What happens when a trio of alt-rock outsiders that formed in San Francisco wind up getting signed to a French record label prior to releasing their recorded-in-a-Lake-Tahoe-cabin debut? Why, you get Jeepster, of course.
The band -- consisting of singer Jonah Wells, drummer Justin Goings, and guitarist Kyle Marcelli -- just barely released their first album, What If All the Rebels Died?, and it sounds like the distillation of all the 90s alt-rock giants you can think of through a lo-fi aesthetic. It's impossible not to hear the spirit of the Smashing Pumpkins surge through tracks like "Sweet 1:23" or the Radiohead-by-way-of-Harvey-Danger keyboard waltz that is "Fiction Fiction". Though tracks like "Ex Oh" perfectly capture that sense of pre-millennial Modern Rock nostalgia that is so tragically lacking on the airwaves these days, the group still proudly exists in the present, coming soon to a town near you but not before each member participated in Globecat's 24th Aleatory, revealing that not only can the group teach you how to smurf, but also that you should avoid playing at Days Inn Motels and that you should be afraid of "The Man" ...
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19. Favorite foreign film?
KYLE: Alejandro Joradowskys Fando y Lis; before Jeepster, I wanted to name my next band Tarr after the fictional city portrayed in it.
JUSTIN: A woman is a woman.
JONAH: Brazil.
22. Favorite vice?
KYLE: Cigarettes, they're fast, relatively inexpensive, and they don't subdue, damage nor hinder human interaction. If anything, they're a catalyst to human interaction, which on a good day, I support.
JUSTIN: Jamming.
JONAH: Soft drugs.
27. Favorite chord/chord progression?
KYLE: The ones invented by myself that don't have names, and the ones that don't have names made by other musicians.
JUSTIN: I play drums...
JONAH: Chord/chord? ...progression? ...favorite?
32. Best thing you learned this week/month?
KYLE: I learned about the sanctity of life, the various depths of love, and how relavent I feel my art is. It's been a busy month.
JUSTIN: Don't do drugs.
JONAH: "...Gods favorite color is purple."
33. What's something you could teach anyone in an hour or less?
KYLE: How to dance, how to tie a shoe, how to negate the obvious, how to point out the obvious, how to forgive, how to forget.
JUSTIN: Don't do drugs.
JONAH: How to smurf.
38. What is your family like?
KYLE: Very important, very practical, very logical, very loyal, and vey supportive.
JUSTIN: I love them.
JONAH: R e l i g i o u s.
43. What's the road ahead look like?
KYLE: Imagine the road as a collection of variables co-dependent on other varaibels, and that this road has never been driven before. It looks very strange in a very endearing way.
JUSTIN: Worldwide.
JONAH: Worldwide Travel.
45. What's the best lie you've ever told?
KYLE: It wouldn't be a good lie if I acknowledged the truth.
JUSTIN: Nothing good.
JONAH: I can't remember any I'm proud of.
47. Biggest fear?
KYLE: Flying, this is a new fear, one only relavent after a realization of the science behind an airplane.
JUSTIN: The man.
JONAH: Loneliness, though I think I'm finally getting over that one too.
48. Biggest moment of triumph?
KYLE: In the midst of it.
JUSTIN: So far, finishing What If All the Rebels Died?
JONAH: Boogie @ Midnight.
52. At what point did you realize that music was going to be your full-time occupation?
KYLE: It's not an occupation. When you realize it's an occupation, it's not art, and you've lost focus from why you started making music.
JUSTIN: When I was born.
JONAH: I've been high my whole life.
55. You're curating a festival. If you could choose any two bands to open for you, who would they be? To open?
KYLE: Warren Ellis from the Bad Seeds doing a solo effected violin set, followed by some smooth dancey fun band like the Whitest Boy Alive or Phoenix.
JUSTIN: The Walkmen, Dr. Dog
JONAH: Ratatat and The Flaming Lips.
56. Have you ever considered writing or producing for other artists?
KYLE: Everyday, I will be as soon as Nate Pendry gets out of jail and Sham Ulrich learns to compose his drunken piano banters into incredibly complex pop songs.
JUSTIN: Occasionaly.
JONAH: And how.
59. Worst venue you've ever played?
KYLE: The Casbar in Santa Rosa, it's a venue inside of a Days Inn Motel, but feels like a skating ring.
JUSTIN: Cafe Coda.
JONAH: Those are some big shoes to fill!
61. What's the best advice you could give to a young, upstart band?
KYLE: Realize the difference between a record and a live show, but keep in mind it all coincides to a listener.
JUSTIN: Quit everything in your life that takes time away from the group.
JONAH: Practice/jam/record.
70. What is a personal belief you hold that you would fight for to the death?
KYLE: Love.
JUSTIN: J E S U S
JONAH: Only love.
79. Best concert you've ever been to?
KYLE: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds two nights in a row at the Warfield in San Francisco. Those guys are over fifty and have more energy than most bands I see in their twenties.
JUSTIN: Tie between Radiohead and the Mars Volta at Coachella.
JONAH: Deerhoof @ UC Davis a few years ago.
85. What's the biggest mistake you've made that you inadvertently learned a great lesson from?
KYLE: I don't feel that if I've learned a valuable lesson that the actions that caused it were actually mistakes.
JUSTIN: Not drinking enough water.
JONAH: I've made many mistakes but have no regrets.
87. Ultimately, you will want to be remembered as …
KYLE: A sea shell in a sea of shells that encompass the most beautiful mosaic of culture and art the world has ever seen.
JUSTIN: "That dude can jam."
JONAH: A lover.
90. Sexiest thing about you?
KYLE: My winning personality obviously.
JUSTIN: Probably my tunes...
JONAH: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
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