Piqued Jacks
Italian alternative funk rock band Piqued Jacks rocked SXSW last year, where they showcased their popular double single Upturned Perspectives and No Bazooka – both amazing songs. After SXSW, they returned to Italy and recorded their new hit album Climb Like Ivy Does. Last weekend, I had the pleasure of interviewing all 4 members of the band: E-King on lead vocals and piano; Penguinsane on guitar and backing vocals; littleladle on bass and backing vocals; and ThEd0g on drums and backing vocals.
The funky and upbeat single Upturned Perspectives is quite close to E-King’s heart: “The story is about a relationship. I’m thinking about this past relationship and I’m trying to arrive at different conclusions. It’s a very personal song.”
The other single No Bazooka has some unique sounds in the back beat, so I asked Piqued Jacks to tell me how they get such unusual sounds in their music. littleladle explained: “It’s all very natural. When we are recording in the studio, we start trying new things. We try to experiment with new sounds. It’s easy to do, but difficult to describe.” It’s a creative process that’s a lot of fun too.
Piqued Jacks new album Climb Like Ivy Does is about a mythical young girl named Ivy who explores different aspects of a perfect world. After watching the teaser video and the video for the track, Romantic Soldier, I wondered if the band was moving in a more orchestral rock direction. E-King explained, “It’s part of our experimentation, and our sound is evolving; we are evolving. This is part of our new direction.” littleladle reminded me: “There’s still funk rock in the album. You can still find it if you listen to the whole thing.”
The band’s many music videos are extremely well-produced, so I had to ask who produces them? ThEd0g told me: “We work with a lot of different people. The last one was produced by friends of ours, a director and video producer here in Italy: Armando Marchetti and Federico Morandi. Their video production company is Jackolantern Independent and their band is called Under The Bed.” littleladle added: “We try to put on the video what we try to say in the song. We try to depict what the song says and build a story.”
The four members of Piqued Jacks have been friends since childhood, and their band has been together since 2006. What’s their secret for staying together? ThEd0g told me that he and Penguinsane are brothers. He also told me, “When we started in 2006, we were anything but a band. We were just four friends playing. Most of the time, we were playing with toys instead of rehearsing. In 2012, after years of just playing together, we decided to make something more serious. We started working with this producer in America. Now, it’s getting more and more serious, and it’s getting better. We put our friendship in this process.”
I love that! Friends first. E-King agrees: “The secret of our band is putting friendship first. Yep!”
Since Piqued Jacks has made their way from Italy to the United States, I asked them for advice to help other artists who are trying to break out into other countries. ThEd0g explained: “We come from Italy. There is pretty much nothing for us here. If you’re going to the USA or anywhere in Europe that is not Italy, you just go there and you play. It’s really better outside here, because people really care about your music. Work hard and you do your job when you play. No one is coming for you. You have to show people who you are, promote yourself and believe in your music.” So, if you live in a place that does not care about your music, you need to take your music to where they appreciate it and play like you mean it.
E-King reinforced ThEd0g’s statement: “We don’t usually like giving advice, but we really believe in hard work and putting yourself out there. I think that’s the secret. We will see. We’re not famous yet!”
What’s up next for Piqued Jacks? The band is planning to tour the US, the East coast and Midwest, and then play again at SXSW. This March, look for them wandering the countryside in their green van.
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Piqued Jacks
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Cynthia Kahn, Founder of Amused Now
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