Jay
O'Rourke
Band
Boom Boom Boom
By John Vernon
photo by Tom McKeon
L
ike many musicians releasing
music during the pandemic, Jay
O’Rourke had different plans
before the virus hit. His band’s new
5–song EP was originally scheduled as a
full-length album, but COVID-19
changed all that. The acclaimed guitarist’s
third release in four years shows
he’s incredibly prolific. Boom Daddy Boom
continues a course he charted on 2018’s
Sumthin’ Good, a soulful, bluesy bounty of
songs steeped in electric Chicago blues
with a touch of Muscle Shoals soul. On
top of that, O’Rourke became sidetracked
when family duties called in December.
IE spoke to the former Insiders guitarist
as he was finishing a temporary recording
studio in Northern California.
IE: You’re in California working from a
remote studio. Was this your plan initially,
or was it because of the virus that
your plans changed?
Jay O’Rourke: It’s because of the virus. I
assumed that I would go back and forth
while finishing the five songs we were
going to release. I spent the better part of
last year writing songs and recording
stuff all year long, five days a week. And
I’d narrowed down about a hundred
ideas to 14 songs. And then my mother
started getting sick.
So, I started having to go back and forth
and put her house in Arizona on the market.
Anyway, I’ve got nine songs that all
they need are background vocals. I’ve got
some great singers that I want to come in
and sing on these songs, and I refused to
let them go until they’re that good. So
anyway, I had these five songs; I thought
it went well together.
IE: It’s stressful, I bet.
JOR: Yeah, it was. And it happened rather
quickly, and fortunately, I got all the family
business done before this bullshit with
the virus happened. I saw no reason to
have any gear out here whatsoever. At
first, all I did was just drink and watch
The Sopranos over and over again
(laughs). I slowly started putting some
gear together – it’s been difficult, and it’s
expensive – but I think we may be here
for some time.
I miss being in Chicago very much
because I’ve had a studio on my property
for 30 years. Even when I was touring
and stuff, this is the longest I’ve been
away from that house since I was 29, 30
years old.
IE: There’s nothing wrong with
California (laughs).
JOR: Where we are is wonderful. This
house is incredible, and it’s Northern
California – it’s paradise, but it’s another
man’s paradise. It just reminds me of my
parents so much. And because of all the
legal and real estate [issues] and all these
things that I had to do in late December, I
haven’t had much of a chance to really
process this stuff.
IE: Viewing your social media, it looks
like your studio is ready for making
music.
JOR: Yes, and we just made a video for
one of the songs called, “Stop Pushin’
Me,“ on the new record. And we just did
it with our iPhones in our own houses.
Grant, the guitar player, was in Florida.
So, he’s got stuff with him out on the
beach, and the beach is completely empty
because of quarantine. I’ve got a good
friend named Lou Hinkhouse, he’s a big
music guy, and he’s a great video editor.
He worked for NBC. So anyway, he’s like
a lot of these guys, I don’t think he has
work. So anyway, we could take all the
video, send it to him and he put together
something pretty nice. I think it’s fun. So
I’m going to continue on that route.
IE: The EP is five songs. Tell us about
the other music that you’re still putting
together.
JOR: I have nine songs completed,
except for background vocals. I wanted to
use some really good soul/R&B singers.
There’s a guy named Robert Cornelius
that sang on my last record. He also sings
with Poi Dog Pondering, and he had his
own band for many years. He’s the
nephew of Don Cornelius from Soul Train.
Very deep voice, very resonant. And
there’s a woman named Renee, everybody
calls her “Squeaky,” and she’s sung
with Nick Tremulis for many, many years
and we’ve become friendly. And I think
she’s an incredible singer. [With me] it’s
the Leon Russell school of singing, I just
croak it out and try to get people to listen.
Singing is not something that I’ve always
done, and I find it to be very challenging.
And a lot of it is confidence; a lot of it is
just being in a certain headspace and
being aware of when it’s there and using
it and fucking getting on it. You can’t be
like, “Oh yeah, I remember what it felt
like to be inspired.”
IE: Yeah. But it fits you. That’s the thing
I noticed about Sumthin’ Good and
Boom Daddy Boom. It’s passionate. You
seem to really feel it with your albums,
and it feels like you’re really in a good
place now, making music.
JOR: Well, I am. I’ve got an engineer, a
young guy that I found while he was still
in college and he and I worked together
all the time. His name is Teddy Thornhill.
The other guys in the band are so busy,
scheduling can be a little difficult, so I try
to optimize it when they’re around. But
it’s a great group of people.
We don’t talk a lot about the songs. I
make demos. I start by putting ideas on
my phone, and then after a few months,
Teddy and I take all the stuff off my
phone and load it into pro tools and then
go through it. And then, I will put together
maybe two more demos that map out
the parts and structure of the song, the
key, and the tempo and these things. I
send those guys these demos, and I try to
do them rather quickly so they know
pretty much what they’re supposed to do
when they show up.
IE: You’ve spent a big chunk of your
career engineering records for other people,
but the Jay O’Rourke Band is a relatively
new development. What inspired
you to begin making your own music
again?
JOR: My father got sick. And it scared
the fuck out of me to see this start to happen
with my dad, who was so vital and
always, in my opinion, the smartest person
in the room. And I thought, “Well,
I’m getting older, I need to do something
that matters to me. Whether it matters to
anybody else, so what.” And I started a
band with a couple of people called The
Lucky 3 Blues Band. And Jim Desmond
and Frank Raven were in that band, and I
just loved it. And we were doing really
well, and it was a small little thing. [Over
time, it became The Jay O’Rourke Band],
and some of us have been friends for over
30 years and worked together in one way
or another. So, it’s a very pleasant experience,
it always is.
IE: If we get a window in the fall and
you could perform, and we could get a
hundred people in a club, would you
want to get the band back together to
promote the record?
JOR: Absolutely. If it’s safe, I would love
to. Yeah, I would do that. I don’t want to
be a part of the problem. I feel that by
staying home as much as I can, and all
that, at least I’m not part of the problem. I
may not be helping, but I’m not contributing
to what could be the decline of
other people’s health. But I would love to
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