Jimmy Eat World: Finding The Light

Interviewing one of your favourite bands is always a potential battleground. You may prepare your questions with the tenacity of a demon with severe OCD, but you can never be sure that a band is what you always hoped they would be. Jimmy Eat World are this music writer’s Everest; they are the band that got her through many a cold night and thawed her equally cold heart an immeasurable number of times. But what if the world is forever changed because they are a big bunch of cunts and everything you thought you knew about the world goes flip side? When a band boasts a ten year life span; the questions you most want to ask your idols is how did it all happen and where did it all begin? From ‘Static Prevails’ through to current album ‘Chase this Light’ (released last month), you want to know how the records you love came about and what happened in the aftermath. And so Gigwise asked Jim Adkins just that!

With ‘emo’ stumbling around the halls, having lost its sense of identity, and what the hell it was doing getting naked with Fall Out Boy, we thought we’d ask JEW the obvious: were they ever an ‘emo’ band? After all, ‘Static Prevails’ was probably known as their ‘emo’ album contributing to the school of thought as practised by Christie Font Drive, Fugazi and Sunny Day Real Estate. Jim is nonplussed, “I think that any discussion about emo is about seven years behind the times… most of the time I would refer to this kind of music as ‘hardcore’. But I realize if I had grown up anywhere else ‘hardcore’ could have meant a different sound.” A silly question, or a scathing answer? It’s hard not to ignore the fact that JEW has influenced many of the bands that are caught a drift with that term meandering them down stream; whether the terminology is justified or not, we’d kind of hoped for some insight from a band argued as one of the most influential bands of this movement. Jim retaliates, “I would blame the NME for us notably being blamed for anything ‘emo’. I am so glad the ‘return of rock’ got traction and the hype machine forgot about us. We were just one band in a sea of incubating rock bands. We got a lucky break and a successful album. It isn’t a movement of any sort… just kids going for it.” Ahh there it is: ‘The hype machine’ - the over enthused druid that induces kids to buy records. But were JEW ever just a bunch of kids having a good time that some machine spat out like bubble gum gone pop? Were they the original authentic musical musketeers, or just a band caught in their own hype?

It’s no secret that JEW are influential, Fall Out Boy are not the only band to be chasing JEW’s light; the OC’s Something Corporate lifted a lyric from the single ‘For Me This is Heaven’ on rare B side Konstantine; is this kind of appropriation flattering to the band? Jim acknowledges this, “I steal stuff all the time. I suppose I have it coming if someone wants to lift one of my lines”. Are they simply just superstars these days, unfazed by their influence? The pop punkers started their tenure signed to Capitol; ‘Clarity’ was rumoured to be shelved for a year after JEW’s producer left the label. The band then released an EP on Less Than Jake’s Vinnie Fiorello’s record label (‘Fueled by Ramen’ -yes FOB’s label); was this an attempt to coax Capitol into releasing the album? Jim is stoical, “There was a time when they were deciding what to do with us. We did put out the EP as a way to get something happening. KROQ added the song and then POOF! We get a release date. Every cliché you have heard about the record industry is true. Spinal Tap is for real.” Spinal Tap is for real? Oh dear.

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