Interview with Sean Bonnette (Andrew Jackson Jihad)

I went to Gothenburg and did an interview with Sean Bonnette, frontman of Andrew Jackson Jihad. I made a radio edit which aired on the Norwegian radio program Kvegpels. Here is the full interview

I am just a fan, and I have never done an interview before, so please be gentle with me.

And yes, I am doing this post in english so I can reach out to more people. Deal with it Norway

You're gonna hear me snifflin' a lot! That's good If it's ok, I might take some pictures Sure! Dette er HERPESGUNNAR, jeg sitter her med Sean Bonnette fra Andrew Jackson Jihad, og vi skal kjøre et lite intervju. [Andrew Jackson Jihad - Heartilation (live at Skjul Fyra Sex)]
So hey Sean! Hey Jorgen! How's it going? Really good! The first question I got: In Norway people are not familiar with American presidents, so many think that Andrew Jackson is the frontman of Andrew Jackson Jihad, and that makes a lot of confusion... It's the same way in the States actually! A lot of people think that my name is Andrew. Oh wow! So i was wondering if you can tell me more about your band name? What does Andrew Jackson Jihad mean? Oh ok. The band name came from a free association game that Ben and I were playing, you know, ten years ago. So we still have to come up with our own meaning for the name of the band. The meaning that I believe in... Or the meaning that I get from the band name deals with the real meaning of the word "jihad", which really means the war against yourself, to become better. And coupled with one of our most shameful presidents... Probably our most shameful president... It means to try to overcome your shame. You listeners should really check out Andrew Jackson on Wikipedia or something. He was like a... Psycho dude... Yeah, interesting political figure

I read that he was beating people with his cane!

Yeah, that was the guy trying to kill him... So he just beat him up with his cane. Really cool

So yeah, you are not particularly big in Norway yet (no offence), so I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about the band for those who don't know you?

We have been a band for ten years. And we started out at first as a three-piece band with guitar, upright bass and drums. And then we lost our drummer, and we were a two-piece after that. Just playing acoustic guitar and upright bass, and then about three years ago we decided to put more people in our band. Now we are a five-piece band. We play... I don't know what I... A lot of people call our music folk punk, but there is something with that that doesn't fit with me. When people asks what we play I usually just say rock n' roll or like experimental american music. You had a mandolin player for a while. What happened to him? Oh, he's great! He still plays mandolin on our records. Now he is an art teacher in Prescott, Arizona and he just got married.

As a band you guys have developed quite much. From being an acoustic duo to now a full band. How has that transition been? It's still kinda going on. But it's great. It's really fun to be able to play loud. And even more to be loud, to be able to be dynamic. To go from really quiet to really loud.

Yeah, I know that you play some songs... I think though... You play solo? Kinda acoustic still? Yeah, for the past couple tours I've been playing acoustic guitar with a distortion pedal.

How is the song writing process now vs then? I think now I am more aware of song writing. Like this responsibility, since you've got a band? In a sense, yeah. I'm definitely more precious about the songs. I try to make sure they're fully finished before I show them to the world. I mean... Before I record them at least. I still love to play unfinished songs live. But I get more joy out of writing songs now than I used to. I realized there's not really a wrong way to do it. I used to kind of set my self limits, or like... Refuse to write anything down, because if I couldn't remember, it wasn't worth remembering. Stuff like that. But I've made myself a lot more open to ideas and inspirations now.

Everybody steals lyrics. Who do you steal lyrics from, and how do you get away with it? Haha! I've stolen lyrics from Simon & Garfunkel, a couple of Woody Guthrie and other American artists, I've stolen melody from The Cars... Who else? Who have I stolen from recently?... Hip hop maybe? Yeah! I've stolen quite a few things from hip hop. Yeah, yeah, Temple Grandin! I stole the Stevie Wonder line, and the Hellen Keller line from a couple of rappers. Lil' Wayne, Treasure Mammal, Aaron Cohen. And I love stealing! As long as you give credit where credit's due, then stealing is different from plagiarism. Do you get called out on it? Do people say "hey, you're stealing man!"? No. No one's ever been mad. At least not that I have seen.

So you don't have to get away with it then? No, as long as you give credit where credit's due, then it's just art. All art is theft.

Yeah it is, I agree. There is a really good book called "Steal Like An Artist" by Austin Kleon. Beautiful book I've seen it! I was thinking about buying it last week actually! I recommend it. Highly!

Why are your texts so good? They are so bleak but still optimistic. So What's your secret? Stealing them! Hahah Well uhm... I don't know.... Sometimes it's trying to make the songs conversational. You know, leaving yourself open to something you say or something someone else says. Usually the things you don't think about saying, but you say them or the things that resonate most with people. So it's a lot like catching butterflies in that way. You have to remember something that you said that resonated. I love... The song... What's it called... Oh, Inner City Basement... Basehead History Teacher! Because that is like the whole movie summed up. What's the movie called again? Uh, Half Nelson? Yeah, Half Nelson! I love that song! It just sums up the movie in a really short lyric Believe it or not, that song was written incredibly fast. Oh, another great trick for song writing, is write songs for different projects. That song was written for the idea I had for a rock 'n roll band that wasn't Andrew Jackson Jihad. But then eventually, since I only have one band it became a Andrew Jackson Jihad song. Yeah, I agree with that. Because I have a lot of bands, and I love to have a lot of different styles, so I have this text for that band, and that text for another. And I thing you get a lot more creative that way. I agree with you completely. So it's a great way to just imagine you have a lot of bands. Yeah, that's what I try to do! [Andrew Jackson Jihad - Temple Grandin]


You're a social worker. How has that influenced your songs? It hasn't influenced the songs as much as it has influenced my entire life. I have to say before launching in that right now I am doing music full time. I do still cover shifts sometimes when I'm back in Phoenix for practice and stuff, at the hotline that I work at... That's the suicide hotline, right? Yeah! That's pretty grim! Naahh, it's fun!

It seems pretty grim though But when people are calling they are calling for help, and you get to be the person to listen to them. And that's kinda like your song I guess. It seems pretty grim, but it's also kinda optimistic in a sense. Yeah, for sure! And that is kind of the thing that social work has taught me, it's that there is a lot of thing wrong in the world, but the only thing to keep them from destroying you is to be hopeful and to be active in trying to change that. Yeah, social work has influenced my entire life, like just the way of thinking. Particularly the emphasis on empathy as apposed to sympathy. Imagining what it's like to be in someone else's shoes. And recognizing they're strength for being resilient rather than feeling sorry. I can see that a lot in your songs Thank you!

How was it like going from a relativly small label, Asian Man, and over to the bigger SideOneDummy? It's great! I mean, we haven't really left Asian Man, like we're still really good friends with them. Mike (Park) was pretty eager to kick us out and to get us to a bigger label. Because he felt that there was some limitations to what he could do for us as a band. And he's very happy for us. It's great, because they have a wonderful staff, and they're all really warm and friendly. I consider them really amazing friends.

Are there any big differences? Yeah! Just the fact that there is a staff of 5 or 6 people instead of a staff of 2 people is a really big difference. The PR person there, Jamie, she's just incredible. So there have been a lot more PR lately then?

Yeah, all she does all day is trying to get interviews and coverage for the bands on SideOne
What are your guys' ambitions? Are you gonna become a stadium band or do you like where you are now? I've been asked this question a lot and my answer is pretty much always the same: I'm very happy with where we are right now. However we kinda went into this band trying to see how far we could take it. I highly doubt we'll ever become a stadium band. But it better be pretty fun if we did get that far. It would be really weird! Like you and KISS! I don't think we have that kind of accessibility, but man that would be really funny Well, I don't know, I think that your texts like hits everybody. Everyone can relate to your texts and know where you come from. So I think that you guys can make it really huge. And I was expecting that with this album you we're going to break through, if I could call it that I feel like there have been a kind of break through for sure. But it's always better breaking through gradually Yeah and you have this amazing back catalog. It's not like you come out of nowhere. Why thank you! Yeah, it's been a very slow climb up. And in that way I feel like you retain your listeners better. Like having one good review on a taste making website, and having a really successful tour, and then have a large chunk of your listeners lose interest and move on to the next big thing. I feel like our listeners are dedicated. We are dedicated to them, and they are dedicated to us.

Have anyone told you guys that you have sold out yet? Mostly jokingly. I think there have been some people calling us sell outs. But I think that that school of thought is largely dying. I feel that for the most part, people want to see musicians get payed what they deserve. But it is harder to get payed these days. So when someone come across a large chunk of money somehow, I think people are less hard on musicians then they used to be.

Are you guys rich yet? Haha, beyond your wildest dreams! Hahah, beyond your wildest dreams! Yeah, that is a Diarrhea Planet reference for those who don't know. We play that a lot on Kvegpels too. They're such a good band! [Andrew Jackson Jihad - Rejoice]

You were in Europe february/march this year. Have you ever been to Europe before as a band? Yes! Or no, not with a full band. Me and Ben came over and did a guitar and bass show two times before. So you've been to Europe before then! Yeah, but not Scandinavia. Mostly Germany Yeah, that's the go to place. But how is it like to tour Europe? Is it different from the state, or is it all the same?
It's very different from the states! Here we hire a driver to drive us around. It's a lot less stressful. There's no driving stress and you get to the show when you get to the show. The driver kicks you awake and says "go!". It's wonderful, and I love getting to the show on time. And when you get to the show there is like a bigger infrastructure built for bands. A lot of clubs have like band flats built in so you can stay where you play. Which is wonderful, because you don't have to hunt around for places to stay, or someone to stay with, or paying for a hotel. Usually the club feed you. It's really... The hospitality in Europe is amazing

What is the best tour food you guys have eaten? The best tour food? Well, tonight was a strong contender for the best. It was vegan meat loaf with mashed potatoes and lingonberries. It was great! A nice scandinavian fare. And then the meal we had in... Oh god... In Aarhus... No sorry, not Aarhus. That was good too, it was spaghetti and horse meat. No were was it.... It was in the Netherlands... What was the club?.... Did you try the chocolate milk? Because Dinosaur Jr. are like crazy for their chocolate milk. They have a live album that is named after a chocolate milk brand! No, unfortunately we didn't get to try that. Oh, the club was in Arnhem. That was an amazing meal. This tour? Yeah, it was so good! It was... For the vegetarians it was fried cheese with a lot of really amazing vegetables and these beautiful potato balls. And for the carnivore option was beautifully cooked chicken thigh. That sound really good! Over to something completely different. What side projects are you guys playing in? Not just you, but the rest of the band

Well, Preston is playing in a band called The Perfect Eagles with a guy named Chase (Bandcamp) Yeah, they're really good! I'm gonna try to air them on this show. Cool! Hell Yeah! Preston will be excited

Uhm, and Deacon and Ben are playing in a metal band called FIRESWAMP with a bunch of other friends from Phoenix. They're like a stoner/doom metal band. Really Black Sabbath-y That sound really cool. I will definitely check them out! Check them out, they're great. I think they just put out a single on Bandcamp And I always imagine side projects, but end up with Andrew Jackson Jihad Yeah, but you play solo, like just Sean. Yeah, I have. I like those shows. They are really free, with no set-list So that is kinda like a side project? Yeah, I get to play songs before they are AJJ songs. I've done a lot of recording on my own lately. Like a lot of electronic stuff Is that something we could expect for the next album? More electronic stuff? Or more electronic influences? Possibly. Nothing is off the table! Do you have a plan for a new album? Not yet, I'm still writing songs. I'm probably gonna send a next batch of demos to my producer when I get back. That will hopefully kick it off.

Kristopher, one of the hosts of the radio show... I have like sent a lot of stuff from you guys, and got them to play it... And he really wanted to know the story behind Linda Ronstadt and Kokopelli Face Tattoo. Could you tell us about that?

As far as Linda Ronstadt, the story is right there in the song. I was at the musical instrument museum in Scottsdale, Arizona... And it was a really weird time in my life. My grandfather was going through cancer treatment, and I had gotten a call from a good friend who told me he had got cancer as well. And I was homesick, and I was visiting home in between trips back and forth from the Midwest where I live. And I went into the Arizona room in the musical instrument museum and saw Linda Ronstadt performing Canciones De Mi Padre, which is her playing mariachi songs. And I just started ballin', because it was so beautiful. And I wasn't sad that day... To quote Mr. Show: "that was the key that released my tears from eye jail". It was a really amazing experience.

Kokopelli Face Tattoo is harder to explain. I wrote chunks of it at different times. And... What is a Kokopelli face tattoo? Oh, a Kokopelli is like a mythical creature in Native American lore. He's like this little stick figure man playing on a flute. He is a symbol of fertility, the flute represents the phallus. Cool enough. Cool symbol, and cool story behind it, but it is used mostly to market the South-West, and you can go to like Arizona and buy a Kokopelli shirt. It's like this played out image... Have you seen someone with a Kokopelli face tattoo?
I have not. I just thought it would be really funny!

That's pretty much why I put that in the song. It's very South-Western. [Andrew Jackson Jihad - Self-Esteem]

Do you know about this guy called The Needle Drop? Yeah, Anthony Fantano! Yes, that Youtube reviewer. If you don't know him, you should check him out. He's... Good! Some people say that he is to blame for your internet fame. Is that true? I think he plays a large part in it for sure! Hopefully he's not 100% responsible for it, because he did not like our last record. Haha, no, and that's the next question! But yeah, a lot of people saw his positive review of Knife Man Yeah, because that was when Anthony Fantano was starting to get big, and he got like this front page on Youtube, and he used that to promote your album, Knife Man That was super cool of him! And that was about the time you got a lot of attention on the internet I think. Yeah, like reddit and stuff.

What do you feel about TheNeedleDrop's last review? Do you get bummed out by bad reviews? I try not to get bummed out by reviews. For the most I try not to read them. I skim like the first paragraph and the last paragraph, and don't read the rest Have you seen the review Fantano did of Christmas Island? Yeah, his I was actually interested in hearing what he thought. I maintain my pride in that record. The only thing I could really... Not the only thing, but what I got out of it was that he wanted us to still be his folk punk band. And he didn't really care for the change

I agree. I respect him a lot though Yeah, me too! I really value his opinions, but I don't agree with his last (AJJ) review, but I found it interesting

Yeah, I watch his reviews still. He and I don't always see eye to eye on other artists. And that's fair. I'm just really happy that someone in music criticism is making it a conversation. Like it used to be

All in all he's just this guy, like the rest of us, and he is entitled to his own opinions

Totally!

So you guys have a lot of loyal fans, and you managed to... Not Kickstart, but Indiegogo?... We Indiegogo'd... We Indiegogo'd for it! Haha You Indiegogo'd a new tour car. How is it? Did you manage to pimp it? We've pimped it a fair amount, but in the rush to buy a van to the tour, we ended up with one scale too small. So we're hoping to... The other cool thing is that since we went for a smaller car we went under budget, and still have money. So what we plan to do is to fix that van up and sell it for the same amount, and use all the money we have instead of some of the money we have to buy the full sized, long wheel bazed, amazing Sprinter and get it without any seats and get the seats of our liking, and customize it. Yeah, Pimp My Ride! Have you got any plans on how you want to pimp it? Anything special, like flat screens and Xbox and stuff like that? You know, these days that is not that far off! It's not even far off, it's here. We've rented Sprinters that have Xboxes in them. Like our van right now got a Playstation in it. So we might do that, but the first thing we'll work on is getting enough seating and gear space. And hopefully a little loft thing we can sleep in or something That is the most important thing Yeah, the most important is being comfortable and getting enough sleep while driving. Do you have any plans for the looks of it? Like painting it or getting it to look really rad? Like metal things? Yeah, a lot of blue flames! Hahah, and maybe like a virgin Mary and a giant Kokopelli... Confederate flag and stuff like that! Oh my god, a bunch of confused American images would be really funny, hahah I don't think we would go for the confederate flag though. Maybe a airbrushed eagle... Yeah, a crying eagle! With a flying V guitar And this little tear from his eye For sure! Haha

What’s the most crazy thing you guys have experienced on tour? Not necessarily this tour, but any tour Hm, most crazy thing on tour... Oh! That's a very big question, but the thing that immediately came to mind: We're driving from Chicago to Michigan, around Lake Michigan which is this giant lake. It was snowing and the lake made the snow even worse. Our driver did a 1080 spin. First try, on the freeway. We didn't get hit! He like jerked the steering wheel, and woooo! That's insane! That was the most crazy thing I think. How about crazy fans? Crazy fans? We don't really... I don't consider our fans crazy Eccentric maybe? Sure! Eccentric, awkward, like mostly they remind me of myself when I was younger. So I really relate to them. I have bummed out a lot of people in bands just by being to excited, haha

What is your favorite movie? And why? My favorite movie, and why... Oh man... I have a lot of favorite movies. Star Wars is like my go to answer. It is sort of a perfect movie. As far as music movies, I like Dr. Hooks' Musikladen performance (Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show: Musikladen). You can find it on Youtube. It's amazing! So this band, Dr. Hook is an American band from New Jersey and the south, and they played like good old country rock music. They were hilarious! Like really funny guys on stage playing beautiful songs written by Shel Silverstein. The kind of famous poet, the author of the book The Giving Tree. This was like his adult outlet, writing their songs. There was this performance for German television where I heard that they took acid. And it's just 40 minutes of them playing on a sound stage to just a camera crew, no audience, on acid, some time during the day. You have no idea what time it is. That is the best part of the movie. Is this like 11 in the morning, or in the afternoon? It's not at night I think. Our tour driver Rich... We were watching it on Youtube and he was like "Is this the one where they're on acid?". And apparently everyone knew that. Or everyone over here knew that they were on acid. But it's very obvious when you hear that, that these guys are freaking out. I think that might be my favorite movie period.

When we're talking about movies, I have to thank both you and Preston. You were like really hyped about True Detective when you guys stayed at my place. Almost immediately after you guys left I binge watched it! That is a great way to spend 8 hours! It was crazy and amazing, so thanks for that! You are very welcome! [Andrew Jackson Jihad - Skate Park]

Let's see... I have some funny questions left. We're gonna round up soon You got n HRPS shirt and 7" (my band), do you use the shirt/listen or did it go in the back of the closet? What song are your favorite?

I still use the shirt, but you are going to hate me for this, but I haven't listened to the HRPS 7" yet. But I listen to the Honecker album like a lot (my other band). And when I get home I'm gonna listen to the HRPS 7", I promise. But I still represent with the shirt all the time Nice! I saw like some pictures from Germany I think, in my Facebook feed, and I saw pictures of you playing with the HRPS shirt, and I was like "Woah man! That's so cool"

That's a cool shirt! Yeah, thanks!

A follow up question to this: Do you find it creepy that we follow you guys around and trick you into an interview? No. That's great, I just had to check No, I think that you are awesome Thanks! You are a skater. Do you know any cool tricks? Yeah, I know a couple of cool tricks. I just learned how to 360 flip. That's the funnest trick. Still really hard, but I'm getting there Do you skate every day? Or as much as you can? I try to on tour, but sometimes it's rainy and sometimes I'm sick. This is the first time I've brought a board over to Europe. But when I'm home I skate like 2-3 times a week. I started skating with John Olson of the band Wolf Eyes, he lives in Michigan and he's like a really good motivator, he like always calls me up when he's gonna skate, and we go to parks in different towns and it's really fun. I guess that at least here in Scandinavia it's not a lot of skate parks and stuff. So a lot of people do street. Street skating is my favorite. Like at skate parks I skate the ledges and curbs more than the transitions.

Both in Sarpsborg and in Fredrikstad they're building amazing skate parks now. I think the one in Fredrikstad is gonna be amazing. It has this sweet bowl and a tunnel kind of thing going No way, a loop? Fullpipe? Yeah, a loop! But they spent a lot of money on it, and people are like "oh why did you use money on the youth? Think of the children! They need play grounds! Or how about the elderly?" Think when the kids grow up and they don't have anything to do, they get into trouble. It's cool to have something for teenagers to do too! Exactly! And people are also like "there are gonna be a lot of narcotics there! We can't let that happen!" I think skateboarding get you into some small trouble, but it keeps you out of big trouble. As far as drugs and stuff like that. You never see someone smoking crack! But sometimes they are drinking beers and smoking pot The last one you can't say in Scandinavia, people will freak out! What? Crack or pot? Pot! Oh, well nevermind! They might be drinking some beers, but they're not smoking pot! Yeah, light beers. Maybe
Well, one last question. My role on this radio show has been to show new bands, songs and albums and stuff like that. So I wondered if you could recommend whatever, just music, song/album/band... Whats the hottest thing for you right now?

Oh, the hottest thing for me right now would be the new Perfume Genius. Yeah, his new album is fucking awesome. I listened to it a couple times. I ordered the album on vinyl, and it's gonna wait for me when I come home. I'm gonna really dive into it then. 

What genre is it?

Ehm... I guess it would have to go under the pop umbrella. Like electronic and piano based. Very delicate soft music. Well, the new record is hard and super mean. I love it!

I will check it out! With that I think the interview is over. We have been talking for 35 minutes, and I think that is enough. Thanks for the interview, it's been great!

Thank you, Jorgen!


[Andrew Jackson Jihad - Big Bird]