April Artist of The Month: Jet Lucas
By Matthew Toledo - 04/18/2001
There are a lot of loud bands that play The Union in Athens. But just being loud doesn't make a band aggressive. Likewise just being loud doesn't improve a band's song writing or hide the lack of song writing ability.
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I can't tell you how many times I've been disappointed by heavy bands that are only loud and nothing more. I show up, ready to melt away the burdens of my 9 to 5 job through the catharsis good punk music can provide, only to be let down by poor song writing and the band's inability to remember their own three chord tunes.
Jet Lucas isn't one of those bands. About, geeze... two and a half years ago, I had the pleasure to open up for the "old" Jet Lucas. "Old "meaning the Jet Lucas with the original drummer. I thought they were pretty good back then. It wasn't until just recently, when I saw them again at the Union for the first time in years, that I finally understood what the hubbub about this band was all about.
A couple of years of practice and gigging has transformed this once average band into something I like to call "The Complete Package"--stage presence, musical ability, and a firm handle on their chosen genre. And yes, plenty of volume and angst to go around.
Jet Lucas is definitely a heavy band. What makes them stand out from the normal "loud and proud" Union band is their song writing They mix emo-rock lyrics with indie guitar riffage and spread it on their basic, aggressive punk foundations. All though, most songs are mosh inducing bursts of pain and angst. My favorite tunes are the ones that demonstrate the bands ability to write songs with dynamics, like "A Little More" and "Brother."
Their on stage persona is something to behold. John, the drummer, has a habbit of removing items of clothing as the night progresses. By the end of the evening, he was left in his boxers and nothing else. Maybe socks too. The bassist, Sera with her Bengali heritage, gives off an aura of exotic sexuality and punk--"this is not for you"--snobbery. Sera would be the perfect date for the male masochist.
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Josh, the lead singer, is the perfect example of passive aggressive humility that is prevalent in many punk singers. He'll pound the living crap out of his already dissonant guitar and then turn to the audience to announce the next song in un-embelished, apologetic sentence fragments.
All three members share that "punk" mentality... a general distrust of anyone they don't know well--especially geeky pop guitarists that run music web sites. Still, they let me ask a few questions for this interview.
AMN: How long have you guys been together?
Josh: Jet Lucas has been a band since January of 1999, but we changed drummers and have been with John since January of 2000. He has a truck, a big truck.
S: Jet Lucas has been a band for a little over two years. Sometime during January of 1999, our old drummer and Josh started to play together in a friend's dirty basement. Somehow I was asked to join. That went on for about a year, and then we changed drummers. It was an amicable split. The music was different, and priorities were all over the place. Once we got John, everything fell into place.
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AMN: Is music a career choice for you guys or are you just having fun for now?
Josh: I play music strictly for fun. I'm happy to be out of school and have real job and I don't really see music as a career option... but it would be nice.
S: Music would be a career choice if rock promoters lurked in dirty Athens bars. However, this isn't the case, so we're just having a good time.
AMN: You guys took a hiatus for a while, but seem to be back in full swing. What happened?
S: Josh graduated, and we didn't know what was going to happen. We took an indefinite break, but then got back together when Josh ended up relocating outside of Columbus. Oh, plus, John was in rehab for sniffing carpenter glue. He needed time to heal from his addiction.
AMN: What are full the names of everyone in your band?
Josh Bergstrand - guitar, vocals, fascism
Sera Hussain - bass, screams, home cookin'
John Daft - drums, truckin' and barn buildin'
AMN: What other bands have you all been in?
Josh: I played drums for Momento (improv-emo), The Goddamn Fucks (confrontational grind-core), Some Kinda Hate (Misfits coverband), Intergalactic Highway 4:20 and Collapse. John used to play for Uncle Feely Hands (god knows why) and Randy's Basement (more drunken muse than music).
S: In high school, I had a couple of feeble attempts at bands. I'm from Dayton. When I was in high school, the "Dayton's the next Seattle" hype was alive and well. The Breeders and Brainiac were king, and I wanted to be Kim Deal. As a result, my friends and I all thought that we could be in lo-fi bands and it would be great. It wasn't. We sucked. I sucked. It was fun at the time, though.
AMN: What major label acts do YOU think Jet Lucas sounds like?
S: Yeah, um, major label acts... I can't even think of any indie acts that you could peg us under. When you have three kids who listen to such different music the name game gets hard. I think rather than correlating the band's sound to various big-name bands, it is easier to do it with songs. Some songs sound "touch and go records"-ish, there's the "stoner rock" song, and even a Weezer-rip off song, if you can believe it. So I guess I can't really equate the band with any other bands. People have told me everything from Sonic Youth (yeah, okay, not really) to Sabbath (we wish) to Nashville Pussy (why? that doesn't even make sense.) See? none of it makes sense.
Josh: Jet Lucas is the result of three very different musical tastes. Very aggressive, fast, distorted guitar; with "crunchy", muffed-up bass styling, and frantic, yet straightforward drum work on really poorly tuned drums. Josh once said that his new song sounds like "A chicken being raped by a bull"- I think he hit it on the head.
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AMN: What genre of music do YOU think Jet Lucas falls in, if any?
Josh: knifing' music. Have you ever been to a jet Lucas show? knifin'. The stage show is what really turns the kids out. knifin' music. Lots of energetic faces... like passing bowel movement faces and copulation faces...
S: although rock n roll is hard to define these days, it's still rock n roll to me. It is not punk. Well, not punk in the way that the word is being raped by the MTV bands of today, but maybe punk as in the early 80's "what the hell is it? I don't know, it's punk, PUNK". maybe hard rock. Does that mean Creed? Gross, because if it does, I have an appointment with a razor blade and my wrists.
AMN: Are all of you in school, out of school, have jobs, still students?
S: Josh is in the corporate newspaper world. John and I are still students. I am busting my ass trying to graduate by the end of fall quarter. My major is international studies. I have two minors in Political Science and Spanish. But please, if anyone reads this, don't try to speak Spanish to me. I will only embarrass myself.
AMN: Who are some of your local heroes in the music scene?
Josh: Scott Winland, Maceo... all of Geraldine, really. More than heroes, we have a lot of compadres, like the boys from Cities in Ashes, We March, the Knives, and Keaton. There are a lot of other talented kids on the scene, like Mike Hughes and Mike Tolan.
AMN: You guys play all around Ohio. Who does the booking for your band? Do you all contact these bars on your own, or do these shows just fall in your lap?
S: Every time you swap a show with an out of town band, they are supposed to set a show up for you at their chosen venue. We call these "away games". Scott has helped us when we have sought out a certain show at a certain place out of town. He deserves a lot of credit for getting us out of the aforementioned dirty basement and onto stages. As for other shows, such as the Cutthroats 9 show, we got the chance to play with them once, and then they invited us to open shows for them on their next (which is the current) tour.
JOSH: Scott Winland has been a huge help in getting us shows out of town. He called Tony Painter at Bernie's and got us a show with the Cutthroats 9. Once you play somewhere once it is much easier getting a second show if you are nice and the people there like you. We have also traded shows with other bands. Sometimes well written, polite e-mails go a long way toward getting shows.
AMN: Who's idea was it to put Jet Lucas together in the first place?
S: It happened on accident, I think. I don't know, I was third to join. You would have to ask Josh how it initially started when it was just him and Jared.
JOSH: The band was Jarrod Bullis's (the original drummer) idea. He asked me if I was interested in playing. He came up with the name too.
John: ... then I came along and tried to "Unravel" it, that's just a little play on songs- get it?
AMN: What is your all-time number one favorite band, besides yourselves and what makes them so special to you?
John: Faith No More - they have every sound in the dictionary of sounds, and they put it together in a very creative and musical way that really expresses the emotion and feeling of the songs well. Besides, Mike Patten is a fucking bad ass.
JOSH: Sonic Youth is my favorite band. they have a very original approach to music. I love all the sounds that can be made by an electric guitar at high volume, the dissonance created by odd tunings, and the stomach turning feedback.
S: The Jesus Lizard is my all-time, hand to god, favorite band. The needle-sharp guitar licks, chunky drumming, and weird time signatures, and sheer madness of the band make it great. or should I say, made, they broke up last year.
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Three pieces are my favored set up, and I hate 99% of all lead singers. However, most of my favorites, including the Lizard are more than three, and have a lead singer. Lead singers have to be 100% awesome, or they are worthless. They have to have either a captivating vocal ability or outrageous showmanship to make up for the fact that they aren't playing an instrument. People who say lame things like "my voice is my instrument" can suck it. Especially with female lead singers...ugh, most of them make me homicidal. This is a whole other story...you don't want to get me started on women in music. Most of these girls don't want to play instruments because when you are in a rock n roll band, you have to carry heavy stuff. In addition to carrying heavy stuff, you get bloody fingers and bruises and you sweat. Then there's the double standard of being pretty and having talent ...oh, I'm not going to get into this now. If you want to ask, ask me in person so you can see my eyes spit with fire.
AMN: Which band in existence today do you hate so much that it makes you want to jump off buildings when you hear their songs.
JOSH: I only get to name one? Dave Mathews Band?
S: All rap metal. I try to find something the slightest bit positive in most music, but I think this is impossible with crap metal. Everything is so formulated and boring. It is funny to me to see these guys trying so hard to be bad-ass and rebellious, and really they are all just the same. It's not just rap metal, I can't stand that whole Top 40 Third Eye Blind, Train, Our Lady Peace, Fuel stuff either. I get pretty passionate talking about music I hate. When you work at a record store and you see someone reach for Slipknot instead of Refused and Robbie Williams instead of Elliot Smith, it makes your stomach turn. Then when you ring it up with a smile, it is even worse. Some would think that I hate pop music, but no - I love Britney Spears. It's worse than that, I think I am in love with her. She is wonderful. What nice boobies...
Just for the record, here are some bands that seriously make me vomit: Christina Aguilera, Lenny Kravitz, Collective Soul, Soul Asylum, Goo Goo Dolls, Oasis and any band that has that is trying their best to pull of the awful Vedder/Hetfield vocal combo. It just doesn't work.
John: Red Wanting Blue
AMN: What is your opinion of the Athens Music Scene in general. Is it your favorite scene, or are their other places that seem to be hipper to the Jet Lucas vibe?
JOSH: We are very opinionated on music in Athens because we are very much a part of it and we care about what goes on. Plus, it gives me something to think about at work. Athens is small. It is easy for new bands to get shows here. However, I wish there were more bands playing out and more people coming to shows.
S: I think Athens has a pretty decent music scene. For a small town, it has a lot of talent. What makes me sad is that the type of music I like isn't really in full force here, but what matters is that kids make music at all. There would be a lot more bands if there was a place for dorm dwellers to practice. I know this was a problem when I was younger, and it still is for freshmen and sophomores I know. As for Jet Lucas being more suited to a different town ...hmmmmmm ..I would love to live in a town with heavy music, like Cleveland and the whole Cambodia Records scene, but I think the scene there might be mellowed out right now. I haven't been to Cleveland in a long time. Maybe we would fare well in Boise, Idaho.
AMN: You guys are enjoying some measure of success now. Your drummer was in another popular band called "Uncle Feely Hands." Do you think some of your newfound crowd are pervious UFH fans? Or did they all diss John when he made the switch over to you guys?
S: Uh, I don't think any UFH people have ever come to our shows. You would have to ask John, because I'm not familiar with their audience. We are not a dance-y band, so I don't think UFH patrons would have followed John to the dark side, but like I said, you'd have to ask him.
John: No one from the "Uncle Feeling Hands scene" has really followed us any where, shit, no one from feely hands has even come to see Jet Lucas- fuck them, they're just jealous.
AMN: I think that you guys have definite elements of bands like Sebadoh, Superchunk and Frogpond in your music. Have you guys ever listened to any of these bands?
John: Nope.
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S: I listened to Sebadoh and Superchunk in high school, but I really don't think that our music emulates that type of sound. Maybe our old stuff does, but that was a completely different type of music. When John joined the band, he said, "out with this pussy shit. I wanna rock." well, not really, but he may as well have...
JOSH: We definitely have a frenetic "hyper enough as it is" Superchunk thing going. Mostly because I can't write slow songs. I like lo-fi stuff like Sebadoh and Pavement. Never listened to Frogpond. Sera hates frogs. She's deathly afraid.
AMN: Who writes the majority of your songs?
JOSH: I do. I write them all. I am band nazi number one. No one even comes close to my level of fascism.
S: Josh. He writes a song...agonizes over it, perfects it, loves it, nurtures it, and finally brings it to practice. Then John and I completely rape it and change it. I always say I hate it and it is stupid, but then we work on it and mess with it until everyone is happy. People ask me, "why doesn't he let you sing more?" It's not that he doesn't let me, it's just that the songs are not mine to sing. All the songs I write are about things like cotton candy and professors I have crushes on and porn. These don't become Jet Lucas songs. They are things I sing to myself while on the toilet or walking to class.
AMN: What sort of things have served as inspiration for some of your current songs?
JOSH: I work at a newspaper. I write about the horrible things that people do to each other. Domestic violence, murder, accidents, etc... I also write about things I see on the history channel.
AMN: Every band has a favorite song on the set list What do you think the crowd likes best, and what song do each of you like best? They are not always the same thing.
S: There was a time when B's song was the crowd's favorite. We don't play it anymore. I don't think I remember how to play it. Then the favorite was Unraveled for a while. I think it is the most popular/recognized, but I've had a lot of people tell me their personal favorites. The wussy kids like "A little more". The rock n roll kids like Brother. My personal current favorite song is Crippen, because it sounds (a teeny weeny bit) like the Jesus Lizard.
JOSH: The crowd likes 'Unraveled' because they know that one the best. Our number one fan, Mike Hughes, likes a song that we don't play anymore 'Stuck.' Girls and sensitive boys like 'a little more.' I like 'bottle.' It's a new one.
I'm just surprised that anyone knows the names of the songs, let alone the words. That is weird. When you see kids singing along, and not your friends who know the words because they have to go to all your damn shows, it is pleasantly unnerving.
John: I always think that the best response comes from "Unraveled" or "Brother". I like "Brother" a lot, but "Warrior" is my new favorite cause I can make the best faces in it, and that's what it's all about.
AMN: What sort of gear do you all play? Be as technical as you want. Musicians love to know what other musicians are using.
JOSH: Oh boy, I get to be geeky! Guitars: #1 cherry red Fender Jaguar 62 reissue with a Seymour Duncan JB jr humbucker and a Gibson Nashville Tune-O-matic bridge. #2 Shitty yellow spray-painted black Epiphone Telecaster tuned in F#F#GGAA. Amp: Sovtek Mig-100 head and an Ampeg 4x12. I also use a Real Tube distortion pedal.
S: I am playing the same black standard Fender jazz bass (Mexican, not U.S. made) that I got for my 15th birthday. Last year I got a black pickguard for it to make it look snazzy. I wish it had a black headstock, because I am a dork. I have an Ampeg SVT-II pro head that I run through an Ampeg 8x10. Needless to say, it is almost as loud as it is heavy. The head itself weighs a good 80 lbs. I use a Big Muff pedal for a nice fuzzy tone. I get plenty of crunch from the drive on the head, but the fuzzy, meat-grinder tone I want comes only from Big Muff and Rat pedals. I like the Muff because it is a big black box with three huge dials. It is the f/x equivalent to Duplo blocks. Josh and I are pretty lo-fi when it comes to gear and f/x. Digital effects are lame. Keep it simple.
John: I don't like to talk equipment, it makes you sound like you know what you're doing or something, and I surely wouldn't claim that. I'll say this though. I use Zildjian cymbals, and while I've heard better sounding cymbals, my "Z" custom rocks take a beating and keep coming back. Cymbals that sound good crack to easy for a brute of a man like me.
AMN: Sera, you work at Haffa's record store. What sort of music do you see people buying the most. Have you noticed any trends since you've started peddling plastic? More techno, less jam? More jam, less rock? More indie less top 40? What's the skinny?
S: There are a few types of persons who shop at Haffa's. There are the avid music hunters, who stop in every day to scour for new arrivals. There are the indie connoisseurs, who are always asking to order stuff you've never heard of. Some people stop in to buy the new Dave Matthew's or Phish, but for the most part, this isn't the case. The store is sort of hidden, so those who shop there are going to look for particular things. We sell lots of rap and hip hop. The used CD section is what most people come in for. However, I think we have the best vinyl selection in town. In addition to the bigger DJs, who do various dance nights around town, I have noticed the emergence of a lot of amateur spinners. These are just dudes who are experimenting with mixing, and I think that's good.
We don't sell tons of top 40, but plenty of kids come in hungry for rap metal. I've seen a rise in people buying more metal and electronica, two fields I was surprised to see a lot of Athens people interested in. Some CDs are consistently top sellers: Moby, Play, Radiohead - anything, Beck, you know, hip college stuff.
AMN: Speaking of records does Jet Lucas have any? (I know you do, I have it, but this is a chance for you to plug your stuff)
S: we recorded a CD last year. I think we have fifteen left. I know a lot of people already have it, but they should throw it away because it is silly. No, it's not silly, it's just seems like so long ago.
AMN: Are you planning on going to the studio again any time soon?
JOSH: We are hoping to record our new songs before we break up again.
S: That is one thing I would like to do before we disband. I don't know if it will result in a new CD, but I would like to have the recording for my own personal sake.
AMN: If you could each change one quality of your musical abilities? What would you change. Personally, I wish I had faster fingers? I also wish I could sing. What about you guys?
Josh: I wish I could play guitar. I'm fucking terrible. I jump around a lot to make up for the fact that I can only play about 5 chords.
S: My brother played drums for years when I was tooling around on the bass. I tried a million times to try to learn the drums, but I failed miserably. I didn't have the discipline to teach myself. In addition to wishing I could beat the baby seal skins, I wish that I was "rapidly creative". It takes me a while to work out the perfect lick or riff or what have you. I wish I could just hear a song and pop out an awesome baseline, but I have to sit down with the song a couple of times before I can come up with anything good. And even then it is lame. I am a sham. I can't play the bass worth a damn. I just move around and scream a lot so as to distract people from the fumbling of my fingers on the strings.
AMN: What do you think Jet Lucas does best as a band?
S: I admire the tightness of our sets. I think we punch out the set list really well. I can't stand it when a band gets up on stage and subjects you to their stupid banter and time lapses. That doesn't make for an interesting show, especially when its rock n roll Once the power switches are on, you need to just go go go until the set is done. If you are energetic, the crowd will pick up on it. Everyone will have a great time. That's what I like.
JOSH: I don't really think our music is that great, but we know how to sell it on-stage. We are better performers than we are musicians.
AMN: You guys play some pretty aggressive music at times--if the mosh pit action at the Casa benefit show a few months ago is any indication. Have any of you guys ever been in a fight with people in the crowd before?
John: Nope. The casa show was just a fluke, spurred on by the lack of space and the ingestion of alcohol.
JOSH: The people who stand right in front tend to be our best friends and fans. I've never punched anyone in my life.
S: Sadly, no. Ugh, mosh pits are so Lollapalooza '96 (joke, ha ha). Usually when we tell people to be nice and calm down, they behave. I heard a girl got pushed down to the ground at the Casa show. If I had any idea I would have stopped and helped her get up. See, stuff like that is dumb. It was Casa Nueva in Athens, Ohio, not the damn Family Values tour. The crowd should be jumping up and down. Getting your toes stepped on is normal, getting your teeth knocked in is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
AMN: What's the craziest thing you guys have seen someone in the audience do while on stage?
Josh: The crowd surfing at casa got pretty nuts. That show was a lot of fun. There were some Joe Dudes who started moshing and bumping into a group of lesbians who then proceeded to shove right back. Good times.
S: Someone licked my leg once at a show while I was on-stage. My legs were sweaty, so that was weird, but cool, because it was a girl! Josh crowd surfed one time when we were doing tetherball because he is a dork. That was... intersting
John: One time I saw this guy drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette at the same time. No one ever gets crazy, everybody is boring.
AMN: Now it's time for what I like to call the stooopid speed round. I ask some questions, you write down the first thing that you think off. Here we go... Daft Punk or Daft Puke?
Josh: daft puke
John: Daft Punk!
S: Puke! If I hear that "Celebrate" song one more time I'm going after Daft Punk with kitchen knives.
AMN: Recycle bin or let the tin-can man pick it up?
S: Recycle, please. What has mother earth done to people to make them treat her so badly?
Josh: Recycle bin.
John: Recycle!
AMN: Radio in Athens: Not bad or hand me the puke bucket (I seem to have a puke theme)
Josh: what radio in Athens?
John: Puke bucket.
S: WOUB is cool. However, I only get to listen to NPR, not any music shows. I should listen to ACRN, I suppose, but I"m only around the radio at 8 a.m.
I like this speed round business. More, please.
AMN: Anything you'd like to say to the readers before you go?
John: Go out and experience new bands- it's fun, you'll like it, they'll like it, everyone wins.
S: Don't be afraid of rock n roll If you have a guitar, play it. Find other kids who play instruments and play with them. Then record a demo at the TCOM building and make a press kit and then play shows. See how easy it is? Stop whining and rock. Shop at Haffa's records and watch Athens Music Video on Wednesdays and Fridays at 10.
Josh:This has been fun, but I have to get back to work now.
