JET THE FUCKING BAND - www.jetthefuckingband.com­

Before we go to the interview, let me just recomend you to take a look at Damndogs facebook. They post pics, talk to the fans and give a heads up on what's going on with the band (they don't have interviews though! so don't stop visiting us here!).

So, this website Laptorockers was doing a remix contest of Damndogs songs a few days ago and the band was interviewed. Here it is:

Chris Cester and Mark Wilson already made name & fame as core members of the Australian rock outfit Jet, but have taken a different direction as DAMNDOGS. Completed by longtime friends Mitch McIvor and Louis Macklin, the band doesn't produce rock music à la Jet, but a unique style of their own.

Currently DAMNDOGS are running a remix contest here with us at Laptoprockers, offering a perfect opportunity to have a chat with Chris about what's driving him.

With Jet you guys more or less enjoyed the status of rockstars. The direction you took with DAMDOGS tends more to have an underground scope. How does that feel?

"With DAMNDOGS, people are more interested in the sound we are making than how quickly we 'made it', or how much money we earned or what we are trying to sound like, or any of that crap. It's clearly not in a Jet sort of 'realm', sonically speaking."

Is that why did you started DAMDOGS in the first place - or did you become sort of Jet tired?

"None of those reasons. DAMNDOGS has nothing to do with Jet at all. It started because my cousin Mitch and I had always wanted to make music together and Jet had some time off...so off we went."

Do you think DAMDOGS will get you back into the charts?

"If it did, that would be an incredible coup, given that at the moment the charts are full of formulaic nonsense, it's all the same song to me. No - we are on our own mission. We'd rather have a packed room of people who are having their minds blown than an interview with Matt Lauer. We're winning respect as an interesting band with a great live show, so those are our charts."

Why did you decide to put up 5 brand new tracks in a remix contest?

"We thought it would be a great new way for people to hear the band and also to differentiate DAMNDOGS from Jet. This EP is perfect for remixing, because the tones are cool, and the songs are quite sparse, which means there is plenty of room for imaginative remixers to do something interesting with it."

What do you expect or hope remixers will do with your music?

"Really I think we just want the people involved here to throw away the concept of the original song and give us back something that's inventive and interesting. The winning remix is going on our remix EP, and there are some stellar remixes already going on it, so I'd want people to really push themselves. We're all really excited to hear what people have done with this."

What will be next from DAMNDOGS?

"It's gonna be a big year for DAMNDOGS. We have some festival shows coming up in Australia this summer, which is December....but even before that, we have some more US shows lining up, on the East Coast. Following that, we will be in the studio making an LP. We can't wait to get there...we have 25 songs already and it's only September!!"

Damndogs has finished their round of gigs in NYC for the CMJ festival. We don't know what their next steps are gonna be but meanwhile I'll leave you with some pics from their first gig in the city on Oct. 18th, click here to check them out.

Finally, I'll post another interview but before that let me just remind you all that the Damndogs EP "Strange Behaviour" is available on the Itunes here. Don't forget to buy it and leave a review. Now let's take a look on a interview for Thevine.com.au:

Not every drummer is content to sit behind their kit while the band gads about, blissed out by beats as their face contorts into strange concentrative grimaces. Some are itching to get out and take control. Some like Chris Cester from Jet.

With older brother Nic and guitarist Cameron Muncey off enjoying Jet's unspecified hiatus, the almost 30-year-old drummer and songwriter has broken away with bassist Mark Wilson, touring Jet keyboardist Louis Macklin and best friend/cousin Mitch McIver, to form a new band distant from Jet’s radio friendly meat and three veg rock. And this time he’s holding the mic.

After playing their first gig in an LA strip joint, one reviewer slapped DAMNDOGS with a “Gorillaz procreating with PiL” label, and it has to be said there is a similarity between Cester and Johnny Lydon’s curt, sleazy vocals. Marry that to dark, fuzzed out bass, sinister dubby synths and catchy dance hooks, and you’ve got a recipe that may leave Jet fans scratching their noggins.

Back briefly in town for a gig to share his new baby, Cester took a break from rehearsals to discuss hash-induced revelry, partying with Scott Horscroft, producing Japanese bands in kimonos and his joy of not being boxed in by Jet.

--

How long are you back in Melbourne for?

Two weeks, just for a week of rehearsals and then there’s a week in between the Melbourne and Sydney shows, so I get to go to a footy game.

Who do you support?

(Hesitates) Umm Collingwood, sorry. Everyone fuckin’ hates Collingwood, I don’t understand it. In the modern era, there’s no more bogans.

Well I must know a lot of bogans…So how long have you been back home?

I live in LA. I got back into town a couple of nights ago and I’ve been trying to get back on schedule. It’s horrible that flight. I’ve only been in town for a couple of days and we’re pretty much straight into it. We had everything going pretty good when we did some shows a couple of months back, but you need some refresher courses, y’know? Just like surgeons have to do it.

So you guys played your first gigs in LA?

We just sort of went there on the back of the Aussie Invasion South by South West tip—they take a bunch of bands through LA and they had one band drop out. And since Mark was already in town working on new stuff with me, we went 'OK, we’ll just get the other guys over here and we’ll just do it.'

It was so last minute, we got everything together in a week and because of the few people that have heard bits and bobs of what we’d done, we were all of a sudden getting all these gig offers. We went and played at Crazy Girls (LA strip joint) which was the weirdest show I’ve ever played my whole life. It was bizarre—playing weird, spaced out, ice age like, super refined tunes to a crowd that probably expect Motley Crue. And obviously that’s pretty surreal for me having the background in Jet and everything.

They wanted a rock band to get up there and turn it up, but it was so different. And also trying to concentrate and remember all the new lyrics…they came up to us at the start and they were like, 'Do you want the girls to be grinding on you and stuff?' That was so ridiculous. So the girls didn’t actually get up on stage but it was bizarre to say the least. A surreal gig. That was a warm up and then we did the Aussie Invasion show at Echo Park and then we did a closing show at a place called Harvard and Stone. It was just great, we sort of surprised ourselves, it came up quickly and we got it all together and how natural everything sounded.

How did DAMNDOGS come about?

Louis Macklin was Jet’s touring keyboardist and percussionist for the last few years. So we became really close on Jet tours. And Mitch is my first cousin and has been my best friend since we were kids.

So Mitch and I started the band and I would go on Jet tours and we would talk about it with Louis. And then Mark (Wilson, Jet bassist) perked his ears up and got wind of it and was really into it. So we basically just talked the band into existence for a couple of years. We just didn’t have time to actually get it together. And then finally when Jet decided to go on a longer break…I’m not good with doing nothing, y’know? I can’t just sit at home and wait for something to happen.

So we just ploughed through, kept working, and visiting each other. I’d come down, we went and tracked the EP at Big Jesus Burger in Sydney. And then some of the guys would come back in dribs and drabs to LA and we’d work on stuff. We just slowly put it all together. People just started to take notice so it became real pretty quickly.

Where’s the name DAMNDOGS from?

That happened in Marrakesh… there was one tour I think Jet played a couple of dates with the Stones, and after that there was a little break and I’d just broken up with my ex girlfriend and didn’t really want to come home to an empty house. So Mitch came out and met me in Morocco, and we basically just had the craziest time. It was such a surreal place to hang out on the other side of the world with your best friend.

One night we’d been up drinking wine all night and we were at our hotel watching the sun come up. It was first light and the call to prayer would come over the loud speakers and in Marrakesh the dogs in the city aren’t domesticated; they’re just scrawny, demonic little retches. And when they heard the loud speakers crackling to life in the morning they just went absolutely beserk! There’s like thousands of wild dogs just roaming around the streets looking for scraps.

The combination of hearing the mosque prayers and the dogs going absolutely mental with the sun coming up, it was just such a surreal combination. That’s where the name was born from. And that was the first thing—we’d named our band before we’d even made one note.

I think that’s probably a good thing. Because the whole coming up with the name thing can be so frustrating—i you’ve already got your sound and then you can never find the name to fit. I think it’s good to come up with the name first and then make the sound.

I agree, it’s a real pain. Especially when you’re sitting there with a handful of songs and you’re trying to find a name that encapsulates what you do. It’s ridiculous. It doesn’t make any sense. When you’re having a baby you normally name it before you see it, otherwise you’re going to have a baby with no name. It’s the same thing, it makes sense to name it first.

Although I’ve known people who’ve had a nameless baby for quite a few weeks.

Me too. I didn’t do that. I have a daughter, her name’s Coco. She’s 10 and a half months.

DAMNDOGS is a pretty major departure from Jet. Do you and Mitch share a similar kind of love of that dark electro rock stuff?

It’s funny, Mitch and I never even really discussed what the band would sound like. Because we’ve been friends for so many years… we just started talking about the band, doing something together. And there was a couple of loose riffs that were hanging around that I’d been working on that really didn’t fit...it wouldn’t have worked with Jet. And definitely more leaning on the stuff that I fell in love with from Primal Scream’s records like XTRMNTR and stuff like that.

And we never even talked about it. All we did was name the band, basically, and then smoked hash in Morocco for a week. That was pretty much the formation. And then when we got in a room together it sort of naturally went where it went. The weirdness...the difference in the music between this and Jet was obviously pretty staggering. But we never talked about it, we just kept pushing it through and refining it. And taking things off the table, because this band is more about what we weed out rather than what we put in. It’s more sparse, like what I was saying before about the Ice Age. I always think of that. I suppose now that it’s sort of progressing and we have fourteen or so songs. Its funny I don’t think this band is really influenced by bands and sounds, as [much as] it is by a kind of feeling of a song. I won’t tell you which ones they are but there’s about five songs and they all have a connection to each other.

Something like David Bowie’s Fame for example. They’re sort of cynical and it’s dark a little bit, but it’s also funny. It’s a combination of those flavours. It’s not happy dance music. It’s like the last couple of years the electronic sounds that have been coming out are quite sugar-coated and for me they don’t make me feel anything.

Very 80s….

Yeah exactly. It’s like that revival of attitude and that’s fine. But I just don’t get anything out of that. I didn’t get anything out of that over the last few years of popular music. And so it’s just a reaction to that I suppose.

You mention cynical and listening to the lyrics of single 'Very First Century', it’s definitely got a cynical edge to it.

I suppose it does. But like I said, we don’t sit around and think about it. Often times with DAMNDOGS, a lyric will be born out of how you push the words out of your mouth rather than in the beginning what you’re saying. And then gradually over time, you work those syllables into real words that mean something to you. And that’s really a different approach to how we did it with Jet—or how I would write with Jet. Which is more of a classic thing, where you sit down with a guitar and work out a song in that way. But DAMNDOGS is all about the percussive elements, so the lyrics would be born out of that. As opposed to sitting down and thinking about something to write a song about, y’know?

A bit more organic. What do you mean when you describe it as the Ice Age?

When I hear our stuff—especially the new stuff we’ve been working on the last couple of days—it makes me think of the ice age. It reminds me of…the song we all really love is 'The National Anthem', I think it’s the first track from Radiohead’s Kid A record [It's the third track - Ed], which is really tough, and [has] a really defined beat. But the soundscape behind it is really minimal. It still feels like it’s right on your eyeballs, but there’s nothing really happening. And that always makes me think of an ice age when I hear that song.

And you recorded with Scott Horscroft, have you worked with him before?

I’ve worked every bar, restaurant and pub in Sydney with him for the past few years (laughs). But we did do some work with him. How we met Scott was Mark and I—it wasn’t public knowledge in Australia—Mark and I started a production company and just did this one job, we produced a Japanese artist. I can’t even remember what the band’s called now. So we booked time up in Sydney and this Japanese pop group came out to see us and we made this really weird…they wanted us to get them a Jet sounding kind of record, but Mark and I wanted to use it as an opportunity for our stranger musical leanings. So we kind of pulled them in there and they were a bit surprised when we came up with the song that we came up with. Because it didn’t sound anything like Jet.

But anyway Scott Horscroft was operating those sessions. In fact I was just up in Sydney a couple of weeks ago and I was sitting across the table from Scott and I was…when we hang out, basically my life just gets shut down for a week because we just basically party.

Oh one of those friends…

Yeah. And I said to him, 'How did we first become first good friends?' And he lost it. And he recalled this story of us in BJB sitting around with a VB in a kimono…because all the Japanese record company had flown out, there were about 28 people in this tiny little studio: costume designers, A&R people, managers, agents—they were all there. They’d all flown in. It was the most ridiculous thing, they must have spent so much money on this one song. And they gave us these kimonos as gifts. And basically we just wore them the whole time making the record. So that’s how we met Scott, somewhere between surreal and bizarre.

So you’re obviously a fan of his work with people like The Presets?

That’s right. So after we’d done the Japanese record, we talked about getting in the studio and doing another project. And [about how] Scott was such a great guy to do it with. We just get along so well and, I think, trust each others instincts. And obviously that element coming through from [his work with] The Presets. It was good for us because we didn’t want to go with somebody who was going to make us sound like Jet. And it worked out really well.

And is it good to get out from behind the drum kit? Does it feel freer or a bit weird?

It feels great. Because I’ve written songs in Jet for years and, honestly, it’s difficult sometimes to write a song, and then almost give it up—you’re watching it happen from back on the drums and you can’t deliver it the way you want to. Nic’s been killing that for years, he’s been doing a great job. But it’s like you have to let go of your song in a way, and now I don’t have to do that. And I get to control every moment and every aspect of it; from the creation through to playing in front of an audience. So there’s a lot of freedom that comes with that and I’ve really been enjoying it.

You’re not nervous to be out the front?

I guess I get nervous before DAMNDOGS shows where I haven’t gotten nervous before a Jet show. I couldn’t even tell you when, because we’ve been together for so long now. But with this project I get nervous about it running exactly the way we have it rehearsed. But I don’t get nervous about standing in front of a crowd. I think if you’re nervous about standing in front of a crowd and you’re a musician then its probably time to reconsider your life.

So what is Nic up to? Is he based in America as well?

Nic lives in Como (Lake, Italy) and he has a place in Melbourne. Honestly I think the break [with Jet] has been really good. We haven’t really kept up with each other so much. I think we’ve been enjoying going off and living our lives for a minute. I mean, we’ve been together for so long as brothers. People normally go away from each other in families— like when you leave school and stuff—but we went straight from school pretty much, into a tour bus. And we’ve been doing [that] for years.

So I don’t really know. I know from all reports, from my friends that have run into him, he’s doing really well. And he’s really happy to be having his own time, as I am.

Much needed…. and I guess you’ve seen since all the DAMNDOGS stuff started coming out all the fans are in a total panic thinking that Jet’s broken up?

I suppose so. It doesn’t matter how many times you tell them that you’re not. Obviously people read into a new band and they think that means they can’t exist in the same world, but that’s ridiculous. Its good, I don’t know what’s on the cards for Jet at the moment. We literally haven’t spoken about what we’re doing and it’s been the first time, like I’ve said, in 8 years, that we haven’t had a plan. So it remains to be seen when we’re going to get together again. But for sure it will happen.

The more time I get to work [DAMNDOGS] into something on its own steam...that suits me down to the ground, y’know? I’m really enjoying this work and I’m really enjoying the difference and the freedom that it gives me. There’s no barriers here. There’s no world that we’ve boxed ourselves into. It’s a fresh start and it’s a new opportunity to grow.

So when’s the EP out?

We’re meeting our manager about that later today actually. There’s no deadline date locked in but it will be in August.

You mentioned before there’s 14 songs so there’s obviously an album planned after that?

Yeah, absolutely. And we haven’t mapped out where and who we’re going to do that with. So far I’m just enjoying this so much, because in Jet we’d have had that conversation 4 months ago and gone into the studio.

We’re listening and as the music changes, so too do the names that come up for production. And also just floating around and having other producers put their two cents in, there’s some really interesting people in the mix. And I can’t wait to get back into the studio to see how far we can stretch this, and how wild we can make it.

So you’re playing the Toff in Melbourne? It’s such a hot spot for bands now.

I wouldn’t know. Whenever I do interviews now, especially in America, people ask me “What’s the scene like in Melbourne?”. And it’s really hard to say. Whenever I’ve come into town it’s changed so radically. I swear the last 8 years Melbourne has been changing faster than ever. Places go up and go down in a matter of weeks now I feel like. But I like the Toff, I’ve had some good times there. There’s always Big Day Out after parties there. I’ve been kicked out of there a few times which is usually a good sign. Hopefully we won’t get kicked out on gig night. Maybe afterwards though, you never know.

Annika Priest

So, as you probably noticed we've got a new cleaner look and a new layout! We got sick of all the black, dark stuff. Also, we've got a new domain, we're now Jetthefuckingband.com, like it used to be. Lastly, there's a new tool on the website where you can share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Orkut or through e-mail. It's right there above the comments part.

We hope we can improve the website as the time goes and we're glad to take your suggestions!

Moving on, Damndogs are currently in NYC playing for the CMJ Festival but so far we didn't come accross anything on their latest gigs. Therefore, we're gonna continuing our interviews post and this one is from Ausralia's The Age:



Eclectic canines learn new tricks


MARK Wilson lowers his head in mock shame. The musician, best known as the bass player for the multimillion-selling Melbourne band Jet, has committed a social media faux pas in helping to launch his new group, Damndogs. An extra keystroke on the registration screen and the band is profiled on Facebook as Damn Dogs, a typo that is not amended easily.

''If more than 100 people like you on Facebook, you can't change your name,'' Wilson says, sitting outside a Brunswick cafe as his border collie, Sailor, bounds around. ''You have to write to the company and ask them to fix it for you. That's one of the problems with doing everything yourself - you have to take the blame for your mistakes.''

Online blemishes aside, Wilson is excited about the band, which sees him playing alongside Jet's drummer, Chris Cester, who steps out from behind his kit to serve as frontman, keyboardist Louis Macklin and guitarist Mitch McIvor. The tightly bound four-piece - Macklin has toured with Jet, while McIvor is Cester's cousin and best friend - are about to follow up their debut shows in Los Angeles, where Cester lives with his partner and child, with Melbourne and Sydney gigs. They also have an exceptional EP awaiting release.
Advertisement: Story continues below

Wilson and Cester's connection as a rhythm section shines through Damndogs' initial handful of songs, where lean, pronounced grooves that recall punk rock's discovery of dub and disco provide the foundation for sparse, expressive guitar licks and atmospheric keyboards. The verses of Very First Century suggest Ian Dury and the Blockheads and the chorus Beck, while Cocaine is a suitably murky jam that recalls Happy Mondays' melding of indie music and acid house.

Damndogs' eclectic sound sits in plain contrast to Jet's embrace of rock'n'roll tradition and with the latter on an extended hiatus - ''We talk regularly but we don't have anything planned,'' Wilson says - the former is working towards recording a debut album and touring widely next year. This should disperse the usual concerns about side projects being no more than enjoyable diversions.

''We're taking this seriously; it's not just a project for fun. This is our new thing,'' Wilson says. ''A lot of people will be challenged by it. If someone likes Damndogs, it's definitely possible they'll never have cared for Jet … We want that. We didn't want to put out something that was essentially the same.''

The idea for the group has been gestating for years. Cester and McIvor decided to start a band while on holiday in Morocco several years ago (a pack of stray dogs they saw inspired the name), while Wilson and Cester talked about the nascent outfit's aesthetic at length throughout the touring for Jet's third album, 2009's Shaka Rock.

Afterwards, emails carried ideas back and forth, as tracks were cut up and reassembled in various time zones. ''Chris has been dying to be a frontman for years,'' Wilson laughs.

For the bassist, this is also something of a coming of age. Having been the last member to join Jet, arriving in 2002 as their career trajectory was about to go vertical thanks to Are You Gonna Be My Girl, he spent his 20s finding his feet through repeated album and tour cycles. Now, with his hair slicked back and sporting an aristocratic van Dyke beard, Wilson looks and sounds ready for the spotlight.

''We've got our fingers in all the pies,'' he says. ''We don't have a record deal and, while we've been talking to people, we don't care if we don't have one. We're happy to do it all ourselves. We sort our own gear, figure when to rehearse, stay at each other's house to save money. We're working with various people but no one's putting it all on a schedule for us.

''It's a lot easier starting a band the second time,'' Wilson says with a smile. ''Because you actually know what you're doing.''

As I mentioned before, Damndogs are doing a round of gigs for the CMJ Festival in NYC. Two nights ago, the guys played at the Tammany Hall and we've got a little bit of
"Love" on video:



About last night's gig, all we've got is a pic of them performing:

Also, the blog Thrillcall interviewed them and here it is:

Australian-formed band, DAMNDOGS are ready to take over the states as they are set to headline New York’s CMJ Music Marathon 2011 starting tonight! With their Strange Behaviour EP out now, Chris Cester, Mitch McIvor, Mark Wilson, and Louis Macklin are clearly on the brink of something big. These Aussies are not new to the scene, however, as two of the band members made up half of JET, (Cester and Wilson). The reviews are in, and across the board, DAMNDOGS are being called “dark and dancey,” with complicated beats and an intentional lack of genre, you will want to, scratch that need to, listen to. Their Facebook Bio sums up their sound better than any reviewer could: “DAMNDOGS carve out a bombastic warpath to the dancefloor, conjuring images of Gorillaz in a coke-fueled fistfight with the Beastie Boys at a Clash show in one of Andy Warhol’s factories.”

For those of you with DJ aspirations, check out the DAMNDOGS remix contest, where you can submit your personal remixes of their hit songs. If you submit by October 27th your remix will be considered for a chance to win prizes that include impressive music mixing software and hardware. While your unconscious brain plans out the acts to catch for CMJ Music Marathon and Film Festival 2011, and simultaneously nabs synths for your first DAMNDOGS remix, let your conscious brain get to know DAMNDOGS as they answered our questions below:

Thrillcall: If you were to rate your popularity, how would you compare to The Beatles?

DAMNDOGS: If the Beatles were “bigger than Jesus,” then we’re easily bigger than L.Ron Hubbard.

Thrillcall: What band inspires you, especially when it comes to your genre?

DAMNDOGS: We’re trying hard not to be in a genre…without trying to sound elitist or something like that. We’re just as inspired by mad Latino records as we are ghostface killah.

Thrillcall: Where do you see yourselves in five years?

DAMNDOGS: I’d love to take this band to new, or previously untapped, places that don’t rely on apps to tell them what’s cool. Ex-Soviet states?! Who knows…we’re building this block by block and without labels and charts…the exciting thing is that we have no idea where we will be. Hopefully there are lots of people there with us…wherever it is.

Thrillcall: What is the fastest time you have had from writing a song from scratch and having it recorded and finished in the studio?

DAMNDOGS: Probably “Dog One,” our first tune. How long does it take to plug in and press record?

Thrillcall: If you were not a musician what other career would you want to have?


DAMNDOGS: Tough. Cartographer! Fucken love maps. Maps!!

Thrillcall: What are some of the differences between your home-based fans in Austrailia, and your US fans?

DAMNDOGS: It’s pretty similar. Leave the big cities and everyones mad for it…go back to them, and people prefer crossing their arms and ‘discussing.’

Thrillcall: What is your favorite song to play on stage and why?

DAMNDOGS: Cocaine. Louis invented an instrument for that one, the ‘swoopaphone’…it’s like jamming on the Hoth system. Our favourite gig would be anywhere with a big Fuck-Off PA system. We aim to rattle rafters, teeth and bones. It’s a good time. We don’t jump around like bunny rabbits but we try and bring the backstage party to the audience.

As promised, I'm gonna begin tonight a round of posts with interviews Damndogs did over the last few months. Also, this blog is soon gonna become a website with its own domain and new looks! So keep checking back!

Before we start though, I'd like to fill you up with their tour dates. Right now they're in New York City playing a round of gigs for the CMJ Festival (more info here and here) and they're also on the line-up of Homebake 2011 to be held on December 3rd in Sydney, Aus.

We're gonna begin with an interview for the Examiner where Chris and Louis give us an idea of what they're aiming with this new project.

The formation of Australian rock outfit DAMNDOGS was completely organic and born wholely from the pure, deep-rooted passion of four talented musicians. Chris Cester, Mitch McIvor, Mark Wilson, and Louis Macklin set out to create a sound so unique, so interesting, and driven solely off their love for music, that it would defy genre chategorization- and they succeeded. Wanting to separate themselves from the mainstream melodies of Cester and Wilson's other band, the highly successful Jet (which Macklin has also been touring with since 2009), DAMNDOGS deliver weird, dark, danceworthy, tunes that are impossible not to get addicted to. I recently spent an evening with Cester and Macklin, two of the nicest guys I have every encountered, and they filled me in on playing shows, the human-to-hipster ration in Melbourne, and just how much they love this new band.

The guys have been through Denver before, but not with DAMNDOGS. “DAMNDOGS have never been to Denver,” Cester shares. “Jet went through Colorado a couple of times in the last two years alone.” One of those times happened to be in Colorado Springs with Denver’s own Photo Atlas providing support. “At the Black Sheep?” Macklin asks. “That was a great show! It’s a strange town there. It has a spectacular backdrop, but it's really weird.” “I really remember that show,” Cester marvels. “And I hate to sound cocky now, but I particularly remember we were f****** on fire that night, it was a really good gig. We rolled up to the venue and were like, ‘What the f***? This place is crazy, who’s going to come out to death alley and see a gig?’ But people were there and it was rocking.”

The musicians found Colorado Springs to be a bit weird, but how do they feel about Denver? “It’s beautiful,” Cester shares. “As far as the town goes, I haven’t really had a chance to spend time there. You know, you’re there for a day and then you wake up hung over, go to soundcheck, play the gig, then you leave. It’s difficult to get out and explore. But the fans are good.”

Though he currently lives in Los Angeles, Cester is originally from Melbourne, Australia, where Macklin still resides. Since I have never been to Australia, I wonder what the music scene is like over there. “It’s more backstabbing in Melbourne than it is even in LA,” Cester reveals. “It’s a strange juxtaposition of support and discerning crowds,” Macklin concurs. “Everyone’s in a band- absolutely everyone. So someone could be in the back watching you play, with their arms folded thinking to themselves, ‘I’m having the best time of my life, this band is incredible’, but not expressing it in any way.” “There is no sense of camaraderie really,” Cester chimes in. “It’s pretty poor. Everyone’s got something sh**** to say about you. Unfortunately, what Melbourne has going against it as well, is it has probably the worst human-to-hipster ratio on the planet,” Cester explains and we all burst out laughing. “I’m serious," he relays. "The hipster to human ratio is f***** up down there. I don’t want to paint a horrible picture of it, it’s my home and I love it more than anywhere else, but it can be quite snobby. Sometimes that’s good, it inspires us.” “Ultimately it forces you to work harder,” Macklin adds. “It forces you to play your ass off when there’s a sense of competition.”

DAMNDOGS released their debut EP, Strange Behavior, in August and the music is already receiving superlative reviews. “We aren’t expecting to sell one million copies of it,” Cester admits. “This is a first step for us. We’re doing this on our own right now and we’ve had opportunities to get into bed with companies- record companies, publishing companies, and that sort of stuff- but so far we’ve stuck to our guns and not gotten involved with any of them. So for us this is a really important first step in just announcing our existence to everybody.” “In the short term, it’s an album,” Macklin shares. “The EP songs were recorded about a year ago and it’s such a common predicament for bands to be in because it takes so long to release the music.”

“We really want people to hear about this band organically,” Cester says thoughtfully. “I’ve been in another band where that wasn’t the case. When companies get involved they can get in and f*** that up and really steer you in directions that are out of your control. We want to be massive, everyone does. You don’t do it unless you want everyone to love you. If you don’t think it’s worth people’s attention, you don’t put it out at all. We have a lot of belief in the band, but at the same time this is a really organic process and it’s been a real pleasure to do it in this way, to grow it the way we’re growing it. We were in my backyard two weeks ago hand-stamping our EPs. It was great."

In support of the EP release, DAMNDOGS played a string of California shows, as well as a couple of sold-out Australia gigs. “It was amazing,” Cester says. “The shows were really great. There’s something really freeing about what we’re doing. It’s a little bit more genre defying then what I was doing before and so there’s two great elements to that: one is that people who come expecting a rock and roll band aren’t getting it and I enjoy that confusion; and two, people who don’t know anything about us are hearing something they’ve never heard before. So the shows were great.” “That’s exactly what I was going to say,” Macklin agrees. “We played totally diverse venues as well. In San Francisco we played in a dirty punk club, you know, and here in LA we played in a couple of small, hip bars.”

It is obvious in hearing the gentlemen talk about DAMNDOGS that they're riding off of sheer love and fervor for the music. When they write songs for this band there is nothing inhibiting them, no one telling them to do it in a particular way, no industry folks telling them the music is too weird. Besides, in their minds, the weirder the better. “We try not to be a rock band,” Cester says matter-of-factly. “We’re not a rock band. I don’t even want to put any tags on it because that just fuels the fire and you end up answering questions about genres for the rest of your life. It’s definitely not a rock band. We’ve said to the people that are helping us build this that we’re not interested in going down that road- we want it to be as weird as possible. In my conversation with our manager I said, “I don’t want to play in rock clubs, I want to play in gay bars, bowling alleys, I don’t care'. You’ve got to go where you’re not wanted. Everyone’s seen a rock band. These are strange times as well, so why not be strange?”

DAMNDOGS are currently in the writing process, but soon enough they will hit the road again. And when they do, you will not want to miss an opportunity to see this band perform. Between their one-of-a-kind hooks, their contagious energy, and their kind, friendly, laid-back personalities, this foursome is headed for greatness.


Tchau.

Hello, it's been a while! So, in case you're wondering, I left this blog a year ago and a few days later I was invited to run JETtheband.com, which I did until June this year. I "quit" it cause I like to do things my own way, you know. And I decided to come back because... well, I missed it. There, I said it.

Let's make it less about me and more about Jet, the fucking band. Well, the band itself has been on a year break. But it's not like its four members die or go into a coma when they're not a band. They naturally have gone into something meanwhile. And that something is called Damndogs.



This project came about in June with the release of the video above. Just a quick sum up if you haven't been updated yet, Damndogs is comprised of Chris (here on vocals and jumpsuit), Mark (bass), Mitch McIvor (guitar and Chris's cousin) and Louis Macklin (you've seen him if you've been to a Jet gig, he's been Jet's touring keyboardist since 09) and they play some kind of disco, pop, I don't know how to define music. They've released an EP in August called "Strange Behaviour" and they've done a few gigs in the US and Australia.

I don't wanna be an ass and post the links to the EP songs on Youtube so I'm gonna do better than that. One of their gigs in Australia, in Melbs to be more precise, had a few songs filmed. So take a look at the Damndogs:

Low


Love


Daughter


Wonder Why



Well, that's it for now. Over the next few days I'm gonna post some of the interviews they've made so far. The comments are opened as always and I might give the blog a little change on the looks, but I need some help with that. So let's see.

Tchau.

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!

Cheers!

Andie.