JEFF the Brotherhood Tour America in a School Bus, Experience 'Hypnotic Nights'

Nashville is the new bastion of American garage rock. Over the past several years, the Mid-Southern town has welcomed house party-crazed, DIY-obsessed, sweaty punk fiends with open arms.

But the creators of this scene, JEFF the Brotherhood, aren't even there right now. They're in an off-white, short school bus traversing the US of A, spreading the Gospel of JEFF.

"We've scaled back a lot this year," singer Jake Orrall tells Spinner at Warner's offices in Manhattan. "I think we're only doing maybe 200, maybe 175 shows this year."

It's 2 o'clock in the afternoon and the brothers Orrall are slouched in their respective armchairs. Drummer Jamin's allergies are flaring up. He blows his nose every few minutes while his brother Jake looks relaxed. Several empty Budweisers decorate the floor around his feet.

After four and a half years of constant touring, this is the Brotherhood's time to shine. All those hours spent on the road, going from show to show, town to town have paid off in a major label deal. But you can't help notice how tired they look.

"It's really expensive to tour in our short school bus. The gas is expensive. Sometimes there's no place to eat and we have to get Subway or something," Jake says of his current touring frustrations.

"We have trouble getting up early enough," Jamin responds with a giggle. "We have trouble being on time anywhere."

It's not because they party too hard, though they do their share of it. And it's definitely not because they're lazy. It's because JEFF the Brotherhood are one of the hardest working rock bands in the biz. Without a tour manager, the boys do it all by themselves, playing to beer-guzzling 20-somethings all over the world.

The brothers' local label Infinity Cat, which started a decade ago, was there at the beginning of Nashville's rise. Besides releasing their own records, the label has put out albums by Heavy Cream, Pujol, Natural Child and many others.

Even though the boys have launched their friends' careers and made their hometown an enviable place to play rock music, there is still a sense that it will all fade away.

"I don't think bands are gonna become popular because they're from Nashville," Jake claims. "That's like saying a band's gonna become popular because they're from St. Louis ... or Brooklyn. Well, Brooklyn's a little different because it's exotic and exciting to people who don't know any better."


To Jake Orrall, it doesn't really matter where you are from. He and Jamin have become road warriors, untied to a single geographic area. They live in their tour bus, catching the cross breeze from the open windows on the way to the next show. They are truly a dying breed.

Nashville's current place in the punk spectrum hasn't really changed Jake and Jamin Orrall. They love their hometown, but it's no longer a place to burn brightly into the night. The boys now simply go home to sleep.

"When I'm in Nashville, it's my time to not think about any of this stuff," Jamin says. "I mean, I play in other bands but for the next five years I think [the town will] be pretty similar."

The brothers' latest video for "Sixpack" shows what they call "a normal weekend occurrence." The clip features Nashville's finest on a little float trip, complete with skinny dippin' and beer on ice. Don't try to look for a bigger meaning in their music, it's meant to turn on your inner animal and subdue any and all cognitive skills.

"My secret to a happy, content life is to never have any expectations and basically be a pessimist because then I'm very rarely disappointed," Jake says.

"If it gets to the point where I don't like it, I can just stop," Jamin adds. When asked if that would be alright with his partner in crime, Jake simply nods and says "I've got other bands and shit." But it doesn't look like the end is anywhere near. They're going too fast to slow down anytime soon.

JEFF's latest album Hypnotic Nights is available now via Warner Music. It marks the beginning of America's next rock 'n' roll kings.