JJAMZ Live on The Interface: Indie Supergroup Is Built on History & Karaoke

JJAMZ was born out of the past. Several members of the indie five-piece super group had already arced their career, joining and leaving popular bands like Rilo Kiley, Phantom Planet and the Like.

Thankfully, after one drunken night of karaoke, these rock 'n' rollers joined forces to make pop music that's set to last.

Singer Z Berg adds an undeniable sexiness to the band's beachy sound. Her smokey alto pipes and Debbie Harry-esque looks front an engine of industry badasses. Drummer Jason Boesel (Rilo Kiley, Bright Eyes) adds fanciful kit sounds, while Phantom Planet's Alex Greenwald and Maroon 5's James Valentine add flourishes of sunny guitar.

But lets not forget songwriter Michael Runion, whose bass melodies and lyrical prowess make JJAMZ a truly interesting modern pop group. During the CMJ Music Marathon this past October, the band stopped by Spinner's studios to perform a few cuts of their debut album Suicide Pact.

We chatted with the charismatic group about their deep bonds with one another and starting over in the music business. Check out the interview below and watch their full performance on The Interface.



You all cheated on your other bands with JJAMZ. Now that you've consummated this relationship, is this a project you want to continue for years and years?

Z: No, we're sick of the sex already. It's just stale.

Michael: Yeah. KY every time. [Laughs]

Z: Oh, my god.

Michael: That's terrible.

Alex: I was going to say something about W2s. [Laughter]

Jason: W2s?

Alex: Yeah, W2s.

Jason: You got tax problems?

Z: Yeah, we're still in the honeymoon period of the the new marriage to the mistress, still working for us.

Michael: We'd like to make another record.

Alex: The old girl ain't dead yet. [Laughter]

Z: Are you talking about me?

Alex: The old girl still has some fight in her yet.

Michael: Because some of those wives have remarried.

Z: Oh, man.

Jason: Yeah, some of our wives have remarried so there's no going back.

Michael: No going back.

Jason: Or some of them are dead in the grave.

Michael: Yeah, metaphorically.

Jason: Partially decomposed.

Alex: Metaphorically.

Your song "LAX" mentions carving names into each other's chests, while in another song you speak of suicide pacts. I feel like you guys are a lot closer than you're letting on here.

Alex: It's not metaphoric, mate, you know [in British accent].

Z: I think that was what I was essentially going to say.

Jason: Yeah.

Alex: Yeah, it's like metaphoric, mate. [Laughter]

Michael: Can I be serious for a second? All right, yeah, we're pretty close. We're close, but not into self harm. That's like my favorite couplet on the record, the second verse of "LAX." I really like it lyrically. I just think it's weird: Self-harm and getting married, like a self-initiated marriage at Disneyland. I just like the imagery.

Z: See, I, on the other hand, I feel like when I like something, like when you see a puppy and it's so cute that you just want to squeeze it kind of until you squeeze the life out of it? When I love things, I want to squeeze them until they die,

Alex: She wants to press them until death, press on their necks until death.

Jason: There's a book in some psychiatrist's office and there was a term for that in that book.

Alex: Yeah, there's a girl in the '60s that had murdered a bunch of little kids, like little Mary or something.

Michael: So that's why I wrote these songs for Z to sing because I don't feel that way but I thought, "Hey, maybe Z." We're pretty dark. [Laughter]

Jason: Dark bunch.

Michael: We're a dark bunch.

Have you made any pact to each other?

Jason: Absolutely not.

Alex: Not that we can talk about.

Michael: Yeah.

Alex: Absolute ... I mean, absolutely not.

Michael: Absolutely not.

Watch "Heatbeat"

The man that played "The Shap," in your video for "Heartbeat" -- Is he that creepy in real life?

Alex: No ... Yes and no.

Michael: Yes and no, yeah.

Z: Yes and no is the right answer.

Alex: He's captivating looking. He's powerful. He's powerful and tall.

Jason: He's a sweetheart.

Z: Yeah, he's like one of the most lovely and well-spoken, well-mannered brilliant dudes. But in an anecdote that he shared with me of being 17 years old and being at a school dance in the 1900s ... [Laughter]. He's like at a dance and he's 17 years old and he asked this girl to dance and she says yes and after about 15 seconds of dancing with him, she just recoils in horror and runs away and tells her friends she just got too scared being in front of him. He said, "I don't know. I've always been this way."

Jason: I suspect some missing component to that story [laughter]. Couldn't she see him before she agreed to dance with him?

Jason: [Whispers] Rotten nothings, darkness.

Michael: "Let me tie you up on the basement."

Z: Yeah, he's a lovely man, though.

Michael: "I can't wait to chase you through this high school."

Alex: You sound like my mom.

Michael: He's a great dude.

You guys have played in so many other career-defining bands. So how does it feel to start over again?

Z: Same shirt, different day.

Alex: It doesn't feel like starting over. It feels like just starting again. It's fun to shed skins.

Michael: Oh, I like that.

Jason: I love shedding skins.

Alex: You want to shed some skins later? What's up?

Z: Let's shed some skin.

Alex: It's good to have little deaths and little rebirths throughout life and sometimes even big metaphoric ones ... too metaphoric. I slipped that one and now I don't know how clear I'm just communicating right now.

Michael: We started playing together a while ago so it doesn't feel as new as it might feel to you.

Z: Yeah, this is old hat for us.

Jason: [It's been] five years now or something like that.

Michael: And all other bands toured together. Jason and I toured together.

Z: Yeah, my first show ever was with Phantom Planet, Alex's old band, and our second tour was with Maroon 5, James' band, the absent James Valentine. And we used to play with Jason's band and Mike's first show was opening for the Like back in the day. There's a lot of history.

Michael: Listen, it sucks to be back on the van.

Z: I love the van.

Michael: Sucks to be driving the van again.

Z: They won't let me drive the van.