As Constant as a Northern Star: An Interview with Jane's Party
To put it in perspective, Jane’s Party started entirely in a
garage – they even named their first album The
Garage Sessions. In the decade since then, they’ve gone from stripped down
acoustic to full-on genre-bending sounds.
They credit fellow Canadians bands Zeus, The Golden Dogs and
Arkells as their main influencers as they played the same scene in Toronto. They
even got to record their second album, Hot
Noise, at Zeus’ studio.
They ended up getting tied in with a guy named Devin Cuddy,
whose father Jim plays in Canadian country rock band Blue Rodeo. Their third
album, Tunnel Visions, was recorded
with fellow Blue Rodeo member Greg Keelor at his Lost Cause Studios. With this
album, they began to delve into modern style textures and sounds – trying things
they hadn’t tried before.
“It’s been a long evolution and I think a lot of it has to
do with our influences and the people we’ve worked with and the scene we’ve
been in,” Zach Sutton said. “All of that has become infused in our sound and
our songs and our songwriting and continues to going forward.”
Their latest singles, “You’re the Light” and “Right Down the
Line” spotlight some of their best work and capture the interwoven sounds that
makes them Jane’s Party.
“You’re the Light” was collectively written by Sutton, Jeff
Giles, Devon Richardson and Tom Ionescu. They began by throwing around verse
ideas; having a pre-chorus going but never really figuring out a chorus
section. Once the song came together, they noticed a bit of repetition
throughout the lyrics. That’s when they called in Fast Romantics lead singer
Matthew Angus.
“Matt was really able to infuse his ideas and pop influences
into our ideas and influences as well as trim a lot of the fat off the song,”
Sutton said. “He trimmed the repetition and came up with an amazing outro
breakdown post-chorus; that’s when the song really came together.”
“Right Down the Line” is a Gerry Rafferty cover that they
originally recorded in their home studio. After each member laid down different
pieces of the track, they sent a rough cut to DJ and record producer Skratch
Bastid who became featured on the track.
“He absolutely loved it and came up with this really cool
retro-inspired loop that really became the metronome and the foundation of the
track,” Sutton said. “I think we really wanted to juxtapose the indie-rock-pop
element of the band with the fact that we really do respect the throwbacks and
the retro vibe of the songwriter like Gerry Rafferty.”
Jane’s Party has come a long way since starting in a garage.
With a new album anticipated in the fall, it’s just a matter of time before
their genre-bending sounds continue to dazzle their audience.
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