You can’t kill the Jukebox Romantics… and why would you want to? The long-running New York punks are back to remind us that earnestness and energy still matter, pairing big hooks with even bigger hearts on their latest chapter.Today, the band takes a few moments to chat with TGEFM in our latest Roll of the Dice interview.
Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. It was a pleasure working with you guys on the premiere of “The Walk To Heartwood.” Can you tell us a bit about how “The Walk to Heartwood” came together musically… were there any specific moments where you felt, yeah, this is the next phase for us?
Terry: Thanks so much for having us and premiering the video! For me personally it definitely felt like a music writing test. Specifically song writing. We had the concept, which was an inside joke made very public. And then we were like “no let’s seriously do it.” James had a chunk of the song and a chorus and then 3 of us kinda sat on a couch and worked through the song. We knew where we wanted to go genre wise but the specific music just wasn’t there. Mapping out a 9+ minute song was daunting but kind of came together as a shell and then a big part of it was James had a vision of this chorus and built a lot of that.
James: “We had been joking/talking about doing a song as long as the walk while we were at the last FEST we played in 2023 because of how many times we were going back and forth between Bo’Diddley and Heartwood. Then on a particularly slow day at work that I happened to have a guitar at, I had tracked some ideas that would eventually become the intro, first verse, and chorus of the song. It was a lot more dreamy sounding at that point. I sent it to Terry and said we should work on it at the next practice. That next practice I got to our space(AJ’s Garage) before everyone else and was working some more on the song and came up with the melodies and lines for the Chorus, If the world wants us dead then fuck em all”. From then on it went from less of a joke to more of a project that we all started putting our own parts and souls into, “Oh there should be a ska part”, “AJ write some kinda hardcore riff to go after”, etc. Sometimes you write songs because the ideas feel good, like something you need to say, and sometimes you write songs because you’re having fun. This one definitely was both from start to finish.”
Norm – In the very beginning of writing drums to the shell of the first few parts, I almost left that first practice. And whether they knew that or not it’s kinda true. Hahah. And then had to apologize after it came out perfect.
After years of touring, what’s something you’ve learned about yourselves, either as musicians or as friends, that surprised you?
Terry: For me personally, I learned that no matter what is happening , whether we are doing festivals or weekenders or a tour, the wanderlust of playing music to new faces has not quelled. It’s still there. To create moments. Our song writing has been elevated with each release and I think we have gotten better and as friends there is just a mutual respect of each others time in and outside of the band. I guess what surprises me, is that my drive is still at 150-% but I’m less restless as when it comes to others matching my drive or energy. We all have different human wavelengths of energy. Man that was a hippie dippie answer ha.
Who are some bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should know about?
Terry:
Unseemlier
Sunliner
Teenage Bigfoot
Maintenance
What’s next for The Jukebox Romantics?
Terry: Playing Shows. Promoting this record. Doing the thing. Really trying to hit the goal of touring Korea and Japan. It’s a goal we have had for a couple years and almost pulled off but as many know, DIY touring and touring in general is really tough and expensive. The way the world is today, I really give it up to the working bands trying to make shit like that happen. It will happen. Just not sure when. Maybe when there’s a new US President.
Was there anything we missed or that you’d like to put more focus on?
Listen to Sell The Heart Records and Engineer Records bands. The stuff they are putting out is pretty epic. Oh and don’t put twinkies on your pizza.
Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/