Get to know Jackie Brown Jr, who just announced their debut EP and a huge Aussie tour

Sydney group Jackie Brown Jr are ready to level up with excellent, good-vibes-only new single, Best Friend, one that like all good pop music, covers some dark territory lyrically. It's taken from their forthcoming debut EP Over-Abroad, which drops at the end of October and will be followed by a monster tour over November and December. Although we haven't seen 'em in little old Perth yet, by all accounts they are a must-see live act, so meet 'em below and and catch 'em live at one of the big run of dates also listed down the bottom.

Tell us about yourselves?

We’re Maddy, Ben, Gideon, Rhyan and Michael and we all met studying music together at uni in 2013. Our interests - both in music and otherwise - are all really wide spread. Despite these differences we all came together from the left overs of a few failed first year uni bands over a love for organic, jam-based music.

What kinda tunes we talkin’?

We’re talking ‘wholesome indie rock to dissolve your existential dread’ or ‘imagine you’re in a Tarantino film and driving a car really fast down a highway’ type tunes. It’s a real mix - sometimes Rhyan (drummer and MC) raps and drums at the same time, sometimes there’s 80s-style guitar solos, and then sometimes we’ll get a full horn section on stage with us. We’re a Kinder Surprise of a band - or, we just can’t make a decision.

Production/writing process:

For the majority of our songs, Maddy comes to a rehearsal with a riff and lyrics and asks us to make it sound cool. By jamming in rehearsals and experimenting with budding songs on gigs, we usually come to our first draft of a tune. For the song we take to the studio, we’ve found that recording has been an essential part of our editing process, forcing us to really evaluate how each of the live aspects of our songs help tell the story of a tune. For a couple of our tunes (including Best Friend) this often means we have developed both studio and live versions.

Can you tell us about Best Friend?

Yeah! Best Friend is pretty much a song about imagining if your best friend died and the kind of inability to deal with that thought process. You’d never really think that because it sounds like the Alabama Shakes made an album in the Caribbean and then played a bunch of party poppers over the top.

Any shows coming up?

We’ve got a really exciting show happening in October which you’ll find more about later, and then we head on our biggest tour ever in November playing with some really cool bands all over the east coast!

What’s the rest of the year have in store?

We’ve got a super busy rest of 2018. We’re releasing our debut EP, and going on tour to a bunch of cities we’ve never played in and festivals we’ve never played at! Can’t wait for the next few months.

Where can we hear more of your music?

Your absolute best option is coming to see any of our shows coming up (see below - it’s a good time), or anywhere you’d like online. We guess that works too.

TOUR DATES

Thu 8 Nov – Transit Bar, Canberra

Fri 9 Nov – Soundbar, Rosebud

Sat 10 Nov – The Catfish, Melbourne

Thu 22 Nov – 5 Church St, Bellingen

Fri 23 Nov – Heya Bar, Brisbane

Sat 24 Nov – Sonic Sherpa Instore, Brisbane

Sat 24 Nov – Bohemian Beatfreaks Festival, Byron Bay Hinterlands

Fri 7 Dev – The Chippo Hotel, Sydney

Sun 9 Dec – The Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle

Fri 14 Dec – Park House Food & Liquor, Mona Vale

Follow Jackie Brown Jr: FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / TWITTER