Jetman Jet
Team
Jetman Jet
Team grew from the ashes of The Pop Eccentric, a group formed by Miguel Diaz,
Brenan Chambers and Tyler James in Spokane Washington. After a break up and
subsequent moves around the country, the noisy guitar pop group reunited as
Jetman Jet Team in winter 2011. A collective move to Seattle saw the addition
of Alisa Dickinson on vocals and Quin Dickinson on drums.
Compared to
Flying Saucer Attack and The Jesus and Mary Chain, Jetman Jet Team mixes a
psychedelic drone and fuzz with screaming spaced out guitars to form a powerful
noise pop, lush in atmosphere with krautrock hints.
On their Facebook page, the band describes themselves as "mods from Neptune" and under "influences" they respond simply with "Have you ever tried DMT?" They had us at Neptune, but it was true love at the mere mention of a tryptamine compound...
How and when was the band formed?
The band was
formed in 2008 under a different name, in a different city. Brenan (me) met
Miguel through a mutual friend whom he was making music with at the time. We
got together and formed The Pop Eccentric. We played a few gigs around Spokane,
split up a year later when I moved to Seattle. Later in early 2011 we started
trading tracks online (Cosmic Age, Corrosive), I drove to Coeur d'Alene Idaho,
finished recording those tracks. We needed a drummer, so we called up an old
friend Quin. We liked the tracks and eventually decided to get back together
with a new name in a friendlier city. Our bass player Tyler was living in
Portland, Quin in Spokane, Miguel in Coeur d'Alene, and Brenan and our keyboard
playing Alex were in Seattle. They ended up getting a house later that summer
together in Seattle and that's where we finished recording the album.
Can you tell us what the band has been
working on and what you've got forthcoming in the near future (new releases,
tour, etc.)?
We've got a
small west coast tour this August and 2 limited cassette tape releases coming
up with some more experimental, instrumental stuff that’s pretty out-there.
Other than that, it’s been pretty low key at the moment. Slowly working on some
new tracks and trying to expand our live sound.
Do you consider your music to be part of
the current shoegaze/dream pop scene, or any scene? Defining one's sound by
genre can be tiresome, but do you feel that the band identifies closely with
any genre? How do you feel about genres in music, in a general sense?
I think we
fit in with the scene, but something about our approach feels different than a
lot of other bands. We don't take a load of tracks and go into a studio and
make an album. We do everything ourselves, over time, and just sort of say it’s
done when we feel like it’s done. We don't really identify with any one genre
in particular or go out of our way to sound like anything, but I can understand
why we get labeled what we do. I don't really mind genres. I know some people
can be really snooty about what they call their music, but I don't really give
a shit either way. We're going to make the music we want to make regardless of
what it’s called, so if it helps you describe it to someone as shoegaze, then
sure, call it that.
We really
like Pia Fraus, Serena Maneesh, Keith Canisius and The Stargazer Lilies.
What is the most important piece of gear
for your sound? Any particular guitars/pedals/amps that you prefer?
Our sound
really comes out of digital fuzz. Most of our sounds are created in the
computer and have to be, sort of, emulated live with pedals. I don't think
there's any one tool that's perfect, you can get a great sound from mostly
anything if you put in the time. Having said that, I do really love Lexicon's
reverbs. I know Miguel really prefers solid state bass amps for his guitar
fuzz.
What is your process for recording your
music? What gear and/or software do you use? What would you recommend for
others?
90% of our
music is done as a collaboration, usually through the internet. Almost all of
our recordings we're done without amps and any out board gear, just done
internally through Ableton, with the exception being cassette tape. We record a
lot of tracks onto old cassettes and back into the computer. It was really easy
to send entire songs and have someone easily add or manipulate parts without
having to worry about studio time, cost, changes in recording tone, etc. It's
generally not how most bands like this approach their recording process, but I
think the benefit is you have total control over absolutely every sound your
hearing, anything can be fairly easily changed at any time. We all love Ableton
for its recording, and it’s got so many tools it can really be used as an
instrument itself. So yeah. Ableton. Go get it. It’s great.
How do you feel about the state of the
music industry today? There is no doubt a massive change underway; how do you
see it and do you feel it’s positive at all?
It's positive
in that the internet has made it possible to basically hear anything, whenever.
You can argue stuff about piracy, etc., but all I really care about personally
is exposure, and being exposed to others. We're young, both as a band and as
people, so it doesn't really feel like a change to us, it's just the atmosphere
we came into.
When it comes to label releases versus
DIY/bandcamp and the like, what is your stance, if any?
We're fully
supportive of DIY for bands, both with recording and distribution, however I
definitely don't regret all the benefits of signing to a label.
Do you prefer vinyl, CD, cassette tape or
mp3 format when listening to music? Do you have any strong feelings toward any
of them?
We don't
really care. I like digital a lot, it’s convenient. Sure it’s not as cool or
fun as vinyl and tape, but hey, whatever - it sounds good and it’s easy.
However, there's something really special about the aesthetic of cassette
tapes, but really it’s the shittiness of it like we like so much so I wouldn't
say it’s the preferred format for casual listening, but baby does tape sound
gooood. I could listen to the disintegration loops for hours.
What artists (musicians or otherwise)
have most influenced your work?
The fuzzy
ones and the ones that go bleep and bloop. And that guy who wrote the Family
Matters theme song.
Can you tell us a little about what you
are currently into (books, films, art, bands, etc.)?
We've been
listening to a lot of Ghost Box stuff, Oh and nonstop Takako Minekawa, can't
get enough. François de Roubaix. Some really silly stuff like old European
synth-pop. We just got a new Korg and a Moog so we've been dickin around with
synths a whole lot lately. Watchin lots of documentaries. We've actually got a
short film were going to shoot soon in a nuclear cooling tower. Stay tuned.
If you had to choose one track that was
the ultimate definition of your sound, which would it be and why?
I'd say the
song that defines our sound is Cosmic Age, its got fuzziness and sounds nice
loud. It’s got some atmospheric stuff at the end, and overall gives a pretty
good impression of what we do.
Can you tell us a little about the band’s
song writing process?
We just write
and write and are always recording crap. Usually a song develops when it gets
uploaded to our cloud or it gets passed around and someone else hears it, likes
it, and then we just go all the way with it. All the way and all the way back.
There are few songs that were done entirely by just one of us, but that's
pretty uncommon. Drugs and alcohol help a lot, but sometimes all you need is pep
in your step, a dollar in your pocket and a beautiful super model girlfriend
who can write the songs for you. A lot of songs come out of just messing around
with guitar tones, trying to find new sounds or textures or whatever, then you
just sort find yourself making shit up, then you realize you've got something
song worthy.
What is your philosophy (on life), if
any, that you live by?
We don't like
a glass half empty or half full cos the whole point is it’s supposed to be in
my stomach.
