Getting to Know… The Jailbirds

Reading Time: 6 min read

For the 116th interview on The Musical Hype, we get the goods from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada hard rock trio, The Jailbirds.

“We don’t generally box ourselves in to one sound.” Can I get a witness? “We write what we think sounds good, whether it draws influence from older music, newer stuff, different genres, it really is a mixed bag.” Yes, The Jailbirds – YES! For the 116^th interview in our Getting to Know… series on The Musical Hype, we get the goods from The Jailbirds, a hard rock trio from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The band is comprised of three souls: Myke (guitar and lead vocals), Liam (bass and backup vocals) and Eric (drums and backup vocals). As always, it is always incredibly informative and enlightening to hear about band’s background, goals, visions, and of course, their rad music. So, without any further delay, let’s get right into Getting to Know… The Jailbirds: Interview #116!

Starting things off, for those who may not be familiar with The Jailbirds, what would you say makes your band distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

Our sound is a mixture of different things, like grunge, hard rock, classic rock, some blues, funk, acoustic music, etc., etc., etc. What sets us apart from other bands is that we don’t generally box ourselves in to one sound. We write what we think sounds good, whether it draws influence from older music, newer stuff, different genres, it really is a mixed bag. What we also are conscious of while writing, is doing things that aren’t seen a lot in today’s rock music. IE guitar solos, vocal harmonies out the wazoo, huge productions that heir to the days of classic rock, etc. We just leave it all on stage, we do what we do and that’s that!

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did The Jailbirds form and what were some of the goals or the visions you had as a band early on?

Our band formed from a high school band that Liam and Myke were a part of. When the sound changed, it was time to clean the slate and start over. We chose a new name, found Eric on an online ad and here we are today! From the very beginning, we have always set out to make this a career for ourselves, whatever that might turn into. It’s a tough industry to get your head above water, but for the 3 of us, we can’t see ourselves doing anything else. I have no idea what I would do without guitars!!

Let’s talk more about goals. Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

They are honestly pretty much the same as the moment we started. Our goals have always been to be the best musicians we can be, stay humble and let’s have some fun! To us, if you’re not having fun doing music, why are you doing it at all? That has always stuck around with us, and we always try to just be the best we can be, and we will never stop growing as players because that’s the fun part about music!!

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

The main influences of our music are bands like GN’R, Deep Purple, Sabbath, Alter Bridge, Soundgarden, etc. There’s too many to list really. They are all influential in many various ways, from seeing Slash talk about life and his perspective being so open minded and chill, to watching those classic videos of DP killing it on live television from the early 70’s. It’s not just about the music they produce, but also who they are as people.

Ah, the fun stuff. What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance? Feel free to be creative.

The wackiest thing that has ever happened during a performance, was probably the time where the power cut out on us mid song! Haha, we had to get pretty creative in the moment… started a chant with the audience while we figured out the problem!! Then, kicked back into the song where we left off hahaha what a time. You hope that those things don’t happen, but at the same time I’m glad it did. Makes for a great memory!

Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

So far, my favourite song we’ve done has to be “Jungle”. It isn’t released just yet, but we have played it live quite a bit! It should be out in 2021. I love how the lyrics and story turned out on this one, it really paints a picture for the listener. It’s about struggling with mental health, and we used a jungle as a metaphor for your brain when you’re anxious. Without giving too much away, it really captures how someone feels during moments like that. The guitar tone on that one is pretty sweet too, there’s so many layers of cool little licks and other fun stuff too! Stay tuned for that one!

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

We’re just a few friends playing some tunes together! It really comes down to having a good time for us, the thing that we want everyone to know is that when you see us play live, you are going to get the best performance we’ve done yet! We still haven’t written our best song and are always striving to be better as musicians.

Closing things out, what is The Jailbirds currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure.

We are currently rolling out our 2^nd EP, we have 2 singles out right now that you can stream anywhere, called “Watery Grave” and “Dull My Brain”. The music video for DMB will be out Sept 9^th, and then after that we will be releasing our next single and then the full EP!! Hopefully early 2021, it really depends on COVID-19 though. It’s tough for all bands right now, and while we try to stay busy and interesting, it’s tricky to do so without being able to really tour. That said, we are working on our music silently for when we can get back on the road! That, and of course as always, we are working on more videos and other cool stuff like that for your consumption.