Review Fix chats with Jake Cook (Guitar/Vocals) and David Jerusik (Drums) of the Backseaters, who discuss their origin, creative process and goals for the rest of 2016, as well as their upcoming show on Sept. 10 at the Marquis Theater in Denver, CO.
Review Fix: How did the band get together?
Jake Cook: The band got together because we used to work together at a place called Yogurtland when we were 16. That’s not when we started the band, but that’s when we first became aware of each other and the fact that both of us had a passion for music. It wasn’t until early 2015 that we decided to team up and start playing together.
I had been writing and recording songs as The Backseaters for a couple years before David joining, but it wouldn’t be what it is today without him in the band!
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Cook: The creative process is kind of all over the place. We usually like to have everything written before we record. Usually I will start recording guitars and stuff with an initial idea, but it doesn’t really get molded in to the finished product until David puts his rhythmic spin on it! Sometimes I will have what I think to be a complete idea for a song, and then David will throw down something insane on the drums, and I will have no choice but to rewrite the whole song because I didn’t do his part justice.
Review Fix: What’s your standout song? How was it written?
Cook: We have gotten a lot of good feedback on our songs Real Life, The Lottery, and Limbo! I actually wrote Real Life like 5 years ago when I started the band, but didn’t bring it back until the recent release! I wrote Limbo and The Lottery in one day each, and had what I thought to be completed songs until we threw David in on the drums! The Lottery actually sounded completely different until David sat down to record it. His drums were killer, which made me hate what I had put down, so I scrapped the guitars and stuff and started fresh around his drum part. It actually turned out being one of my favorite songs on the album… and it almost didn’t even make the cut (laughs)
David Jerusik: For me personally it’s No Explanation. The reason that I think the song is a real standout is because of literally how organically and naturally it came together. Our bass player was simply messing out with a bass riff and we thought it was cool then Jake started playing along and once we kind of got the bones of the song down we were able to flesh it out into something really incredible. I also really like the song lyrically as well because it asks questions about the world and why we as humans are how we are.
Review Fix: What are your goals for 2016?
Cook: Our goals for 2016 are just to keep playing as many shows as we can; including our headline show at the Marquis Theater in Denver, CO on September 10. Along with playing shows, we will be working on putting together a set of releases that will be out by the end of this year and the beginning of next year! There’s a whole method behind it, which we will be revealing shortly.
Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?
Cook: I’ve always dreamt of people being able to listen to my music and say “okay, I’m not the only one feeling this way… Here’s this other guy whom I’ve never even met, and he’s basically writing about my life!†Music has helped me through a lot of stuff in life and I have made an effort to reach out to the bands who have helped me to let them know that their music really affected and helped me! I only hope that I can give people something that means the world to me, to them, and have it do what numerous bands have inadvertently done for me.
Jerusik: I think ultimately I want our music to be something people find comfort in. The kind of band that they turn on when works sucks, a relationship with significant other ended, or even just when life is going really well. I want us to be a band that people want to do life with.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Cook: As stated before, we are going to keep pressing on, giving everything we have to this dream and this band! We’re really excited to start gearing up for our set of releases at the end of this year and beginning of next year! It’s going to be something fresh and exciting that not a whole lot of bands are doing nowadays.
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