Get To Know: Condor & Jaybird
While I was out at Daytrotter Downs earlier this month, I caught an incredible, impromptu set by The Golden Jaybird, who filled in for Kississippi at the last minute. The Golden Jaybird is actually a hybrid, collaborative project, comprised of The Golden Fleece and Condor & Jaybird. About a week later, the latter of the two groups headed out on the road for a month-long tour. When Condor & Jaybird rolled through Chicago, we met up to chat about everything from strange sleeping arrangements on tour, Hanson, and which company they'd want to sponsor them. Get to know this psych rock group from Rock Island, Condor & Jaybird now!
Condor & Jaybird is Jeramie Anderson, Connor Lyle, Jake Lyle, and Bryson Foster.
Their songwriting process is evolving and collaborative
Talking about the undefined and unrestricted songwriting process of Condor & Jaybird, Jeramie says, "The best part about being in a band where we’re all kind of writing, is that we’re all allowed to develop our own style. There’s never a point where we’re like, 'Oh that’s not indie rock enough..that’s not psychedelia enough, we need more break downy metal parts...' We’re just feeling out our own style."
Bryson chimes in that they don't have any sort of super formula, with Jake adding, "It’s easy to get stale when you stick to a formula." (See, they're even collaborative in their interviewing process).
Speaking of working together, in addition to their hybrid band with The Golden Fleece, which Bryson describes as another project with cool goals, the guys in Condor & Jaybird are all super supportive of other local bands. One of the bands they're closest to is Mountain Swallower, (who also gave a shout out to Condor & Jaybird in our interview from Daytrotter Downs). Besides being friends and having a mutual love for each other's music, Jake shared that the connection between Condor & Jaybird and Mountain Swallower runs even deeper, saying, "Connor plays drums sometimes in the drummer of Mountain Swallower’s other band, called Grandfather Confusion." Jeramie added, "Our scene is pretty cohesive. We just kind of jam around and kinda do weird stuff together. It’s all pretty tight knit."
Their influences range from metal to The Beatles
Part of the band's ever-changing and evolving songwriting process comes back to their wide array of influences. Jake shares some of his inspiration and influences, saying, "I was really into MxPx when I was 12. I was like I wanna play bass, and I got a bass. Connor and I are brothers, and in our immediate family, our mom plays music, and our grandma plays music. So it was kind of just a natural occurrence for us. [Connor and Jeramie] went to high school together and played in bands together back then."
Jeramie elaborates on how the band met and started working together, chiming in, "We’ve been playing together since we were 15. It just kind of all worked out. Like Bryson had moved away to California for a year or two, then he was down in Nashville for a while. We had been cycling through drummers, and he had moved back when we were just starting to look for somebody else. It just worked out perfectly." Continuing on the subject on influences, Jeramie says, "Our sound kind of comes from a place of fogginess with our individual interests. We like The Beatles, we like Queen. We all come from metal. We were playing metal before this band, and when this band started...you can definitely hear it in some of the first records."
For his influences, Bryson says, "Inspiration comes from so many different areas for me. When I started playing music, it just kind of started as oh, cool, how do I play this instrument? Then it turned into how do I draw inspiration to find out how to play this instrument. So early inspiration for me were like metal music, hardcore music. That was just like what the music scene was to me at the time. That was my immediate inspiration. Then I moved away and I started to look at all of music. So I went from primary colors to all the colors, and I was just overwhelmed. Then I came back and joined up with these guys and it was awesome. I was like, now I can focus everything I’ve learned and have been listening to, have been drawing inspiration from, and focal it into the band."
The highlight of their SXSW experience was meeting Hanson
Although Jeramie admits their time at SXSW was a bit challenging, saying, "Being kind of an unknown band at South By trying to jump on showcases is pretty hard," he also says they got the chance to see some great performances from other bands. Jake mentioned a set from Meat Bodies, and the entire band all agreed on loving the set they saw from Mastodon. Jeramie also added, "Chastity Belt opened for Mastodon and they were so great....so amazing!"
However, the real highlight of their first time at SXSW was meeting the supergroup of brothers, Hanson. Describing the experience, Bryson says, "It brought one part of my life to a full circle," and Jeramie recalled the experience as being a pivotable "made it" moment in life. The lucky meeting happened while the band were hanging out at Daytrotter's base camp at SXSW, and Hanson happened to be in to record a session. Jake confirmed they still play "MMMBop," and Jeramie chimed in, "And still loving it! [Daytrotter] said are you tired of playing that song and they said 'No, you know, you’re not tired of it, you just. It takes on a different flavor.'"
They've survived sleeping in Fear Factor-esque environments
It turns out that meeting Hanson isn't the only crazy story from this tour. Jeramie tells the tale of an interesting venue in Houston, saying, "I thought about writing a story/song-esque thing about the Super Happy Fun experience. This venue in Houston, called Super Happy Fun Land....Man, it was crazy." Jake jumps in to say the venue is indescribable and ambiguous, adding that they couldn't tell if it was a business or a commune.
Picking back up with the story, Jeramie says, "We walked in and it looked like pop culture apocalypse. There was like a big mountain of Raggedy Ann dolls and psychedelic graffiti. And there was always like ambient like flashes of light in this dark warehouse!"
Jake continued the story, "You know Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles where like- I can’t remember the terminology, but like where all the kids who worked for The Foot Clan?" Connor jumps in to say the place is called Shredder's Hangout. "So basically that place was like Shredder’s Hangout, but like after it go busted. After the cops cleared it out," Jake continued.
Bryson interjects to say that they had very good vegan chili at the venue, but after the band recalled there were cats, rats, and roaches running around the venue at night, he added, "It felt like Fear Factor at one point. Like ah, a briefcase of 50,000 dollars will be at the end of this sleep...Joe Rogan’s like 'YOU DID IT!'"
Despite those strange sleeping conditions, the band say this actually isn't the worst place they've had to sleep. The actual worst? The van, which Bryson says they can all sleep uncomfortably in once you factor in all their gear. Give them a couch, and they won't complain!
They want to be sponsored by Taco Bell and Hanes
In addition to the sometimes strange and uncomfortable sleeping conditions on tour, the band admit there's not a lot of showering options while touring in their van. While Jake gives a shout out to Good Wipes, Jeramie says if they could be sponsored by anyone, he'd love to be sponsored by Axe Body Spray.
"We’re sponsored by a pizza company called Mama Bosso Pizza Company," Jake says, as the rest of the band endorse the fresh crust and Connor showed off his Mama Bosso Pizza t-shirt. Although they seem more than content with the pizza sponsorship, Connor also says he'd love to be sponsored by Pepsi because "they own so many things. Shampoo companies...Taco Bell."
Jake says he'd also be thrilled to be sponsored by Hanes to be hooked up with some Hanes Basics. (So...if you're reading this, Pepsi and Hanes, help a band out?)
Their 2017 goals include another new album and more tour
As far as new music and touring this year, Jeramie says, "We put out a full length on New Years Eve and a full length in September, and we’re gonna write another one this year. The pace is kind of picking up for everything. This year we still wanna do another two month tour and have another record at least written."
Elaborating on balancing touring and writing new material, Bryson says, "We haven’t been [touring] too much. This is only our second tour. But I am drawing inspiration from every band we see, every place we go. There’s just so many different things going on and stimulating us that we don’t get in the Quad Cities. Even though the Quad Cities is super accommodating and inspiring...going out and playing with other bands and meeting new people just inspires me to keep doing it."
Jeramie added, "We just had our show last night in Rock Island, [that] was our stopping point like half way through the tour, and all I really wanted to do was write music when I was home. It's really something to be around that much talent at SXSW, " continuing to say he couldn't wait to get back and get started on new material.