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BAND PROFILE :: The Jukebox Romantics (NY) :: Interview, Free Album Download, Videos and more…
The Jukebox Romantics is: Terry – Guitar/Vocals, Norm – Drums, Bob – Bass.
INTERVIEW:
B: (The band reached out to us last year for help with a show in November..we weren’t able to help, unfortunately)…1st…were you guys able to get a show in Atlanta on Nov 30th?
Terry- Yes we were! With the help of the scene by you guys we were able to play with amazing area bands Shehehe, Five O’clock Devil, Squadron & Hyperspace. They were all different and amazing and solid people too! Can’t ask for anything else.
B: How did you find yourself playing the Warped Tour? How about The Fest?
Terry – We got the opportunity to played Warped in 2010 when another band from our old label dropped off last minute so they offered it to us. The Warped people liked our work ethic and that we were an actual punk band touring in a van and played meaningful music, so they invited us back in 2012! It was definitely a different experience both times, grueling, and fun, but I can happily say unless a lot of things change, we wouldn’t play it again. For FEST we were asked to play. It was an honor and if Warped was anything like FEST we would play it as much as possible. It’s a different beast and it’s way more our style.
B: Are you playing any festivals this year?
Terry- We are playing the Death To False Hope Fest in Durham, North Carolina in early May and we are making the trip up to Montreal for the Pouzza Fest later that month. We are stoked for both!
B: Do you find that playing festivals is a good way to increase your fan base?
Terry- Definitely. It’s a great way to play to people who maybe wouldn’t have checked you out or wouldn’t have a chance to unless it was for the festival. The punk scene is a tight community full of amazing people so festivals are perfect for making new friends and seeing old ones.
B: You mentioned before that folks often compare you to Alkaline Trio – what do you think of that comparison? Is there a band you’d rather be compared to?
Bobby – I love Alkaline Trio and it’s definitely not a bad thing to be compared to them. I take it as a great compliment.?
Terry- Trio is one of my favorite bands so I can see how their music has influenced our writing. I don’t think we are as dark and depressed but the spirit of A3 is in there somewhere.
B: Describe a Jukebox Romantics show?
Bobby- We hit the stage and we come out swinging. Right off the bat we’re flying off the handle running around and soaring off what ever we can jump on top of. We keep that level of intensity up for pretty much the whole set feeding off the crowds’ energy and we give it back to them tenfold. We’re also loud as fuck.
B. What do you hope potential fans leave your show thinking about your band?
Bobby – I hope that they leave feeling like we’ve connected with each other, feeling as if during our set nothing in the world exists but, the music, them, and us. The whole reason I play music is because I feel it’s a very primal and necessary mode of communication, a universal language we are born knowing and craving. Saying that, I want people to leave thinking we were really handsome and played well.
?Terry – “Damn, they are fucking fun and got heart”
B: Tell us a little bit about your album “Hollywood is Dead.” Explain the title.
Terry- “Hollywood is Dead” is our 2012 EP. It’s the first 6 songs we did with me singing lead vocals after the departure of our original singer. It was the next chapter for JBR’s and it was the first evolution of our sound since our first 2 records. The original idea for the EP was to have 6 songs with 6 music videos, 1 for each song. We were going to release a video once a month for 6 months. So that is where the title came from. When it came to shooting the videos, there was a big misunderstanding with our label as we thought they were paying for the videos to be made, our broke asses surely were not haha. So, we never did the videos but the artwork and everything was already sent to the plants. So that’s how that went down. It’s just a silly name with a lost concept, lol.
B. How do you feel about your music now compared to when your band’s first album?
Terry-It’s like night and day. You can tell it’s the same band but the song writing and style has changed greatly. When we first started we were a beer inhaling-ska-punk band. In the 6 years we have been a band we have really developed a sound that is our own that represents us more. It’s faster, grittier, angrier, sadder and more emotional. But not Emo. We only cry when they ruin childhood movies with bad remakes or when our favorite pro wrestlers lose a match.
B: Any new songs or albums coming soon? Working on anything now?
Bobby-We have a 7″ coming out in the spring of 2015 entitled “Plot Points” which will be followed up by a full length LP later in the year called “Transmissions Down.” We also have two songs in the works for a four band split cassette with our good friends Gameday Regulars and two great Canadian bands, Snacks & Wasted Potential, that should be released in time for the Pouzza fest in Montreal in May. Terry and I were actually just working on the tunes last night and we’re both very excited about what we’ve got cooking.
B: Do you wear “skinny jeans”? Explain.
Bobby-I have 3 pairs of skinny jeans, all the same brand and cut. I wear them when I’m feeling saucy or have been working out a bunch. Recently, with the holidays and leaving for a vacation, not so much. Hahaha. They say the camera adds ten pounds well, winter in New York will add 20 and it’s not pretty. Gym shorts and baggy jeans are more my speed right now and everyone loves my gym shorts, just ask Terry or Kyle from Two Fisted Law.
?Terry- I rock a few pairs of skinny jeans. Sometimes they are slimming. And sometimes they make me look like Laurie Beth from Nickelodeons All That & Figure it Out. I also seem to destroy a pair every tour cause my tiny ass & giant dick tear through the seams running around on stage. Because of this, I’m running low on skinny jeans…or any jeans for that matter. Our drummer Norm does not own a pair. He grew up in the early 90s so he wears loose fit or Jenkos.
B: Enter the question you’d wish I would have asked here and then answer it.
Bobby – Midi-chlorians? Really? Still not as bad as Jar-Jar.
Terry – Do you smell what the Rock is cookin’?
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Bio from FaCEbOoK: “The Jukebox Romantics hail from downstate New York, just in the shadows of NYC. Since releasing their debut album on Altercation Records in 2009, The Jukebox Romantics have taken their talked-about live show from coast to coast including dates during Austin’s SXSW 2010/2011 festivals, the Vans Warped Tour 2010/2012 and Gainesville’s The Fest 9 in late 2010. The Jukebox Romantics are in your face, fun, soulful punk in the vein of bands like The Bouncing Souls, One Man Army, and Alkaline Trio. 2011 saw the release of their sophomoric album, “A Lion and A Guy,” as well as a fury of touring. The JBR’s self-released a limited 600 copy pressed EP “Hollywood is Dead” in late 2012 and then later for digital download on Death to False Hope Records. More nomadic adventures ensued in 2013 as well as the recording for their 3rd full-length album. “Transmissions Down” was recorded in the late summer of 2013. Produced by Pete Steinkopf of The Bouncing Souls, JBRs are releasing the 7 inch “Plot Points” in Spring 2015 & “Transmissions Down” in Summer 2015 via their new home on Jailhouse Records. The band made a name for them-selves from the beginning by hitting the road hard, endless touring, and their ferocious energetic live show. By conveying heart, and leaving their sweat and souls out on stage at every show, they remind you to have fun through music & friends and to never grow up!”
