Chicago – For the past six years, the duo formally known as Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. has been making some of the best indie pop around. Now simply known as JR JR, the group is still making some damn fine pop, but they’ve gone back to their Detroit roots, embracing Motown, R&B, and hip hop in their music. When Daniel Zott and Joshua Epstein formed the group back in 2009, they had no idea where their collaboration might take them. In July of 2010 they released their first EP Horsepower, featuring the single “Simple Girl.” After a superb CMJ showcase, they signed with Warner Bros. Records and in 2011 released their debut full-length It’s A Corporate World, with the amazing cover of “We Almost Lost Detroit.” That year they also played one of the most creative sets at Lollapalooza, gaining them the attention of Spin and Billboard. More attention would follow, from an ice cream flavor - JR JR Mint - back in their home state of Michigan and being invited to practice by the Milwaukee Bucks, to performing on Conan in support of their sophomore album The Speed of Things. They would also eventually bring drummer Mike Higgins into the group, then keyboardist Jon Visger and multi-instrumentalist Bryan Pope, adding to their always impressive live show.
Recently Zott and Epstein shortened the band name to JR JR. In an open letter to fans, Zott and Epstein wrote:
When we initially chose the name Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, the feeling was that it gave us an amazing flexibility. We were just meeting as people, and hadn’t begun to scratch the surface of knowing what our voice, as a band or each individually, would be… [A]s things have grown, so has the amount of confusion caused by the name Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr. Some of it is no big deal and easily cleared up. But sometimes we get sad and bizarre requests sent to our social media sites or emailed to people we work with. We’ve had people drive long distances to shows only to be disappointed when they realize it’s a neurotic Jew and wild haired gentile from Detroit they’ve paid to see… We recognize that we created this situation and that the name has been a part of getting to where we are now. It stirred up some attention for us in the modern internet world of over-stimulation, and we aren’t complaining about any of it–good and bad. The name has become it’s own personality, though. Almost, another member of the band. But as time has passed, we have grown into ourselves, both as artists and individuals. Each of our perspectives have gotten stronger, and we’ve found that there is no longer room for a third, ubiquitous member of the project.
When asked if changing the band name also set the tone for rebranding, Zott acknowledged that there’s been a bit of rebranding but said it wasn’t “so much a rebrand but more of growing up in a way.” They never had “an ‘ah-ha’ moment, like hey we need to change this because it’s better for the band or for the company or whatever.” They didn’t change their name to gain more fans. It was just a “simplicity thing” that was a long time coming, “a natural progression.”
Another progression for the Detroit natives was filling their music with more of the sounds they grew up with: Motown, R&B, and hip hop. Last year JR JR released the mixtape Produce: Vol. 1, featuring collaborations with Chuck Inglish, Asher Roth, Slim form 112, and others. In a recent statement issued through Warner Bros. Records, Zott is quoted as saying: “Produce gave us the chance to step back and look at production in a different way. We realized we were adding too many things and layering too much. We became more straightforward and minimal, as a result. It taught us a lesson, and we started to embrace that process when we make our music. We find what the songs need, do that, and don’t keep piling on bells and whistles.” Later that year JR JR also released the mellow single “James Dean.” Best New Bands chatted with Zott last year about the single. In the interview Zott said fans should expect an “R&B feel, more of a hip hop feel” with the third album. Well, album number three is here. JR JR was released on September 25. While songs like “As Times Goes” and “Gone” still echo sounds from their past and “Philip the Engineer” is rich in influences from The Beatles and Paul Simon (“Gone” also has some hints of Paul Simon), most of the album does in fact have a lush R&B feel, with noticeable hip hop influences. Of course there’s “James Dean,” but ”In The Middle” and “Hypothetical” are also perfect examples of this.
When asked about how fans have been responding to the new sound, Zott said, “It’s been good so far,” with the single “Gone” doing “better than any song we’ve ever had.” Thanks to “Gone,” JR JR has begun to see an influx of new fans. In “James Dean,” JR JR sing “the internet won’t ever love you back,” but “Gone” has garnered over one million plays on Spotify… Guys, it appears the internet does love you.
JR JR have long been known for fun, energetic live shows, filled with flashing lights, bubbles, and colorful projections. With their new sound, Zott said the live show “has more of a diverse set, where you throw in a ‘James Dean’ and a ‘Hypothetical,’ and it’s just a certain vibe than every song being [focused on] dancing.” Though Zott is glad they “embraced that more on this album with a little more hip hop vibes,” he assures us “you can still dance, but it’s more approachable, where sometimes before too many songs were trying to hit you over the head with an idea; that gets really tiring.” With the hip hop vibes and R&B feel, “there’s quite a bit more songs on this album that romance you in, in a way.”
Another change for JR JR was a separation. Epstein moved out to LA and for the most part, Zott had been living in Detroit, making JR JR the first album the guys wrote apart. When asked about this experience, Epstein said, “It was definitely interesting to have some space between us. Next time we’ll probably do it differently, but I think it was a cool experience.”
One thing that definitely hasn’t changed for these two is their ability to create well written lyrics. “Break My Fall” is perhaps the best example of this: “Lock my heart like a house because nothing is safe / Let someone in once and we trashed the whole place.” The positivity that radiates from their music also remains. JR JR have an ability to lift you up, even with serious songs, coaxing a smile on your face. Best New Bands asked Zott and Epstein if this because they are generally positive, outgoing, and carefree people. Zott chuckled. Epstein turned the floor over to AJ, JR JR’s lighting engineer, who laughed and said, “Josh is a very positive person, on the right day. Mostly he’s expecting everything to fail, always.”
Epstein certainly doesn’t fail when it comes to songwriting. The former poetry major succeeded in creating one of the most interesting tracks on JR JR “Listening to Outkast”, June 23, 2013.” When asked if something important happened on this date, while listening to Ms. Jackson, Epstein said, “The date is actually the day the song was written, but the story behind the song is about something that happened while I was driving to South Carolina with an ex-girlfriend.” He’ll leave the rest to your imagination. Take a listen to the lyrics, and try to fill in the blanks. Another great track is “In My Mind – Summertime.” Zott said he wrote that song while living in L.A. for a few months. It was his first time spending winter away from the Midwest and said, “It was a great experience of feeling warm in February and March. That weather makes you feel like it’s summertime all the time.” It seems the relaxing weather of LA and the laid back vibes of Cali have had a big impact on both Zott and Epstein, along with the realizations that come with growing up, like “it’s not always about trying to be cool and staying relevant.” According to Zott, “The pressures of being an ‘indie band’ trying to be cool seem like bullshit when you get older. You should just write the music you want. We’ve realized that.”
Zott and Epstein’s realizations led them to create their best album yet. JR JR is available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon. JR JR are touring throughout October and November. A full list of tour dates can be found on the JR JR Facebook page.
Photo of JR JR by Travis Shinn
Sarah Hess
After attending The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Sarah went on to study education at Dominican University, earning a degree in history. When not teaching, writing, or taking in a show, she is most likely to be found with a camera to her eye or hanging out in a darkroom.
You can follow Sarah Hess on twitter at @Sarahhasanh and view her music photography on her website: smhimaging.com.
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