DJ Mick writesThe CHIRP Radio Interview: Dreamjacket

by CHIRP Radio DJ and Features Co-Director Mick R (Listen to his most recent shows / Read his blog)

Variety and experience are the zest of life and novel pairings are the fleshy fruit from which they are squeezed. Would you turn your nose up at a peanut butter and sweet onion sandwich? Well, you’re only depriving yourself by tilting your proboscis northward, my friend.

And what about country music and space rock? Outrageous! Maybe… but a part of me thinks you’re curious to know how these disparate styles come together.

Thankfully, you don’t have to visit a saloon on a desert planet in a galaxy far far away to find out what this theoretical, dusty, and cosmic category of American might sound like in practice. Chicago’s own Dreamjacket is more than happy to bring the interstellar frontier as near as your neighborhood bar.

The five-piece band comprised of vocalist Jesse W. Johnson, violist Yoo Soo Kim, bassist Timothy Cap, guitarist Bradley Bergstrand, and drummer Dane Marcussen took a while to assemble, but it is hard to put a price on the sum of their talents now that their forces have aligned.

Their debut album Lost at Last dropped late last year, and they’re still hard at work spreading the good word about it. To help in their efforts I shot some questions their way about their origin story, their sound, and their new album and you can check out their very thorough and charming responses below:

[Interview was conducted via email on February 23, 2022. It has been edited slightly for clarity.]

How did you all meet?

Jesse: Yoo Soo and I met on a music message board in college and we teamed up and started a band together. I was super into Neil Young and he was way into Radiohead, so we kinda melded those together. He blew me away with his sense of melody and production from day one.

Pretty soon after I moved up to Chicago, I recall getting super sick with the flu and Tim dropped off some 7-UP and crackers for me when my neighbors couldn’t be bothered, which at the time was a total lifesaver. I remember thinking “this dude’s a really good friend”, and we’ve been close ever since. He’s also one of those people who’s talented on just about any instrument and can pick up chord progressions instantly.

Dane and I have worked together for years at an AV company, and we got to know each other packing up projectors and PA systems while we took turns putting on albums. We bonded over the Ace Frehley solo Kiss record and also Holy Diver. When the drummer for my solo band left, Dane was my first choice to step in. He’d been playing a lot of harder rock, but is really into the Dead and Wilco, so he immediately was writing super cool stuff. He’s probably the most dynamic drummer I’ve played with.

Then it was all about connecting the dots. Dreamjacket was born out of my solo band, and Tim had also played with Yoo Soo in Hemmingbirds and stepped in on bass for us a few times. We also invited my friends Bradley and Gretchen from Coed Pageant to record guitar and add vocals on the record, and they’re kinda the flex members of the band, joining us when they can. Bradley’s my favorite guitarist to play with and Gretchen and he both have the most amazing ear for harmonies.

What do you like about being in a band together?

Yoo Soo: I mostly just like hanging out with good friends, playing music, and drinking beers.

Tim: It's a unique way to connect to people, kind of like attending to an itch that's hard to scratch in any other way I can think of. It's also sometimes interesting to hear why someone comes up with an idea that I would never think of. I get bored easily and seeing new and different ways of writing keeps things interesting.

What does the term "Americana" mean to you?

Yoo Soo: *shrug*

Jesse: Probably having a 20th century “American” folk/country/blues influence that’s easily discernible upon first listen. Haha but honestly I dunno either. I just like the name.

Usually being lost isn't considered a positive thing. Why did you title your album Lost at Last?

Jesse: I wrote a shitty poetry book called Lost at Last forever ago, but I always loved that title. When we started workshopping songs for this album, it stuck with me and everyone thought it fit the “disillusioned yet determined” vibe of the record. Then the song "Lost at Last" was probably the last one we recorded, and it just all came together with that.

One of the things I really like about this album is how unforced and unhurried it sounds. Do you have any thoughts on letting things move at their own pace, and how these ideas apply to art?

Yoo Soo: I am inherently a person who loves efficiency and maximization, and I've realized that can be very destructive to creativity. Creativity and art need space. You need breaks to solve problems or come up with ideas in the back of your mind. You need life experiences to inspire you. You certainly can force art, but that result may likely be pretty shitty art. And you also need to create a lot of shitty art to eventually create great art.

Space rock and country music might not seem like natural bedfellows, but you certainly make it work. How did you develop this combination of sounds, and how does it help distinguish you from other alt. country artists?

Jesse: I’d say this is a pretty natural melding of influences and styles for us. I’m definitely bringing some folk country influence with John Prine and Hank Williams. Yoo Soo is a big Radiohead fan and also really loves pop and electronic music. Dane brings a giant dose of alt rock with his Wilco and Dead passion. Then Tim is kinda the glue because he’s into all that stuff. We all bond over the Beatles and could go on for hours and hours about the new Get Back documentary.

I honestly have no clue how we distinguish ourselves from other artists besides doing what feels right to us, but that being said, we do make a conscious effort to try to bring an interesting component to all our songs. Although we don’t like to second guess what feels right, we do talk about adding in unexpected musical flavors while we’re arranging things.

Do you ever feel out of place making country music in an urban environment? I doubt the answer is yes, but I'd still like to hear your explanation as to why these two things are not necessarily in conflict.

Yoo Soo: I think sometimes people yearn for what they don't have. I've grown to love vast spaces and nature, because I don't experience it much in the city. Country makes me yearn to be in a state of mind that can be easy and peaceful.

Jesse: I definitely don’t feel out of place because in my experience, a lot of Chicagoans love folk and alt country. I think alt country has a very midwest vibe, and we all feel very at home in that sound. Plus I think that sense of “coming home” that country music can bring really appeals to everyone.

You seem to have a penchant for big hooks and choruses. Do you start by writing these parts and then work from there, or what does your writing process look like?

Jesse: Usually I just start playing and a song eventually presents itself, sometimes in small pieces, and sometimes half or almost a whole song. I record super rough demos while these songs are happening stream-of-consciousness and then go back later and see what works and what doesn’t. Generally, the verses are what comes first for me, but usually the chorus comes quickly after. I’ve rarely written a chorus and then had to figure out a song around it.

The sound and “bigness” of our choruses are entirely the whole band working together to arrange things and make them pop as much as possible. We are all definitely believers in having strong choruses that stick with you so we focus on that quite a bit. That’s kinda the sugar that helps the medicine of the darker, weirder verses and bridges go down.

Big hooks were a staple of 90’s alt. rock. What is the linkage between the left-of-the-dial titans of yesteryear and the sound you are going for today?

Dane: I feel like the '90s grunge and alt rock scene wrote the book on big hooks, and we certainly give nods to that writing approach, but pop music in general by the end of the '90’s was insane. For example, if you look at the Billboard top 100’s for 1998, its pretty much a list of every popular karaoke song still being belted out in bars today.

I feel like the biggest impact on me from the '90s was the huge drum sound in general! Just massive snare sound and that huge kit compression that was so indicative of '90s rock. Bands like Soundgarden, STP, and Nirvana were huge for me in that regard, but also in a more Midwest focus from bands like Hum and Shiner. Those bands literally taught me how to hit a snare drum and playing less is more when it comes to a big drum sound: putting space in between parts.

This being a radio station, I have to ask you about the inspirations and meaning behind your song, "Radio Maria."

Jesse: Radio Maria used to be a restaurant in downtown Champaign, IL that my friend worked at. Our group of friends would always hang out around there and she’d sometimes come out and chat for a bit, kinda secretly. I hung out with her on one of my last nights in town and this song is remembering that night before we fell outta touch. She passed away tragically a few years ago, so I wrote this song thinking about her.

What do you feel is the darkest song on Lost at Last?

Yoo Soo: Strictly looking at titles, "Everybody Sucks." I wonder if this includes the people in the band?

Jesse: It includes literally everybody! The song "Hearts Go Out" is the darkest to me b/c it sounds more upbeat but is talking about school shootings and the philosophy of inescapable death and acceptable loss.

Which song do you feel is the most uplifting?

Tim: Heh, I don't think any of these are uplifting, except maybe for "Echo of a Hunter." It makes me think about change and commitment, which usually fulfills a need for catharsis or progress for a lot of people. If things don't change people sometimes go a little crazy.

Yoo Soo: I don't think Jesse's songs and uplifting are synonymous haha.

Jesse: Yeah… they’re right. I love that Tim thinks that song is uplifting though, that makes me think about it a little differently. "Lost at Last" is a hopeful song to me because I wrote it thinking about the future, as bad or good as that may be. The future is coming, no matter what. Unrelated, but The Bronx win gold medal for best song name ever with “Shitty Future.”

If you had the chance to visit Mars, would you take it?

Yoo Soo: Depends how long it would take to get there and back. And how much it would cost.

Tim: Yes, as long as I could bring any canonized sci fi weapons with me... and if I can still make music too.

Jesse: Oh I’m there as long as I can have a guitar and bring my cat.

What are your plans for 2022?

Jesse: I’m getting married in April! Then we’re planning to record a new EP (or maybe full album if I can convince everyone).

Any final thoughts you'd like to leave our readers with?

Jesse: Come out to our Chicago show March 5th at SubT! We’re playing with Baby Money (from Chicago) and Wayward Motel (from Springfield) and it’s gonna be a truly great night. Also CHIRP is awesome for local musicians so keep listening and supporting them!