EMBARKING ON A NEW JOURNEY
A CONVERSATION WITH STRATEJACKET
Certain bands can instantly kindle a flame of yesteryear brilliance with the sounds of their vocals, the strokes of their guitar strings, or their energetic drum presence. When it comes to bands such as StrateJacket, it doesn’t take much within their technical arsenal to ignite such a passion within the instrumental fortitude that exists within their music. StrateJacket has been working diligently on defining and crafting its unique sound since 2019. In today’s competitive music scene, it can be challenging for bands to get noticed, but StrateJacket has fought hard to earn even a cursory glance. With so many artists vying for attention on the internet, especially during the past few years, it was a significant accomplishment to capture the eyes and ears of potential fans with so many bands that continue to develop with the same goals and dreams in mind, but StrateJacket has concurred and beaten the odds, but it isn’t just their creative spirit that keeps them going.
“I think a key element to what makes StrateJacket is perseverance. With every band, there are multiple hurdles,” says vocalist and bassist Fabian Angel. “Whether that is getting to practice, writing a song, or playing a show, there’s multiple struggles that we all have to deal with. Amazingly, we are all really calm during those struggles. We’ll hit those road bumps, but at the same time, it is what it is; we just keep moving forward. Also, it’s our love for each other; we’re all brothers, you know,” he smiles. “Yeah, of course,” laughs lead vocalist and guitarist Jackson Roemers. “I think a lot of it comes down to us having all that time together, not playing shows, not doing anything … We had all this time to hammer out what we were doing. And just spending a lot of time together. I feel like there are just a lot of bands that just practice once a week, and that’s the end of their relationship; they all go on with their separate lives. To us, we aren’t just practicing; we are hanging out and spending time with one another. That works its way into what we make. When everything else is gone, we have each other; that’s what makes StrateJacket, StrateJacket.”
With the string of singles StrateJacket has released up to this point, the process leading up to the full-length has been an eye-opening and dissonant experience for the hungry North California pop-punk band, having always flirted with sunny, infectious punk-rock vibes within the structure of their music, new single “Bad Start” seems to fine-tune all their raw, poppy, deeply nostalgic sensibilities and takes them to new heights.
STREAM/DOWNLOAD BAD START
“Instrumentally, I feel “Bad Start” is different from our other songs because we worked with our producer, Brian Howes; this guy is a wizard. His guidance and knowledge were just so reassuring when it came to making the album,” says Angel. “Those older songs were just quick ideas. We would just record them and launch them out. It was essentially the basics. Howes thought what we had was great, but he helped make that better. He added all the bells and whistles and little riffs in the background; unless you listen to it a couple of times, his outlook on music is so dope. When I was working with this guy, I wanted to be like him; he knows what he is doing. He hears our songs, and he knows how to amplify them. It’s very moving to meet someone who is as deeply devoted to music as you are.”
“Our producer Brian had a big part to play in what separated the new music from the old,” continues Roemers. “I think we also simplified a lot of things this time around that were otherwise too much before. We took extra care with the number of words we used per song and let the instrumentals shine through a bit more. I didn’t always love going on long tangents about whatever or saying things how they are, but I realized that maybe it’s for the best when it comes to good songwriting. We used to have time changes in our songs, but I noticed at shows it was confusing to an audience. So, we came back in here with this new album, and we simplified and tightened stuff up, and we are left with the first taste, which is “Bad Start. This is kind of an ode to where we started because it was in the middle of the pandemic.”
“Bad Start” is a song that revolves around the concept of embarking on new journeys. Even if the beginning isn’t perfect or polished, StrateJacket has learned through experience that success only comes to those who fight relentlessly for what they believe in, even if that means making sacrifices. While StrateJacket is just getting started on their journey, their first single off their upcoming album is one that shows persistence and determination are key to achieving one’s goals.
“This is one of the first songs we wrote together as a band when Nate joined,” says Roemers. “This was the first song that we completed all together as a band because, before all the singles we wrote, he even joined. So, “Bad Start” was the first song we wrote together. So, from day one, “Bad Start” was its own thing. We didn’t even know if we were going to put this on record at first. It kind of came halfway through the writing process that we thought about putting this song on as well. After “Bad Start,” we said to ourselves, ‘How do we make more songs like this, but better?’ So this was the rest of the album; it was this old Bay Area alternative rock sound, but built up.”
“Since writing “Bad Start,” it taught me when I’m trying to write new stuff to not overcomplicate things or think about it too much,” replies drummer Nate Mangold. “I tend to overanalyze things, and “Bad Start” taught me to think less about that when it comes to structuring versus to choruses.”
StrateJacket has many dissonant experiences to show off on their debut 2024 release, including “Bad Start”. Despite facing various challenges along the way, they have created a collection of songs that are unique to their own identity while still maintaining the grit and classic Bay Area sound that they have worked tirelessly to craft over the last few years.
“The album is a nest in a nest in the best possible way with all the different sounds within the songs,” says Mangold. “If you listen to each song, they all sound like they should be on a different album. Which I like because I like variety and versatility. I don’t like listening to the same types of songs repeatedly, style wise. We can get better at that and we just want people to know that we can dip our toes into other things.”
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