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Thursday, July 25, 2019

The Jackets - "Queen Of The Pill"


Voodoo Rhythm Records recently released "Queen Of The Pill", the fourth full length album by Swiss trio The Jackets. For this new album The Jackets benefit from Jim Diamond (White Stripes, The Dirtbombs, The Vice Barons, ...) magic touch as far as the mixing and mastering is concerned and believe it, this album is a blast! 10 raw slices of amazing Full-Fuzz-Power-Punk-Beat with a touch of Psychedelia! The Jackets like you've never heard them before!

Don't miss the video here under that proves if proof was needed that this band has a lot of humor and a cool sense of fun. 

So it was time for this blog to have a enlightening conversation with drummer and founding member Chris Rosales

1) For the viewers of this blog who would not know you, What would you tell about The The Jackets to introduce yourselves? How long are you guys together as a band?  Who is playing what instrument? 

My name is Chris Rosales. I am the drummer and founding member of The Jackets based in Bern, Switzerland. Our lead singer/guitar player and founding member is called, Jackie and our bass player is Sam. We started playing out in 2008 and have played all over Europe and recently in the USA and Canada.

2) About the recently released full length record "Queen Of The Pill",  what can you tell about the recording process? Was this a "live" in the studio recording or a track by track recording with lots of overdubs? What can you tell about the choice of the title? 

All the basic tracking were played live and then of course the lead and backing vocals, percussion and solo and filling guitar parts, etc. were done afterwards. I can’t imagine doing it any other way since it is important to capture the bands live character and enthusiasm. The title of the LP comes from one of the tracks. It just sounded right and that song was one of the first we wrote and highlights the slightly new sound and song writing direction we were moving towards.

3) Do you use the nowadays digital recording technology or do you guys only work with analog machines in analog studios?

We like both. We usually track to tape and then mix digital. Our LP "Shadows Of Sound" was done all analog and that was cool but the mixing process was a bit of a nightmare because we were changing our mind a lot. We like the flexibility of mixing digitally.

4) Is there a main composer in the band or is everybody involved in one way or another?

Everybody writes songs and composes but Jackie has written the most.

5) What is your favorite topic/topic that comes easily when you write a new song?

We write a lot about breaking out of situations, being stuck in situations, being vulnerable, being
invincible, being bored. It has been said we have a lot of “anthem” type songs like Keep Yourself Alive, Wasting My Time, Freak Out, etc. We write a bit about relationships that are not exclusively romantic and we even delve into topics like suicide, depression and addiction. We don’t have a favorite topic. It doesn’t work that way. We write about what is happening around us or with us at a given moment.

6) If I were to label The Jackets a "60's psych/garage" band, would you agree with this description? Would you be proud of it or do you consider there is way more than that? 

We are not a 60’s revival band. Of course we love 60’s Garage music and it is obvious in our music but we like to think we have something to say about today. We are a forward thinking group of people even though we love the (punk) music of the 1960’s and 1970’s we don’t want to be trapped in that bubble. We are a Rock and Roll band. We are a Punk band. We are a Garage band, but to put a year in front of those labels puts us in a “box” and that is not how we want to be.

7) Do you have a new video on youtube featuring a track from the new LP?? 

Yes. We have a new video out on YouTube for Losers Lullaby which is a track on our new LP.



8) What can concert goers expect at a The Jackets gig? Are you playing any famous cover songs during the concert? 

Concert goers can expect high energy from the first second to the last song. We are a live band and love playing and giving everything on stage. We really are not a cover band. We played a few covers when we first started (live and on our first records) but we have our own songs and our own voice. But – we do cover “Hang Up” by The Wailers sometimes during our live shows.

9) Are there any bands in Switzerland today you consider yourself close to, musically speaking?

There are quite a few cool bands from Switzerland that we like but I am not sure there is a band quite like The Jackets in terms of a female lead singer and guitar player. In terms of intensity, the band that comes to mind would be Reverend Beat-Man’s band, The Monsters.

10) To what kind of music did you listen to as teenagers? What were your favorite bands as a teenager? Name 3 bands that you consider still have an influence on your own work today.

I was heavily into 60’s Garage as a teenager and involved in the Garage Revival Scene in Los Angeles in the 1980’s. I lived and worked with Garage Revival Legends The Miracle Workers before I moved to Europe in the early 1990’s. I loved bands like The Cramps (I was also in a band with Candy Del Mar), The Gun Club and X (Los Angeles). Jackie first got into hard rock bands like AC/DC as a young teenager and then was introduced to Psychobilly and Garage in the 1990’s. Sam was fascinated by Jimi Hendrix and Acid Rock from the late 60’s and 70’s when he was younger and then got into “Alternative” music and then Punk and Garage music in the 1990’s. I don’t know if other bands today have an influence on The Jackets songs or work right now. We have our influences from the past but try to make our own way into the future.

11) What are the plans for 2019 as far as The Jackets are concerned?

We are currently touring everywhere to promote our new record which was released in June. We have tons of concerts coming up in September-October-November (Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, etc.) so check out dates on our website for more info. We are also planning our third USA tour for Spring of 2020 and maybe Mexico and New Zealand/Australia some time next year as well. So stay tuned!

12) Anything you wanna add?

No, that’s about it!

PURCHASE IT HEREhttps://the-jackets.bandcamp.com/




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