Every Halloween since 2015, Jukebox the Ghost has celebrated the spirit and music of Queen by putting on a small series of tribute shows titled “HalloQueen”. After playing a set as themselves, the band would come out dressed as Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen and proceed to play songs from the legendary band. It was this experience that would eventually inspire the band to take the same bold attitude towards making their latest album, Off To The Races that was released March 30, 2018. “Something magical about Queen to me is that their songs are so catchy, but the song structures are so wonderfully wrong and they’re so unafraid to showcase their chops,” said Tommy Siegel. “Their music is a reminder to me that pop music doesn’t have to come in a neat, restrained package,” added Thornewill, “It’s ok to get weird and own it — And you can still be catchy.” The album is the result of a three-year songwriting and recording process that had the band heavily involved in every aspect of the recording process, as it was recorded in their home base of Brooklyn, which enabled them to do more outside-the-computer sonic experimentation and live performance than their past records. “In ‘Boring’ we sent Tommy’s backing harmonies through a distorting rotary speaker which created this totally weird underwater sound,” explained Jesse Kristin. “And for “See You Soon” we ran an electronic tabla machine through an amplifier and then I played drums along with it. That’s the sort of thing I think we wouldn’t have spent the time to do on our other records.” The track “Everybody’s Lonely” got strong airplay from mainstream alternative radio and has helped garner new fans for the band that’s been together for over ten years.
Ben Thornewill of Jukebox The Ghost took a moment during the band’s tour stop in San Francisco recently, to talk about the band’s latest album, the “Queen Effect”, the animation skills of guitarists/vocalist Tommy Siegel and more. Check out the interview:
Jukebox The Ghost 2018 TOUR DATES
Jul 13 Fri The Surf Lodge Montauk, NY
Jul 15 Sun Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre Englewood, CO
w/WALK THE MOON, Welshly Arms
Jul 21 Sat ALT92.1 Furnace Frenzy Scranton, PA
Aug 18 Sat Ciderstock Music Festival at The Woodchuck Cidery Middlebury, VT
w/Moon Taxi
Sep 6 Thu HiFi Indianapolis, IN
Sep 7 Fri Taft Theatre Cincinnati, OH
Sep 8 Sat LouFest St. Louis, MO
Sep 9 Sun LouFest St. Louis, MO
Sep 10 Mon The Basement East Nashville, TN
Sep 11 Tue Neighborhood Theatre Charlotte, NC
Sep 13 Thu The Broadberry Richmond, VA
Sep 14 Fri Ramshead Baltimore, MD
Sep 15 Sat The Haunt Ithaca, NY
Sep 17 Mon Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, Canada
Sep 19 Wed The Lost Horizon Syracuse, NY
Sep 20 Thu The Met Pawtucket, RI
Sep 21 Fri Gateway Arts Holyoke, MA
Sep 22 Sat Port City Music Hall Portland, ME