Chad Jewett is the guitarist for the New England-based punk band Perennial, who just put out their record Art History last week; Cody Votolato is the guitarist for the post-hardcore band The Blood Brothers, and fronts J.R. SLAYER. Perennial and J.R. SLAYER will both be playing the No Earbuds Festival this weekend, so to celebrate, they Chad and Cody got on the phone to chat about it, and much more.
— Annie Fell, Editor-in-chief, Talkhouse Music
Chad Jewett: I have a question about the song “Parliaments.” Oftentimes when I see single songs get released, I think, Alright, is this an opportunity for the artists to be trying out new stuff, or is this part of a larger project that they just couldn’t wait to put it out? So I’m just wondering how you would position that song as far as J.R. SLAYER circa late 2023, now 2024.
Cody Votolato: I mean, it’s been just sort of fluid. Because when I started the band, it was just me and I did everything — I wrote everything, I recorded everything all on my own, I did all the art. And then I would play with people here in LA, and eventually Jason [Klein] started playing with me. We started writing a little bit together, and then we did the EP with Will Yip, and he was a little more involved in the writing there. As that started to happen, I decided I wanted to have a band, because I think bands are more special. You could make something more unique when you have five different opinions that might clash sometimes, or place something wrong on accident that turns it into something new that wouldn’t have happened.
So we started writing demos. We had six songs. It was me, our drummer, Alex [Oñate], Jason, and my sister Brandi [Votolato]. [We were] like, “Let’s just go ahead and go get these tracked and demo them,” and we did that. Then eventually we got another guitar player, this guy Mike O’Toole, who was in a band called Make Do and Mend. He was friends with Jason and we got together and it was really great. So he’s been a really awesome addition to the group.Then it was just kind of like, “Oh, we should really hunker down and start writing together and take these songs and break them apart.” Then so much time went by, it was like, “We should probably just release one of these demo songs because we recorded them pretty well, and we’re writing a bigger record, and we can probably use a couple of these to release if we retrack some guitars and retrack the vocals and get it mixed nicely.” So that was how the “Parliaments” thing happened. It wasn’t really part of a bigger plan, like, “We’re going to record this song and release it.” It was more like a reaction to not having anything bigger going on, you know? The band’s not totally a touring entity or anything like that, so I just want to keep releasing music and having stuff to talk about. It was the best candidate of the songs that we did. It was the most put together, it didn’t need that much more producing. It’s a pretty straightforward song.
Chad: Right on. It sounds like, at least in part, you had found this new form for J.R. SLAYER. This new dynamic where it was a bit more of a collaborative team effort, and just wanting to show off the the newest version of what the project is.
Cody: Yeah, absolutely. We went and took photos as a band for the first time, and we really made it a point to be like, “This is the band.” Because Mike joined before we released it, so I was able to get him on the track, which was really cool. It’s been really exciting for me, just hearing the stuff I write develop. Mike has been bringing songs to the table, we’ve written all sorts of cool stuff. We’ve got probably 12 to 15 songs that we’re messing around with right now. I feel like right now, the stuff that we’re writing is getting more dynamic and more open. It’s gonna be less balls-to-the-wall rock. We’re trying to to make things a little more breathy and put some air in the music. But we still have songs that are in that vein, just because that’s what we do. [Laughs.]
Chad: Cool. I was reading one of the autobiographical statements on the SLAYER Bandcamp, and I think the phrase you’d used was a “catch-all” for various musical ideas that you were working on. It sounds like you’re sort of further zooming in on that as, maybe a little bit less now of a collection of stuff, and more of a specific idea of, “This is what we sound like,” or “this is the kind of thing we’re trying to put together.”
Cody: Yeah. I mean, it’s been a weird evolution because initially it was very much just a moniker for all the stuff I was doing. I would do some remixes — I was trying to build it into a thing. But then as the band evolved, it just sort of became a band. And now, I’m torn between it sometimes, because I can’t totally have it be my moniker anymore because of what we’re trying to accomplish as a band. And it’s fine, because it’s not like I’ve established anything insane that can’t be undone with it other than, you know, a bio on Bandcamp. And unfortunately, I’ve been doing less of mixing and remixing and things like that. So it’s been easier to just let J.R. SLAYER evolve into this band. But yeah, it’s come up a few times where I’ve sang on some people’s records or played guitar, and they asked me, “How do you want this to be credited?”And I honestly haven’t answered the questions yet because I haven’t figured out what’s appropriate. Because I like the idea of the collaboration leading back to our band. But at the same time, maybe my band doesn’t want to do that. So I haven’t quite figured it out. But for all intents and purposes, it’s a band now and not a catch-all for everything that I do.
Chad: There’s something sort of cool about J.R. SLAYER being a fairly open thing, where in one iteration it can be very specifically a band working on stuff together, but it can also be a moniker for remixing and mixing and stuff like that. There is something kind of neat about how that is a bit unconventional or surprising, and I think the folks that care will figure it out.
Cody: Yeah. We currently are planning to start recording our record sometime in September. Working out the details on how and where, but the goal is to get it at least started and hopefully finished this year so we can release it next year.
Chad: That’s fabulous.
Cody: I’m excited to play with you guys coming up here.
Chad: Likewise!
Cody: We’re playing right after you guys — I saw that I was super psyched, like, Oh, we’re going to be back-to-back with Perennial! Are you guys touring out here to get to the No Earbuds Festival, or are you flying in?
Chad: Yeah, we’re going to fly to Southern California, then work our way up to Seattle over a week.
Cody: Where are you playing in Seattle?
Chad: Vera Project.
Cody: Oh, cool. The Blood Brothers played the very first Vera Project show of all time.
Chad: Wow!
Cody: It was not in the location that they’re in now. It was Botched, Murder City Devils, and the Blood Brothers, and it was in an old Legion hall in Belltown. It was there for a little while and then they moved to another — they’re, like, on their third location, but they’ve been at this current one for a long time now. It’s super cool. It’s right next to the Experience Music Project, so you gotta get up there if you guys have time.
Chad: Yeah, I’m hoping we will. The the night before is Olympia, so that’s going to be our shortest drive. So we should be able to get to Seattle very early.
Cody: What do you guys travel in?
Chad: For this one, we’re renting a compact SUV or something like that, and just bringing the bare minimum of stuff. Chelsey [Hahn] has this cool compact 40-key organ that she uses for tours. I’m bringing a guitar and an amp, our drummer’s bringing breakables. One of the things we’re doing ahead of time is like, “Is there a house kit, or can we share shells at least,” and that sort of thing. So we’re able to travel light.
Cody: That’s what J.R. SLAYER did. We did a handful of dates with Saosin, and they were cool — they let us use some of their backline so we were able to cram into a minivan. It was tight, but we did it and it made it more economical, which is always nice. It’s hard to tour these days.
Chad: Definitely.
Cody: So are you going to travel with just one amp? Because I know that you play with two amps.
Chad: I’m still trying to make up my mind. Normally I use a Vox AC50 combo, which is this weird oddball amp Vox made for just a minute, and then a standard AC30. I’m trying to decide between the two which one I want to bring. But normally, I use them both live.
Cody: What pedal are you using to pair them?
Chad: ABY.
Cody: Is it the Morley one? I’m looking for one, so I was curious to talk to you about it. I want to get one that has phase control, and they just get really expensive. The Radial Tonebone is the one that I used for years in The Blood Brothers that I love, but it’s like $400. I’ll probably end up getting it, but I’m looking to see if there’s something better that has phase and ground control on it.
Chad: The one I do does. It’s the big it’s Radial ABY BigShot.
Cody: OK, so it’s a little smaller than the Tonebone.
Chad: Yeah, it’s pretty compact. Looks like new, you can get them for around $130. And I’ve been using the one pedal for eight years now.
Cody: Oh, wow, it’s not broken on you.
Chad: Yeah. And we play a lot, and so far it’s held up where other pedals haven’t. Probably because I don’t do a lot — it’s literally just to enable running two amps at the same time.
Cody: That’s true. When I started using them, I was using those Morley ones, and they don’t have phase control or ground lift, so we were always struggling with the buzz. Then I would turn one off and on constantly throughout the whole set, so I would break one per tour. And they’re not that expensive — they’re $50 or $100, but it really added up. And then when I found out about this, the Radial one, I was super psyched because that one held up for a very long time. But I lost it somewhere over the years.
I dig your guitar tone. I love the punchy, angular… They sound really good on all of your recordings.
Chad: Thank you so much. I mean, I gotta come clean: There is a huge Blood Brothers, Head Wound City [influence]. The tone of your guitar on those records is the majority of what I’m chasing.
Cody: Damn, that’s cool!
Chad: It’s the truth!
Cody: I really appreciate that. That’s so nice to hear. And I mean, your playing — it’s incredible. The band’s great. I don’t think a lot of people are occupying the space that you guys are, and I found that refreshing. What got you guys into playing music? Because I assume you were all in bands when you were much younger, before this one. How did you find all the music that led you to be in this band?
Chad: We’re all originally from Western Mass, and the thing I always highlight about being from that particular area is there’s, like, a dozen colleges and universities within 15 miles of where Chelsey and I in particular grew up. So luckily that meant that there was always a DIY scene. We’re from Amherst, so the same scene that Orchid is from.
Cody: Oh, OK.
Chad: And I don’t know if you’re familiar with Northampton, but again, just sort of a groovy little college town. So from 14 on, we could hang out in this very walkable city with lots of record stores, and lots of DIY shows at UMass. So we were just blessed with growing up in a place where there was always this youth movement going, you know?
Cody: That’s so cool. Because that doesn’t happen a lot. It happened in Seattle — I always feel really, really grateful that we were a part of that in Seattle when it was happening.
Chad: We’re almost out of time on this Zoom meeting, but I just have one guitar nerd question that I have to ask, because I’ve been wondering it for 20 years now.
Cody: Alright, lay it on me.
Chad: We would always — I’m just going to be honest — freak out and obsess over Crimes. We loved that record so much. Pored over it. Your guitar playing on that record in particular — there are so many parts where it would be either the heavy breakdown, or the part where it switches to half time — what you would traditionally think of as the heavy part of a punk song. But so often you’d be playing single notes, and it sounded like it was on single coil guitars, like a Strat or a Rickenbacker. I would love to know how you developed that particular approach, or you inspirations for that.
Cody: I would attribute a lot of that to bands like Drive Like Jehu, Angel Hair, Antioch, Arrow, Swing Kids, Crimson Curse — this sort of angular, bratty, punky guitar playing that wasn’t rooted in super heavy bar chords. Also, I don’t know if maybe this played into it, but my hands aren’t super huge, so the full bar chord was one of the last things I was able to learn on the guitar. And, you know, I love the guitar playing in The VSS. They’re not playing super punk riffs. Bands like the Monorchid, Rye Coalition — they just, to me, were doing guitar in a different way than I had heard other heavy rock do, and I think that played into it. And I played a Thinline Tele. That’s just the guitar I had when I was young, and I’m pretty sure during Crimes, I mean, we were switching guitars in and out and searching for cool stuff, but I played the Tele a lot on it. So probably that’s what you’re hearing when you hear that kind of thinner, punchy [sound].
It’s weird because it’s a really heavy part, but it doesn’t have this testosterone behind it that a lot of hardcore has. But also we loved hardcore, and there were tons of amazing hardcore bands that we were affiliated with. But we weren’t particularly a hardcore band, but I wanted to sound like it. So that was how we would mix it in. And ultimately how our band operated and how we ended up creating the sound that we had was because everybody had a very different thing that they wanted to do, and somehow it didn’t sound like total shit when we put it all together. Because it’s total chaos, that ends up working out.
Chad: Yeah, definitely. Just being entirely earnest, Crimes is probably one of my three favorite records.
Cody: Awesome. This was super fun! Super flattered that you guys asked me to do it. I’ll look forward to seeing you next week!
Chad: Yeah, right on. Thank you for your time!
