UTG INTERVIEW: The Jinxes

Last week, we brought you a review of The Jinxes’ debut EP, Send Me A Sign. Now today, we have an exclusive interview with the Californian duo for your enjoyment.

The couple took some time to speak with us about Send Me A Sign, the particulars of managing a Kickstarter, and much more about what they have on their creative plates, so read through the break and get the scoop from Monterey Bay’s The Jinxes!

The story of your inception is pretty unique. Would you mind explaining it to our readers?

Kevin: We met at a community open mic that Deanna had been hosting in Monterey for about 4 years. It was a beautiful monthly event that attracted all manner of creative people and works-in-progress in the fields of music, theater, poetry, art and dance. At the end of each performance the audience was invited to share their feedback with the artist(s). Over the course of a year of performing there and participating in these public dialogues, Deanna and I realized that we shared a passionate interest in creativity. We soon formed a local writers’ group dedicated to lyrics and song craft and became musical friends.

We also began going on “artist dates” to concerts, events and exhibits. I think there was a mutual feeling that our friendship could grow into more, which in fact was the inspiration for the song “Send Me A Sign”. As it turned out, I finished writing that tune on a Saturday night, and the very next day Deanna proclaimed that we should “just be friends”! Several months later, on another artist date, she suggested we sing together. So I pulled out “Send Me A Sign,” and we had great fun harmonizing to it, but she didn’t guess that it was about her! It actually took several more months of bonding as both friends and as creative process junkies before we became a romantic couple and recognized each other as musical soulmates. One of the first songs we wrote together is “If You Want (the buh bah song).”

Monterey Bay is one of my favorite places I’ve ever been. Has the area had any form of influence on your music?

Deanna: We both love the area, too; it’s beautiful and inspiring. You can drive 10 minutes in any direction and find yourself in a different micro-climate, plus there’s a surprisingly active arts scene for a relatively small town. I wrote the lyrics to our song “Migration” while bicycling on a bluff that overlooks the ocean on Monterey’s famous recreation trail. There’s a spot near the highway where cars whiz by while whale spouts go unnoticed. The strings and “oohs” in the chorus of that song are actually mimicking the ebb and flow of the waves.

So you have a four-song EP coming out this next month. Is this your debut as a group or do you have previous releases together?

Kevin: This is a debut EP for both of us, although some of the material has existed longer than The Jinxes have! The song “She Runs Away” for example, was written over 10 years ago, and I am so grateful to have finally found the right partner and producer to finish it.

Deanna: Yes, we came together with a stockpile of songs we had written individually and soon discovered they were much more satisfying as duets. We’ve also helped each other complete unfinished “song sprouts” (we try to dedicate one weekend per month to this). And then there’s the thrill of co-creating entirely new material together! So the real challenge for us isn’t generating material so much as getting the work recorded (and we’re very grateful to our Kickstarter community for helping us do that!).

How would you describe the EP in terms of genre and themes?

Deanna: Stylistically, this EP is basically our sampler platter. We chose four songs that represent the range of our sound, which falls within the bounds of folk rock, indie pop and singer/songwriter. In terms of lyrics, learning to love, slowing down, and longing for connection is the thematic territory covered.

So you utilized Kickstarter to be able to fund and create this EP. A lot of people are on the fence with whether or not bands should be asking fans for money in order to release albums and such. I personally think Kickstarter is a great tool and brings a lot of money back into music. What are your views on the subject and what was your experience like with launching and running one yourself?

Kevin: I vote Yes on crowdfunding! On a personal level, this EP wouldn’t exist without it. On a socioeconomic level, and in an era when retail sales of music and art are waning, crowdfunding has stepped in to help make the creation of new art possible. We avidly support the arts and feel that platforms like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Flattr and others represent interesting and global avenues to make great projects happen. Crowdfunding also reconnects the listener with the nuts and bolts of where music comes from and allows everyone to contribute to the creative process.

Now, speaking band to band or artist to artist: Running a Kickstarter campaign is not for the feint of heart! It is stressful and becomes something of a business unto itself. From recording campaign videos, to creating rewards, to the fast-and-furious marketing and fundraising efforts — each bit is important to the success of the project and each stage can be very time consuming. Even so, I would definitely recommend it (especially for well-organized and social media-savvy artists) as a means of realizing a cherished goal.

Would you use Kickstarter again on your next effort?

Deanna: Yes! In fact, we’ve just started work on a Kickstarter video for our next release!

So what can you tell me about the next project?

Kevin: Our next release will be another 4-song EP, entitled We Create, based on a track of the same name. We’d love to do a full-length, but the budget isn’t there yet (unless our Kickstarter seriously exceeds our expectations)!

You have a lot of talented musicians and instrumentation involved with Send Me A Sign. How did you choose what instruments you needed integrated into the EP and who to work with?

Kevin: We co-produced the album with Andy Zenczak (producer/engineer) at Gadgetbox Studios in Santa Cruz, CA. Part of the instrumentation was planned, and part of it was a result of the creative process in action. The string section in “Migration” was Andy’s brainchild, and he then invited the masterful cellist, Barry Phillips, to write the arrangement you hear for violin, viola, and cello. I had already brought on the talented Laurel Thomsen for the violin work she contributed to “She Runs Away.” Deanna first suggested the cello accompaniment in “If You Want,” and there were often key plays in the last minutes of the game.

On the morning of the last day of tracking, for example, “She Runs Away” still needed something and suddenly both Andy and I thought: Organ. Andy was on the phone and had a fantastic organ player en route within 20 minutes, while transforming what I thought was furniture into a Hammond B3 organ. Turns out that Gianni’s organ line was exactly the element the song had been missing for the ten years I had been playing it. Similarly, when we felt we were missing a certain bit of spice in “Send Me A Sign.” Andy suggested the Farfisa. Far-fi-what? We had no idea what it was, but the Gadgetbox crew dusted it off and set it up and before we knew it our shoulders were gyrating to the groovy sock-hop/slightly Nintendo-ish sounds of this retro keyboard.

Deanna: Also, as a duo, these recordings represent very full manifestations of the songs we write. It was deeply satisfying to hear them come to life layer by layer in the studio as each musical collaborator added their gifts. The ideas were flying, and there was plenty of pushing and pulling, with a final result that captured both the sound we envisioned and some wonderful surprises, too.

What are your plans for release of the Send Me A Sign? Digital only or will there be physical copies as well? Vinyl, perhaps?

Kevin: Mostly digital. We do have a limited number of physical copies remaining from our Kickstarter rewards but no real plans for a significant physical release until our third album when we?ll combine all three EP?s into one full-length CD along with a vinyl release.

You look to share a lot of inspirational photos and such on your Facebook page. How important do you think it is to be intimately involved with your fans and listeners? Some bands leave their social networks for someone else to run altogether.

Deanna: With the limited time we have available for social media — time that isn’t spent on “gainful” employment, or with our two kids from Kevin’s side, or on our creative projects — we do try to stay connected with fans and listeners via blogging, tweeting, Instagramming, etc.

I’ve always liked to collect interesting photos and quotations, so I often post those as a way to create shared moments with anyone who happens to be tuned in. Interacting via social media helps us appreciate both how large and diverse the world is, and also how very small it is nowadays. And though we can certainly understand why some bands choose to farm out this function, it is pretty cool when someone in Brazil or Turkey or the UK tweets us lyrics to a Jinxes song they’re listening to in real time!

So now that the EP is completed and set to release, what’s your next big goal?

Deanna: As a primarily non-touring band, we are focusing on finding licensing opportunities for our music in film and TV. We’re also actively preparing for that second Kickstarter campaign for We Create!

Kevin: Deanna also has an upcoming solo performance in San Francisco of her memoir, “Birthmother,” as part of the Adoption Museum Project, and is at work on her first novel. And I would love to make a video for “She Runs Away”!

Deanna: And… We’ll be preparing for our wedding next Spring!

Kevin: Yes!

Both: Thank you so much for listening to The Jinxes and getting to know us! Keep in touch!

 
Written and conducted by: Brian Lion – Follow him on Twitter

Brian Leak
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