We recently debuted Jack Rabbit Slams’ new video, so it made sense to find out a little more about the (disturbed) mind behind it…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are from the central belt of Scotland – Glasgow, Edinburgh and Armadale
How did you meet?
Me (Rob) and Sean go back to youth group when we were 13/14. It was run by a guy called Andy Livingston and he is the reason we are in a band. He put on gigs and gave us somewhere to rehearse all at his own cost so we owe a great deal to him. Sean liked metal and I(Rob) liked rock so we didn’t see eye to eye for a few years. Archie we’ve only known a short time as he’s just joined, we found him via a WE NEED A BASS PLAYER Facebook ad. But he’s sound, we wouldn’t have let him in if he was an arsehole.
How long have you been playing as a band?
We have been a band for just under three years but the current line-up has only been together a few months.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
The name was a nightmare, any band name you pick sounds shit until it doesn’t. But, Long story short the restaurant in Pulp Fiction is called “Jack Rabbit Slims” which I had always misheard as “Slams” and that was pretty much it. It’s not really a tribute to the film or to Tarintino or anything like that, more just a nod. The main thing is we refused to be called “the” somethings like every other band in a 5-million-mile radius.
What are your influences?
We all have quite a varied taste. I love punk and blues and Sean loves metal, Archie’s hero is flea (typical bassist) but we have introduced each other to things we each like and we try and keep an open mind when using other bands as reference points and influencers. We would be pretty beige if we all liked and wanted to play the exact same type of music.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Our music is high energy rock and roll. We try and incorporate each other’s influences so any song we write ends up completely different by the time its finished and ready to record.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Life? I need to write about something real most of the time, something that makes me happy or sad or angry. If you write about things you’ve never experienced then it just comes across as fake and hollow. We aren’t a political band but there’s references to what’s going on in the world right now in there. At the end of the day what the songs about to us is irrelevant, its for the audience to decide. We might have lyrics that are maybe about a slightly dark or melancholy subject but because the music is upbeat a listener might hear it in the total opposite sense. That’s the beauty of music.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Hard. Fast. In your face. We go for it live, big time. We try not to give the audience to much time to breath between songs. We like to keep the energy up all through the set. So, although we treat each gig as a total onslaught, we do it in a way that’s very inclusive of the crowd. We want our audience to feel like they’re in it with us.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
I (Rob) dislocated my knee onstage once but the wildest thing would be at a festival we played, everything is going well and we are playing a track called ‘Bangarang’ which is very motorhead-esque. So, during the guitar solo our then bassist Kris nudges me to look out into the crowd and I see this big group of guys jumping about crazy so we are thinking “YAAAS! Our first pit!” but in reality, it was just a bunch of drunks who had decided to start kicking shit out of each other. We would have preferred it to have been our first mosh pit but at least the punches were in time with the tune so it looked pretty cool from the stage.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
- Sean – Tama superstar kit, Mapex Black Panther snare, Sabian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks.
- Archie – Fernandez Jazz bass, Ashdown amp w/Peavy cab, Big Muff pedal.
- Rob – Gibson Les Paul traditional, Orange dual terror head/cab, Jim Dunlop Cry Baby Wah, Digitech Whammy pedal, Ibanez analogue delay, Small Clone Chorus
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
We have our new single “Crackerjack” and music video which was premiered by you guys (thanks!!)
We will be releasing our follow up single “Come and Go” very soon with our debut album also titled Crackerjack to follow after that.
What are your plans for 2019?
After all the releases we will be gigging as much as possible. We are really looking forward to that. We will still write and record for album no 2 in the background but predominantly our live shows will be our main focus.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Tough question. We would have to say Foo Fighters. It would be good to get a shot of their big AC/DC style ramp going into the crowd. That’s when you know you’ve made it. We choose Two Tone Television to open for us, they’re one of the best in Glasgow just now.
