PAUL: “Hey! Can you tell me who is the in the band and what you all play please.”
SAMI: “Andy – Vocals and guitar, Tim – Vocals and guitar, Magnus – Drums and numeracy, Sami – Bass and ‘Hey’ and Tall Dave – Keyboards and samples.”
PAUL: “I know it’s an obvious question, but can you explain the name please? I’m guessing there’s a war reference in there somewhere…”
PAUL: “There seems to be quite a heavy nod towards the likes of Hot Water Music in the Jerry Built sound. Was this something you aimed for or something that just came naturally?”
SAMI: “I wouldn’t necessarily say that we made a concerted effort to make our songs sound like anybody, however HWM are a fantastic band so I guess that when you are writing a song the stuff you listen to is always gonna influence what you play.”
PAUL: “What bands actually influence your sound?”
SAMI: “Reggie And The Full Effect, The Police, Hot Water Music, Grade, Fugazi, Senseless Things, Neds Atomic Dustbin, The Replacements, The Stupids, Samiam (We actually formed the band at their gig @ The Garage last year), Leatherface, Husker Du, Motorhead, AC/DC and Twisted Sister.”
PAUL: “Jerry-Built are signed to Firefly Recordings, home to some of the best UK bands
around. What is it like being on the label, and which bands do you consider to be friends?”
SAMI: “We get on really well with Kids Near Water. Andy and Magnus used to be in a band called ‘The Lust Junks’ and they used to play the Cavern in Exeter quite a lot so they both knew Simon and Brian from KNW quite well. Otherwise are great lads and have done us a fair few favours (Such as send MP3s of our demo out to people!). The Copperpot Journals are good guys as well. I dunno I guess that all the bands that we have met on Firefly Recordings have been fantastic and very friendly. But then I suppose it’s like going to a new college (as opposed to school) or something. You know, we’re all in the same boat so it would be bloody stupid if nobody at least made an effort to get along. And the bands that we have met so far have all made much more than an effort to be friendly! Being on the label is excellent – it’s all just happened so quickly! I don’t think it’s really quite sunk in yet that we are now actually signed to a label and have a release coming out. I mean we’ve only been together just gone a year!! Chris (Firefly) has been excellent. He’s been really positive about our songs and has helped us out loads. He’s put us in contact with a lot of people for gigs etc.. we have an agreement as a band that we pretty much never want to turn down the offer of a gig. We almost want to kind of be like Mega City Four. I’d imagine that some record companies would have a problem with that and would try to take control, but Chris has been great and just left us to it, while (of course) helping along the way!”
PAUL: “Rumour has it that your debut full-length is going to drop very soon. Is a release date scheduled? Is the record named yet and are there any firm plans for which songs are going to be on it?”
SAMI: “A definite release date hasn’t been scheduled, however it will be sometime in early August. It was due to come out in July, but unfortunately the actual recording of it took longer that we anticipated. We only just finished the final mix yesterday! (Sunday) We’re still toying with a name for the damn thing. It’s so damn difficult! We’ve come up so many different names but just can’t agree on one. We are toying with the idea of calling it ‘Upstart’ but that could quite easily change… I can tell you the name of all the songs, though they are not necessarily in order: ‘Receivers’, ‘A is B’, ‘Patience’, ;Near You’, ‘Marriage’, ‘Genus’ and ‘You Are Yours’.”
PAUL: “Who produced the record and what was it like having him/her on board?”
SAMI: “The great Jon Hannon of Mushroom Studios (of Understand) has recorded and produced our mini LP. We have worked with him before when we did our demo. He’s fantastic to work with.. he’s one of those really helpful producers rather than one of those you will do it my way and no way else ones. He also really seems to give a damn about how a take sounds – if there is one little note out of time he won’t let it pass, which is great as some producers just can’t be arsed and will try and hurry the recording on as quick as possible. We were in the studio for 12 hrs yesterday to finish off the final mix, that’s how great he is, he’s more than willing to put the effort and hours in.”
PAUL: “I hear you are going out on tour later this year with Kids Near Water and Garrison. Any more details that you can give us?”
SAMI: “There’s not really a lot that I can expand on as far as the above question goes. We are definitely on the tour with both Kids Near Water and Garrison, all I know that is confirmed, is that the tour starts on 31st October and ends around the 16th November. I guess that that’s all I’m at liberty to say at the moment!”
PAUL: “It’s said that Richard and Stefanie Reines (Drive Thru owners) are big fans. How did they become fans of the band, and does this mean that you may well be joining the DTR family?”
SAMI: “Well, I think that ‘big fans’ is a tad of an exaggeration. Basically two of our mates (Nav from Bravestar Records and Small Dave) are kind of friends with Rich and Stef from when they were first sorting out a UK Drive Thru street team. They both met up with them again a couple of months ago when R+S were over here for the New Found Glory, Finch, Starting Line tour. They played R+S our demo, and apparently Rich requested to see us play either at a gig or at a rehearsal. So I received a phone call on Bank Holiday Monday at 9:00 am (after only just recovering from food poisoning) from Small Dave asking if I can sort out a gig or a rehearsal for that night so that Drive Thru could come and see us play. I don’t really think I took in what he had said at the time as I was in one of those ‘You have just woken me up why the hell are you phoning me at this hour in the morning on a bank holiday’ moods at the time! Anyway after many frantic phone calls between the band (Our keyboardist Tall Dave was in Brighton at the time!), Small Dave and various venues/rehearsal studios, Small Dave managed to sort us out a gig at The Grey Horse in Kingston – Upon – Thames. (we actually ended up headlining which was a bit bizarre!). Tall Dave had to get back from Brighton as quick as he could so that we could do the gig, he luckily made in time! Anyway, we played the gig and apparently Rich and Stef were really impressed. We chatted to them a bit afterwards (they were really nice!) and they thanked us loads for playing at such short notice and asked us to keep in contact. As far as anything like us joining the DTR family, we are on Firefly so we certainly won’t be joining any other ‘families’ at the moment.”
PAUL: “What has been the highlight of your careers so far?”
SAMI: “Hmmm.. For me, it was playing with Sensefield @ Joseph’s Well in Leeds and then receiving both such a surprising and storming review for it on Drownedinsound.com as well as a great reception from an alien crowd. Sensefield have been one of my favourite bands for a while so just playing with them was a fantastic thing let alone doing as well as we apparently did. Other than that, the gig we did in Derby with Imogen and Fallout 40 that was put on by Dislocate Promotion was a great moment as well. The Derby crowd were so friendly and really receptive. That was probably the first time we had played to a complete bunch of strangers (There were a hell of a lot of them as well!) and received such a fantastic reception. Also, the great thing about that gig were the other bands. Fallout 40 were so friendly to the point of me having a water fight with Sam outside the venue and a couple of us have known Gary Lee from Imogen for ages, so it almost just felt like a gig full of mate’s bands. Also playing Upstairs @ The Garage for a Rude To Stare show.. that was the night we got ‘signed’!”
PAUL: “What is your favourite place to play and why?”
SAMI: “Well for the entire band it would have to be The Fighting Cocks in Kingston. We played our first ever gig there on Friday July 27th (My 25th Birthday).. that’s where it kind of all started I guess. For me, I’d have two. The Derby Vic Inn, because of the people and because the venue is just sooo cool. Every band on this earth seems to have played there, from Jets To Brazil to The Descendants (or All.. one of the two did). Absolutely fantastic! Also, the actual venue itself is really nice, you can actually get the stuff sounding good in there. My other favourite is The Verge in Kentish/Camden Town. We always seem to get a good crowd there and it’s always different people that turn up.”
PAUL: “If you could take part in any tour supporting two other bands, who would you
choose and why?”
SAMI: “If The Replacements reformed it would be a dream to play with them and the Beastie Boys would be fantastic to play with as well.”
PAUL: “What other bands would you recommend to our beloved readers that you’ve come across on your travels?”
SAMI: “Fletcher are fantastic and are absolutely brilliant people as well. Imogen rock in a kind of Sensefield meets scremo kind of way, as do Fallout 40, in a sort of Strike Anywhere meets a pop punk band kind of way. Copperpot Journals and Otherwise also rock; Appease are certainly a band to look out for, think Ataris meets Saves The Day. Twofold rule as do Ursa and Blocko. This Girl put on a great live show.; Kids Near Water are also fantastic both live and on album; Route 215 were cool when we played with them as well, oh and Five Knuckle are fantastic. That’s all I can really think of as far as UK bands that people might not know much about, oh apart from people should check out Days Of Worth. They haven’t been together for that long, but we played with them @ The Peel in Kingston once and they were very good, kind of Like Hundred Reasons but with a rougher edge!”
PAUL: “In one sentence, sum up everything that Jerry Built is about.”
SAMI: “Sunshine, moonlight, good times, boogie!”
PAUL: “Where do you think you will be this time next year?”
SAMI: “Erm…that’s a bloody good question. Erm…..touring and gigging even harder!”
PAUL: “Finally if you could say one thing to the people reading this right now who have never heard you, what would it be?”
SAMI: “I haven’t got a clue! Erm…if you can make it to a gig it’s worth watching us if not just to laugh at our insane keyboard player!”
PAUL: “Thanks for your time Sami, anyone you wish to thanks?”
SAMI: “Yeah, big thanks to ‘Emo’ and ‘Schnell’ for telling me about Punktastic, cheers to Punktastic for helping us out and thanks to everyone that has supported us in one way or another.”