Interview: Perth’s J.F.K feel it again
Perth rock band J.F.K have recently released a new single, Feel it Again. We spoke to Drummer, Anthony:
Hey guys. How’s it going? What’s going on in your world today?
To be completely honest? Everything is super exciting right now. J.F.K just announced its 6th (and final?) member, Connor, who will be providing gorgeous guitar tones for the band. This leaves our frontman James guitar-less, freeing him to release his inner Bon Scott on stage. On top of that, our tune ‘Feel it Again’ has just been released AND we’re brewing some frothy surprises for the coming months… Watch this space 😉
I have scoured the internet and I cannot for the fucking life of me find any information about what J.F.K stands for. Is it supposed to be obvious or am I being a dum dum? How did you guys find the name and how did you come to form?
Yeah… Googling ‘JFK’ can be a tricky task, you’ll often get linked to the some important American guy, or even an airport. It’s not obvious at all (and you’re not a dum-dum), the initials are that of our overlord/frontman James Francis Knox, who composes the meat and potatoes of J.F.K’s tunes. The whole project was built on this concept (think Kevin Parker etc) but gradually developed into the band ‘J.F.K’ that we exist as today. For me, J.F.K is a brand, and a strong one at that – the whole band digs it. Most of the group has played together at some stage before in other outfits, so J.F.K really is built out of friends that really enjoy playing together. Fast forward to now, we rock out as a (very well dressed) 6-piece.
You’re a relatively new band, with a kind of garage rock sound that takes me back to my indie-loving teenage bedroom circa 2011-15. Who are, and who were your influences when you were developing your love for music and J.F.K’s sound?
Most of the band vibe that indie-loving teenage band era too, and you’ll hear lots of that permeate into our music. Initially, we looked to Britpop influencers like The Beatles and Temples for a somewhat-psych garage British sound. Combining our love for garagey styles and Britpop leaves us with (what we think is) something unique – a sound that channels bands like The Hives and Queens of the Stone Age. Suffice to say that each member loves the evolving J.F.K playlist, and brings their own different influences with them when it comes time to write.
What’s the WA rock scene like? With so much development and it becoming such a shiny, lovely, ‘new’ city in the past decade or so, has it lost some of its charm, or has it become more exciting and ‘on the map’?
To put it bluntly… RAD. WA as a state is just doing ‘more’ with gigs and rock music, especially when we factor in Fremantle. The city certainly hasn’t lost its touch, with more shows popping up all the time, and more venues willing to host those shows. Special mention goes to our flagship live music venues (Mojos, Rosemount, Amps etc), who continue to support live local and non-local rock bands for us all to see. Newer stages have popped up too (Badlands, Sewing room etc) who are charging ahead hosting music every weekend.
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Keep up to date with the band on Facebook and catch them at the following venues later this year:
August 31st Last Chance Rock N Roll Bar Melbourne
September 1st Botany View Hotel Sydney
Interview by Cherry Anna Brearley.
