The JeanMarie
By Jarrod Dinwoodie

Jean Marie is not the archetypical name you'd usually find belonging
to a 400-pound holding cell guard. But Jean Marie wasn't your
typical guard --– this one played host to an incarcerated singer who
went on to found the band that took its name from the muse-like
guard. Correctional officers may not be the most common sources
for monikers, but the Jean Marie, a Miami based quintet, always
finds uncanny and unique things to plug into their musical venture.
The lyrics, sound, performance and all around philosophical views
belonging to this band play out to a fitting delivery of art, rock,
independence and social commentary. In a sometimes-too-small
indie scene in Miami, the Jean Marie has found their place.
One evening, after a show in the back alley behind Miami's Studio
A, RAG got to meet up with a socially acceptable level of inebriated
members of the Jean Marie (Curtis Nystrom, guitar; Jordan Davidson,
vocals/guitar; Jeffrey Remarkable, bass; Jason Haft, drums; Richard
Laudenraudy, keys/ synth) to talk about what makes this band tick.
Originating between the University of Miami and a Miami-Dade
holding cell, the Jean Marie got together three years ago, and have
been steadily circulating the scene ever since. With loads of gigs
under their collective belt, the band has experienced many highlights
in their time – most notably, opening for Bloc Party earlier this
year. Although the circumstances of that particular opening stint
were a little out of the ordinary, with the band being thrown into the
mix on very short notice, Laudenraudy says, "It's like one of those
bad dreams you have, when you show up in, like, your seventh
grade class, not wearing pants and you forgot your homework."
The band's sense of humor really sets a precedent when it comes
to both their personalities and their music. One needs only to
visit their MySpace page [www.myspace.com/thejeanmarie], go to
one of their shows, or share a drink or two with them, to get the
idea of how this band handles their work. A thin line between humor,
hyperbole and heart attack seriousness, one doesn't quite know
where to follow this band, and that's exactly the way the Jean Marie
seems to want it.
A ramshackle mix of pop, rock, indie, groove and dance colors their
sound and presents itself on a dish that is not ordinarily appearing
on the menu. Given their strange mix, even the band seems
undecided on what to call their work. "Dance," "art," "rock," "pop,"
and "groove" were all thrown into the mix upon asking the group
what they call the type of music they play. "You're going to start an
argument," commented Remarkable, amidst shouts of "Next
question!" from Laudenraudy. The debate was resolved when
Laudenraudy said, jokingly, of the music they play, "we started
saying on one of our self booked tours, we play 'art fag,' 'cause it's
like we play music for like the art fag crowd. It's like asymmetrical.
We play for people who supply us with free beer."
Despite the discrepancies that exist within the band's style of music,
they seem to be on the same page in terms of the music they listen
to. Loudenraudy rattles off a list of names mimicking a want ad
Yeah, it'll be built.they once posted for a drummer: "We listen to, ah, fucking Talking
Heads. We like Arcade Fire. Fucking, ah, a little bit of Brazilian
Girls." At this point newly appointed drummer Haft pipes up, "and
when I jammed with them, they sounded nothing like any of those
bands."
One may be able to detect a slight jazz influence when listening to
the Jean Marie, but as Nystrom points out, "It's subtle man, it's
definitely there, but it's subtle. The chops are there, but the
composition isn't." So, influences aside, the band is finding their
own sound, and not being able to pin point it is, according to them,
a step in the right direction. With good laughs all around, the
individuality of the members seems to be what pulls them all together.
The Jean Marie has two self produced EPs and the intention of
working up towards a major release and some label interest. Despite
their big business dreams, the band seems content, now, remaining
independent. Says Davidson, "Labels are a funny thing, because
it's a double edged sword. You think you're going forwards, but
you could be going backwards. So, the goal right now, is to go
forwards. So, when we put out our EP, the goal with putting out the
EP was to go forwards."
Creativity within the band is in ample supply, with every member
bringing something to the table. Nystrom explains, "basically, like,
one person comes up with an idea and we work with it. We do a lot
of work on a scratch pad, or a pre-recorded something, and then
we'll distribute it amongst the rest of the people." These creative
ideas are all lyrically blended with sarcasm, as Davidson points
out: "It [is] the whole winking with a straight face idea. It's sarcasm.
The overlying theme in our band, in our music, is sarcasm. 'Delancey
St.' has a line, 'what's a revolution without backup dancers?' It
also has a line. 'sobriety is a new form of inebriation, so don't tell
its junkies, let us all die out,' you know? It's our underlying theme
in everything, and you can either look at it seriously and self
absorbent, or you can laugh about it."
Underneath this sarcastic disposition, separating themselves from
everybody else is not an easy task. Dedication is key to the
success and forging their own identity for the Jean Marie. This is
made particularly clear as Loudenraudy explains: "I get home from
work, and I just worked eight hours and I rode my bike home, and
I'm fucking exhausted, and I don't wanna do fucking shit. But we
gotta fucking rehearse. You know? It's basically just finding the
time for it. But for me, the hard part is, once all of that happens,
you have to figure out how to separate yourselves from the other
fucking bands out there, doing the exact same thing that you're
doing. So the problem becomes not only making yourself practice
after that long day of work, but then putting the amount of thought
into it that rises you above all the other bands that all have to work
hard." Perhaps this is the reason they aim not to categorize their
music in any one set genre or style. Loudenraudy further
contemplated the scene and their place in it: "We're inundated with
so much fucking music these days. Where the fuck do you place
yourself? There's so much content. Where the fuck are we? Who
the fuck knows where we are? It doesn't even matter anymore.
Who the fuck knows?" Davidson contributes to this pondering, with
what seems to be an answer to this dilemma. He says, "You invent,
you know, your homemade, like, iron cleaner or whatever it is, and
you know who your market is. You establish who you're selling to.
And when you're creating music, you have absolutely no designated
audience. You have to, sort of, just stick your cock out and hope
that someone puts their lips on it."
The Jean Marie loves to party and have a great time; they want to
bring their little family to other people. They've sent out an open
invitation to come on down to their shows, and dance, and have a
good time. Why not put on your best shade of red, shake your body,
open your mouth and sing along to Miami's the Jean Marie. It's a
revolution without backup dancers – and everyone is invited.