Interview with Jimmy Eat World

Jimmy Eat World . Dortmund . Interviewer: Oliver & Katja with Rick Burch (bass) . 2005 Dortmund Soundgarden

Jimmy Eat World - Lucky Denver Mint

Punk76: Yesterday you played at the Palladium in Cologne, which is a pretty big venue.
Rick: Yeah, we had a good show. It sold out very fast.

Punk76: I wonder that you are still that popular. Your popularity is growing and growing worldwide! So can you give us an insight how you made it that far?
Rick: To focus it on Europe: Our first European show ever was in 2000 in Cologne. 400 people had been there, although we had never been here before and we had nothing released here, so that many people for a first show was incredible. We were very happy and surprised by that. And every time coming back to Cologne it’s just been getting better and better. We played here (Germany) maybe a dozen times. And every time its getting better and better.

Punk76:I heard that you played one concert for free in Cologne. Is that right?
Rick: Yes, that was the last time we were here.

Punk76: That is a very fine idea, but why did you do that?
Rick: I can’t remember the exact thing it was in conjunction with. (Rick walked to the band and asked them) Zack: It was a free show to give something back to the fans. It was an appreciation to our fans.

Punk76: From which label did you start?
Rick: The very first label on which we started was Wooden Blue Records.

Punk76: But some very early recordings were also on Doghouse Records?
Rick: Yes, it was. We released something on Big Wheel Reaction Records and Doghouse bought Big Wheel, so Doghouse re-released everything that we had done on Big Wheel.

Punk76: I don’t know much about your band’s history. How have you gained such huge success as a band?
Rick: I have no idea! (laughing). Ok, so we started as a band in Arizona, 11 years ago.

Punk76: Where did you know each other from?
Rick: Just as friends from school. The music scene in Arizona is really small. There are a few bands. We always walked to punk rock shows and thought it would be cool to play onstage too. Back in the day, there were always the same bands that opened up shows. So we thought: “Wouldn’t it be cool to open up for other bands?” We got together and started practicing. We started playing local shows. And then we thought: “Wouldn’t it be cool to play in California?” And so we started some day to play in California. And our thought continued. “Wouldn’t it be cool, to play on the East Coast?” Meanwhile, at the same time a friend of ours paid for us to go into the studio. And that’s where the first recordings came from.

Punk76: That guy paid for you?
Rick: Yeah, he had an accident and so he had an insurance money. He likes music and he wanted to promote the band. So he paid for us to go into the studio. He started the record label Wooden Blue Records.

Punk76: Are you still friends with him?
Rick: Oh yeah! Jeremy and Joe - they both started the label "Wooden Blue Records" on which we had our first recordings. We put out a 7-inch and then some time had gone by and then the band Christie Front Drive came to Arizona. We ended up making friends with them and we did a split 7-inch with them. They continued on tour through California where there was a guy from Capitol Records - his name is Lauren Israel and he wanted to sign Christie Front Drive. But the band said: “No, we are happy where we are, we don’t wanna go on a major record label”.

Punk76: Does that band still exist?
Rick: No, but Lauren asked the band if they know any bands so they had mentioned us. So the guy found out about the records we had done on Wooden Blue and he kind of liked this. He came out and saw us play. We ended up signing a contract and so we went into the studio and that’s when we made our record, Clarity.

Punk76: The record came out with an delay one year after its release date in Germany. The record gained an massive success. I was totally surprised about your success here. I had some of your releases at home. One record I had was on Big Wheel, the other on “Fueled By Ramen” records. And suddenly you started to grow in a massive way.
Rick: Well, it’s really weird. Clarity came out here a few years after it was released in the US, because our US label was not satisfied with how many records we sold there (US), so they wouldn’t pay for the record to release international. We were really pissed off. They wouldn’t even release it in Canada - a place where we can drive to and support, they wouldn’t put it out there. People in Canada would have to pay import prices to get the music. We were really frustrated by this and we didn’t like it.

Punk76: I think this is sometimes a big risk, when you’re signed to a major - but on the other hand a small label can be bad too.
Rick: They can be, totally! Something like this sucks all around, but I think things are changing with the Internet and the power of distribution. The whole industry is going to be changed and you don’t necessarily need a label, like you needed in the past.

Suddenly Tom came in with a Laptop and a video-chat program on. He talked to his girlfriend at home. He showed us (Katja and me) his girlfriend.
Tom: Hopefully she is not naked.
Punk76: I will look away- hmmm… or maybe not! (laughing): Wow, great program you use.
Tom: Yes, you have to have it, when you are on tour. It’s much cheaper than using the phone and so you can see your family.
Punk76: Where are your girlfriend and families right now?
Tom: In Arizona.

After talking a short period to Tom and his girlfriend, we continued with the interview. Tom brought us some beer, to continue the interview in a professional way.

Rick: They wouldn’t release the record internationally. So we had some people, like Burning Heart Records from Sweden. We met them and we made a contract: We would buy CDs from them and then sell them on tour in the US. Burning Heart, on the other hand, received our CDs and put them in the stores. So that’s a way that we’ve got our records over here for cheaper than import prices. It’s not kind of the most honest thing to do, but we wanted to have people over here to have our releases. So we were doing that, and I think this helped.

Punk76: I would like to know something about your own music taste.
Rick: I am listening right now to Pinback and a bunch of stuff. The new Elliott Smith record

Punk76: I don’t like it!
Rick: I didn’t like it at first also, but listening to it more made it more interesting and it sounds like a goodbye, no?

Punk76: A “good bye no”?
Rick: If you listen to it a certain way you go: “Oh my god, it’s so sad, he is done”.

Punk76: I read that you share the stage in the US with numerous bands. One of them was at least Gratitude. Could it be that the singer sung in New End Original before?
Rick: Oh yeah! Wow! I think Jonah also sang in Onlinedrawing and Far.

Punk76: How did that come that you shared the stage with Gratitude. Do you support them on your own?
Rick: Jonah is a long time friend of the band. He was also in our Lucky Denver Mint video- he was one of the Frisbee players!

Punk76:Yeah, I know that video! (laughing). That video was pretty good!
Rick: Yeah! (laughing). We knew him for a long time and also some of the guys from this band. The guitar player Marc played in a band called Chrome and we toured with Chrome, like eight years ago. So we knew him for a long time and the we lost them. When we were recording Futures, the studio that we were in had multiple studios in the same building. They (Jonah and Marc) were in the other studio, recording their record. So we got to meet up with them again and we hadn’t seen them for a long time. So we invited them very fast to accomplish us on the next tour and they did.

Punk76: I checked out the Futures booklet and I found out that you were not working with Mark Trombino this time. Why?
Rick: We made three records with him and we just want to try something new.

Punk76: Can you figure out anything on your new records that differs to the work with your old producers?
Rick: Hmm.., I don’t know. Something that is new or unique in comparison with the old releases? That’s a really hard question, because this record is kind of a combination of all the learning experiences. So there is a bit of every record. It’s hard to say. There is something new that wasn’t there.

Punk76: I think, the new CD has turned out really well. By the way, do you take part in big festivals? Do you play for example on the Vans Warped tour?
Rick: We are not supposed doing it. At the moment we have nothing prepared to take part in the Warped tour, but those festivals are a lot of fun! There are so many bands and everyone is traveling together. You see those people everyday and at the end of the show you make barbeque and everyone hangs out and parties. You do it all night and then you do it all over again the next day! (laughing).

Suddenly from the back appears a strange noise. It sounds like someone is penetrating a cat.
Punk76: What was that?
Rick: This is Jim (singer) doing warm up vocals.

Punk76: Really? You are kidding us, or?
Rick: It’s just like you wanna play soccer- you have to do some warm up before. If you wanna sing every night, you have to exercise your voice.

Punk76: I would like to know how it is to be a world band and to be famous in almost every country. If you play for example in Russia, Canada, Europe, Japan - isn’t this just exhausting?
Rick: Yeah, it is! The traveling part of it is really tiring. Sometimes it’s really frustrating to go through all those security points at the airport and you’re sitting and waiting for the plane. Afterwards you’re on a plane for eight hours- this is pretty hard sometimes.

Punk76: What about your instruments? I read that many musicians lend drums, guitars and bass guitars in the specific country they play in.
Rick: We do bring our guitars and Zack brings his Snare drums - actually Zack has a full drum set this time. But all our amplifiers are rented. They are so heavy so we’re supposed to lend them. So what Zack did was he bought a new drum in the States and he sent it over and he is gonna leave it here. So next time we’re going to come back he has his own drum set here.

Punk76: Do you prefer any special bass guitars from a special company?
Rick: I played Fender basses just because I have only forever.

Punk76: Dumb question: Can you get rich through JEW?
Rick: Not really rich.

Punk76: Not like Blink? Buying houses, cars and so on?
Rick: Not nearly like Blink! They sold like 13 million records! This is definitely far ahead of us!

Punk76: Wow!
Rick: But we were able, when Bleed American came out, to quit our day jobs.

Punk76: What kind of jobs did you have in the past?
Rick: It´s hard to find a job where you can leave for a while and come back and have a job again. No one will accept this and your boss will throw you out. (laughing) Tom and I worked at the temporary agency. It´s a place where you go and sign up with them and they send you out on jobs. So it´s a day-by-day job. So we did that. When we came back we told them that we are available for work and they sent us out. It’s really lame jobs. They send us to the post office and were sorting mail. It was the worst job!

Punk76: I think then you can be happier to be in a band.
Rick: Definitely. We we´re so lucky! We love it!

Punk76: What about your family? What do they think and how do they evaluate your career?
Rick: They are very proud. They know what we´ve gone through.

Punk76: Do you keep over those eleven years the same constellation (lineup)?
Rick: When the band got together, they had another bass player for about eight months and that’s when I joined. So I’ve been in the band over ten years and the band is been together for eleven years.

Punk76: If you look back in the past. The media pushed you in that EMO corner. What do you call yourselves?
Rick: First of all: JEW is a Rock band, misplaced as an Emo band. And I think Emo - just to say that here - a certain group of bands is Emo, which means emotional. But this is unfair to many other bands, because all music is emotional. You know Wagner is emotional, Bruce Springsteen is emotional. All music is emotional, so it’s not fair to them to say that these bands are emotional. I think it’s a strange term that comes from people that tried to give an identity to them. The media likes to put labels on things to create interest.

Punk76: I saw that you all used your laptops to chat with your families.
Rick: Yeah, it’s good to see them and it’s much cheaper, than a phone call! And we also surf the Internet.

Punk76: Do you read reviews about your band?
Rick: I really don’t look at that. Especially after we were recording Bleed American more people have become more curious about what we’re doing. But we were kind of knowing that, internalized that and made ourselves do the best work that we could and be 100% satisfied with this. So, if we’re totally satisfied with our work, it doesn’t get too deep when somebody criticizes your work. Even if an interview turns out bad or good - it reaches a moot point someday and also a point where it doesn’t matter any more.
The best review for us is playing a great show and afterwards meeting some people and talking to them.

Punk76: Do you return after the show on the stage and talk to some people?
Rick: No, we don’t do anything official like this, but we see people outside talking about our concert. Maybe we go to the bar, get a drink and talk to some people for a little while or so.

Punk76: If we go back to your old releases on Big Wheel Reaction records, I found out that you even played fast tunes in your beginnings! Have you ever thought of playing fast music again? I don’t think so, or? Rick: (smiling) There is nothing wrong with fast music. Back then we were not a band for very long so we had to figure out what kind of band we wanted to be.

Punk76: Do you remember a point in your life where you recognized that you really made it as a band?
Rick: I think after Bleed American we figured that out.

Punk76: Do you support bands that you personally really like?
Rick: Especially Jim is doing this. He founded a record label in Arizona.

Punk76: What’s the label called?
Rick: His label is called WesternTreat.com. He just put out a couple of local bands from Arizona to help them out. It’s a really cool thing!

Punk76: You still live in Arizona, although you can afford to live in NY or California or Europe. So why do you still live in Arizona?
Rick: It’s where our family is and it’s where our friends are. It’s a good place when you return from tour. You have a place where you can feel comfortable.

Punk76: The last question: How did you make it to Fueled By Ramen Records, which is run by Vinnie from Less than Jake.
Rick: We have done tours with LTJ and so Vinnie, the owner, signed us.

Punk76: Thanks for that long and interesting interview.
Rick: You’re welcome!

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