original sound that shows our audience who we are. We recorded all the songs over 3 days and mixed it for 3 days. When we mixed it, we wanted to make sure we did not over polish the songs so they stayed true to us and our live sound.

 

Describe the tracks in two words.
Rugged and dynamic

 

What else can we expect from you all?
Our future plans are to keep writing and playing as many shows as possible.

 

Do you have any gigs or a tour coming up?
We are playing a few more shows to finish 2017 and then will be working on our EP release party for the end of January 2018. As of now our upcoming shows are:
12/16 – The Wayfarer, Costa Mesa California
12/29 – Whiskey Jacques, Sun Valley Idaho
1/10-1/13 – SpringBoard Festival, San Diego California

 

What made you go in to music?
We have all wanted to be in a band for as long as we can remember. We grew up obsessed with music and being in a band has given us a chance to make our mark on the genre we love. It’s great because we are all best friends, it makes even the down times and tough parts of being in a band easy.

 

Are you a signed?
No but we are in talks with a few different labels.

 

Do you play any instruments?
I play bass guitar and some piano. Jonny and Tom both play guitar and piano. Josh sticks mostly to the drums.

 

Who are your influences?
Oasis, The Rolling Stones, Cage the Elephant, The Black Keys, Portugal. the Man

 

How do you get inspiration to write songs?
Every song is different but they usually come from personal experiences we have gone through. One of our upcoming songs “Hello My Friend” is about a close friend of ours who went through a pretty dark time and how we reacted to it. A lot of our songs focus on relationships with family, friends, and loved ones.

 

Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
Playing music across the world with my best friends in this band.

 

When you’re not doing music, what do you do?
We live pretty close to the beach so we spend a lot of time there surfing or playing volleyball. Jonny is also working on getting his masters in Geology and Josh is working on getting his doctorate in Psychology. Most of the time though we are hanging out in our studio.

 

Where would your dream venue to play in your hometown?
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, California. We all grew up going to shows there and seeing our favorite artists play there. It was always a rite of passage to sneak into a show there on the lawn section.

 

If you could collaborate with one UK Artists or Band who would it be?
Noel Gallagher because he is one of the greatest writers of all time. He also helped produce all of Oasis’ albums and they have a timeless sound to them.

 

If you could collaborate with one US Artists or Band who would it be?
We would love to work with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. He’s an incredible producer and we think we share a lot of musical tastes as him.

 

What was the song you listened to most that influenced you to go more in to the music scene?
For me it was “Don’t Look Back In Anger” by Oasis and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by the Who. There is something about those songs that I could listen to them everyday and never get tired of them. They sound classic and sound contemporary at the same time, they are timeless.

 

What’s the best advice you have ever been given?
Being in music is not easy and if you expect it to be easy, you will never get anywhere. Every chance you get to perform, you have to give it everything you have, otherwise you’re just cheating yourself.

 

What advice would you give to aspiring musicians not about the industry and just as an artist?
Never be complacent, if you want this to be your career and your life, continue to work harder at improving your art. Also, be prepared for everything, nothing will ever go perfectly and you have to be willing to adapt to every situation.

 

What quote or saying do you always stick by?
The show must go on.

 

When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
Instruments, set lists, soundcheck, merchandise, and a guitar tuner.

 

Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Instagram
Facebook
Website
YouTube
Spotify
Soundcloud
Twitter

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