The Joe Olnick Band is a quartet that writes and performs original, groove-based instrumental jazz/funk, in the vein of the New Mastersounds, Phish and Medeski Martin & Wood. The band takes themes from their recordings and jams them out live for a unique experience. They will interpret at least a couple of covers in each set, but are primarily original.
In this interview spotlight, I catch up with Joe to talk about the Iguana album and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Great to hear new music from you Joe! How have things been going? How was the overall response to your last release?
Hi! Thanks for checking in! Things have been crazy busy lately, but in a good way. The last release exceeded all expectations, and continued to build the steady momentum that’s been growing for a while. The Downtown album was more in the jazz side of the spectrum, but still ended up having cuts played on well over 100 college radio stations, and that’s just in the United States. The title track ended up hitting the national college radio charts, which makes two albums in a row where a single hit the chart. The critical response was positive, and I got a lot of good feedback from listeners around the world. I was very, very proud of what was accomplished.
What can we expect from your new project? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific with this one?
While the band and I were working on some live shows for Downtown, the idea began to take shape that the next one would be more of a rock, or rock hybrid, project. Specifically, at one of our practices our bass player, Jamie Aston, was joking around about Iguana Don and The Lizard People, and it very quickly came together: Don was a misunderstood hero, an outcast who would go through some adventures & challenges, but ultimately get what he was looking for. Kind of a modern version of a classic rock opera, albeit instrumental.
I wrote a number of pieces based certain parts of this: on being introduced to Don, as well as some of the struggles and crazy things he has to do, his wondering why his fate is what it is, and finally the victory at the end where he finally gets what he wants. It was a fun creative exercise that gave some structure to the project.
While I was working on the final recordings, I enlisted an artist that I know who does great work, in a similar style to Jack Kirby at Marvel. His name is Ron Good. I had played at one of his exhibits before. He drew the original artwork for the cover, as well as the inside artwork for the CD. It’s very different than anything else that I’ve done before.
There were also some interesting parallels to this project and where the band has been lately that became obvious over time: as an “emerging artist” the band is also sometimes misunderstood, and by design is not in the mainstream. Being an art project that is very funky, but uses a lot of improvisation and not located in a major city, it’s been a struggle to sometimes do what we want to do. But despite that, we keep doing what we do and eventually prevail. It’s a very hopeful, upbeat message in the end, which is really cool. There’s a lot of emotion in it, and folks are responding to that.
What is your favorite song(s) from the new album (Iguana)?
While working on it, I really expected the first cut, Sticky Floor Nightclub, to take off as the single. It’s unusual, in that there are not one but TWO short bass solos before the lead guitar even makes an entrance. And between the spacey guitar lines at the beginning over the groove, as well as the nightclub atmosphere at the end, I really felt that we set up the next song very well.
Which brings me to the song that I have been getting a lot of feedback on, Don’s Theme. One of the suggestions that came up early on was a theme when Don would make an appearance, and I thought that he would initially be introduced as somebody on the outside looking in. Kind of sad in a way, because he knows something is missing. This eventually grew into quite an emotional peak by the end of the song, almost orchestral. I put everything that I could into that piece, and it really took a lot out of me. I had a bit of a breakdown while working on it and had to finish it up, but there’s no denying that the emotion comes through, which is important. It really helps the listener connect to the main character here.
And even if one doesn’t know anything about the background behind songs, they still stand on their own as interesting pieces. More than one reviewer has commented on the way that I skip across different genres within rock and fusion here. My musical identity has been taking elements from different genres and combining them into something new, and these two songs do that well.
Who is your favorite band or artist right now?
Hmmm… Good question. I’ve always been a big fan of folks that also jump from one genre or subgenre to another. It keeps things interesting over time. Artists like Brian Eno, Miles Davis, Jerry Garcia, Medeski, Martin & Wood, and Nels Cline. Lately I’ve rediscovered The Velvet Underground, and have been checking out their live recordings. The one from The Matrix in San Francisco is shockingly good, both in performance and sound quality.
As far as what’s current these days, I’m a fan of a trio from Philly called Hambone Relay. Great musicians, who can really jam and are always working. Super nice, too.
Wilco puts on a great show. They also cover a wide gamut, and aren’t afraid to get a little weird, which is great.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
Definitely my web site: https://www.joeolnick.com since that is the place that not only links to all of my other places online, but also streams all of my music. There’s a ton of video there, and on YouTube, where folks can see the evolution of the band over the years. And most of the recent video is multi-camera, with CD-quality sound. I’m also on Facebook & Twitter, of course.
Anything else before we sign off?
When I started doing this years ago, the only thing I wanted to do was create some cool new stuff and get it out there. Little did I know this would end up taking over my life, and that it would go from working mostly on music to music being part of a bigger art project. It’s very difficult to create new music nowadays and get people to check it out, especially when one is not a household name.
So in addition to the music, there are now the videos, the web site, social media, the shows where we get to really connect with the audience in person, and a lot of work that goes with all of that. But it’s all worth it whenever emails come in from around the world and I find out that something that I did helped somebody get through a tough time. Or that it helped them jam out and love life. That’s the best feeling. I am so grateful to everybody that has dug the music, and hopefully I can continue to create new, cool material for a long time. Thanks so much!
