INTERVIEW: Blake Schwarzenbach of Jets to Brazil
- Kerwin So
By now, most people know the story. Three years ago, Blake Schwarzenbach washed his hands of beloved California pop-punk band Jawbreaker and moved to New York, swearing never to make music again. Destiny held other plans for this songwriter who had not yet seen the end of his valuable creative output. By happy accidents, Schwarzenbach hooked up with recently displaced musicians with similar musical backgrounds (Chris Daly from Texas is the Reason and Jeremy Chatelain from Handsome). Things immediately clicked, and before they knew it, the newly-christened Jets to Brazil were signed to indie heavy-hitter label Jade Tree and whisked away on a European tour with emo-rock favorites The Promise Ring, all without even having released a record. Thus ended the whirlwind of 1998.
It's now 1999 and Jets to Brazil has come full circle, having released a well-received debut album and returning on tour to their home country, and Blake's hometown. C.O. Online caught up with Schwarzenbach at a recent sold-out Jets to Brazil show at the Bottom of the Hill, in Blake's old stomping grounds of San Francisco. On the tail end of the tour, Blake was happy to talk about California lifestyles, sources of inspiration, and leaving the Jawbreaker legacy behind.
Consumable Online: Welcome back to the Bay Area. How long have you been in New York?
Blake Schwarzenbach.: Uh, three years. I'm not used to it. I'm Californian by nature so long winters really scare me there, because you just have to be inside the whole time.
C.O.: Has it proved a good impetus for songwriting?
Blake S.: I think I live in the wrong place, because I can't really make music in my apartment, because it's a New York apartment, so there's people all over the place.
C.O.: Now that the record is out, is there a difference in the crowd reaction?
Blake S.: Yeah! It's cool like, people get psyched about songs, they know them now. It's nice, sometimes there'll be applause when we start a song, so there's recognition there, and that's really great. A lot of people told me that they were getting married to the song "Sweet Avenue." Seems to be a thing that's happening on this tour. I've had three couples come up and say, "At our wedding we're gonna play that song." I'm totally cool with that.
C.O.: I read some interview, I can't remember the guy, but he was like, "My friends named their kid after you." How do you feel about that kind of thing?
Blake S.: I appreciate it you know, I think it's really nice. People get strange with band members, sometimes. Like their fixation on them. I've been the object of that kind of fixation before. Sometimes people really get what you do and it helps them in some way and I think that's cool, and sometimes it goes a little too far. (chuckle)
C.O.: Really? Do you want to talk about that?
Blake S.: Well, I just think that they forfeit their own identity in worship of someone else and that's really weird, you know.
C.O.: Your reputation certainly precedes you. Your past band was very intense and I think people really threw in with that.
Blake S.: Yeah...yeah. It was a real lifestyle for people.
C.O.: How are you enjoying the tour?
Blake S.: It's good. It's pretty grueling, you know we're playing every night pretty much. We had one day off for a drive. It's hard work. The shows have been really good, but just getting to the show and setting up and everything... we don't have a crew or anything so it's just a lot of work.
C.O.: Do you sense that there's any sort of fallout with the previous fans?
Blake S.: Yeah, I think that kind of happened on the last tour, our first tour. I think people know now what we're doing, so they've decided whether they're into it. Those people that were into our other band, they're gonna go to the next level with us or they're just like, "fuck you guys." But it seems like, if anyone's left, there's other people that are into it that've kind of filled in those spots-- it's really cool. I meet a lot of people now who weren't Jawbreaker fans, and that's really refreshing.
C.O.: Have you heard about the Jawbreaker tribute album that's coming out? Do you have any sort of input in that?
Blake S.: No, I'm not a fan of tribute records. I did one once, Jawbreaker did an R.E.M. song ("Pretty Persuasion" on the hard-to-find Surprise Your Pig ). After that I felt really...odd. Very leery of them. I've heard a couple covers that I've enjoyed, but in general I think it's kind of strange. Especially when it's a band that you really like, to do their songs again is almost like saying you didn't do it right the first time. I mean, I have no gripe with this comp, this Jawbreaker thing, that's fine. But I've always felt that the songs I really love I wouldn't want to cover because I love them as they were.
C.O.: Right. It also seems a little soon in my opinion to be doing this kind of thing.
Blake S.: Yeah. You gotta wonder about the bottom line, too, like people making money off names. I think at a struggling independent label, sometimes just to put a Jawbreaker name on, or something, might get some interest.
C.O.: Flood the bins along with the Jawbreaker Soundtrack which threw some people off. Do you know about that? Jawbreaker, the movie? It has nothing to do with you guys.
Blake S.: Oh, right. Yeah, yeah, I saw that. I didn't see the movie but I saw the poster.
C.O.: Is Jets to Brazil writing any new songs, or do you plan on releasing any seven inches or any other new songs?
Blake S.: We're just amassing songs now. We're up to about eight and that's what we've been doing the past couple months. Just trying to have practices and write.
C.O.: How is the writing process, is it a collaborative thing or are you just the focus of it?
Blake S.: It starts with me, and then it becomes really collaborative once I get an idea that I'm happy with. I used to demo songs and play 'em for those guys, it was a little more rigid. But lately I think we're really a band now, so they pick up in Jets fashion, they just jump in on a song and I think they always do the right thing. We have a pretty good rapport.
C.O.: How did you decide on the band name?
Blake S.: Well, Chris our drummer came into practice with it one day.
C.O.: I kinda like that name, although sometimes I get confused between Jets to Brazil and Burning Airlines, Jawbreaker and Jawbox.
Blake S.: A lot of people mention that. It's total coincidence.
C.O.: What was it like working with J Robbins in the studio?
Blake S.: Great. He's the man. We were lucky in that he wanted to work with us, so he managed to squeeze us into his schedule, but he was booked like crazy and he works all the time, so if he's not doing [Burning] Airlines, he's in the studio. And I think he likes it, seems like he's at the renaissance of his...youth, or whatever. He's always got something going on, so it's pretty cool.
C.O.: What have you been listening to lately?
Blake S.: I've been listening to a lot of Wilco, for the past year and a half. I find their new album pretty inspiring. And Neutral Milk Hotel, I love their records. I thought the last Smoking Popes record was incredible.
C.O.: I know you're into literary pursuits and reading; what are your five top authors?
Blake S.: Well, the last book that really blew my mind was Jane Eyre, which I never read in high school or college. That was a Bronte book. I really enjoyed that. And I think Raymond Carver was probably one of the first writers that made it okay to write. Like I felt like I could write reading him, and he was just a really big inspiration. I dunno. I read all over the place, a broad spectrum. And I'm always interested in living American writers, although I haven't found anything lately that's totally blown my mind.
C.O.: How about guitarists or singers? Are there any that you consider especially inspiring or influential?
Blake S.: Well, lately it's been Pedro the Lion, because we've been on tour with them. David (Bazan), their singer, is just an amazing vocalist. He's a good songwriter. I like people who write their songs so that you can hear the mechanics of their writing in the songs. I'm just interested in the way songs are put together. So I've been kinda favoring sparser arrangements where you can really hear someone singing.
C.O.: Is there anything that you'd like to tell the world about Jets to Brazil that you haven't already?
Blake S.: No...a lot of times people ask that as a last question. And all I really have to say is in our records.
