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SO MANY MILES
JARED YOUNG TALKS TO ROCKWIRED
ABOUT
BEING A CHILD OF THE EIGHTIES
HIS DEBUT CD 'SO MANY MILES'
AND MAKING MUSIC WITH A MESSAGE
INTERVIEWED BY BRIAN LUSH
He didn't exactly come from a musical family, but as a child,
singer-songwriter JARED YOUNG discovered a piano on the second floor of
his grandparents farmhouse and never looked back. His fate as a
musician was sealed at the age of fourteen back in 1985, when he viewed
the USA FOR AFRICA LIVE AID Concert. It was then that he realized that
a life of making music with a message was what he wanted to do.JARED YOUNG TALKS TO ROCKWIRED
ABOUT
BEING A CHILD OF THE EIGHTIES
HIS DEBUT CD 'SO MANY MILES'
AND MAKING MUSIC WITH A MESSAGE
INTERVIEWED BY BRIAN LUSH
Like ELVIS COSTELLO, his aim was true and now JARED YOUNG has released his debut CD SO MANY MILES and the mileage can be heard in this gritty collection of earnest and heartfelt rockers. Yes, YOUNG is a troubadour with a heart on his sleeve and a wide yet modest grin. (Perhaps we should mention that he a member of the high school leadership program)
His mission for making music with a message has not been lost on SO MANY MILES. Just give tracks like UNCOMFORTABLE SKIN, SHE CAME DOWN, SO THIS IS LIFE and WHO YOU GONNA RUN TO? a listen.
ROCKWIRED had the chance to speak with JARED YOUNG over the phone. Here is how it went.
According to your press release, you hail from Arkansas. How long hve you lived in Los Angeles?
We moved out here about five years ago and we absolutely love it!
Who is "we"?
My wife and I, plus our two dogs. We're having a good time out here.
SO MANY MILES is a great CD. Now that it is completed how do you feel about it?
It feels good to have it all down and mixed. There were so many other projects that I had worked on in the past that had come close to how I had imagined them, but this time around, I feel that we really hit the mark and it feels great. I now have a body of work that I'm excited to be playing for people and I'm really excited about getting it out there. The more people hear it and respond to it, the better. It feels really great.
You said "...other projects." Isn't this your first CD?
I have played in various band over the years back in Arkansas. I had also recorded EP's of some solo stuff but this is the first debut of me as a singer-songwritier. It's me JARED YOUNG! Rock n Roll! I hope that answers your question.
What kind of bands were you in?
I grew up a child of the eighties and am proud of it. I really am. I grew up listening to THE POLICE, U2 and was weened early on CROWDED HOUSE. I was a huge MIDNGHT OIL fan when nobody knew who they were. I was in a band called STEPHEN'S LAW which got pretty big in the southeast. We were a very passionate rock band and a lot of our songs had messages. My songs still have messages and that pretty much came from listening to people like U2 and MIDNIGHT OIL.
Just before this interview, I was visiting YOUTUBE.COM and watching a bunch of 80's videos.
They were so bad!
I don't know. It seems like we've gone to a point where MTV and VH1 don't paly videos anymore. When you talk about message songs, what do you think is the message of SO MANY MILES?
I think that the message is that it's okay to be a complex person. It's okay to walk around and have hope and that it's okay to be in the world and feel good about who you are. Everything that magazine and TV ads dictate is that you should look like this or that. I think the message in my music for this CD is that you're okay the way you are. You know what I mean? Especially a song like UNCOMFORTABLE SKIN. It's conversation between a boy and girl. The boy is totally in love but the unfortunate thing is that the girl doesn't love herself.
In switching from the music scene in Arkansas to the music scene in Los Angeles, what was the biggest shock?
Initially, it was how many great players and bands that there are. It was also unbelievable how many great clubs there are to play here as well. In Arkansas I was a big fish in a small pond before I moved out to Los Angeles. I took it as an opportunity to re-visit what I was doing and settle on a style that fit my songwriting and my singing. I front the band with an acoustic guitar, which is rare here in LA. I've still found a way to be original here in Los Angeles. Ittook a little while to figure it all out and find my niche.
Exlain, if it's explainable the creative process.
It' s hard to put into words. I write songs a couple of different ways. I carry a tape recorder with me in the car and as I'm cruising along, a melody or phrase will come to me. Sometimes, it happens as I'm singng to myself. I write songs on piano as well. I tend to switch back and forth between guitar and piano. It's a really good way to write and it's good way to not get locked into playing the same thing over and over again. The best time for writing a song is when it's as if the top of your head is opened and someone has poured in a bunch of words and melodies. The struggle is to transfer that from your subconsiousness onto a piece of paper. Sometimes, it's very fleeting.
You play both piano and guitar. Which came first?
It was my Grandma and Grandpa. They had a piano on the second story of their Kansas farmhouse. They had 110 acres out in the middle of Kansas. No one in my family played piano and I didn't know how it got there. As a kid, I plucked around on it. I had no knowledge of music. I pretty much played by ear. In the band STEPHEN'S LAW, I was just the singer and our guitar player left for college. Rather than get a new guitarist, I thought that I'd pick it up, so its been twelve years since I started playing guitar. The first six months of learning it were terrible, then it started to make a little more sense.
You barred all of your chords?
Oh yeah. I faked it for two years.
It's the easiest instrument to be okay at and the hardest to be great at.
Absolutely. Piano came first and guitar came as a necessity. I kind of use it as a percussive instrument on a couple of the tracks.
So the discovery of your grandparents piano was how music began for you?
Yeah. I sang in choirs and loved singing. Before I could play guitar, one of the first songs I wrote was an acappella. It was the coolest thing. When I was 14, LIVE AID was broadcast and I watched it and got into it and then I thought "...this is it! This is for me!" It was an emotional experience for me. Seeing all of those people together on stage was very powerful and that was what I wanted to be involved in. I wanted put all of my energy and time into making music that says something and makes an impact.
We talked briefly about music videos. Are there any plans for a video?
We did a benefit concert at the University of Central Arkansas and right now, we're editing the footage.
Is your live band the same as what we hear on the CD?
Making this CD was a unique experience. SO MANY MILES is called that because we recorded the guitars, vocals and drums in Los Angeles, and the bass and keybords were recorded in Arkansas. We FED EXed the recordings back and forth and recorded our parts so it literally covered a lot of miles. When I play live, I have a rotating list of musicians, depending on their availability. I also do acoustic shows.
How has the response been to your live shows?
Great! There is this wonderful intimacy between me and the audience and they respond well to the emotion and the sincerity.
What's the best advice anyone has ever given you?
In high school, there was this guy COACH CLEMENTS who ran the high school leadership program. He told me to do what you love and you'll always be happy. I've really taken that advice to heart.
Where you ever a member of such a club?
Yes, I was.
So you weren't one of the angry kids.
No, I was the shy kid. I wanted to express myself but I didn't know how. I used to walk around in a STAR WARS t-shirt.
What do you want someone to walk away with after hearing your music?
I'd like for people to listen to it and think "...I'm okay being who I am." and that it's okay to have a little hope in this world and to feel good about life.
