PipemanRadio Interviews JVK at Louder Than Life 2023

0:04 Hey, you love them too, sus Sure, I'm from four see why you wake up America. It's time for the Adventures, So pipe Man on W four cy dot com west pom Beats his number one internet radio station. Here's your host, the pipe Man, your grown bears for Youthful before buds. You lay in the ground with stars, and this is the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four c Y Radio and I'm here with j v K. Nice. Yeah, you're a louder than life. How avile the hell does that feel? To be at Louder than Life? It is surreal, beyond surreal, absolutely insane. It's actually our first huge festival ever. So is our festival debut, and we can't wait for all the other ones that are gonna come after this. It's truly like an incredible experience just seeing everything and seeing all the bands on the stages. It's just like getting ready for it five thirty tonight. It's gonna be amazing. See Now, that's why I love about the Danny Wimmer festivals because bands like you are always featured at these festivals. Yes, you know, at a band earlier it's their first gig ever. I know it's not incredible, Like that's wild,

1:37 you know, And what a what a difference between like playing a club show or backyard show and then playing a festival and incredible. You're playing, Oh my god, this place will be freaking huge, packed, packed, packed. So what did what went across your guy's mind when this opportunity came about? Like how much did you freak? It was one of those things where it's like we got the call and it was like it was like, you're playing loud of the life. Here's what you need to know. So there wasn't like that moment of like pause of like oh my god. It was like just taking all the information, staying as professional as possible, and then you know, we all hung up and then gone a call with each other and just started screaming and lose our just literally losing it. It was so surreal. And there's been so much build up to this moment. We've had, like, you know, thirty rehearsals alone, just getting our set perfect as perfect can be, you know, rehearsing it, showing it to other people, getting everyone's feedback. It's been a wild experience just getting ready for it, getting prepared. See that that part I really love because I don't think people realize on the other end, the people attending what it takes to play that's one set at festival. The kind of think, oh, they're just playing a set, change your life. If you really put the work in and you really know can take an incredible setting, you really change things for you. That's why we were like, this will not be our last festival. I can say that right now. That's why I love about festivals. Like I've found bands that I went never known I loved, Like

3:12 one of my favorite bands the first time I ever saw once, I have a festival. Bring me to Horizon, right right, slip Knot, same thing right, that's like my I have a hoodie in there. I'll have to show you after an interview. Cool ass slip Knot hoodie Like I saw them at Third Stage Odds Fest nineteen ninety nine and mud Vain. I've seen a performance on YouTube. I watched right time and like, holy shit. And I have not missed a show since because there's no show like a Slipknot show. Being in the crowd exactly like you don't stand back and go, you know, And I'm sure that's what it's gonna be out there tonight for you guys. Yeah, we're really good people moving. It's like even like we were watching yesterday at the Roadhound stage, at the stage that we're on five thirty tonight, and we were watching all the other bands and the crowd interaction. It gave me so many more ideas that I already had about just getting people in and getting people involved and moving their bodies. It's gonna be sick. And then as you know, as performers, there's gonna become that moment when you're on stage that just something happens that you do like that wasn't even planned because you feed off adrenaline. You're in the moment. Yeah, you're in the zone. You're feeding off the audience. And that's why I love about live music is it's it can be a different experience every single time, exactly exactly. So what tell us a story of what led up to this phone call that got you here to Louder than Life. So the funny

4:46 thing about it is that we're here through Brickley College of Music and there's a program called Brickley Popular Music Institute. They choose seven to eight different artists for festivals all over the country. We played our first show a year and a half ago and it was out of this dive bar in Boston and I look at my phone and they were like, we're looking at you for a rock festival or this are institute everything, And me personally, I went to the band and I was like, oh, look at this, and they were like, no, that's a huge deal. And I didn't realize what the magnitude of what it was. And so we got We had a previous call before and it was for a different festival at the time, and they were like, you know, like let's choose it. We're gonna choose another Bamba. Please keep playing shows. Keep like at the time we played like two shows. We played thirty shows in a full summer, traveling all over the place, just getting like grind and getting our set down, getting more music down, getting everything down. We just kept going and we just I just didn't want to stop, you know. And then we met back up again.

5:42 We were a lot tighter, had a lot of works and it was like, well, how many shows do you played so far? It went from two to like forty, you know, and just a short amount of time and that experience, you know, we were playing shows to no one, like going out to upstate New York, playing to no one quite literally, and you know, playing to all these like random places, people's houses, sleeping on floors, sleeping in basements, you know, and it got us here. I fully think that experience, just playing so many shows just got us here. Yeah. Yeah. And then so I love what Berkeley does, and like, what is the vibe from your classmates so to speak of, you know, because you're all doing the same thing, they're kind of and I feel it's probably like a supportive environment. Oh my god.

6:30 Yeah. I mean the second we got like this festival and we could announce it, I had people in my classes saying, oh my god, Alex, like you're in JVK right, you play bass? Right? And I was like, yeah, I do. And they're like, we know, we know what you're doing. We're so stoked for you. So it's like I think people look at Berkeley and think it's a really like intimidating, like kind of like I don't know, competitive environment, but everyone is so so supportive, like genuinely, like even professors get like super excited. Like it's honestly hearing that because it could easily be a very competitive environment. And that shows how great the program is that your friends or even not friends would be so excited for you for getting the opportunity at maybe they want like most of these people too are like complete strangers to me or like we have like one like mutual friend and we've like said hi to each other, and it's just like, I don't know. It's so supportive because you know, word gets around really fast, like in a really small school, and people are so sweet. I love it. I had like the same thing happened. I will pull up to my class and people will be like, oh, I saw you at this in this d Y venue in JVK Oh cool, and the professors are really supportive. I'm like, hey, just so you know, I won't be in class and they're like, go go go do your gig. I love that too, because there are out there, not at Berkeley, but out there there are professors. I probably wish they were getting

8:01 the opportunities of their students that their students are gaining, and there could be some jealousy there or maybe not the support or make it maybe make it harder to prove a point because it was hard for them. You know, it's like, oh, I had to go through all this, so you're gonna have to go through it too. But it sounds more like the professors at Berkeley are like, Hey, I had to go through all that stuff and it made it really difficult. I'm gonna make it easier on you, so you don't have to go through that crap. Yeah, there's definitely still some tough love, but sometimes it's needed that is true to get to the next level, I guess, especially in this industry because it's a pretty heartless industry sometimes and we've definitely encountered that level of just like jealousy and very you know, toxic environment and it's like hard to like, especially when you're seeing someone that's on the same level as you get different opportunities, you know, like it's obviously a normal reaction for it to be there, And like I catch myself and it sometimes when I see other people, but I almost like I kind of use as an opportunity to gain a connection to that. It's like, Okay, I'm feeling jealous, why don't I talk to them and see what they did and see how I can implement it in my career, and like using that it kind of like almost like taking that mindset and just changing it for the better to get myself to the better. I love that attitude because I teach that in business too. It's like, if you want what other people have, you gotta ask you guys, you talk to them and gravitate them. You don't be jealous of them. There's like people in business are like, oh, screw them, they're blah blah blah blah blah.

9:28 But I'd rather talk to those people that are where I want to be exactly because they're going to give me the roadmap I don't have, yeah, exactly, and they're gonna show give you an insight on what you could not be seeing. You know. It's like when you're in love with your project and your love with what you're doing, you're not going to see the flaws of it. And that's only like hearing that and taking that personally and kind of you know, it only elevates you further. A great way to build a community, right, Yeah, it's all helping each other out, absolutely, that's and this community should be like that more than any other, absolutely, you know, because together we also are helping people around the world with all their mental illness and crap that's going on around the world. Like we can disappear out there in the crowd and forget all that crap, and that's a big thing. That's a big message of our music. I'm I'm the main lyricist of the band, and I tend to write a lot just about you know, like the hardships are just like you know, being a woman, and like also just like some of like the abuse and some like the criticism that you can endure just solely based off that, and also just like in a more like general stance, just like the chaos of the world and like dealing with it and like trying to talk about the things that aren't always said and just really putting light to it. It's just so I know, I could personally know that like someone's listening and being like, yes, like this is how I feel, and this is how I want to exercise. I want to scream, I want to do this, I want to do that, and I want to kick something, I want to you know whatever.

10:48 Not encouraging violence, but you know, but but yeah, no, it's like those things are just so incredibly important. What would you say is one of the best complimented any of your professors have ever given. I mean, like I've had like some really awesome like bass like professors over at Berkeley, and I don't know, they just like keeping encouraging me to, like you know, be way more confident and like you know, actually express myself creatively without freaking out too much about it, because when I started at Berkeley, I was too scared to like really play in front of like anybody I met there. I was terrified, Like I was like shaking, and I was like, guys, like I'm gonna mess up so bad. I'm gonna f up, Like this is gonna be terrible. And like my professor like at the end of like one of the semesters, wh was like Alex, like you've grown so much, like obviously as a musician, but like I'm not talking about that, Like you're just like so much more confident now and that's awesome and I like carry that with me a lot. I love it.

11:48 Now Now you're here at Louder than Life. Yeah, the EPP we need to talk about BP. So actually I'll make this announcement here for the first time so exclusive content. So we just released an EP called who is JVK? We released it last Friday, and we did it for Louder than Life, and you know, we basically my mindset was like, as a new band, there's gonna be people that are looking at us, going who's JVK? Who's JVK? And you know, it kind of like encapsulates the feelings of like all of the hardships are going on in your world and how it makes you feel. It almost feels like those universes are centered around you. About the end of the day, when you're putting yourself in a profession like this, someone's gonna ask who you are because they just don't know, and they're going to invite them to that world. So we just released who Is JVK? Came out last Friday. It's been out for about a week now, and next Friday we're announcing the deluxe edition of who Is JVK with one new song which is very very exciting, and so it's all brand new, never before seeing, never before heard before. Oh love it, love it, and I love the name because I was thinking of all the press people that that will ask you in your careers, how did you get your band name? And you're gonna hate that question, So you answered it with an EP exactly exactly now later, like ten years from now, when they're asking you that you could, let go listen to the EP exactly. Go listen.

13:13 You'll find out who we are there is exactly and what's the craziest story each one of you has had in this musical. I mean, I got lots of stories. I don't even know where to start. Cheez. I mean, we played shows where it's so crowded, it's like a barrel of fish man. You know, everyone's shoulder to shoulder, crowd Swayne this way, crowd Swayne in that way. You know, stuff like that. I'm sure someone's got a better story. Sounds like ladder than life. So there was We play a show we were recording at Blackbird Academy in Nashville and some of our friends go to school that we were able to record some of the who is JVK EP there. We played a show in Murphy'sboro, Tennessee.

13:58 It was it was like it was it was like this house in the middle of nowhere, and I booked it and I was like, you know, it's a punk house. Why not. It was like seventy eighty people in this one living room and not a single person was standing still if everyone was just like the floor was caving in. Everyone's throwing bodies, going insane, Like it was the coolest show I had ever ever played. Oh wait, yeah, so the best part is we're going to put our gear down and lo and behold in the corner is a potato wine set up and a bitcoin mining operation. Where else do you see that out of the Murphysborough, Tennessee. Wow? Yeah there, Yeah, we have a few. We've We've encountered some cool, funny people too. Like there was one time we played at this like dive bar in Boston and there was this lady. She was probably like in her forties, and she's she's on the ground on her knees, bowing up and down to us while we're performing. And I love you guys. Just you know why I am laughing because I see that crap all time. That's pretty common for forty something. You're older there, gigs get some feeling something. Yeah, see, so you can remember when when you're forty something, I'm gonna be doing the same thing there. So tell everybody how they can connect you with you on socials on the web by your merch our website Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, It's all under JVK the Band and

15:30 our EP. Who is JVK just came out Now We're on all streaming services you name it, Spotify, Album Music, Deezer, Pandora, Amazon Music, you name it. We're all on it and the best way to contact us for merch and tell thinking about that all our informations on our website, JVK the Band dot com. Nice your favorite TikTok of your your guys TikTok's what's really what's your favorite? What's my favorite? I don't know. Oh yeah, yeah, I just like I just like to just like spam it. I kind of use it. It's like I use like the social I use like the Instagram, and the website is like a more professional I kind of use like the TikTok's like a behind the scenes like look at what's going on. You know, that's in the hotel of me writing a song, Like you know you had to see all that content there. Nice, that's always stupid. It's never anything you know, well, but that's what people want to know exactly. Yeah, people want to stupid shit exactly. So exactly everybody needs to go check you guys out because you're badass. Thank you man, so excited you're here at Ladder than Life and thanks for being on the Adventures to Plan. Thank you so much. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of fight Man. I'm w for CUI Radio