The Canadian trio have been making a name for themselves with their explosive live shows. They are now set to bring their live show to a studio with a new EP due later this year and a full length album to follow.
Give us a potted history of the band
The Jailbirds started out with just a few friends from high school, converting a storage locker into a rehearsal space just outside of Toronto, Canada. We (Myke and Liam) had been playing in bands together since around 2011 in different groups, but started The Jailbirds through college after writing some songs that had a new feeling to them. We had linked up with some other musicians we met around the scene and just started working on this new band tirelessly, rehearsing all the time and trying to cut our teeth.
This would have been starting in late 2015 or so when we started the band, and fast forward to now in 2024, The Jailbirds are still Myke, Liam and our buddy Kevin as well on Drums since 2022. We have accomplished some of our biggest dreams so far, which we are still blown away by honestly.
One of them being to support one of our favourite groups, Monster Truck – and we were lucky to have done so a couple times on their last tour. We have supported Rival Sons, Crown Lands, and a few others as well, worked with some amazing producers such as Brian Moncarz (Tea Party, Alice Cooper, Our Lady Peace, Bleeker), gotten worldwide attention for our singles and have toured all over Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
Who inspired you to start making music
Myke: The first thing to ever inspire me to play guitar was hearing Thunderstruck on the radio, when I was about 12 or so maybe. It was in that moment that I knew I wanted to play guitar, I’m not sure why I felt that but something about that guitar line hooked me.
From there, I was extremely lucky to have amazing music teachers, Mrs, Diniz in my high school music class pushed me beyond my limits as well as encouraged me to sing! I never wanted to but I’m glad that she did, because I can’t imagine what I’d be doing otherwise! Haha and of course my guitar teacher Dion was amazing to me, Jason Hales is my vocal coach and he is incredible, I had some unreal college profs as well such as Dan Brodbeck, Rob Nation, Moe Berg, Joe Vaughan and many others that helped me tremendously.
I also can’t forget to mention my parents, especially my dad who got me my first guitar, pushed me to practice, and my mom who took me to lessons every week for a very long time. I don’t know where I’d be without all of these people, especially without the support from my family.
And the one or maybe two records that inspired you artistically
Myke: One that always comes to mind is Appetite For Destruction. That album was on repeat daily for me, for years. Nothing else stood up to it for my teenage brain, it was like a drug or something to me. Another huge one was “In Rock” by Deep Purple, that was the first record I ever bought and played on my record player, Bloodsucker is still one of my favourites. These records did it for me, because they pushed the boundaries into a new territory, setting the bar higher than it ever was before. But more specifically, what really inspired me about these records is the top of the line guitar tones they had, the solos were jaw dropping, the vocals are all inhuman, and the rhythm section was spot on. I could go on, just monster playing and monster songs and recorded masterfully.
Liam: I remember being obsessed with Seven Nation Army back in high school. It was the first riff/song I learned on guitar and it was the first moment I realized how cool it was to play music. Jamming along to that track in Myke’s parents’ living room will forever be a memory in my head, it was a really big moment for me realizing how awesome it was to play along with songs you like!
I was super into Death From Above 1979 in high school as well, being a bassist and all haha. Rock n roll, soul, and funk inspire me a lot and I listen to these genres a ton these days. Anything with a sick groove! And I would say Black Sabbath: Master of Reality and Heaven & Hell – it was the first music I heard that had a serious groove while being undeniably heavy all at the same time. The first time I made a stank face I think too.
Kevin: My parents inspired me to play music. They didn’t play instruments themselves, but they introduced me to bands that had a huge influence on my playing throughout the rest of my life. The biggest influences for me were Led Zeppelin, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix, but my older brother was the one to show me Nirvana which was a massive influence as well.
“Lateralus” by TOOL was and still is one of my biggest inspirations as a drummer. The rhythms that the whole band play are incredibly unique and I love the dynamic range in every song. “Badmotorfinger” by Soundgarden would be a close second. They’re a band with such a unique style and Matt Cameron’s drum beats completely changed the way that I approach grooves in rock music.
If you’re trying to explain who you sound like to someone that’s never heard you, what do you say
The Jailbirds is a hard rock power trio at heart. You’ll hear influence from all across the board, spanning from 70’s to modern day rock music. You might say Black Sabbath meets Royal Blood meets Wolf Mother, meets Guns N’ Roses.
Tell us about your new track
The story behind the song Take Me Away; it is about love and loss in a nutshell. It talks about one day waking up and realizing you’ve wasted your precious time on this earth, wasted it with worrying about what others might think, or being afraid to put yourself out there. Running from something that you shouldn’t have in the first place and then asking yourself why, because it seems so silly now. It’s a message to everyone to not hold a grudge, to let things go before it’s too late and you can’t make things right anymore.
We recorded the bulk of Take Me Away at EMAC recording studios in London Ontario Canada. Myke recorded the vocals himself at his studio at home, and we had our buddy Matt Grady (who recorded at EMAC for us) mix it and Robert Nation master the track.
Gear wise, we always go all out for recording sessions as you do. We used a classic early 70’s Ludwig kit on this recording, tucked it into an isolation booth actually to get a really tight and dry sound. Guitars are mainly Myke’s Gibson Explorer 76 Reissue, and a custom Warmoth Strat. As always the main amps used on the guitars are Morris amps (Welland, Ontario) a Fender Bassman, as well as a Diezel amp mixed in. For bass, Liam used a Fender American Pbass for this track, which is usually the winner with few exceptions. Rarely a Jazz bass is used on our stuff, too. Wes used his Traynor YBA300 amp, the bassman and an old Ampeg B15 that we rented as well.
Where can we get hold of it
It is available worldwide on Spotify, Apple Music and everywhere else! Here’s the link: https://fanlink.tv/thejailbirdstakemeaway
Tell us how you write
Usually, we will have an instrumental idea before lyrics. We’ll have a riff or something comes out of nowhere and we just jam it for a few minutes, document it on a phone recording and save it for later. Then we’ll piece these parts together, sometimes Myke will do this alone and bring it in or it happens in the room together and we work out a part. Then comes lyrics and melodies usually, that is just how it naturally happens most of the time.
Tell us about your live show What would be your dream gig
Our live shows are packed with energy and presence. We spend a lot of time on the sound of the band as a whole and making things super tight – and the main thing for us is always to have fun with it as well. We try to make our live show as different as we can, at home in Ontario we usually have a lighting show to go along with our set for example and some fun improv moments as well throughout the show, so it’s never really the same show twice!
A dream gig? Hmm. If we played a packed night at Massey Hall in Toronto, that would be a dream come true for sure.
What can we expect from you in the near future
We have a new EP coming out on Oct 25th 2024 – and from there we will be working on our first ever full length album with the hopes to tour in the UK in fall 2025.
Tell us your favourite records that are rocking your headphones/tour bus/stereo
Right now we’ve been cranking some Clutch! Been on a huge Clutch kick lately. That and the latest Black Crowes album has been on repeat, it’s amazing. Probably one of the best of the year.
Check out the bands single Take Me Away, below:
Find out more via the bands Website or Facebook
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