“This could straight up finish tomorrow, but this is a full success.
I mean were getting played on Monday Night Football.” - Jayden Panesso
It’s been 8 years. Did you
ever think in the humble
beginnings in Queens
New York that you’d be
here right now at this
point and saying “we’re
doing it”?
JAYDEN: No man, It’s crazy. So the whole
idea of the thing was worked up at the end of
2011. We didn’t really start doing things until
late 2012. I’m just sitting in Queens, It just
wasn’t that easy to find people. I’m think-
ing of these first songs and how we wrote
them in my room and my friends basement
in Brooklyn. I Never thought that a lot of the
things that are happening right now would
ever happen. Because you start a band, you
take on these dreams and you have these
goals. Some of the things we’ve done al-
ready have surpassed a lot of the things I
thought were even possible. Recently a song
was played on Monday night football. It’s
actually played every Monday night and It’s
just insane. We’re a bunch of kids with just
ideas and a dream and it’s crazy.
NYC has cooled off a bit
in turning out new artists,
and even some venues
have closed. What were
some of the favorite ven-
ues you played as a kid?
JAYDEN: Obviously as a kid you always
want to do Gramercy, Irving Plaza, Best Buy
before it was Best Buy. I remember playing
Club Europa, Party Expo, like small hole in
the wall places. At the time it was so exciting.
Even if a couple of kids came out it was sick. It’s crazy to be doing this inter-
view outside of The House of Blues. I was just taking a Shower in a Green
Room. Those were things we were not able to do. We toured broke for so
long we had no money. We would get a Little Caesars pot for these venues
and I’d be like “OK I have 2 bucks” and that’d be gone. That’s how hard
times were, but we had to keep going.
Earlier in your career, what was the hardest
about just trying to get your music outside of
the bonds of your locality?
JAYDEN: I think of times we would show up to a venue, show cancelled! We
would play a show and the promoter would bail and vanish and not pay us. I
remember a time when a lady at the bar we were playing felt so bad, she let us
play a show and put out a tip jar just so we could literally get to the next show.
I feel like a lot of people would give up really easy at those times. I can’t tell you
how many bands I’ve seen come and go, even bands that get super hype over-
night and just disappear 6 months later. It’s about consistency with this band
and that’s something I’m very proud of and I’ve told my guys. “This could
straight up finish tomorrow, But this is a full success”! My songs out on the ra-
dio, we’re on Monday night Football, we tour on the world. This is Awesome!
There was a devaluing of music by not
having a physical product anymore. I think
bands have started to pull back from social
media and free music again to create that
mystique once more. Do you agree?
JAYDEN: Honestly, I feel like some artist are, including me being guilty of
that some times. I remember going to concerts as a kid, and even if I saw one
of my favorite band members from miles away I was like “holy crap, that dude
is real.” I didn’t have the chance to go on instagram and see what the hell they
were having for breakfast or what they were watching in their Green Room.
That wasn’t a thing. Honestly that was so much cooler. It made everything so
mysterious. That whole mystique is gone, it’s fully gone. I’m always trying to
play Devil’s advocate with it because I’m in the middle of trying to keep things
as interesting as possible, but at the same time not losing touch with what
reality is. You have to be on social media, you have to be constantly posting.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been called out for not posting enough.
It’s crazy, but like I said, you have to adapt. It’s just nuts, It’s a wild time for it.
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