Band Interview: Joneser
Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life are pleased to bring you an interview with modern indie rock band, Joneser.
1. How did you get started as a band?
I created Joneser in Kiev (Ukraine) in 2017. Till September 2019 I was the only person in this project looking for my special sound without giving any concerts.
Then I released my first album «Vilni» (06.04.2018). It was a long play of 15 songs of indie-pop music in Ukrainian. It was quite important stage of my life when I was trying to follow the lead of the world indie pop culture. To be honest, I created a fairly high-quality product. But it turned out too sweet for me.
Afterwards I decided to come back to more alternative sound but at the same time to keep melodic and sensual components of my previous music. I started working on Joneser’s second album. The work lasted for about 2 years and by the autumn of 2019 I had recorded 12 indie-rock songs in English.
In September 2019 Joneser was joined by Alexey Yuriev – guitarist of Kryhitka and hasGotten bands and the drummer Andriy Bogdanov, known for his performances at Mysteries of the Third Planet, Bahroma and Youra (Ukrainian projects).
All these 12 songs were included into the second Joneser’s album «Back Two Me» that was released on all platforms on February 2, 2020. I’m really proud of this album and I do think that the songs Miraline, June, Folie are the best of what I’ve ever created in my music reality as of today.
You can listen to the album Back Two Me (2020) on all platforms. Please, find all necessary links here.
2. How would you describe your sound?
I think that we play true modern indie with sensual and powerful guitars and electronic sounds, melodic vocal lines and dreamy feel of this. I believe that we make really creative product with engaging videos.
As to our last release (Miraline), I would describe it like some dramatic song with appealing vocals over a slow burning instrumentation full of infectious synth lines and dreamy arrangements, with beautiful harmonies and emotional vibes. You could taste it by yourself:
3. What bands/artists would you say have influenced your style of music?
I was always inspired by the music of Apparat, Radiohead, alt-J, Depeche Mode, Foals, Balthazar etc. And I’m the old fan of RHCP, Molotov, Limp Bizkit and Nirvana.
4. Has the rise of YouTube & music streaming helped or hindered you as a band?
It helped to all artists, I think. And keeps helping. But not in Ukraine. Because Ukraine is a jungle. And few people use streaming platforms for music (I mean Apple music, Google Play, Deezer etc.) because it’s not free. YouTube is much popular in Ukraine. And we are trying to promote our music exactly with it.
5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not making music?
I am quite a versatile person. I’ve been studying in Ukrainian film school for 1,5 years. Late in 2019 I shot my first short movie. Now it’s being edited. At this time, I’m working on my first screenplay for the full-length movie. I believe that I’ll shoot movies in the nearest time.
I love my children – 2 great boys – Yegor (12) and Stas (14) and my sexy girlfriend Alyona. Every day I have some workouts like yoga practicing, cycling. I live near the forest and really like walking in it. The rest of my time is taken by my small legal business or books.
6. What are your future plans musically? Tours?
We’ve just started working on the new single called Why don’t you kill me? It tells the story of a difficult relationships between a guy and a girl. And when the girl is about to blame this guy again in all their problems, he in response offers her to kill him, saying that in this way she will surely get rid of all these problems and she won’t need to change herself. I am also going to shoot music video for this song as a director.
In the nearest time we are going to release 2 music videos in the animated short movies style for the songs June and Going (both from the album Back Two Me). It is supposed to happen in April and June 2020. Then, 3-4 singles with some music videos are going to be released till the end of 2020.
We’re looking forward for the possibility of touring but now the world has much bigger problems then our concerts. I mean this fucking coronavirus epidemic. So, we are waiting and working on the new material.
Links
Fan Link | Facebook | Instagram
