JAWS Interview

Secret Admirer hooked up with Connor, Eddy, Alex and Jacoby from young, hip, happening new-comers Jaws.
Connor’s dad was also present. Oh, and some babes. Who were presumably with the band.

Interview Date: 9/04/2012
Interview Location: The Rainbow, Birmingham
Vibes: Banter-ridden

How did the band come together?

Jacoby: From him.

Eddy: Err, it was Connor, it was his call because he put his songs up on Soundcloud and he got, err, ‘Cameron’ got a thousand plays in a week.  Was it a week?

Connor: Yeah.

Eddy: So he got gig offers and stuff and he wanted to get a band together anyway so he asked around college really and just asked us. We are his substitutes, there was a band in place before but they kind of failed.

Connor: They left. The music was too happy for the other guys, so they left.

They wanted it a bit darker?

Connor: Yeah, they are all metal.

Eddy: Well I was in a metal band.

Connor: I was in a metal band.

Eddy: We were both in metal bands.

Connor’s Dad: There’s three drummers in this band.

Eddy: Three, heavy…drummers. But yeah, he asked us and that’s what we’ve been doing. Working every Monday from…

Some laughter erupts amongst the guys.

What made you want to give up metal?

Eddy: I did enjoy it.

Alex: It’s all the same, that’s why.

Eddy: I did enjoy it but yeah, it is all the same. Everyone looks the same and the scene, it’s…

A bit stale now?

Eddy: Yeah. It’s whoever has got the best looking t-shirts. That’s whether you get a gig or not, if you’ve got a nice looking t-shirt, we’ll give you a gig.

It’s all about the merchandise! Are you working on merchandise at all? Got a cool t-shirt design?

Eddy: We are working on ideas.

Connor: Can’t afford it yet.

Eddy: We are saving our money.

Fair enough. Why did you choose the name Jaws? What’s the idea behind that?

Jacoby: Do you know the evil guy from James Bond?

Yeah.

Jacoby: Him.

Eddy: It’s nothing to do with sharks.

Jacoby: He’s the kind of guy we want to grow up into.

Connor: We all aspire to be that guy.

The teeth as well?

Eddy: Yeah, we want to get rich enough to have gold teeth.

Connor: It’s like; I haven’t got the straightest teeth. And I’ve been to the dentist and they’ve said ‘we can give you braces and fix them and everything’ but I was like ‘no, I want to get someone in and get the same as Jaws from James Bond’ and they said ‘well you can’t afford it, so you are just going to have to save up’. So I’m just currently saving up and that’s why I made the songs.

Well you are going the right way about it, I mean, a thousand plays in one week, one day it might be a thousand records sold so you can all afford those Jaws teeth.

Jacoby: Maybe. But we’re not printing them on records; we are printing them on McDonald’s fries.

Connor: And we are going to give away a download, you have to buy large fries and peel the Monopoly sticker off.

Eddy: You know; the Monopoly things you get off McDonalds.

Connor: It’s a new idea.

Very business-minded. I like that.

Connor: Or we might just put our song on a Frisbee and just throw it. Hopefully it ends up in Simon Cowell’s lap.

Or you could get that other guy from James Bond with the deadly bowler hat? And put it on there and throw it. You might kill someone though.

Eddy: We’re not a death metal band, so… (Laughs)

Not anymore anyway! What kind of music do you like? What inspires you to write?

Connor: I don’t even know.

Eddy: I look out my window and that inspires me.

Jacoby: When we went to Cyber Dog, we got a new groove of music: Bulgarian Rave.

Connor: The next songs you’ll definitely hear the Cyber Dog influence.

Jacoby: Bulgarian Rave Jazz Metal.

Connor: Along those lines.

Eddy: If you want some serious answers, I’ll say them.

These answers are much more interesting.

Eddy: Well ok then, then yeah, Bulgarian Death Metal.

Jacoby: It’s Bulgarian Rave Jazz Metal Core.

Connor: Yeah, core. Don’t forget the core on the end.

Eddy: Fine, Bulgarian Jazz Metal Core.

The boys share another laugh.

Jacoby: Green Day, just say Green Day because everyone likes Green Day so…

Eddy: All he listens to is Green Day and Oasis. He’s a mod.

Connor: If you looked at him any other day, he’s a mod. But just for today, it’s a one off Hawaiian shirt. It’s his Jaws shirt.

Is the image and aesthetic of your behind quite important?

Eddy: I don’t think it’s an image, it’s just a laugh.

Connor: We bought these Hawaiian shirts because it’s two for fifteen quid.

Eddy: That’s what we are all about: bargains, bargains, bargains. We don’t really go in Selfridges because it’s not very cheap. So we go to Poundland. That’s where we get our stuff.

Alex: All my clothes are from charity shops.

Someone who is in need will benefit from that money.

Eddy: See, we do good causes as well. I’m actually a saint.

Alex: Have you ever been to Halesowen? It’s where I go to college and it consists of about three thousand charity shops. It consists of banks, housing estates and err…charity shops.

Eddy: That’s our image in a nutshell.

Jacoby: And Argos and Wilkinson and Greggs. Love Greggs.

What shows have you played so far?

Eddy: Just the Camden one.

How was that?

Eddy: It was really good, about forty people turned up but it was the right people.

Jacoby: Eighteen to nine year olds.

Connor: Eight to nine year olds?

Jacoby: Eighteen to nine year olds.

Connor: (Laughs) What?

Eddy: Ok, moving on…someone from NME turned up because our mate who got us the gig. He sorted quite a lot out for us that day.

Is that Martin Mackay?

Eddy: Yeah.

He’s a nice guy, he put on my band a couple of years ago.

Connor: He said he’s coming down today, don’t think he is.

What do you think of Birmingham’s music scene? You a fan of any other bands knocking about?

Connor: Peace. I only really know Peace and Swim Deep but I know there is new bands every day, so…it’s Heavy Waves tonight too. Playing their first gig.

Jacoby: Flatline Stereo are a good band.

Alex: Most bands from Birmingham are just metal, they are all the same.

They say it’s the birthplace of metal.

Random Dude: Is there anything I can do to persuade you guys to come and watch this girl?

Jacoby: If you buy me a kebab.

Random Dude: A kebab? You can buy your own kebab.

After this important interview, we’ll be out there!

Random Dude: Oh! Are you interviewing?

Eddy: You’re on it now.

Random Dude: Well that’s fine guys.

The Random Dude departs, to carry on watching the singing girl currently on stage.

Five seconds of fame right there.

The conversation turns to fellow brum-bands Swim Deep and Peace’s songs getting played at half time in Villa Park by Richard Franks from Counteract Magazine.

Do you think your music would appeal to lairy football fans?

Connor: Yeah, it’ll calm them down.

Yeah you could be the remedy for football hooliganism.

Eddy: We are the complete opposite to Kasabian because they kind of rile them up. Soon as they hear ‘Underdog’ they are like ‘goh-on ladz!’

What do you think of the other bands on the bill tonight?

Eddy: We like Swim Deep. Especially ‘King City’, it’s class.

Alex: We’ve heard of Heavy Waves, haven’t heard the other bands apart from Fading Lights, we go to college with them.

Eddy: They’ve been going for quite a while.

Connor: I’d imagine we are the worst band playing today.

Eddy: Shhh!

So modest!

Connor: It is opposite day.

Have you got any plans for future gigs or releases?

Jacoby: We are playing Wembley.

Eddy: We’re not.

Optimistic! It’s good.

Connor: Have you heard of Download Festival? Going to headline that.

Eddy: We are playing that One Beat Sunday gig. That’ll be cool. And we are playing at The Victoria soon. And we’re playing in Manchester soon at the end of May.

What about releasing your music, have you got any physical releases coming out?

Connor: We’ve got a demo CD out now which we’ve put a bit of effort into doing.

Eddy: Well, Connor has.

Jacoby: Not any of the rest of us.

Connor: It looks quite good.

Alex: We should give one to Rich, get played at Villa Park.

Connor: It’s just the dream to be played at Villa Park.

Jacoby: And Soccer AM. Sky Sports too.

Connor: I think we are just going to see what happens, if we get approached by a label or if I don’t know, we’ll just wait and see. A lot of bands just keep pushing and pushing and I don’t know. It gets nowhere sometimes.

Eddy: It just feels like you are annoying people. Just going to see what happens.

You don’t seem like the guys to shove it in people’s faces. A refreshing approach. Thanks for your time guys!

Connor: No worries.

http://soundcloud.com/jaws-band

Photography: Jack Parker