Knoxtronica Presents (JT Smith)- I very excited and honored to have you guys do an interview with me for this upcoming show, May 4th, at the Ciderhouse. Your a huge inspiration to me and many others in Knoxville. How about we start off by asking your names and where you are based.
Cherub- We are Jordan Kelley and Jason Huber based out of Nashville, TN
Knoxtronica- Where do both of you stand in the band? Who does what?
Jordan: I do studio production on reason 4, vocals, talkbox, and guitar.
Jason: I do some studio post-production in Ableton live, which is the same program I use to run our live show, vocals, and guitar. We use Ableton to bring out our studio tracks as well as produce our vocals and guitars in real time from the stage.
Knoxtronica- I was hoping to find out some stuff behind your first album, "Man of the Hour", such as things that have inspired it or any special meanings behind some of the songs.
Jordan: I used to make beats with an mc for a couple years and basically he had to move out of TN to handle family business which left me with no sort of vocals over my music. So I just decided I would try to start singing over my own tracks. Man of The Hour is basically me going crazy in my house for a full year alone trying to figure out how to go from making beats artists rapped over to something I could sing over. The songs are definitely inspired by loved ones and other music that inspires me.
Jason: When Jordan sent me the first cuts from ‘Man of the Hour’ I flipped out! It took me a week to get in touch with the kid with the way he is about his phone, but once I finally contacted him, he was on his way back to TN from Lincoln, NE, and we immediately got to work crafting our live performance. ‘Dirty Cockroaches’ is a neat track on the album for me… after Jordan and I had started our first tracking sessions for what would become ‘MoM & DaD’, we went back into the studio to remaster ‘Man of the Hour’ for official release, and decided that ‘Dirty Cockroaches’ fit perfectly to round out the first album.
Knoxtronica- Since your first album, "Man of the Hour", do you think your sound has changed much? I know going on tour and getting all this big exposure, especially this fast, can create lots of inspiration in artists.
Jordan: I think with Mom and Dad we changed the sound somewhat because when we would play Man of the Hour live we wanted to play all the faster paced songs because people were more responsive. So it definitely has more pace to it and more thought into how it will interpret live. I feel like personally I had more control over my voice just through gaining experience vocally through live shows and such.
Jason: I hear two major differences when I listen through both albums back to back…
First and foremost, Jordan has come into his own as a songwriter. In my mind, ‘Man of he Hour’ is an experiment with beats and lyrics that went fantastically right! ‘MoM & DaD’ is a much more mature approach to a pop album, with hooks, ballads, dance breaks, and everything else fun we could squeeze in between. The other major difference is that I can hear my influence on this record. The writing and tracking for ‘Man of the Hour’ was Jordan’s masterpiece, with the exception of ‘Dirty Cockroaches’. I got to lend my hand in the postproduction and mastering process of the album, but until going back into the Stu as a duo to record ‘MoM & DaD’, my main contribution to our sound was our live show.
Knoxtronica- I saw on your new album, "MoM & DaD", you have Dominic Lalli from Big Gigantic on your track "Hold Me". It's awesome to see you guys collaborating with great artists, how was working with him?
Jordan: Big Gigantic have been the coolest people to us from day one and they are some of the most humble people I have met. Working with Dom was obviously super flattering and his saxophone sounds so pretty on the track! We wanna make every song with Big G!!!
Jason: After an impromptu early morning performance with Dom and Jeremy at Electric Forest last year, there was no question… HAD TO HAPPEN! Music for music’s sake is a beautiful thing and that’s why we love to work with artists like this. Same goes for Natalie Prass. Her voice makes me melt.
Knoxtronica- What got you into the Electronic scene? Was it a show, artists, or even a song?
Jordan: It was definitely the shows that I would go to and seeing how much energy and hype was behind them. Also I think that electronic music has expanded so much as far as including all genres so I think it’s a really exciting thing to be a part of.
Jason: Ironic as it may be, the show I consider as my first electronic music show was an Alex B headlined after party for a STS9 show in Nashville. My first interest in the ‘scene’ was actually from completely outside… bands like Annuals and the Flaming Lips got me interested in electronic music. For me it’s less about the scene, and more about the actual sounds. I’m a dork about it. With that said, I heart house music.
Knoxtronica- I like how unique your band is and Knoxville has a very unique act that I find similar. Fine Peduncle, who is also opening for you in Knoxville, is a very interesting individual as well as artist. He incorporates a lot of live instruments and sings during his show while also creating an intimate set. Have you heard Fine Peduncle or listen to any music out of Knoxville?
Jordan: I had heard of Fine Peduncle before the show was booked through a mutual friend, Parker. I finally got to meet/see him at SXSW and it was amazing. He is such a talented dude and we are super stoked to be playing a bill with him.
Jason: Cole (sp?) is a little fuckin’ sex driven nut on stage and I love him for it. It take a real man to dry hump on stage like nobody’s business! This show has been a long time coming…
Knoxtronica- Tell us a little about what kind of music you are into. Do you have any artists you have been really into lately?
Jordan: I’ve been listening to a lot of Lapalux lately. Schoolboy Q, Kendrick Lamar, A$AP crew. I love the new Kirko Bangz mixtape that just got put out as well. Drake always.
Jason: Jordan has got me on a Drake kick recently too… In the EDM world, I’ve been jamming out Rustie, Kastle, T.E.E.D., that new Feed Me record, and as always some classic Basement Jaxx and Orbital. My favorite band ever, Annuals is back in the studio and I can’t wait to get my world rocked by whatever their new album may be!
Knoxtronica- Eric Evasic wants to know what your favorite cartoon character?
Jordan: Calvin and Hobbes all the way. If I absolutely had to narrow it down it would be Hobbes.
Jason: I was always a Bert n Ernie kid… if puppets count. Ernie’s my dude. I’ve always felt a close affinity with Doug Funnie as well.
Knoxtronica- So glad we can do this. Anything you want to say to your Knoxville fans?
Jordan: We are super excited to finally get to come to Knoxville and play a show finally and super stoked we were able to do this interview with yall. You made our hours on the road much less boring with these questions so thank you! When we see everyone at the show it better be a sweaty ass dance party with a whole bunch of sweaty ass hugs afterwards!
Jason: I dare you to throw your underwear on stage! Keep it clean.
Make sure to go to the show on Friday, 05/04/2012, at the Ciderhouse!!!Event Page:
http://www.facebook.com/events/230948970335529/
Cherub Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/Cherublamusica
Cherub Website:
http://CHERUBlamusica.com/
Cheyanne and Bolton shall be there, sweat and hair everywhere :)
ReplyDelete:)))) Hair errrrrrwhere!
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