A little bit of Rock N Roll, a little bit of old time Country Music, mix in some Punk influence and some Roots Americana music, throw all that into the blender and you have what someone much smarter than the band described as “Dirty Northern Folk Rock”. The music of The Typical Johnsons leans in a lot of different directions but isn’t necessarily codified by any of them. With influences ranging from Johnny Cash and Drive-By Truckers to Social Distortion and Neil Young, there is something for everyone and each listener takes something different away with them.
Named after an idea that we’re all the same and that we all have the ability to get up and play and perform and write what we feel. The Typical Johnsons stand for the regular person playing guitar in the basement or banging away on the drum kit out in the garage on the weekend. The Typical Johnsons are the guys who get excited when they learn a new chord progression or bass line for a new song and so are their fans. They are Lo-Fi, if you will, regular typical people. Heartland, grassroots, coming at you from the ground up, call it what you want, but it sounds like middle America to their fans.
We had a chance to ask Jeremy of The Typical Johnsons some questions as part of our Refrain Interview Series.
Refrain Music Blog: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. You have a new single out now. Tell us about it? What’s it called?
The single is called Optimistic Nihilism, and it’s the first single off of our upcoming Album “South of Somewhere Real”
RMB: What’s the single about?
It’s a song which, honestly we were kind of surprised that Punkerton Records wanted to release as a single. It’s generally speaking about how life is too short, and in a lot of cases can be filled with a ton of regret. In the broadest terms, it’s about how in a flash, or perhaps even worse, in a long slow burn, everything you have can be taken away from. you. More specifically, it’s about some of the feelings and thoughts that ran through my head after some personal events kind of changed my perspective. It’s about those events in life, and everyone has them, which irrevocably alter everything after them. And perhaps, that ultimately, it all ends up one way or another… at the same ending.
RMB: What’s the story on how it was recorded? The Who, When, Where etc. Was it a long process or quick? Any good stories about the recording process?
We recorded everything for this album with Patrick Himes out of Reel Love Recording in Dayton Ohio, and he had a major hand in how both this song and this album turned out. The day we recorded this, it was part of a few songs we were working on, and I had a general feeling that this song in particular was going to put me out on a ledge so to speak. The lyrics were written by me (Jeremy) with the help of my wife Lynne, but when it came time to sing them it was just me and the mic and the headphones. The way Reel Love is set up, the control room is cut off from the live room and theres no window for the control room to see into where I was singing at the time… so I had it all to myself. I know that by the end of this song I was in tears, and I’m pretty sure everyone knew it. As the song kind of ended and the playback stopped, no one came out of the control room for the longest time (thankfully). The only person to come out was Lynne, and she just kind of walked out and gave me a hug, and didn’t say anything.. I mean what else was there to say.
RMB: Is it part of a larger album? If so, tell us about that.
The album “South of Somewhere Real” is a collection of songs, that follows an overarching narrative. It might be too loose of a narrative to call it a concept album, but it does follow a story. The story is about a person who hates his life and his hometown and all the people in it, and tries desperately to leave, finally does, and then realizes all the baggage he had there, he still has in the new place. It’s all very meta, and as near to autobiographical as you can be without naming names. Ultimately though each song stands alone on the album as individual songs with their own story. The overall narrative is in the names, for instance the album starts with a song called “Where You’re Standing” At” and effectively comes to an end with “Portland”. I dream a lot of living in the Pacific Northwest, so thats why one of the last songs is called Portland. (We … Lynne and I love it there).
RMB: When is that album out?
Sometime this year yet, we’re probably looking at the December timeframe, and a lot of that will be with Brandon Lewis’ help at Punkerton Records.
RMB: How many songs are on the album?
12 in total.
RMB: And this will be your third full-length?
Yeah, Lynne and I released an album of acoustic material in 2014 / 15 called Drawing Blood under the name Jeremy & Lynne, but this is our third under this name. We released Sailor & The Siren, Rust Belt Renaissance and then this one, along with an EP’s titled “In Other Words” You can kind of hear the progression in each one towards a more full band, roots rock kind of sound, but ultimately with this album I went back to playing acoustic mainly. It kind of throws back to our Sailor & The Siren Album, which was by far our favorite.
RMB: Tell us a little about the band. Who are the members and what do you each play?
HA! Well, currently the band, is whittled down to three people. Myself, (Jeremy Siegrist) vocals and guitar, and my beautiful wife Lynne Siegrist, vocals and guitar, and Jeff Brogan our extremely talented bass guitar player. In the last couple of years we have been through a bevy of lead players and drummers. Since we are slightly on the older side to be chasing a dream like this, real life has a tendency to get in the way. SO whether it’s family, jobs, or just the general stress of trying to book all of these gigs and maintain any kind of semblance of normalcy, it has taken a toll on us as a group, but those are the core of the band. I should also mention that we have a ghost drummer who tends to take ever gig we throw at him, and his name is Phil Doncaster, and he is a beast of a drummer.
RMB: How long have you been together? When and how did you form?
We formed in the town of Minster Ohio after I retired from the US Navy. I had been friends with Lynne for almost two decades, and at 40, we decided to start playing guitar. I know it’s not the normal story, but it’s what happened. Of course we were not married to each other at that time, and our lives were very different then, but … I think it turned out pretty good. Jeff, (Brogan) myself and our manager Aj Shoffner were all in college together, and we all just kind of found each other.
RMB: Have you had any significant lineup changes recently? What happened and how is everyone feeling about it?
Oh yeah, it’s been a serious revolving door… except for the three core members, at this moment we are filling holes and gaps with session players and hired guns. It’s been really hard to keep it all together over the last year and a half. Especially, because we feel this album of all the things we have ever done, has the best chance to actually grab some attention. It’s been hard, and frustrating and kind of defeating actually. However, these songs are good, and the message is clear, so, I don’t know. If it was easy everyone would do it right?
RMB: What’s the one thing you are most proud of in your career so far?
We were invited by Frank Turner to play his Lost Evenings festival at the House of Blues in Boston on the same night at Chuck Ragan and The Hold Steady.. (of course we were on the second stage, but still!!!) Micah Schnabel from the legendary Two Cow Garage was there as was Derek Zanetti (The Homeless Gospel Choir) was there, it was seriously once of the best things we have ever done. Definitely one of the most nerve wracking and exciting!
RMB: If you had to pitch your music to a potential fan in less than 10 seconds, what would you say?
I would say, this is Rock & Roll at it’s heart with a huge dash of folk rock thrown in and delivered with an old punks attitude, and if you dig The Drive By Truckers, Son Volt, DeerTick, Frank Turner or any lyric driven music…. mostly … if you liek songs that try to get to the heart of what people experience in life.. regular people real people.. real feelings real emotions… then this might be for you!
RMB: What’s one piece of advice you’ve gotten that you think everyone needs to hear or that has meant the most to you?
Frank Turner told me… don’t read the comments in any review section, and do not listen to what anyone else says.. this is art. (Paraphrasing). It’s proven to be great advice. Derek Zanetti told me once… “Don’t expect to get big… this doesn’t happen overnight”. I know that’s two pieces, but both have proven to be 100% right.
RMB: If you could go back in time, what’s a piece of advice you would give to a younger you?
“Don’t quit… do not stop.. don’t sell that guitar before you went into the Navy … maybe do not go into the Navy! Don’t quit...”
RMB: What’s coming up next for your musical project?
Absolutely no idea.. a lot depends on this album release and where it does or doesn’t go. We have an entirely new album taking shape though, so we always say, this is it.. but .. I’m not sure something like this ever really lets go of you once it has you. In the song “Marry Me” by the Drive By Truckers Mike Cooley sings … “Rock and roll means well, but it can’t help telling young boys lies.” I’m pretty sure that fits our lives.
RMB: Anything we haven’t thought of that you want to talk about? Now is the time!
We love this album, and we love these songs, so if nothing else we have created something that feels pretty solid and important. Speaking for myself (Jeremy) if one person out there listens to this single or this album and is affected by it in any way, or gleans something from it, it truly will have been worth it. How many people can say they have done something like that. A lot of artists say that it’s all about the music, or all about the art … well.. for us… it really is. It has to be.
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