Interview with Jay Skowronek of Maxeen

 

Carlo Gironi: Hi! How are you doing?
Jay Skowronek: Hi Carlo! I am doing quite well, thank you. We're in Washington, D.C. right now, and it's cold and rainy, but I like rain, and I like the cold, so it's OK.

C.G.: Can you introduce the band's members and a story of how you got together?
J.S.: I play drums, Shannon (Mcmurray) plays guitar and Tom (Bailey) plays bass and sings. Maxeen formed in June 2002. I had played drums briefly in Shannon's old band, but I wasn't totally into it. I loved Shannon's playing, but the rest of the players weren't totally my thing. So I told Shannon to keep me in mind if he were to form a new project. A few months later, he called and was like, "hey, I found a really great singer/bass player, and I want the three of us to get together and jam!". We did, and everything clicked immediately. The chemistry was instantaneous.

C.G.: Where do you come from? And how is the punk scene in the place you come from?
J.S.: I was born and raised in a small town called Branford, Connecticut. The music scene there was completely non-existent! But, I was lucky enough to have a lot of friends who were musicians, and we'd get together every night and jam. Always good times in my parent's basement ... it wasn't until I moved to Boston, Massachusetts, that I got exposed to a lot more music. I lived there for a while, then moved to Los Angeles, which has a great music scene.

C.G.: Where did you get the name Maxeen from?
J.S.: Tom came up with the name. When we formed, we all knew that choosing a band name can be a tedious decision some times, so we knew we didn't want to think too much about it. After a rehearsal, Tom was like, "what about Maxeen?". Shannon and I were like, "cool." I think Tom was daydreaming about the cover of Duran Duran's 'Rio' record, and imagined her name to be "Maxeen." The name stuck.

C.G.: You released your new LP on Side One Dummy Records; how did you get in touch with the guys at Side One ?
J.S.: Let me just start out by saying that Side One is a great, great label. We got hooked up with SideOne through our manager, James Achor. James used to play in a band called Royal Crown Revue, who used to be signed to SideOne. When James heard our stuff for the first time, he knew it would be a perfect home for us. The guys from the label came to one of our shows (our 10th one, I think), and we got signed shortly afterwards.

C.G.: Have you released some other stuff before your new LP?
J.S.: We released a limited-edition 4-song live E.P. that we made up for the 2003 Warped Tour. We still have a few copies left, and only sell it at shows.

C.G.: Your sound is very pop rock and it has also some punk rock influences; where do you get your inspiration from?
J.S.: Honestly, our musical inspiration comes from all sorts of different places...from different bands we like, different experiences we have in life, etc. The three of us listen to a ton of different musical styles. Old music, new music. We just kind of soak it all in, and it goes into our brains, and when we're playing together, it just kind of seeps out of our dirty fingers.

C.G.: How would you describe Maxeen to a person that has never heard of you?
J.S.: I'd just say we're a rock band. When I say that, I mean it in a really broad sense ... but, I can't stand trying to describe our music to people, because everyone has their own ideas of what certain genres of music are. Like, someone might think some band is punk, but someone else might be like, "no way, that's not punk. That’s emo" or whatever. Just listen to the music and decide for yourself. That's my best answer.

C.G.: What are some of the bands that you guys regularly listen to?
J.S.: There are a certain core group of bands that we all adore. The Clash, The Pixies, The Replacements, The Police, Elvis Costello...love 'em.

C.G.: What about your lyrics? Do you sing about love, broken hearts and high-school dramas or you have also some other things to say?
J.S.: That's more of a Tom question, but I think Tom's lyrics are very personal and come from very close experiences with his life. Like "Shuffle My Feet" is a very upbeat, almost humorous song if you listen to it, but it's really true. Tom doesn't have a "motor" (a car), he is always late, and the kid barely eats (he's skinny). His lyrics run a spectrum of meaning--sometimes serious, sometimes not. But they're all from real feelings.

C.G.: Have you got some plans of touring to support you new album? If so, where and with whom?
J.S.: Yes! We finish up our December tour here in the States soon, then we have a week off for Christmas, then we head over to Europe for two months for extensive touring. Look for us!

C.G.: Speaking of tours, have you got some funny or interesting things that happened to you while you were on tour? Do you want to share it with us?
J.S.: Ahhh, touring. I don't know if there's one story to encompass all of the experiences we go through. Touring is mind-boggling. You're in a different city or country every day. You wake up and you're like, "Where am i??? What day is it again???". Matchbook Romance has a new merch guy named 'Dirty' that we think is hysterical. The kid is absolutely crazy. At tonight's show, he just left the Matchbook merch table and got up on stage and stage-dived into the crowd. Then, the Matchbook guys got the crowd to start cheering for him, so there were like 1200 people yelling "Dirty! Dirty!" the kid is a blast to hang out with. Completely insane.

C.G.: Do you think it is difficult for a young band to get hooked up by some label? I ask you this, because in the last year I saw a lot of unknown and untalented bands getting signed by major labels and all...how do you relate to this thing? Are you willing to get signed to some major or you just do not care?
J.S.: I think it all depends on the label. People who run labels have their own tastes, and that translates into the types of bands they sign. I've definitely heard some pretty bad bands on major labels, and I've seen some pretty extraordinary bands on indie labels, too. Will Maxeen ever sign to a major? Are we against it? I'm not really sure. We're a new band. Our first record just came out on SideOne and we're totally happy to work really hard on an indie label right now.

C.G.: Any final comments?
J.S.: Again, come check us out when we play. We're so excited to come over and play for everyone in Europe. It's going to be fun. Rock the winds!

C.G.: Thanks so much for the interview, good luck with everything!!
J.S.: Thank you, too, Carlo!

Related Links:
Official Website