Is the name JOLLY possibly the most stupid monicker ever to be assigned to a serious rock band? Well, that’s the exactly what Uber Rock’s self-confessed ‘Asker Of Awkward Questions’ Mark Ashby asks the New York progressionists… with surprising results!

 

Along the way, of course, he also discusses somewhat more serious matters, such as the New York outfit’s determination to bring happiness to the world and their survival of last year’s devastating ‘Superstorm Sandy’…

 

First of all, as Jolly may be a new name to some Über Rockers, our man with the plan started off by asking guitarist/vocalist Anadale to tell us a little bit about the band. Like who they are, where they’re from and how they came to play together?

 

“We are four guys from New York City – mainly Queens and Brooklyn. Louis Abramson (drummer) and myself met through a Craigslist musician posting. Both [of us] had been trying out many musicians beforehand. Joe Reilly joined soon after we decided to include keyboards: he was a long-time friend, and went to high school with Louis.

 

Then, after our first bass player didn’t work out, we invited Tony Rondinone to come and slap some bass for us.  He wears nice shirts… so we instantly gave him the job!”

 

The ‘Audio Guide To Happiness’ is a two part concept album series that is, in your words, “scientifically designed to bring a listener to a state of true happiness”.  For it, you collaborated with a professor and some graduate students at a nearby university, who conducted studies on more than 5,000 subjects to “perfect the usage of binaural tones to optimise the JOLLY listening experience”:  can you please put this into lay-man’s terms?  For a start, why involve academics in the recording of an album? What did this approach bring?

 

“In the early stages of coming up with possible ideas and concepts for our new album, we came across this new thing that kept being thrown around the internet and various Yoga-type places. Something about the ‘Happiness’ direction we were going towards musically and the idea of these space waves just seemed very interesting. The problem was that we were not scientists (by a long shot), and so we had to figure out a way to do this in the most professional way possible. We were fortunate to have a connection to such people though, through Joe Reilly’s sister, who was a faculty member in a local college at the time. After discussing the idea, we made a fairly extensive questionnaire and got many people together to listen and comment on the music and tones. Results were all over the board, with some saying that they felt something and others saying it was complete nonsense. If anything, for us it was a sort of social experiment that added an extra element to the album.”

 

What is the “binaural brain technology” you refer to?

 

“The most simple way to explain it is basically that, through the use of headphones you separate a ‘tone’ into a left and right signal and in turn create a third “phantom” wave within your brain. This tone frequency can be changed in speed in order to create different feelings in the individual based on the idea that our brain waves shift based on mood and emotion. There are many websites that dive deep into the actual science of it. We wanted people to have some fun trying to figure it all out for themselves.

 

So, you’re basically trying to brainwash the world into being a better place?

 

“No: we are actually trying to brainwash them into buying our records, but your idea is OK too, I guess! Music has always made me happy. Even dark miserable music. So, in some crazy way, we just wanted to highlight the positive effects that a musical journey could bring on a listener. Making people happy is our business after all.”

 

It’s been very well documented, both via Uber Rock and a myriad of other websites, the fact that, in October 2012, Superstorm Sandy struck you – as it did many others on that part of the north-eastern seaboard –  hard, destroying Louis’ home, which also functioned as the band’s practice space and recording studio.  In addition to the physical damage, what was the psychological impact of that incident?

 

“It was a tough time – I won’t lie. I think it’s one of those things that you really can’t even capture in words or a video like the one we made. It was weeks of sifting through debris and garbage, knee deep in seawater and filth, with all of your belongings floating around you. Psychologically, it was not very good to say the least. But little by little and with the help of so many fans and supporters we got through it and are halfway to rebuilding again.”

 

Your fans rallied round and played a massive part in replacing the destroyed equipment and getting the album finished: did their reaction surprise you?

 

“We are both surprised and humbled by the reaction we received. We could never have expected that so many would come to help us. It is really quite amazing and we think about that every day.

 

Did the effects of Sandy – and by this I mean the ability of the band to rise out of the devastation it caused – in any way colour the final album?

 

“Luckily our album was mostly all finished way before the devastation. We almost ran into some issues during the mastering phase, but nothing too dramatic thankfully. I think that the effects would most likely be seen more in our next album if anything, but more importantly I think we just want to forget about this damn storm and just focus on brainwashing our fans with science.”

 

 

We’re not known for beating about the bush on this website, which is why we’re leaving this question to (near) the end:  JOLLY is a fucking stupid name for a band – whose bright idea was that?

 

“Ha, ha! It was my idea. (And) I couldn’t agree with you more: it might actually be the dumbest name for a band, like ever. Can you believe that I got three other guys to agree to such a thing? I find that many people mention our name and have a genuine gripe with it. Honestly, I think that it is short and memorable, and when we were coming up with band names that was more important to me than some interesting poetic statement. Plus, I think it has a certain arrogance about it which I like. Most importantly it is fun to say and to make fun of. Also I love how it pulls you away from thinking that we are a prog or metal band.  But yes, it is an awful name, which I practically begged the guys to accept. Ha ha”

 

What other band names do you think we should include in the “Stupidest Name” category of the imaginary forthcoming Uber Rock awards?

 

“Oh boy, where do I begin? Honestly I find most rock band names to be pretty dumb. Like take even the classic ones: do you honestly think Metallica’ is a good band name? That’s a pretty silly name. Or how about ‘Meshuggah’, which is literally Hebrew for crazy boy or something? My grandma used to say that to me before I ever knew of the band.  I have always personally hated the name ‘Hoobastank’, because it sounds dumb and smells bad at the same time. ‘Limp Bizkit’ is pretty awful. ‘Papa Roach’ is horrific – I mean the band: their name is OK: no I’m kidding… the name sucks too! Oh man, how about Disturbed? Imagine the meeting where they decided on that one?  Is ‘Korn’ a good band name, or ‘Nirvana’?

 

Wait I got one, how about “Uber Rock”? That’s real nice, really innovative of you guys: good job!

 

Honestly, I think if the band is good enough, its completely not even an issue. When I listen to Megadeth, I never think “boy that’s a stupid name”, because they rip my head off with bad ass riffs and killer music! So yeah, hopefully people focus more eventually on what JOLLY is playing and not on our silly band name. If not, then we are not doing our job correctly.”

 

 

After those last two questions, are you still happy?

 

”Yes, that was fun. Thanks for the interview.”

 

JOLLY’s ‘The Audio Guide To Happiness Part II’ is out right now on InsideOut/EMI.

They also support label mates Riverside on their ‘New Generation’ European tour, which includes the following remaining UK date:

 

March 17^th – The Assembly, Leamington Spa.

 

http://www.facebook.com/JOLLYBAND

 

To pick up your copy of ‘The Audio Guide to Happiness (Part II) (Special Edition)’ – CLICK HERE