Recess sits down Jukebox the Ghost

I arrived at the Pinhook–where Jukebox the Ghost would later blow away the audience with an intense and energetic set–with my friend Andrew around 7:30pm. I had been told to call Jukebox the Ghost’s tour manager, Gabe McNatt, upon arriving. My first phone call to him rang several times before going to voicemail. I glanced up and down the line of people waiting outside the venue to see this band. It made me smile to think that a band like Jukebox the Ghost, so rooted in quirky, indie pop, could gain such a steadfast following.

Within a few minutes, Gabe returned my call and told us to come meet them at Eddie’s Cue, a local barbeque restaurant a few blocks away. Andrew and I trekked over to the restaurant and were led to their table by a hostess. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the band after watching their undeniably fun, but slightly odd, concert banter on YouTube, but we were greeted with warm handshakes from the three people that were there: Jesse Kristin, their drummer, Ben Thornewill, the lead singer and piano player, and Gabe. Tommy Siegel, their guitarist, was the one who couldn’t attend.

“Do you guys want anything to eat or drink?” Ben asked as a waiter approached us. A little taken aback by the offer, Andrew and I both stammered out a polite "no" and asked for water.

While I set my recording equipment up, they asked us about school and Durham and our personal lives. This too was a first for me. Rarely was an artist willing to sit down over a meal to discuss their music and methodology, even rarer was an artist that wanted to hear about my life first. Eventually, though, the conversation floated to the topic at hand. How had Jukebox the Ghost arrived at this point in their career? With critical acclaim for their latest, self-titled album, the band seemed to be at a pretty great point in their career.

“I think the appeal of our music originally was that it was super weird and quirky and caffeinated and sort of all over the place,” explained Ben, talking about how the band has evolved up to now. He looked to Jesse for confirmation.

“Yeah, and I think part of the appeal for us was that we could play our instruments well. To a lot of people, that matters. Now, it’s interesting because there’s a balance because we try to simplify…” Jesse began, at which point Ben cut him off.

“Yeah, but I think our live show has always been the common thread throughout.”

Just being with the group was energizing, with the constant back and forth. Gabe, for the most part, stayed out of the conversation. Occasionally, he would chuckle at something one of the members had said or nod in agreement. The dynamic between Jesse and Ben, though, was strong and very natural.

“Oh right!” Ben said, slapping his forehead in jest. “And our looks!”

“So,” I began. “This may be too personal, but what is the group dynamic like?”

Ben responded instantly.

“Bitter. Resentful. Hateful. Full of contempt.” He kept a completely serious face for a couple of seconds before breaking into a grin and laughing.

It was clear, though, that this was not the case. Just hearing the band describe their writing process demonstrates the collaboration and honesty in the process. As Ben explained, none of their music has ever come from a “jam session.” Instead, the origin of a song is always done in private. When a band member brings a song to the group though, they deconstruct it together and create something bigger and, often, completely different. Even more so, the group is much more accustomed to creating different and more unconventional music.

“On those first records, we felt like we needed to play all the time and fill up all the space,” Ben said. “Now, we are just comfortable letting it happen. We aren’t going to get our egos involved and make it bigger than it needs to be.”

The fact that they are this comfortable demonstrates how far they have come.

“About a year ago, we realized we could do this for a long time,” said Jesse. “There is such a lack of writer's block for this band.” He went on to explain how, with their most recent album, he realized that they had sixty or more songs that they could have recorded and could have made “two slow records or two sci-fi records” or anything in between. This is compared to sixteen songs for Safe Travels, their last album.

With a band that seems to have had so many high points recently, it was tough for any of those three to identify a real low point.

“Gabe, what do you think?” I asked, turning to their tour manager. He looked up from his phone thoughtfully.

“Well, probably driving through Colorado in February. Nearly dying basically. There was just really gnarly weather.”

I looked to the other band members for their thoughts.

“I think our low point is yet to be seen. It might happen on this tour!” Jesse said.

I turned to Ben, who had a mischievous glimmer in his eye that I had already come to associate with his sarcastic responses.

“Probably having Gabe on the road with us. That’s sort of been a consistent damper on things,” he said.

The three of them chuckled together. I ask Gabe if he had any high points of being tour manager for the band.

“It’s funny because I think a lot of people think of touring as this glamorous thing that happens. But it’s like, honestly, every day you wake up, and there are all these strange obstacles that you have. You gotta get food, you wake up hungover, you’re dehydrated, you have to drive hundreds of miles, it might be hot or it might be cold.”

“Then all these fucking college journalists!” interrupted Ben, laughing.

“But every once in a while you get these really good shows where everything comes together. And it’s just this magical moment that happens for two hours. But it makes everything worthwhile. That’s really the high,” said Gabe.

There was a pause while the band members finished eating and pushed their plates aside.

“We’re lucky. We know how to make ourselves happy. I think a lot of bands don’t,” said Jesse. “But I think we’ve kind of figured it out.”

Jukebox the Ghost's self-titled fourth album was released on Oct. 21 on Yep Roc Records.