The Jellybricks – Some Kind of Lucky

By starrymag | September 20, 2019

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

 

Larry: We are a rock ‘n’ roll band built upon the classic two-guitars, bass, drums and vocals blueprint, like many bands who have come before us. We also bear the appreciation for and the influence from, popular music of all kinds dating back as far as the 1950s, all the way up to the present. We are first and foremost a singing, songwriting band, but we love to put on a fun live show as well. Our sound has been described as “sweet like jelly, but hits you like a brick” because we like to write music that is catchy and fun to listen to, but we also like to deliver it with a kick and a punch.

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

 

Larry: When we first got together, we had all just recently enjoyed watching “The Beatles’ Anthology” documentary on TV and found that we all had an appreciation for the British Invasion and 60s music in general. We had also all grown up listening to heavy metal, punk, new wave, classic rock, folk, rap and alternative rock by the time we became a band. So, in many ways, we are a band rooted in influence from great 60s bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, The Byrds, The Beach Boys and countless others, but also very much influenced by Dead Boys, Sex Pistols, The Ramones, R.E.M., Husker Du, The Replacements, The Smiths, The Cure, Crowded House, The Smithereens, Counting Crows and again – countless others. We are all nearly the same age, and our musical tastes dovetail in many ways.

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Corner of My Eye.”

 

Larry: “Corner of My Eye” was written in a very unforced manner, with chords and melody ideas coming together at very much the same time, and lyrics coming along fairly quickly as well. I enjoy it when there is some mystery to a set of lyrics and I don’t always know what the lyrics are really about when I am writing them. Often, I’m just allowing my gut and my brain to tell me when the lyrics and the notes make sense and if I’m in a writing flow, I don’t stop the flow. I just let it happen. This song came about in very much this fashion. There are ideas contained in the song about feeling trapped or hemmed into a difficult situation and the recurring quality of that kind of situation, but this song isn’t about a specific idea yet can mean something different to every listener who might hear it.

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

 

Larry: I just think that there is an urgent, slightly heavy feeling to the song, mixed with a carefree and floating, almost dreamy quality, which feels like a reflection of what everyone experiences to varying degrees in a day in the life. The ups and downs, the worries and the letting go of them are reflected in this song.

 

Q) How was the process making the video for the song?

 

Garrick: We always try to put a lot of effort into our videos, both because we want to enjoy them ourselves, but we’re also aware that making a video that’s visually interesting encourages people to hit the play button more than once.

We never have much of a budget, but it’s become sort of a fun challenge to find ways to make interesting videos with almost no money. For “Corner of My Eye,” we had one camera and maybe three or four lights. We shot over the course of two nights, waiting until after dark because otherwise there would be too much sunlight entering the barn that we were shooting in. We usually setup and shoot the videos entirely ourselves with only one or two other people helping out. Tom’s [Kristich] wife Melanie has been our camera person and editor for the past several videos and we were fortunate to have a professional makeup artist, Ruby Muro, available to design our look for this one.

“Corner of My Eye” was also one of the most challenging shoots we’ve done. Our last four videos were all single-shot videos with no cuts or edits. We learned them like they were mini-plays, rehearsing our parts until we had them down and then shooting several takes straight through until we got one or two that we were happy with. “Corner of My Eye,” however, was a lot of shots and was complicated by us having to look like we were each attacking ourselves. We had a detailed shot list that we had to slowly work through. But, again, it’s an enjoyable challenge and we had a lot of fun making it.

 

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics? 

 

Larry: For me, it varies completely from song to song. Sometimes, as with “Corner of My Eye,” the music and the lyrics come about almost at the very same time. Sometimes I get musical ideas which have no lyrics for up to years at a time, or lyrical ideas which have no music for years at a time. It’s fun when an idea germinates for a long time, and finally turns into a song sometime down the road. I enjoy all of the different ways of getting to the results, personally. I enjoy being surprised by what music becomes over time, as well as when fully understandable songs emerge, almost complete upon arrival.

 

Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production of your music?

 

Larry: Having recorded six albums of music prior to our upcoming album, we’ve become fairly adept at producing ourselves. We have learned different production techniques and ideas from all of the various producers with whom we’ve worked in the past, but we also tend to like to have a trusted, objective set of additional ears in the room with us. For that reason, we often co-produce with gifted engineers and producers in the studio. Usually the band spends a lot of time hashing out song arrangements before we ever start to record, but then everyone involved is encouraged to add ideas as they occur in the studio. We try to remember that we can try anything we want and if it doesn’t work, we can always leave it out.

 

Q) You signed with Steven Van Zandt’s label Wicked Cool Records. What made you guys decide this was the perfect partnership for the band?

 

Larry: We all grew up hearing and seeing Stevie’s contributions to the music of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, as well as his solo work with The Disciples of Soul and his memorable acting turn as Silvio Dante on “The Sopranos” TV show. When we first became aware of his syndicated radio show, “Little Steven’s Underground Garage,” as well as his channel on SiriusXM satellite radio, we knew we were hearing a potential new place that our music might be welcomed. We tried for several releases and for several years to gain his attention with our music before he chose our song “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide” as his “Coolest Song in the World” in The Underground Garage. After that, he chose another song, “About the Weekend,” for the same honor. 

 

We are extremely grateful for the radio exposure which we have received from Stevie’s radio show and channel. So, when we were invited to submit some music to him for consideration for a single on the Wicked Cool label, we were excited to comply! Steven Van Zandt is, above all, an artist whom we deeply respect. His support of our music, as well as his endorsement and encouragement of our work, has only helped to fuel our band to create new and better music, and that is an invaluable blessing to us. Wicked Cool Records has welcomed our music as we like to make it, with our personality entirely intact. No one is asking us to become a different kind of band, and there is no better label in the world for a band than a label that allows us to be who we are.

 

Q) Talk about working with Steven Van Zandt on your new music. 

 

Larry: One of the most interesting things about our interactions with Stevie is that we haven’t actually been around him in person very much. He is about as busy a man as there is – always performing, traveling, working, giving interviews, cultivating a spirit of creativity and art appreciation wherever he goes. But when we sent him our music for consideration for our first Wicked Cool single, he did report back with some specific small adjustments to the arrangements for both songs. He literally asked us to add a chord to one of the songs and to make another song longer. He wasn’t much more specific than that. But we respect the guy who has arrangement credits on records that we already love, so we took his advice and his advice was exactly what was needed to make those songs the best they could be. Beyond that, he trusted us to make the changes in our own way, so we felt his direction and advice, but also felt his giving us the freedom to do things our way. We couldn’t be happier that he is in our corner, providing us with the opportunity to try to make new music and to do it better than we have before.

 

Q) What are some themes that will be explored on your upcoming album Some Kind of Lucky?

 

Larry: Some Kind of Lucky touches on what it is to be awake in the moment, for better or for worse. From feeling frustrated, confused, depressed, sad, angry or just exhausted from the trials of life to finding ways to escape our own prisons, getting out of our own way, finding peace, love and contentment away from the stress that is always bearing down on us as human beings. These are relationship songs about people, places and things. More than anything, our records are marked by a spirit of fun, which is the closest thing to our true nature as four individuals working together. We have fun and when people listen, they are hopefully drawn into the fun vibe that was there when we recorded the music.

 

Q) Where does the title come from for the album?

 

Larry: Bryce [Connor] wrote a song called “Some Kind of Lucky” and when we were looking at a number of possible titles the song title seemed to suggest itself as an idea that really nicely described how we all felt about our existence as a band. We have had many ups and downs, but we have mostly had the best time being The Jellybricks and we know it.

 

Q) What do you hope listeners take away from listening to this particular album as a whole?

 

Larry: The intent with our albums is always the same, really. We want to entertain the listener, make them glad they chose us for the soundtrack of whatever is happening in their lives right now. Our music takes a pretty playful and positive stance about all of the dark and light shades of a human life and if we can package some joy, some sadness, some humor, some love and generally some heartfelt musical feelings together in a way that makes a listener feel a little better about being alive then we are all some kind of lucky.

 

Q) What can fans expect from a live The Jellybricks performance?

 

Garrick: One of the things we’ve always heard is that we look like we’re having so much fun on stage and that’s because it’s true. We just love playing music together and we hope that energy and sense of fun carries over to the audience. 

 

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you? 

 

Larry: We have always performed at Cedars West End in Youngstown, Ohio, which is my hometown. I was once a teenager watching bands at Cedars before I eventually started performing there and so anytime The Jellybricks return to Cedars, it is a very personal, nostalgic experience for me. 

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

Larry: I would love to co-write music with every songwriter I’ve ever admired … and that list is pretty long. But more than wanting to collaborate outside of The Jellybricks, I can honestly say that I have a great time collaborating with my bandmates in The Jellybricks. I mean, there are so many talented people out there, but Garrick, Bryce and Tom are as talented, clever and cool as they get and, most of the time, they are twice as funny as other people. I really love working with them.

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?

 

Larry: I’m currently enjoying a new album from The Northern Pikes called Forest of Love. They are a terrific Canadian songwriting band whom I have enjoyed since I was a teenager, still making great new music today. I’m also enjoying new releases by our various Wicked Cool Records label-mates, who are an incredibly talented list of artists.

 

Tom: I’m currently digging the new Bruce Springsteen album, Western Stars, as well as the new Gary Clark, Jr. album This Land.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

Garrick: For all of its flaws and its potential for abuse, social media is still the best and most immediate way to connect to people who share your interests. We used to send out postcards and newsletters in the mail every month to people who had signed up on our mailing list. But with the advent of social media, we now have an immediate way to communicate with the people who want to hear from us and keep up with what we’re doing. And it’s a two-way street. They can also get in touch with us at any time to comment on our music or ask us questions. We love hearing from people around the world who like our music enough to drop is a note.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

 

Larry: Thank you! Your support means everything to us! We are incredibly grateful to each and every person who has ever come to see us play, bought our music, worn our t-shirts, driven around town with our sticker on their bumper or followed or liked us on social media. It is you we hope to entertain, to amuse, to delight and to please. We love you for listening to the music we create, and for encouraging us to continue doing it, year after year.