Photos Ariel Mathis 

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey only spent a day recording its most recent studio album, 2005’s cover-heavy Sameness of Difference. So when the Tulsa, OK-based group entered the studio with producer Tae Meyulks, the one thing bassist Reed Mathis and keyboardist Brian Haas knew for sure is that they had no plans to rush its follow-up. Almost a full year and a lineup change later, JFJO is still tweaking its most symphonic and song-oriented recording yet reveling in its ability to redefine its sound 14 years into the game. Below, Mathis and Haas discuss their experimental recording approach, their late-blooming love of The Beatles and why Tulsa is full of weirdoes.

RELISHING THE PROCESS

Reed Mathis: We went into the studio last January for seven days to document all the songs we’d written since the summer of 2006. Then we took some time away from the album and went and did a pile of gigs and came back to it this summer having given Tae several months to sift. All we knew is that we wanted to work with Tae and that the process would be as rewarding as the results. We made our last record in a day, so we really wanted to relish the process this time.

Brian Haas: For a while we were putting out a record ortwo every year and we built an amazing crowd doing that. But we realized that we were never able to sit back andactually enjoy all of our hard work. So now, for the first time, we spent an entire year working on a record. A lot of people in our business organization have questioned exactly what we are doing and our answer is, “We really don’t know what we are doing.” We are just following our hearts. Capitalism is to just push and push and all that constant pushing was really good for us in one way, but it wasn’t great for us creatively. It was like we forgot about just stopping and listening to the spaces between notes. We forgot about beauty and simplicity.

CONTAGIOUS SOUNDS

Haas: I’ve spent a lot of time traveling the entireworld and I’ve noticed that in a lot of the bigger cities music starts to sound the same… like everyone is rubbing shoulders so much that there is this kind of contagious vibe that spreads throughout a music community. One thing that I miss living in Tulsa is that I don’t get to constantly rub shoulders with heavyweights, but it does create this real weird individuality because though your isolated, you still have enough people to inspire you. The Flaming Lips and Tae are great examples of that.

GROPING IN THE DARK

Mathis: We switched drummers this year which threw another wrinkle into the process, because Idefinitely want [current drummer] Joshua Raymer on the record. So, luckily, Hyena Records was really flexible with our deadline. Now we are going to enter phase three or four in the studio. In September, our producer made a bunch of motifs out of these “accidents” that happened while wewere recording and based new themes or variations on them. I want this record to be symphonic, with a really large scope. Brian and I are going to spend a few days making hundreds of 20-second loops. We’ve never done this sort of groping-in-the-dark approach.

DIFFERENTIATING FROM THE SAMENESS OF DIFFERENCE

Mathis: When we did the Sameness of Difference Joel Dorn had us arrange and record all these covers. After a few months of performing that music it was time to start writing some new music and the music we wrote was profoundly influenced by that pop and rock ‘n’ roll music that we covered. So far this album has no acoustic instruments, no solos and lots of beats. We are concentrating a lot more on textual narratives, something that sweeps you up sonically and is less personal than modern jazz. Between me and Brian, we’ve taken enough solos for eight zillion lifetimes.

Haas: We want to do bigger rock rooms with this record and totally show people our “huge fat beats side.” Our new drummer is perfect for showcasing that and he’s been studying our music for seven years, so it is like he knows the music better than we do! We’re huge fans of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones as well as Aphex Twin and Squarepusher. I was studying Beethoven when I was in elementary school and now I finally like The Beatles and I’m 33. So everything is going to be songs even if it’s improvisations that we turn into songs. I think we have gotten all of our “jazz insecurities” out of our system. It’s like now that we are older now we just want to make a record that has beautiful melodies that both my grandma and an 18-yearold hipster could like.

BACK TRACKING

Mathis: We’ve tracked everything we’ve writtensince the summer of 2006, but that doesn’t necessarily
mean any of it is going to make the record. Some of the compositions are probably going to show up, but they’ll probably be abstracted. We recorded “Dove’s Army of Love,” which is written about our first guitarist who recently had triplets. We also did this crazy Beethoven rearrangement of “Vernal Equinox” and some of [ex-drummer] Jason Smart’s songs, which we’d still totally include.

BACK TO BASICS

Haas: Five years ago I wouldn’t call myself aGalactic fan and nowI am a huge Galactic fan. Now Galactic sounds like a current Duke Ellington to me. It’s funny to grow up and then realize, “Oh my god. I love that music. Why was I resisting it?” They are a great example of taking the jazz concept and applying that to an old-school, super-honest dance concept.

COLLABORATING WITH CONTROL FREAKS

Mathis: Collaborating is scary for someone who is as much of a control freak as I am, but it’s also really thrilling. We are treating Tae as a fourth member of the band and plan on taking him out on the road with us. Working on this album has been like reading a really big book that you don’t want to end. I love the process, maybe because I am such a control freak and in the studio you can play God a little bit [laughs].

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