Spectre Jones is an indie-rock and roll band in the Los Angeles Area whose equipped with a wide range of influences that includes both contemporary and classic. We took a listen to their upbeat and lively single titled “Give It Up” and this completely put us in an immediate refreshing mood of joy and excitement. The really interesting element about Spectre Jones is their musicality and unique creative ideas. They've established a catalog of work ranging sonically from intimate indie-folk hymns and harmonic dreamscapes to retro radio and modern psychedelia. This means if something of theirs sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve just might have caught one of their 20 TV/film placements or one of their many playlist streams. Spectre Jones knows how to deliver the listener any type of mood to engage in.
“Give It Up” is the type of song that instantly enhances your current state once listening. The vivid images this song paints for you creates a more fulfilling experience for you as a listener and this will undeniably be the song of the new year. I really enjoyed the vibe of “Give It Up” more than anything to be quite honest. Just the elements it exudes is highly noteworthy and compelling. Spectre Jones is a fascinating band that has everything it takes to leave a trail of fans replaying their songs over and over. Most artists have this short-term effect with their music, but for Spectre Jones, we are most certainly sure about the bright future that lies ahead of them in this industry.
Listen to "Give It Up" here
Welcome to Buzzmusic Spectre Jones! Mind telling our readers a bit about the formation of your band? How did you meet?
Spectre Jones, like many of the earth's natural wonders, is the current state of something that's been in the works for a long time. We all met each other between 2012 and 2016 in a small music scene that was present at Pepperdine University in Malibu at the time. We've all played music together in various forms at different times since then, although never all five of us until May of 2018. Spectre Jones started out as just Jake and I (Wilson) back in 2016 when we started working on “Greetings From Spectre Jones,” our debut EP. As we dreamed of what would come next, Jake and I were soon joined by Alexa, John, and Brett to form the five-piece we have today. We've basically spent 2018 and 2019 learning how to write and record and really play together, and it's been a blast.
Knowing you have a wide range of influences that combines both contemporary and classic, who are some of your main top inspirations for your intricate artistry?
Well, everybody in the band brings their own influences. John is the most dedicated Bon Iver fan you'll ever meet, Jake is deep in the throes of a bad Vulfpeck habit (although they might soon be overshadowed by Haruomi Hosono), Alexa grooves out to LANY and The Band Camino, Brett is a veteran fan of Dr. Dog, and I’m frankly baffled by Mike Viola. But besides sharing all the music we're into with each other, we're also constantly exploring the music of the past for inspiration. The Beatles are probably our biggest influence right now, and that includes the solo work they've done. There's also Fleetwood Mac, XTC, The Band, The Eagles, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, The Police, The Clash--you name it! We're all over the place when it comes to the music we love, and we like to keep it that way.
We were in awe of your single “Give It Up”. It seemed to have this delightful aesthetic yet the lyrics had a lot of context behind it. What was the main message of this record and what inspired you to write it?
Give It Up is about how encountering real love can break a person out of old ways and self-destructive patterns of thinking. There's something bittersweet about having to let go of someone or something toxic when you're trying to "see the light" so to speak, and we want people to hear that said in a hopeful way even though it's tough to go through.
Did you stumble upon any obstacles when creating “Give It Up”? Rather in the production or in the simple songwriting process?
Sure! Jake and I actually wrote this song and made a demo of it way back when the idea of Spectre Jones was just beginning to form. We didn't think it really sounded like us, just a fun little track. The drums were basically in half time for the whole song, so it was super hype overall, but didn't seem to have any real charm to it in our estimation so we just sat on it. We dug it back up a few months ago and Jake thought to spruce it up a little with livelier drums and the song pretty much made itself. We did encounter some obstacles in terms of getting a drum sound we were happy with. We wanted a tight drum sound for the song, and we're working from home right now out of necessity. We tracked the drums for Give It Up in a tiny bedroom and ended up not even using any ride or crash cymbals. At the end of the day, we did the best we could with space and gear that we have, and we're pretty happy with what we got out of it!
What type of arrangements were you sure you wanted to incorporate in the production of “Give It Up”?
We wanted to include whatever kind of arrangements would make people want to dance and feel good inside.
2020 is approaching us and it’s very much exciting! What can we expect from Spectre Jones in this upcoming year?
We've got a pretty long lineup of singles that we will be releasing about every other month throughout 2020, as well as a song called “Habit” that will be out next month. We're so excited to share all these new sounds and songs with the world!