ION INDIE MAGAZINE September 2015, Volume 16 | Page 94

‘You know we’re musicians, so we want to play all new stuff. We think we’re the greatest. But, let’s face it…you don’t want to
hear something you’ve never heard before. It’s only four minutes long, so act like it’s the greatest thing you’ve ever heard; we’ll
be happy, you’ll be happy, then we’ll go back to playing every hit you’ve ever heard.’ I thought, ‘What a great way to engage
your audience (laughs). That was a good lesson.”
To that effect, there is actually some news in the Gin Blossoms world. Valenzuela says that there may be some new music
forthcoming in 2016.
“We’ve got half a record written,” he reveals. “Generally what we do is, I’ll fly out the guys one at a time and they’ll record and
I’ll get their input. It’s hard anymore…we don’t all live together. But, we’re going to get together and put this record together-maybe next Spring for the next tour.”
It seems that it’s actually all about the “new” that keeps Jesse Valenzuela a vital entity as a musician; that idea of building
upon all of his past accomplishments.
“New challenges, and constantly trying to learn,” he answers when asked about what drives him currently. “I was also happy
to be asked to score a movie recently. It’s a small, independent movie, but I like the storyline and I like the weight of the
movie…I think that I can write something beautiful for it. I’ve never scored a whole movie before. I’ve scored a sequence and
I’ve scored for commercials, but never the responsibility of a whole film. A new challenge feels great--you get to a certain point
where you have a confidence like you’ve been doing it for 50 years. It’s like, ‘Sure, why not?’”

www.ginblossoms.net
www.cdbaby.com/artist/jessevalenzuela
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gin-Blossoms/10194655949