Good Things Come to Those Who Get Sexiled
by Meredith Balkus (Communications/Art), published March 14th 2011
‘I got sexiled one night,’ says Justin Cotellessa as he shakes his head, eliciting a laugh from others in the room. It’s certainly an interesting start to the story of how Jon Palmer & the New Complainers came to be a band. He continues: ‘I had been playing guitar at the time, so I walked downstairs with it and Jon and I started playing together. And then someone was like ‘Hey, this kid Jake plays drums’ ‘ and it was love ever since.’
JP&tNC have been a band for roughly a year and half, with the original lineup intact: Jon Palmer on vocals and guitar, Justin Cotellessa on guitar, Andrew Jacques on bass, and Jacob Rosati on drums. Prompted both by Cotellessa’s impromptu sexile and a Music Industry major friend who had been assigned a project to find an unsigned artist to record and promote, the group was formed.
‘I was in my dorm in Dav B, and my roommate had his Music Industry buddies over,’ Palmer recalls. ‘They told me about the project, and they wanted to pick me. So they did, and after a couple weeks of them promoting it, I decided I wanted a band. But yeah, so then we started playing together in Ryder, because we had nowhere else to play; and Jake didn’t have a kit with him at school. We would have to fight with other bands to get that space, and it was so frustrating. Luckily now, we have this house; so we really lucked on with location.’ Three members of the band live in a duplex up on Mission Hill with other roommates, with a large basement that can house both Rosati’s drum kit and an entire PA system, making for an ideal practice space. ‘We practice once a week,’ Palmer adds. ‘Although it can get hard with all of our individual schedules.’
The name of their band begs a plethora of questions: if these are the New Complainers, who were the Old Complainers? And moreover ‘ what exactly are they complaining about? ‘The Old Complainers were my band back in Pennsylvania,’ explains Palmer. ‘They’¦ were’¦ not’¦ a band,’ he finishes sheepishly. ‘As for these guys, they don’t really complain about anything.’
‘A better name would probably be ‘Jon Palmer & Three Guys Who Have Beards, iPhones, and Girlfriends,” jokes Cotellessa.
‘Three things I don’t have, thank you,’ mutters Palmer, shaking his head.
For such a young band, JP&tNC have a solid sound that is entirely their own, one that is possibly beyond classification. ‘I like the use the word ‘folk n’ roll”, says Rosati, prompting a confused and mildly discombobulated look from Palmer.
‘Wait, wha ‘ what? When is there ever folk in our music?’
‘Okay, then ‘ ‘college rock”, the drummer amends.
Now it’s Cotellessa’s turn to be pissed off: ‘That just sounds stupid,’ he says, as the whole room bursts into a loud foray of pleasant, friendly bickering.
But what seems to be a musical identity crisis actually is working to the band’s benefit. Rosati explains: ‘All of us have different opinions, and it’s not arguing but clashing, but it always ends up working in the end.’
‘And it does take time, but I think the more time we spend going back and forth, the better the material that comes out,’ says Palmer.
When asked the inevitable question regarding tonight’s Round 2 of the WRBB Battle of the Bands on why people should vote for them, Palmer sighs, ‘Well, here’s the thing. The contest aspect of this really turns us off. Why should people vote for us? I think, because’¦ when everything is right on stage, we’re a fun band. And we just want people to have fun. There’s no [pretentiousness] behind it, no flashy lights. There’s just four guys who want to have fun.’
‘Every time we play to at least to the group of people that’re going to come out tonight, it feels like a party. If we get to play Springfest, it’ll be like moving a tiny house party into a ballroom. It’ll be like what we’ve done so far on a much ‘ well, huger level.’
The WRBB Battle of the Bands: Round 2 is tonight: Doors @ 6PM, show @ 7PM. NU+1. Alongside Jon Palmer & the New Complainers are All These Elements, Sand Reckoner, and Jet Black Sunrise.
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melinda
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melinda