by Chris Kelly
USMV spoke with guitarist Ted Hutt about their sound and history:
California, but I grew up in London. I had been going back and forth for a while, but I just figured that I had been coming here more than going there.
How did you and the band members find each other?
I was back there last summer, looking for someone to work with. I had a head full of ideas, so I just checked out some bands and singers. I knew a guy from a band that had just fallen apart, and my friend told me I should give him a call. It was Andy, and he was in a band called Pusherman. We chatted for half and hour and I decided that we saw things the same way. We wrote a couple of songs, and it was instant. We flew back here (to L.A.) and recorded some demos. We had about ten songs that we brought to the label, and they said that they wanted us to do the record.
Were you playing in a band before all this?
I’ve always been doing stuff. I used to play the guitar for a band called Reacharound, and when that fell apart, I stayed on the label, who stayed behind me until I found a new band.
How is Jact, compared to all your previous band attempts?
I think it was a great step. I was working on new material for a second Reacharound record and just didn’t feel inspired by it. I was listening to tapes from studio and rehearsal work and not getting anything from them. I think I could have gone forward and done another record, but after a lot of soulsearching, I realized that I would be robbing myself of the opportunity to be part of something that was more gratifying...and it was the right thing do.
So has Jact lived up to what you thought it would be?
It was a great relief to be able to connect with someone and not struggle to make music. It’s got to be a natural expression, and you shouldn’t feel like you’re pushing something down a road that it’s not made to go down.
What bands did you grow up listening to?
So many things...being asked that question has caught interest because I’ve started to look through what I really did grow up with and like. I think I always go back to the old favorites, like the Isley Brothers or, because I play the guitar, the Smiths.
Where did you record the album?
A place called Fourth Street in Santa Monica, where we did our demos. That’s where the whole thing started off. We went through the standard procedure of talking to producers and then realized that we didn’t want a producer. We got such a good vibe when we initially recorded this stuff that we decided to just bring in some additional gear and try to recapture that original feeling. A lot of people get weird when they let the wrong person into the studio with them, and the songs lose their quality. We just wanted to avoid that so the record would sound its best.