Rock and roll: some would argue that it’s become all smoke and mirrors, plug-ins and effects. True in certain cases, but not at all for Jet. At the heart of every great rock and roll band lie four essential elements: bass, drums, guitars and vocals. That, in its purest essence, is Jet. And Jet, in their purest essence, has again captured those elements with their recently released third album, Shaka Rock.
With their previous releases — 2003’s
Get Born and 2006’s
Shine On —
Jet broke out of their native Australia and established themselves as a multi-platinum, international success story, merging the charisma and energy of classic rock and roll with just enough punk swagger and contemporary flair to create something uniquely theirs. Here at last is a band that’s returning the cool to rock and roll as displayed on
Shaka Rock, and one that closes the gap between the raw roots of
Get Born and the grace and melody of
Shine On.
Following a recent national tour of Australia with Green Day, major Australian music festivals Homebake and Big Day Out and on top of millions of albums sold worldwide, Jet continue to tour behind their most recent studio outing. During a stop over, Joe Matera caught up with Jet’s Cameron Muncey to discuss what’s happening currently in the Jet camp.
UG: What is the status with the songwriting process for the next JET album, have you put together some initial early ideas?
Cameron Muncey: No we haven’t got anything as yet. To be honest, we can’t really write when we are on the road. I mean we always sort of plan to but in the end, we never do and so it never happens. I think we are just destined to do it when we are off the road. Anyway we always like to write fresh material. There are a couple songs I would like to record for the next record that we already have got from the last album sessions, but like I said, it’s always good to have new tunes as it makes it exciting. I think we do want to get together at some point this year and sort of rehearse and play together in a room and write like that. So we are not too much concentrating on the recording as yet. I really don’t like doing demos as much as I did in the past, as I believe its better to be fresh going into the recording studio after having put songs together in a rehearsal studio. So when we come to record them, they’ll be fresh and new.
"I really want to spend a lot of time writing the next album and getting it just right."
Certain times it could be where anyone could come in with an idea while in other times, it could be something collaborative, where then the process will become quite democratic. And then sometimes, it is like a one person song and when that happens, that person has a bit more say over it. Overall though, we just try and be really fair with it all.
As a band, now that you’re three albums in, has it got easier making records?
Yeah I think we can get what we want so we are pretty confident with it all, definitely.
Shaka Rock really sees the group coming into its own, and finally getting a sound and style of its own compared to its previous two releases which saw the group wearing its influences proudly on its sleeves…
Thank you. On the next record we are going to expand further on that. And I really want to spend a lot of time writing the next album too and getting it just right. I really like Shaka Rock but I feel we didn’t take very long with it all. But I think that the next record has to be something pretty special and I really think we are ready to do it.
Shaka Rock was co-produced with Chris “Frenchie” Smith, what was that experience like for the group?
It was fun and really taught us a lot. We learned from the ground up, how to think of the song as a whole and the album as a whole and to take responsibility. It was also just a lot more being in touch with everything because you have your finger in every pie so to speak. So it took it away from just being a guitarist, where you have a bit more of an overview. It is really interesting because you learn a lot more interesting things that way and develop confidence, though we already had confidence to say what we want. And though it was just hard work it was really great fun too.
Why did you decide to go with “Frenchie” in the first place?
We just wanted someone we could work with and whom we enjoyed and who understood us. And he was a big fan of the band so we went with our gut feeling.
Do you see yourself going into producing some day?
I don’t but Chris [Cester] would love to do that. Actually though Chris may be the drummer, he is involved in a lot of other things too, he also writes a lot of the songs on guitar as well.
You used to play a Gibson Flying V a lot on stage but in recent times you are playing a Les Paul predominantly?
Yeah that is right but its not that I have anything against Flying Vs now. I still have that one, the original Flying V, it is just that I went into Gibson a while ago and found a couple guitars and one of them was the Les Paul. And when I picked it up, that Les Paul just spoke to me and so it has become a good workhorse type guitar.
Speaking of gear, what did you use for Shaka Rock?
I used the Les Paul and another guitar and used those two pretty much on the whole record. And as for amps, I used a Marshall.
And what about Nic Cester’s gear?
He used a Gibson 335 through a Vox.
"We how to think of the song as a whole and the album as a whole and to take responsibility."
I have a Guild acoustic guitar at home and I really love that guitar because I can pick it up anytime and play it a lot and it always feels like an old friend.
The group has toured extensively over the years across the globe, so how do different audiences compare around the world?
Well we have just been having some great responses recently in Australia so we have just had a great time doing it in Australia. Elsewhere, American audiences can be really great as well. To be honest the audiences are great all around the world but recently we found that we have been having a blast just playing at home again.
And how does touring differ today to the early days of the group’s world tours?
It is still the same sort of deal but I think that we are so used to it now that it has become second nature for us.
How important do you think coming from Australia has played on your musicianship and character, I mean if you were from another country, do you think Jet would have sounded nothing like the way they do?
Absolutely that is definitely how it affected us.
Looking over your career thus far, what have been some of you most embarrassing moments?
When I look back and look at the clothes sometimes I think we definitely went a bit overboard there. Also there was a time when I took a guitar solo in the middle of a song and suddenly nothing, no sound came out of my amp, it had just been sitting there working fine until that moment and suddenly it didn’t work. That happened at the Live 8 show, so I ended up almost miming up there on stage.
You have toured with Oasis, what was that like?
It was a fantastic time but I didn’t really go out much as I was trying to stop drinking at the time so I was really a lot more relaxed but the other guys had a ball. So I don’t know as much as the other guys as how it all was as I trying to chill out.
Having the Gallagher brothers in Oasis and the Cester brothers in JET, it would have made for some interesting times, I’m sure…
Yeah, I think Liam and Noel made Nic and Chris look like the ideal family you know.
Do you listen to much current music out there?
Yeah I do. Recently I have been listening a lot to Charlotte Gainsbourg. Also I have been listening to the albums Amnesiac and In Rainbows by Radiohead. As to other bands, I like listening to [Australian bands] The Drones and Eddy Current Suppression Ring.
Any plans for JET to release another DVD sometime in the future?
Not at this point but we are definitely planning to put together some live stuff that we have recorded. We recorded the whole last tour of the US, so we are going to put that together and see how it all comes out.
Nic [Cester] has gone and done side projects in the past, have you any plans to some day do something similar?
Yeah next year I will definitely get into stuff like that. I don’t really know quite what yet as I need to write some music first. But yes…
"I really don't like doing demos, as I believe its better to be fresh going into the recording studio."
It is a lot different. You are not going to run into people you know as much too. I love the culture aspect to it very much. It is really deep and it goes on in the history of it [England] and you can really feel that in the place. But I still love Australia especially for it being a much fresher and newer place historically.
You recently were married, how has that affected you in general?
It has been beautiful and it has helped me chill out a lot more.
Do you take your wife with you on the road?
I am going to bring out my wife to the Powderfinger tour we are going to be doing later this year in Australia.
What has the rest of 2010 in store for JET?
Lots of touring, we may even have a US tour in the works for June of this year.
Have you any last words for all your fans out there?
To all the fans I want to personally say thanks for the support and do come to the gigs, as that is the best place to rock music.
Interview by Joe Matera
Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2010
