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Month: May 2021

Interview: January Jane and Matt Pinfield

January Jane
Adam Grundy

Recently I was able to schedule a Zoom interview with BMG’s newly signed pop rock band from New York City, called January Jane. The band is comprised of vocalist Pat Via, guitarist Mitch Mitchell, and keyboardist Peter Scialla. This great new band was discovered by music scene legend, Matt Pinfield, and in this interview I learned how January Jane got started and the crazy circumstances that led to Pinfield working closely with the band. I asked January Jane about their strengths as artists, their songwriting process, and how they would describe their live show. The band released a new music video today for their single ”Versions of You” off of their upcoming EP Your Drug, that will be released everywhere music is sold this summer. Read our full conversation where I describe January Jane as being one hit song away from being at the tip of everyone’s tongue.

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Interview: Tanner Merritt

Tanner Merritt
Mary Varvaris

A lot has changed since I caught up with O’Brother last year. For one, touring again is a possibility for the band – over 105 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, which brings the country closer to post-pandemic normal. For vocalist Tanner Merritt, he has written a ton of new solo material due to monumental personal loss. Last year, O’Brother was riding high: They had released their long-awaited fourth album, You and I, to unanimous praise and incredible sales for a newly independent band. 

The album relished space and classical guitars while intentionally leaving vague lyrics to listeners’ imaginations. As beautiful as You and I is, there was a dark undercurrent beneath the track “What We’ve Lost.” A kind of follow-up to Endless Light’s “Black Hole,” Merritt needed an outlet to write about his father, Cyrus’s decade-long fight with Alzheimer’s disease. Then COVID hit, and Merritt spent most of the year in total isolation alongside his mother, watching his father’s condition worsen until he passed away on November 4, 2020, two days after his 63rd birthday. 

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The Untold History of the ‘Take This to Your Grave’ Artwork

Fall Out Boy
Jason Tate

Alex Toor has done a deep dive into the history of designing Fall Out Boy’s Take This to Your Grave artwork:

Fast-forward nearly a year later and I was able to get in touch with Mike Joyce, designer for Take This To Your Grave and founder of Stereotype Design. Mike has generously shared several never-before-seen assets from the making of TTTYG exclusively with The Bad Habits Collection. The following is a complete dissection of these contents, their fascinating history, and the artistic process that guided the way.

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