It was great to talk with Jane's Party band after their performance and before Tom Odell's set. Their set were incredible, full of strong beat and well known songs such as "Cigarette Buzz" or new like "You're the Light". We were dancing and singing along. Jane's Party's new album called "Casual Island" will be out on 15th of February, so I asked them about favourite songs, plans for the future, atmosphere during recording the new record and of course with who they would like to share a tea with. That was a good time with band from Toronto and I can't wait to see them soon back in Poland to hear their full set.
Can you introduce yourself for the new fans?
I am Tom and I play guitar. I am Devon and I play bass. I am Jeff and I play keys and I am Zach and I play drums. We are band called Jane’s Party from Toronto.
What is the best part of being on tour, for you guys?
Devon: Probably getting to play to all of the fans. I mean, for us opening for Tom Odell and his fans is like an opportunity of our life time. So that is definitely our favourite part - playing for the fans.
Did you have any crazy situation during the tour?
Jeff: Nothing bad this time.
Zach: Actually.. there is one pretty crazy
Devon: Oh yeah, Zach can tell you that one
Zach: I was coming straight from my honeymoon so I was half way across the world. I was in Australia. And I had to make a time for a gig so there was about, it was about 14 hours of flighting almost straight. And caught the bus I was pulling out the stations to Luxembourg just to make it on time.
Jeff: You see, the other half of that story is we had to play the first half of this tour with another drummer. So, Zach came in half way through. I guess it was pretty crazy and just making it happening, making it work. But Zach’s doing a better job so you make sure [laughing burst]
Do you have your favourite song to play live and why?
Devon: I like to play „Cigarette Buzz” because it is fast and that beat. But probably we all have our favourites.
Tom: I like „You are the Light”
Zach: I like „Cigarette Buzz” too actually
Jeff: I like „Time Remembered” but we didn’t play it on this tour really much.
Maybe next time
Jeff: Yeah, we played it during the first two shows.
Tom: We have something like 30 minutes of music to play. So we are cutting as many as possible and getting just sort of the top we would like to play and leave a couple out.
Jeff: Because with this set we sort of have to play kind of upbeat fast songs but it is nice in longer sets to play a ballade, something more chill and slow a little bit. Most of the time we are start yelling to the mics. (laugh)
What is the best place to rest after the tour? Just to turn yourself off?
Zach: I like going home. I have got my wife and two cats at home.
Tom: Just being in home for change is nice
Devon: Yeah, you don’t realise how much you miss your own pillow until you don’t have it for weeks.
Zach: Also Toronto is such a beautiful city. Not in the winter, really, but.. we are coming home in February which is not best but it is okay. Toronto is a great place to be home.
In February you will release your new record called „Casual Island”. Can you say something about the atmosphere during recording it or about the vibe of the actual record?
Jeff: I don’t know it is a tough one.
Zach: Tom, I think you have pretty good description.
Tom: I forgot (laugh)
Zach: So it is a sort of exploring. If to paraphrase what you had written, it is exploring very deep topics and how a lot of things become very casual. The way how we talk about the news, the way how we talk about the relationships and the album sort of covers a lot of that. There is a lot of depth but also a lot of lightness and how we think about a lot of very the big topics. Is that okay?
Tom: Yeah, I think it is sort of paraphrasing the sentence but I think you, this is why you just have to listen to the record.
Zach: Yeah, but recording was fabulous. We worked with a new producer this time - Derek Hoffman in Toronto from Fox Sounds in his new studio and we took different approach to it , so instead of building from a whole band playing, we were doing things in more individual parts. And Derek was very present in how it turned out sonically, he really made a huge difference.A lot of it actually was compiled from demos we had have recorded and he just, sort of, took it’s pieces and had been really moving around for years.
Devon: Like one of the songs, only one that is on a new record. I mean, we had that recorded for almost 4 years, maybe 3. And this is and this is finally seeing the light of day now . But, you know, we are still using the same session that we first did and just making little part sounds better, and that is what our producer really came to play. How to bring it together.
Jeff: And another cool thing about this record is, we collaborate with a lot of people in our circle, in Toronto that are also playing music. And that was something. That was different to our 2 records. We done a little bit collaboration but not to this extent.
So yeah, you can look up and see with who this collaborations are with, but there are a few great ones.
Zach: There is also an instrumental track as well for the first time. Yeah we did that and also…
Devon: With the saxophone player from BADBADNOTGOOD.
Zach: We have 2 tracks with him, so sonically speaking, it is probably our the most ambitious album today and I think it is the most tracks on the record we have ever done. So it is our longest record and I will say one thing that people are talking about is, ability to play instruments, that we, I think sort of expanded on that record, like longer jams sessions and more experimental sounds.
If you could choose anybody with who you would like to share a tea with and why?
Zach: Tea? I love that question
Jeff: I would personally say Paul McCartney
Okay, why?
Jeff: Because he is one of the greatest musicians ever, it would be pretty cool to pick his brandhang and have a tea and he is english too so..
Devon: Hmm.. I would probably go with… who is a great songwriter, yeah somebody to just talk about music with would be fine. I like Max Clilverd. from Tom Odell.
Tom: Oh no, I wanted to say that too.
Devon: He is a nice guy, it probably would be a pine but have a tea on-site as well
Tom: Okay, I would have hang out with Max Goff and we would have 4 person hang.
Devon: We really like hang out with Tom Odell Band, they are really nice guys.
(Zach thinking)
Devon: He will say something like Gandhi
Zach: No, I will not gonna say Gandhi… I would like to have a tea with Barack Obama. I would like to see how it is to meet someone so intelligent. He seems really down to earth but also brilliant and I would be curious.
You have made a July Talk song „Guns + Ammunition” Why this song? Your version is completely different than original one.
Tom: I think that is why.
Devon: That is why
PART II
Do you have any guilty pleasure song?
Zach: We have played a covers night, cover songs and this one was like 1980’s cover song. It was from „Bad Out of Hell” - Meat Loaf and we have played „Don’t Stop Believin” by Journey. And that is guilty pleasure. I don’t know If we would play that again but it was fun.
Tom: „Livin’ on a Prayer” - Bon Jovi
Jeff: „You spin me round” by Dead or Alive.
Can you say something about „Cigarette Buzz” song?
Zach: Oh man, I wish Devon was here.
Jeff: Devon sings that one
Tom: It was comparing your first cigarette with falling in love with somebody for the first time.
Jeff: That feeling that you get. I mean it can be a cigarette or anything but that feeling you get for doing smh new for the first time.
Tom: The high of love
Jeff: Yeah, from that experience of being in love.
Last one - do you have any plans for the future? I know about new album any more?
Tom: I think, like, every city we’ve come to here in Europe . We are after every show „We have to come back here. Again before the end of the year”. We are like „okay but this place for sure”. So we consistently we find ourselves that we want to come back and do our own shows here as well. And we are hoping to do that as soon as possible.
Zach: I think, particularly… last time we were on tour with Tom Odell, our favourite shows were in Poland.
Jeff: In Poznań
Zach: In Poznań, in Poland and I think we felt that again this time. That we had a great, particularly awesome show in Praga as well so I think coming to Poland, Czech Republic an Germany like in places we have been and also just exploring countries that a lot of Canadians might not go to but are amazing. If all of our colleagues back home could experience what is like to play in Poland. Really, energy is like you can here it now (we have heard screams outside when Tom Odell was playing a part of a song „I can’t Pretend”). They are really loud right now. It is just amazing.
We are so far from home but we fell so good to be here.
Interview and photos: Zuzanna Majewska aka Suz Maj
Editor: Grzegorz Biały
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