I'm really sorry to say this, but honestly I can't keep up with JETthefuckingband.com anymore. Jet is a fantastic band and especially for me cause music plays such a big role in my life. But some bands, even when they sound amazing, they just don't deserve the fans they have. And that is sadly Jet's case.
Therefore, I took the tough decision to shut down JETthefuckingband.com. The people who have been reading my posts know that this was really important to me. But it's just so hard to keep up with the enthusiasm when the band doesn't give a fuck about playing to you. And I'm sure I can say this on behalf of many people, cause today you all could see the tons of people asking about a South American tour and Chris just pretended they weren't there (yeah, I know, WWE Music didn't show them up as well but all he had to do was read his timeline). So, as many fans were let down today, I was and continuing to do this makes no sense to me anymore.
So, thanks for everyone who have been reading my posts for all this time, since JETBrasil.com and all. It was much fun!
I told you it'd be big! We've got a couple of interviews, fan review and videos of last night's gig in London. The last one, by the way, before they head to Australia for the much awaited tour with Powderfinger. So this post should make it up for the whole month of August. And damn, it will!
Cam was probably the chosen one for interviews yesterday cause we've got two here with him just before the gig. Check them out:
Elliot Mitchell Chats To Jet
I was lucky enough to interview Melbourne based band Jet ahead of their Shepherds Bush Empire show in London on Sunday after winning a competition with GigsAndTours. From the phenomenal worldwide success of debut album “Get Born” in 2003 Jet were catapulted onto the music scene with a raw, hard rock sound and with the likes of The Strokes, Kings Of Leon and the White Stripes. Since “Get Born” Jet have release two more albums: “Shine On” (2006) and more recently “Shaka Rock” (2009). Both albums have reached commercial success however have been criticised by some for not reaching the bar set in “get born”.
After watching a sound check I managed to catch up with Cam Muncey, the lead guitarist from the band.
How do you find touring Europe in comparison with Australia? It’s better. Life on the road can be boring especially in Australia when you can drive for 10 hours and nothing changes. In Europe that’s totally different, there’s just so many great places here. However, I love being home as anyone does, and touring itself doesn’t have any character because all you’re doing is driving or flying or whatever and after a while it gets pretty boring.
Obviously you play a lot of countries on your dates, which country would you say has the best crowds, atmosphere etc? London is great, the UK crowds are always up for it which is amazing and I live in London myself so I love the place. Japan have a very unique way of interpreting music; it could be said the fans are almost like a cult in Japan. The group of people who like western music are really into it, almost like an obsession, which is great for us. I was surprised at how much the Swiss were into it as well.
When you broke out in 2003, it was in a similar time that bands like the Strokes, and the White Stripes were also coming onto the scene. Was it harder for you to keep up with these bands as they were from the US and you were from Australia on the other side of the world? We just had to get away from it really and put ourselves out there and move away. Once we managed to break into America it managed to sort itself out around the world, because both the UK and the US have great music scenes. We always had the mindsets that if it didn’t work in the US or around the world, we could always go back home to Australia and we would always have support there, and we relied on that.
Shaka Rock almost has a bluesy feel to some of the tracks and you have really gone back to your roots with this one, and are more “comfortable in your skins” as it were. What’s your favourite piece of work you guys have done and why? Well you can never recreate that first one you know, because it’s so new and exciting, we had such an exhilarating time with it. I’m really pleased with this album (Shaka Rock) because we co-produced it ourselves so we had lots of freedom over this album to make it sound how we wanted. We also changed labels, which was a big thing for us. At first producing the album was daunting, however in hindsight it’s been a good move for us.
Some bands say they experience a moment, an out of body experience as such, in which they just feel “yes, we’ve made it”. Have you experienced this feeling yourself? When we play big gigs we naturally get nervous, so I play a confidence trick on myself and play it down acting like it’s not a big gig at all. I guess the nerves of a huge show almost take away that feeling of “we’ve made it” as you said, but once you get into a huge gig and start enjoying it, it’s amazing. For example when we played Madison square garden with Oasis, we went out there thinking, “we’re going to show Oasis…", and we were almost competitive!
Do you manage to keep up with new music on smaller labels? Yeah definitely, when I’m at home and not touring it’s a great time to look into new music. On tour there are too many distractions and I just love going to a record shop and actually buying something I can hold, I hate buying records over the Internet.
So are you a vinyl man then? Not really, I just stick with CD’s to be honest, although I do have an old “technics” turntable, which my brother gave me, which I need to set up really, it’s just finding the time you know.
You’re playing with General Fiasco tonight, do you usually get to pick your support acts when you go on tour? Yeah we usually have an input however tonight it was organised by someone else. We’re playing with Powderfinger in Australia next month, which we’re really looking forward to, as it’s their farewell tour and they are like a national institution, like the oasis of Australia. We like to pick the support acts when we can - we’ve had some great support acts in the past.
Was starting your own label hard for you? Not really as we haven’t really done anything with it yet, we’re just waiting for the right project to come along, and when it does we’ll try and develop it and do something with it.
At this point Jet’s manager turned up as we had ran out of time.....
Gig Junkie caught up with Cameron Muncey before the show to pick the lead guitarists’ brain a bit and talk about Jet’s upcoming tour.
Q. What can people expect from Jet in the next coming months? Cameron: Well, we’re doing a tour of Australia for 3 months in September with Powderfinger which we’re really looking forward to. It’s going to be a nice tour through all of Australia, we’re going to all different places like Mackay, Albury and Ballarat. I’ve been to most of these places but it’s always nice to go back, it’s a bit nostalgic.
Q. You’ve toured with several leading bands in your 10 year career from The Rolling Stones to Green Day – are there still any other artists that you’d like to share the big stage with? Cameron: No, not really. I’m looking forward to playing with Powderfinger though, we’ve never played with them before so that should be cool!
Q. What music are you listening to at the moment? Cameron: Hmm let me think. I really like The National and The Black Keys. And I’ve also been listening to quite a bit of Sleepy Sun lately.
Q. What was the very first gig you ever went to? Cameron: It would have been AC/DC! They were incredible!
Q. What’s your favourite song to play live? Cameron: Definitely one of my favourites would be ‘Come Around Again’ from the very first album ‘Get Born’, but I like all of them really *laughs*.
Q. Do you ever play any cover songs in your concerts? Cameron: We actually haven’t played any cover songs in ages, but we usually do.
Q. What can you tell me about your guitar – are you subject to brand loyalty or will you play with whatever's available? Cameron: As long as you can get a basic tune and bang about, I’ll play with whatever. Usually it’ll be a Les Paul though, I’ve got a couple of them.
Q. What made you choose to play the guitar in the first place? Cameron: Well, I started learning the trumpet at first but I soon realised that the only things I liked musically had guitar in it and that was my problem. So that’s why I left the trumpet behind and started playing guitar.
Now, you guys know how much I hate journalist reviews so I'm putting up now this review written by @NinaSupersonic, massive fan who has just rediscovered them:
It’s not like me to review the same band twice in a row, but there is a reason behind my fangirling.
“Are they still going?” was the question that followed almost every mention of going to see Jet. Almost as frequent was this exchange, recounted verbatim: “Who are Jet?” “You know, Are You Gonna Be My Girl?” “Oh yeah! God, are they still going?” My favourite remark came in the amused and slightly condescending dismissal of the band with, “Jet, haha brilliant! So retro!”
Having learnt the back catalogue crash course-style in the week since rediscovering them at Portugal’s Optimus Alive festival, the week preceding their only UK date before disappearing back to Australia, I find these questions harder and harder to comprehend. Not least because Are You Gonna My Gir?, the song that propelled them into mainstream consciousness, has been far surpassed by their later musical output.
I’ve speculated for longer than the dilemma probably warranted, but it remains a source of bafflement to me that Jet have managed to stray into obscurity in the UK, especially after the experience of seeing them live outside a festival setting.
Opening with a snarling That’s All Lies, the tone of the gig was set. Retro it was, but in the best of ways. At the front amongst the pogoing the atmosphere was more reminiscent of a 70s punk gig, raw with aggression and resulting in much bruising from over-exciting jumping.
The set list was nicely split between the three albums. Highlights included the monstrous Black Hearts (On Fire), seeing the venue’s crowd-surfing ban pushed to the max and frontman Nic Cester smouldering his way through the lyrics. La Di Da proved an unlikely touching singalong, and the outrageous tidal wave of riffs that is Start The Show was played ironically in the encore. Are You Gonna Be My Girl? inspired its expected spree of head banging and shouty-pointing from the crowd, while songs like Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, Hey Kids, and Walk have choruses made for stadiums. Songs with less impact and similar appeal have achieved that in the past (Arctic Monkeys, anyone?), and with much less stage presence and charisma to back them up. So why not Jet?
Nic played his part to perfection, swaggering with Godlike arrogance and his vocals alternating between a combustible growl and deranged screaming. His love for demanding a bit of audience participation apparently never gets old either, judging by Seventeen and Beat On Repeat.
Meanwhile drummer Chris Cester, also on backing vocals, attacked his drum-kit with the intensity of an unhinged vigilante pulverising a floored mugger. The effect was too big for Shepherds Bush, and only served to reinforce the question of, why aren’t they bigger?
There are a few theories that carry weight. One, that they are Australian and therefore not taken inherently seriously by the rock ‘n’ roll aficionados governing UK airplay. Two, that Are You Gonna Be My Girl?, while so incredibly successful at making their name, with a tune that is played in introductions and adverts to this day, became their downfall in the eyes of the UK music Press. They ‘sold-out’, or became ‘too commercial’ or ‘mainstream’; all these words and phrases now so commonly used with fashionable distain.
Whatever the explanation it’s a sad conundrum. Far from the gimmick that the UK’s knowledge of them makes them out to be, Jet are a fantastic and truly underrated rock ‘n’ roll band. Capable of far more than walls of noise and catchy riffs, their songs range from the grandiose to the gritty; wryly comical (“There is good and there is better/Just like imitation leather”, courtesy of Beat On Repeat), uplifting, raw, anthemic, intelligent, and simple, the best examples of which are sadly not given half of the credit they deserve.
Come back soon, Jet. I do hope that one day we’ll be ready for you.
And finally, my favorite: videos! We've got "Are You Gonna Be My Girl", as always, and my favorite ever "Walk":
Looks like the crowd was so into it, must've been a hell of a gig!
So, since we're not having any JET for a whole month, thought I should show you these two videos from their shows at the Gurten Festival and the Florestglade Festival, great stuff!
Two shows on the last two days. That's how busy Jet is and I've got some things to show you.
On the 15th, the guys headed to Switzerland to play at the Gurten Festival. I can say I had a hard time trying to read the websites in German (is that German?) but I found some pics:
I've gotta admit that some pics were only updloaded so you could check Nic's new hair cut and his disastrous pair of shoes.
And yesterday they were in Austria, also known as Australia, attending to the Forestglade Festival. Again, the language barrier was tough but Youtube is always a good friend:
Very good quality video!
So, tomorrow Jet is playing at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire in my beloved London. So jealous! I can't wait to put my hands on some footage!
Jet taxi into London As Jet’s European tour comes to a close, frontman Nic Cester tells Shannon Crane why the boys were so keen to rock out in London before heading home. Shannon Crane
IT’S been ten months since Jet paid their loyal UK fans a visit, but the Aussie boys promise to make up for their absence with a “fun, mixed bag” in London on Sunday.
The Melbourne-raised rockers took a break from touring early this year but they’re getting back into the swing of things with some of Europe’s biggest summer festivals.
Frontman Nic Cester was looking forward to a bit of fun at their Shepherd’s Bush gig, Jet’s last stop before they head back to Oz.
“London’s always been really positive,” he said from Lisbon, Portugal last week.
“No matter how well things have been going, the crowds and the shows have always been good.
“We try and make it as much fun as possible, it’s always a pretty mixed bag. It’s got to be fun for us as well as for everyone else.”
The four-piece – Nic, his brother Chris, Cam Muncey and Mark Wilson - shot to fame in 2003 with their debut album Get Born. It sold a massive 3.5 million copies but Jet were unable to match that success with the albums Shine On (2006) and Shaka Rock, released last August under their own label, Real Horror Show Records.
Jet have copped a fair amount of flak over the years for trying to mimic the greats like Oasis and The Beatles, but Nic says the boys haven’t let it get them down.
“We’ve been getting all kinds of reviews since we started. I’m aware there were some bad ones but there were also some really good ones as well,” he insisted.
“You only concern yourself with the opinion of those that actually matter to you.”
Touring and living abroad has seen the band unearth strong fanbases in some unlikely places.
“Canada’s always been really strong for us,” Nic, who spends much of his time near Milan, Italy, said.
“There are certain pockets in Europe that do really well and then there are other pockets that aren’t as strong.
“It’s always surprising to me. It keeps it interesting.”
They’re about to leap back into the music scene Down Under, supporting long-time buddies Powderfinger on their farewell tour from September.
“I just said it in passing as a joke to Bernard (Fanning), ‘like, so are we going to do a tour together or what?’,” Nic recalled.
“The very next day he was like, ‘you know what, that’s a good idea, let’s do it’.
“I didn’t realise at the time they were actually planning a tour at all, let alone their last one.
“It’s going to be a fun way to wrap it up.”
Jet rock The Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London on Sunday, July 18th. For tickets go to www.gigsandtours.com
My bad, my bad. I said on the last post that Jet's next stop would be Austria but there're actually two more dates till then. So their tour schedule in Europe goes like this:
July 10th - BBK Live 2010, Spain July 15th - Gurten Festival, Switzerland July 16th - St. Polten, Austria July 18th - Shepherds Bush Empire, England
Therefore, Jet played last night in Spain at the BBK Live and I've got here some professional footage of "Seventeen" and "Get What You Need":
Looking forward to their London show, though I won't be there. It'll be their first solo show outside the US in ages. Should be great!
IOL Musica published today a little sum up of Jet's performance at the Optimus Alive Festival, in Portugual. The video features bits of "That's All Lies" and "She's a Genius" and you can check it here.
I was hoping to find a interview on that website too, they're always interviewed by them in Portugal, but so far nothing. If I have more news I'll post it here!
Jet played earlier today at the Optimus Alive Festival in Lisbon. By what most of the articles say it was a warm show, since the band was opening the second day of the festival. I'll come back soon with some videos but for now you can have a look at some pics here.
Jet's next stop is Austria (though their website says "Australia", bad bad webmaster) on the 16th of this month at the Frequency Festival.
