Posted on July 8, 2009 - by Mark Zonda

How Does It Feels To Be Genius

Brookling seems to preserve a handful of some other real good surprises. Or so it seems. One little smart one is that there seems to be sign of cleaver indie bands in town, and one of the… is “This Boy is a Genius!”. Their happy happy pop is just as sparkling as irresistible, and I was so proud Jason K agreed to do this little interview. Take it away (and don’t forget to check their Space and leave them a message)

Mark Zonda: So many blokes in just one… Boy Genius! How did this wild project become?

Jason K: I guess it started with me in a room writing a few songs. I think there was a band name long before there was an actual band! I met our drummer Lisa through some mutual friends and spent six months trying
to get her to join the band. The only problem was there wasn’t really a band to join. I had known Jeff for years. He’s a heck of a guitarist and was in another band when we started. He had two conditions for
joining: he would only join if he could play with Lisa and he had to play bass, not guitar. I’m still not sure if he could even knew how to play bass back then… We met Marisa through the guy who played trumpet on our first record. He knew we were looking for a new guitarist and suggested Marisa. His pitch was, ’she’s a guitar hero and she likes Miracle Legion’. All good enough for me. I think we all met a week or two before Anchorage was finished and we hit it off instantly. She was in before we even heard her play!

Mark Zonda: So the name was in your mind before the band arrive! MARVELLOUS!  Favourite band names?

Jason K: Band names are tricky. So much of whether or not it’s a good name is based on the music. For example, The Beatles is really a terrible name, but the music was great so it sort of made up for it. In fact, I
don’t know if there’s a band with a name I like where I don’t like the music. They’re so connected… Some of my favourite names are: Unrest, Big Star, My Bloody Valentine, Joy Division, Pavement, Galaxie 500, Tsunami, Go Betweens and Miracle Legion.

Mark Zonda: Indie Pop in Brookyn… how’s that supposed to be?

Jason K: There are so many great Brooklyn bands right now, and as many fun places to play. The problem is, as a music fan, it’s hard to decide what to go see. I’m worried Brooklyn has reached a saturation point
where there are more great bands and bloggers than music fans. The NYC Popfest in May was a wonderful balance of New York bands and indie pop bands from around the world. Playing that festival had to be the highpoint for us, in New York.

Mark Zonda:  There’s a chance I’ll have to go on Seattle in August.What’s the situation in there?

Jason K: To tell you the truth, I’m not really sure. That’s a long way from New York. I do know that Chris McFarlane from Indiepages runs a heck of a Seattle based indie pop site, and I’m a big fan of Toby’s blog Finest Kiss at www.finestkiss.wordpress.com

Mark Zonda: Peoples are saying that your productions are getting better than Small Factory ones. Happy or scared?

Jason K: Ha! Good question! I love Small Factory. I knew Phoebe and Alex some when the band was around and they were one of my favorites. It’s always interesting to hear what people think you sound like. The rest
of the band makes fun of me because I often have this idea about the songs when I bring them to the band and they all think I’m crazy. I guess there are three levels - what I think the song sounds like, what
the band makes it sound like and how people react to it, and what they think it sounds like. Honestly, I’m just happy people are listening and taking the time to think about it enough to make comparisons. It’s
especially nice when the comparison is to a band I love.

Mark Zonda: “Radio Silence” is a suggestive name. How did you came up with that song?

Jason K: A friend of mine was hassling me about not having any songs that could be “on the radio”, which I thought was hilarious because bands like us are never on the radio.

So I wrote “Radio Silence”. It was originally called “The Same Song”, but there was this guy I know who was always using the term radio silence, which sort of fit the meaning of the song so I changed the title.

Mark Zonda: Really Ilarious! If you had a radio show, what it would be like?

Jason K: Oh I’d be horrible at radio! I had a show in college from 2-4 AM on Sunday nights for a semester. I used to just put on whole records and go to sleep. I knew no one was listening so I really didn’t care. I
think I was just in it for the free records.

Mark Zonda: If you’d got tired of indie pop and you’ll decide to give a try to  another gendre, which would it be?

Jason K: You know, I’m not sure it’s that simple. We’re not consciously an indie pop act. We all love college radio and brit pop from the 80s and 90s and I think it just shows up in the songs. Everyone has some
variety to their interests - Marisa loves old punk and jangle pop, Jeff loves Americana, and Lisa comes from the Dischord scene, she may even love Danzig a little - but we all have an affinity for what’s commonly called college rock. We also try to let the songs decide how they turn out, if that makes any sense. Actually, we’ve been tossing around billing ourselves as alternative rock for the next record. We think it’s a term that needs to be reappropriated. We’re gonna steal it from Alice in Chains and give it back to The Vaselines.

Mark Zonda: You on an alternative rock ablum. What the title would be like?

Jason K: Our next one might be a little bit alternative (in the good, old fashioned way)… It’s called Staggering and was produced by Mitch Easter. It’ll be out in January 2010. Sorry for the shameless plug!!

Mark Zonda: You’re more thank welcome. Keep us update!

Boy Genius - “No Beginning”

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