Jeff the Brotherhood easily became my new favorite band over the past fews months. I just wish I had discovered them earlier; the sibling duo have been playing music together since 2001 and have amassed a formidable amount of work. They're latest album, We Are The Champions is their seventh studio album and showcases rock n roll at it's finest. However, I say it's never too late to get into a band and luckily for me I'm finally going to see them perform live in Louisville, KY at Mag Bar (21+) this Sunday night alongside Coliseum, Cy Barkley & State Champion.
I've come to worship this band because of their penchant for making music that hits like a fist, even though their set up consists of a bare bones drum kit and a three-stringed guitar. How the hell do they manage to make music that makes me you want to drink whiskey, fight and make love all at the same? I called one part of Jeff the Brotherhood, Jake Orrall to find out.
Live Buzz: You just played a set at Bonnaroo, how does playing a large festival compare to playing a small and intimate venue?
Jake: Playing at bonnaroo was like playing an intimate venue. We actually played a small tent.
Live Buzz: You've shared the stage with Sonic Youth and Jay Reatard. If you could play with anyone who would it be?
Jake: Thin Lizzy.
Live Buzz: On your blog you often post snack attacks, such as ruffles molten hot wings. What is the weirdest snack you have ever eaten and where?
Jake: Yeah, those were really good. Jamin (Orall) had some deep fried cicadas recently that his friend made.
Live Buzz: You play a three-stringed guitar. How did you decide to use three strings instead of six?
Jake: I taught myself how to play guitar and in order to do that I simplified it for myself by taking off half the strings so I made it three strings.
Live Buzz: On the cover of your Mellow Out 7-inch, you're wearing a Dark Throne t-shirt and "Cool Out" has a really black metal outro. How has black metal influenced you and would you ever put out a black metal album?
Jake: I did full black metal style music in college but it's out of print. I guess I dunno how it's influenced our music, Jeff the Brotherhood isn't very influenced by black metal. Other projects were influenced by black metal. Black metal has a stark, cold, scary sound and that's not what we really are as a band. We just really like it.
Live Buzz: You used to write comic books and put them with some of your 7 inches. What kind of comics did you write and are you an avid reader of comic books?
Jake: I don't really read but we used to do funny drawings; pretty much collages. Sometimes with text, just funny little comics we don't do that anymore.
Live Buzz: Why not?
Jake: I haven't really felt like it I guess.
Live Buzz: You started Infinity Cat Recordings with your brother when you were in high school and he was in middle school. What inspired you start a label at such a young age?
Jake: Well, we really wanted to put out our music and our friends music and stuff, and that was the only way we could see to do it ourselves because one else was doing it themselves at the time.
Live Buzz: I recently saw Natural Child play here in Bloomington and they were fantastic. Can you tell me about signing them to your label, Infinity Cat?
Jake: Wes was in a band called Meemaw with David Pujol, which is also on Infinity Cat. When they broke up he (Wes) formed Natural Child. And the drummer and they were our friends and roommates, so it's really natural that we put records by all three of those bands. You can still get the Meemaw 7-inch. It sounds like all three bands combined and its really good.
Live Buzz: When did you and your brother start playing instruments? Did you have bands when you were really little?
Jake: We started playing when I was 10 or 11 and Jamin was 9. We had a band then but it eventually was the same thing; Jamin playing drums and me playing guitar from the start.
Live Buzz: What was the music scene like in Nashville when you were growing up? How were you involved in it?
Jake: Growing up, we were more sort of into the punk scene and noise scene, which has always been really really small in Nashville. There'd be maybe one show in a couple weeks and we'd go to it in some shit basement. We were involved in it the same way that we are way now. A lot of people were booking shows for our band and we were in a punk band, which is kind of the way to get involved in a music scene. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Live Buzz: You quit Be Your Own Pet and then went to Iceland for your senior year in high school. Why did you decide to leave Tennessee and what was your experience in Iceland like?
Jake: I actually only played in the band for the first practice. I hated high school so I always wanted to go someplace far away and I was interested in geography. There was a lot of cult music there and it seemed like a really magical place. I was a weird kid in high school.
Live Buzz: You tour almost constantly and aren't home long enough to have a regular job. What do you like to do in your free time?
Jake: I don't really have any free time, I spend all my time working on the label. Jamin works on motorcycles and im pretty much always working on the label.
Live Buzz: You guys are super adamant about touring in Japan. Any luck on that front? Where else are you hoping to tour where you haven't toured yet?
Jake: We're actually working on a record deal right now for Japan so hopefully we'll get that together soon. Other than that we'd like to tour Mexico.
