Review Fix Exclusive: Jane’s Party’s Jeff Giles Talks ‘Drive’ And More

December 1, 2018 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with Jane’s Party’s Jeff Giles, who discusses the inspiration and creative process behind the band’s new album, “Drive.”

Review Fix: How did the band form?

Jeff Giles: We began by jamming in a garage up at Jane and Finch where we were all going to school together. We made our first record in that garage and aptly named it, ‘The Garage Sessions’.

How did you get involved in music?

We all started playing music at a young age each on our respective instruments, so its something that has been a part of our lives since as long as we can remember.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Giles: Our creative process differs quite drastically depending on the process but for the most part when we are working on Jane’s Party material it usually starts with one of us bringing an idea to the table and then each of us adding something to it until it starts sound like a song. However, when collaborating with other artist the process can be very fluid, ranging from writing and recording something on the spot to months of going back and forth a number of times and work shopping ideas until we are happy with something.

Review Fix: What inspires you?

Giles: Artists that stay active and continue to produce and release art regardless of modern media archetypes. It’s a tough industry to be in right now and its easy to get stagnant trying to strike gold with a big release, so those out there who manage to produce high quality content in a timely manner always inspires us to keep writing, recording and playing live.

Review Fix: What makes this album special?

Giles: This album is the first to include so many collaborations.  We have songs featuring Skratch Bastid, Kirty, Willa and Matt Angus from Fast Romantics as well as some incredible production and playing by Leland Whitty of BADBADNOTGOOD. 

Review Fix: What’s the standout track?

Giles: Too hard to pick one as this is a really strong album for us all around so nothing really stands out as being “THE ONE”. 

Review Fix: What’s on your musical bucket list?

Giles: Tour the world. Japan more precisely. 

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Giles: Indie Rockers with a splash of Britpop making Pop Rock music.  

Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?

Giles: We definitely like to let loose on a few of our songs live allowing for liberally jammed outros and solo sections. We also like to play choice covers which don’t usually make the records so those are something unique to our live show. Also, people don’t always realize that we have three lead singers based on the recordings, so I imagine that’s a nice surprise when seeing us live for the first time.

What are your goals for the rest of 2018?

We are playing Buffalo this month then a couple of charity concerts in Toronto in December followed by an extended holiday until 2019 while we gear up for the record release in February.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Giles: Once we release the record the plan is to hit the road and play these songs live to as many people as possible. We also have some more collaborations in the works as well as plans to start recording a rock and roll EP so keep your ear to the ground. 

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Giles: ‘Casual Island’ comes out early February and we are so excited to share it with you all so make sure to check it out when it drops.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14321 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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