My Interview with Jr Clooney

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Love is a beautiful thing, and that’s what keeps bands like Jr. Clooney going. You can see it in their eyes when they talk about music. You can see it when they talk to each other. Love is one of the crucial elements in keeping anything together. But more on that later.  

In St. Louis’ local scene, Jr. Clooney are being talked and in a considerable amount. Recently, they released their debut EP: five songs of transcendental jazz-like rock that must be listened to on repeat to get the full effect. 

Now that they’re back off tour, I had a chance to sit down and talk with them about life, music, and key-keepers. 

Mostly St. Louis natives, the band consists of Sam Nauman on bass, Jack Mideke on drums, and Paul Heitert and Travis Dodds on guitars. We spoke in downtown St. Louis, outside of a bar on the corner of Cherokee Street, an area which the band calls their home. 

The Cherokee Neighborhood in St. Louis

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What’s the history behind your band? 

Jack: We’ve been together for two years. It’s crazy just thinking about it. I had met Travis and we jammed together. He said he knew two other people so we called them up. We wrote our first song that very day. From there, we just kept practicing, though we were in different bands at the time. 

You’re an instrumental band. Why? 

Paul: We intended to be instrumental, though we tried to incorporate vocals at one point. However, it just didn’t work out.  

Jack: The songs were a lot different than what’s on our EP. More poppy. 

Travis: Like prog rock. 

Paul: Yeah, poppy prog rock. Heh. 

Who are your influences, either musically or non-musically? 

Jack: There’s this song by Mystikal and Mark Ronson called “Feelin’ Right.” That was one that influenced me, especially since it came out on the first day we were a band.  I would also say the Dave Matthew’s Band,  Pretend, and a lot of electronic music as well. 

Paul: I grew up listening to classic rock with my dad. Pink Floyd, Rush, and many others. Those bands pushed me to become better at playing. I also play sax and jazz saxophone influenced me as a guitarist. Let’s not forget Radiohead, who does something different with every record. 

Travis: I would also say Pretend, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Pat Matheny, to name a few. 

Sam: I’m influenced by the people that I’ve worked with. The band Do Make Say Think, Broken Social Scene, and jazz music in general. I’ve studied some 20th century classical music as well. 

So then it’s safe to say that someone here is a Frank Zappa fan? 

Everyone: Yep. 

Tell me about your experience recording the new EP. 

Sam: Fun. I love making music. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the church where we recorded the drums. 

Travis: Yeah. The church gave the drums this great reverb sound. The whole experience was very sanctuary-esque. The album was recorded by Chuck Parson, a local freelance producer. The guy just has a good pair of ears on him.  

Sam: Chuck is great. He cares a lot and is just fun to work with. He’s been a friend of ours for a while so the experience was comfortable. 

Travis: One thing I remember was that every time we went to record in the church, we had to pick up this older guy who had the keys to get in. He was lie the key-keeper Laughs. He never said anything to us.  

Paul: We would have to pick him up, drive him to the church to unlock it, take him back, then go back to the church to record, then pick him up again after we were done so he could lock it, and of course take him home again. 

Damn. 

Travis: Yeah, but it was worth it, of course. The drums are probably my favorite part of the album. Every time I hear them, I’m blown away. 

Any other thoughts on the EP experience? 

Paul: So, the drum recording took place over two weeks. Then we track the guitars in two days at Chuck’s house. 

Travis: It was funny because we tracked four of the five songs in one day. Our song “Care” is our most complicated and that song took one whole day. 

Paul: On the other hand, our second song was done in one take. Even though we can play these songs seamlessly, recording is a whole different beast. The complicated nature of your songs come out when you’re recording and you’re like “Holy shit. Why did I do that?” 

Travis: You wanna make sure every note is heard and played just right. It’s about presentation. Dynamics. 

What are your thoughts on being in an independent band and touring? 

Paul: Ideally, if we don’t have to pay out of pocket for releasing a record, it’s just that much easier to play music. 

Travis: I wouldn’t say we always like the aspects of being independent. We want to play music as a career. However, doing the DIY thing can be inconsistent when you’re touring. One night, you may play a great show and make 300 smackers. The next day, you might show up to a place, make nothing, and nobody comes out to see you play. 

Paul: One night, somebody will set you up with a great show. They’ll do a good job promoting it because they care. On the last tour, we had a couple of bad shows that were thrown together hastily with some bands that weren’t like us. Don’t get me wrong, we play with a wide range of bands, but that one just didn’t work out. 

Speaking of which, how is it playing shows in St. Louis? 

Travis: Dope. Since we’ve started Jr. Clooney, the local scene has grown a lot. It’s really becoming more of a music city, I think. 

Jack: When you think about it, it’s amazing that there’s any kind of music scene or community in any town. The culture here fuels and influences me, considering that St. Louis has so much going on right now. Every night, you can choose from six or more different shows to go to, even here on Cherokee St. alone!   

Paul: The people coming out to shows will come out and stay for the whole show, whether or not they’re in the other bands playing with you that night. Everyone’s real friendly. 

Of course everyone has heard about the increase in van robberies for bands lately. How do you guys take caution of being robbed? 

Travis: When we played on the road, we had a friend of ours back their car up and block our trailer in or we would back it against a wall so it would be impossible for anyone to get away if they tried to rob us. Thieves would have to go through way too much trouble to get to our equipment. 

Paul: As far as St. Louis goes, the rule of thumb is that when you get to a show, unload your stuff and bring it into the venue right off the bat. Then, everything stays inside the venue until you go home. Don’t put your stuff back in the van after you play and then go back inside. Yeah, it sucks sometimes because the show might end at one in the morning and you still have to load up, but at least you don’t get robbed. Fortunately, a lot of places around here are very respectful and aware of the risks, so they’re also looking out for you. 

What do you think it takes to keep a band going? 

Sam: We all have the desire to work together. We care about the band, which is the reason we work so hard. 

Jack: The band is something on the forefront of your mind every day. It can’t be something you do to check off your list. It has to be a yearning. People can sense if the music you’re playing is real. If they can see that it’s coming from hours of work, that you’re putting part of yourself into it, and you’re having fun, then they’ll be drawn to you. I think people like to see other people enjoying life. 

Travis: You’ve gotta be friends with your band. If you’re on the road, stuck in a van with too many people for days on end, you’re uncomfortable all of the time. You’ve gotta cope with that and if you don’t get along with someone, it’s just not gonna work out.  

What is the future of Jr. Clooney? 

Travis: It’s a long-term thing. Paul and I were talking about this when we were playing the South By Southwest festival.  We had a moment where we looked at one-other and both of us promised the other one not to buy into any oversaturated scene or musical genre. And I don’t think we stick to one certain scene, anyway. 

Paul: I think we’re all committed to this. We vibe off of each other really well and I don’t think that’s found between too many musicians. You can play music with whoever you want, but to have the chemistry that we have, to me, is something special. 

Jack: I’d say that as long as we’re friends, we’ll be in a band. And we’ll be friends forever (Jack says this with a goofy grin and the others laugh while exchanging high-fives). 

Paul: Also, I think right now that we’re back on tour and the album is out, we just wanna get back to writing a ton of songs. We wanna push ourselves and become better songwriters. 

Sam: We talk about the future a lot. Personally, I think it’s just a matter of continuing to do what we do. Being friends, working hard, and caring. 

Travis: We all love each other. When it comes to dealing with one-another and each individual way that everything is done. That’s what it is: Love.