Jeremy Fury and his band The Harlequins play music that's heavily inspired by early rock n' roll. They're not a corn ball nostalgia act playing the local casino circuit though. They're what you'd imagine the byproducts of James Dean if he had lived long enough to meet Bettie Page on a stop of the '59 Winter Dance Party Tour. They're also very much the anxious, restless, tech savvy city dwellers of this millennium. With so many young bands taking their cues from the psychedelic, punk and new wave era, it's refreshing to hear a new band that takes a step back even further that are also infatuated by monumental musicians like Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent.
Interview by J Castro
Let’s
begin with some introductions; who is in Jeremy and The Harlequins and
what
does everyone do in the band?
JF: Well, Craig Bonich is on guitar, Patrick Meyer
is on the other guitar, Bobby Ever's on bass, and Stevie Fury is on the
drums. I'm Jeremy. I sing the songs.
Tell
me how you all met and decided to play music together?
JF: My brother Stevie and I have been playing music
together forever, being that we're brothers and all. We met Craig on tour
in previous bands. Some time went by and we decided we were going to make
a record together. A day before we went into pre-production we met
Patrick. He joined the band that day. Bobby is the most recent
addition and he's been playing with us for almost a year now. We didn't
really decide to play together, the universe decided for us.
What
band, musician or songwriter would you say has had the most influence
in your life? Tell me a bit about the first time you heard them;
where you were, who introduced you to them etc...
JF: Particularly with our band, the obvious
influences are Elvis, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison.
Coincidentally, it was all music we were raised on. My parents played it
in the car while taking me and my brother to school. I guess we came back
to it. Besides the obvious late 50's and early 60's influences, some
others would be T-Rex, Mott the Hoople, and other early 70's glam-ish rock 'n
roll. I'm also really into 50's and 60's crooner music, everything from
Paul Anka to Scott Walker.
Is
the current sound you guys have what you had in mind when the band
first started up?
JF: Yes sir.
Tell
me about your new LP American Dreamer you guys released earlier this
year. I know this might seem like a Sophie’s Choice scenario, but do you have a
particular favorite song on the album?
JF: Mine change from time to time. My
favorites for the time being are “Right Out of Love”, “Trip Into the Light”,
and “White Star Bright Love.”
Tell
me about the title of the record “American Dreamer”. It’s so simple yet
it can mean a lot of different things if you think about it, is there a
story behind that title?
JF: I think it resonates to the time we are living
in. You hear politicians today talking quite a bit right now that the
American Dream is dead. To me, now is the perfect time for the American
Dream to be reborn. We have the potential to do so much on our own now,
like making a record or your own music blog, but also making your own beer,
your own clothing company, etc. If we exercise the potential of the time
we are in, in a few years we will look back on the now and think this period we
are in was a pivotal time in the course of America.
You
guys have made a few videos for some of the songs on the new LP. Do you guys enjoy
the process of making them? Do you have a favorite music video
you remember than made an impression on you when you were a kid?
JF: Again, because the technology is available, we
are more capable than ever before of making videos. I do enjoy the
process of making them and feel that having a video is just one more component
of how someone may enjoy our band.
And as for the second part of the question, sadly I
was one of those kids who grew up without MTV. There used to be this
station called The Box where you called in and could pay for a music video to
be played. Marilyn Manson's Dope Hat was probably the first video that
impacted me, but I don't know how that translates to where I'm at now.
 |
| American Dreamer LP released July 2015 |
Your
music is obviously heavily influenced by 50’s rock ‘n roll. How did you
first get into that kind of music? Can you remember what song or
record you first heard and who introduced it to you?
JF: The first song I learned how to play on guitar
was “Bye, Bye Love” by The Everly Bros. I was 7 years old. I
suppose I came around in a circle.
I
was reading an interview with a former drummer for The Cramps and he commented
on how guarded Lux and Ivy were with their image. So much so that
he felt they were imprisoned by it. Do you think having an image or
a “look” is something a lot of rock bands these days should pay more
attention to?
JF: I think it depends on the artist as to how much
they want to pay attention to their image. It's pretty clear though every
successful artist has an image no matter if it is highly curated or not.
Nirvana's image was flannel, t-shirts, and torn up jeans. Kiss is make up
and metal armor. If you put a member of Motley Crue in Death Cab For
Cutie, I am not so sure people would buy it.
What
would you say is your favorite part about making music: writing,
recording, or performing it?
JF: I like it all really. There is some type
of gratification in the completion of the process in all three areas of being
in a band. Even finishing a song feels good knowing that it's on it's way
to the rest of the world. Shows are the most immediate; seeing an
audience immediately react to the music, but every aspect is great.
Where
are the best places people can go or log on to hear your music?
What
lies ahead in 2016 for Jeremy and The Harlequins?
JF: We
will be putting out our second album, we'll be touring and we'll have some more
videos coming out. Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment