San Francisco’s Jet Trash Takes Off with New EP
Jet Trash, San Francisco rockers who praise gritty sounds of the 60’s and vintage amplifiers, take the surf rock sounds of Dick Dale and mold it with the energy of the Kinks.
Formed a little over a year ago, Jet Trash has escalated quickly with their latest EP, receiving high praise from Exclaim magazine with a 9 out 10 rating. With a sound of the sixties that’s caught on due to mainstream artists like the Hives and the Strokes, Jet Trash aims to take things to the next level with peaking, reverb soaked guitars and vintage analog tape recordings. Voted by the Deli as one of San Francisco’s up and coming artists, their diversity allows them the comfort of fitting in anywhere from a grungy garage to a sunny beach. We caught up with Paul Kemp, lead singer and rhythm guitarist, to talk about their latest EP, the garage rock scene in the bay area and what it takes to be a successful band.
Jet Trash play at the Bottom of the Hill on Thursday, August 6th.
You just released a six-song EP recorded at the Bill Putnam-designed studio Coast Recorders in San Francisco by veteran producer/engineer Andy Freeman (Manchester Orchestra, Eisley, City Tribe, Say Anything’s Max Bemis). Why didn’t you cut a full LP?
We were initially going to record only five songs and put out a vinyl but Andy offered to record a sixth song at no extra cost to the band. It kind of makes the EP awkwardly close to a full length but we couldn’t say no.
What can people expect for the next record?
We’re really excited to get back in the studio and record our first full length. We’ve written some really great songs and want to record them using analog tape. That’s how you capture that warm vintage sound that is so crucial to garage rock. The analog production is so important its almost like a fifth member of the band.
You’ve received great press from several internet outlets; do you think technology has helped garner some attention?
Social media and music blogs are a great way that bands can connect with more fans and reach a bigger audience. It used to be bands would just play local shows and then rely on word of mouth to slowly reach people. The cool thing about social media these days is that once you get a little internet buzz going you can get more and more people tuned in to what you’re doing and start building anticipation for your next release.
How do you stay humbled?
Anytime someone says they like our music we’re legitimately excited and humbled. We’re just four good friends who make music. I like to think we have no ego about it. Lots of bands in San Francisco make music because they love it and love to be creative and anything to gain is great but at the end of the day we’re making music for music’s sake. I’m happy to come from that kind of vibe as opposed to say someone who thinks “I want to move to LA to get rich and famous!”
I did notice your number was a Los Angeles area code…
It’s a friend’s phone. I’ve still got a shitty flip phone.
What are your thoughts on this type of 60’s garage rock becoming trendier…
We were gonna make this EP regardless of what was happening with current trends in music. This is the California sound that I’ve always loved. Coinciding with any “garage rock revival” is kind of coincidental. We’re proud of being from San Francisco where there is such a vibrant music scene. We worked really hard on this EP and we’re very excited by all the attention its starting to get. I’m definitely looking forward to going on tour with Jet Trash and recording the very best album we can.
