Atomic Pajama Party Interview
-Who are all of the band members? And what do they do in the band?
Tim Morrell: “I’m Tim Morrell, I play bass, sing, and do the majority of the songwriting.”
Michael Kennedy: “ I’m Michael Kennedy, I play the drums, will eventually sing, one day, and supply the beats.”
Jimmy Jordan: "I'm Jimmy Jordan, I play guitar and sing."
-What's the origin of your band name, Atomic Pajama Party? Have you changed the band's name before?
Tim Morrell: “The name was well thought out actually. I wanted a 3 initial name so we could have that as a rock chant…APP, APP. I think we chose Party for because that’s the atmosphere we are trying to produce at our shows, Pajama came next because it was better than Vampire, and we debated on the first name for a while. We wanted something to do with electricity again for atmosphere, but it took us a while to come up with Atomic. We played with other names, but this is the only name we’ve performed under."
Michael Kennedy: “What he said, but. I just wanted to say but. There, I did it again.”
-What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
Tim Morrell: “We call it Dance Rock, or maybe Dance Punk. Really we take whatever dance beat we can come up with from the last century, Disco, Modern, Swing, Ska, Funk, Rockibilly, Waltz etc., and write a rock song over it. My influences are all over the place. I grew up listening to 80’s hair metal and still have that rock star mythos in my mind every time I play. I went into adulthood during the 90’s grunge phase, and discovered punk rock in college. For this band though, I had to rediscover all the music I ignored the rest of my life, the disco, the boy bands, Britney, ska, etc.”
Michael Kennedy: “We’re doing that thing called music for the unknown masses, I think. Music that is energetic, fun, and has a beat you want to move with. My influences are legion. Seriously, though, The Police is probably the biggest influence. Their combination of punk, pop, reggae, African , middle eastern, jazz, classical, the x variable, that you can’t put your finger on. Music with a message and silly as well. Other musical influences for me include: The Clash, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Rush, Queen, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Rush, Black Flag, the Minutemen, Elton John, Fishbone, Bad Brains,The Foo Fighters, Tool, Muse, and a whole legion of others, not to forget Barry Manilow.
Jimmy Jordan: "It's hard to consciously realize all the music that has influenced your style. The Pajama Party has some obvious punk, dance and rock influences behind it, but there's definitely more to it. My personal influences I can think of are the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Radiohead, Daft Punk, Gorillaz, as well as various punk, indie and alternative acts, really too many to count."
-How old were you when you started this band?
Tim Morrell: “I was 32 when Jimmy and I actually started working together to put everything together for this project.”
Michael Kennedy: “I’m too old to remember.”
Jimmy Jordan: "About 24 I think?"
-How long have you all known each other? How did you meet?
TimMorrell: “I’ve known Jimmy almost 5 years now, he was my assistant at my last job. Michael we’ve only known since he joined the band, he found us/we found him through Craigslist.”
Michael Kennedy: “What he said…”
Jimmy Jordan: "Yeah."
-When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together?
Tim Morrell: “Jimmy and I have jammed together, and even played a one off show, ever since we met. It’s was probably 2011 that I presented the idea for this project to him and we started working on this in earnest.”
Michael Kennedy: “Tim and Jimmy sent me some tunes and I had a listen. I heard the playfulness that I hadn’t had in previous bands that were all trying to serious. I believe there are enough “Serious” groups out there, already. I wanted to have fun with and at the expense of others. That’s what it’s all about anyways.”
Jimmy Jordan: "I like to think it was formed out of the sheer love of playing music."
-Do you have a record label? If so, what is it?
Tim Morrell: “No, and while I don’t ever want to shut doors, I doubt we’d ever take a deal unless it was just really fantastic, or not restrictive in any way.”
-What can you tell me about your instruments? (i.e., Are you subject to brand loyalty or will you play with whatever's available? What made you choose the instruments you have now? Was it cost or was it a style/model/brand/color preference?
Tim Morrell: “I own an Ibenez bass and a Peavey amp. Both are at least 10 years old. I wanted to have practical functional equipment that I wouldn’t have a heart attack over if something happened to them (stolen, broken at a show, etc.) Pretty much when I buy, I look at what’s the cheapest, most durable item and then I play the options to find the sound I like. Then I might look at how the instrument looks.”
Michael Kennedy: “I play a Tama Superstar Hyperdrive kit w/ Paiste cymbals. I have always liked Tama, probably because of Copeland and Peart. I really love Tama’s hardware, the stands and clamp accessories. I have everything on 2 cymbal stands, except for my snare drums, the floor tom and my hats’ stand. The shells are birch, which gives a real punch and they’re also shorter in construction so I get some real kinetic energy out of them and I can keep the kit more compact. The Paiste are brilliant, have great sounds and are f-in loud.”
Jimmy Jordan: "I play an Epiphone Les Paul mainly, sometimes I'll play my low end telecaster that I put together, with a Line 6 Spider amp."
-Where have you performed? What are your favorite and least favorite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows?
Tim Morrell: “We’ve played shows at The Bottleneck, The Granada, 8th Street Tap Room, and Barnyard Beer all in Lawrence, KS, the Record Bar and the All Star Rock Bar in Kansas City, and Club 906 in Liberty, MO. Really I like them all for different reasons. The big name places like The Bottleneck and Record Bar feature these great sound and light systems, but you get real cool punk rock energy from the smaller less funded places. As far as upcoming shows, we are currently on hiatus to record our album.”
Michael Kennedy: “My favorite places that we played, in order of great rock n roll venues, are Barnyard Beer and the Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS and The Record Bar in Kansas City, MO.”
Jimmy Jordan: "I'm with Michael, and in that order too."
-Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any covers? Do you have a set play list for your shows?
Tim Morrell: “Pretty much the songs online at youtube and reverbnation are going to be the ones that get played most, because they have been around the longest. We have a few covers we rotate through, Get Down Tonight is probably the most frequent.”
Michael Kennedy: “Bang Buddy and Andrew are probably our most popular originals. People really loved Oops I Did It Again, at our last show.”
-Who writes your songs? Is it a group effort?
Tim Morrell: “Pretty much one of us presents a song in its basic structure, chords, lyrics, verse and chorus progressions. Then as a group we arrange and write our own parts. I’m responsible for about 80% of the songs written.”
Michael Kennedy: “So far, Tim has done the lions share of the composition. I feel like we’re gonna start having it be more collaborative as we move forward. Tim still gets overlord status, though.”
Jimmy Jordan: "Tim has definitely been the biggest influence in terms of the basis of all of our songs, real talk."
-What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs? Do you think these topics will change over time?
Tim Morrell: “We’ve been making some tongue in cheek references to what’s popular on the radio, so for this first album worth of songs everything has to do with dancing, partying, drinking and getting laid. Absolutely they will change, you have to evolve as a band, and soon enough this stuff will stop seeming so humorous to us.”
Michael Kennedy: “What he said, but in a funny, Jean Reno, French accent.”
-Could you briefly describe your music-making process?
Tim Morrell: “For this project, I take a basic dance beat I like, write some chord progressions over that, pick a topic for the song and write some lyrics. Then I present it to the band let them knock it down and start over.”
Michael Kennedy: “simple complexity”
Jimmy Jordan: "Slightly inebriated"
-What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?
Tim Morrell: “They generally consist of us playing for about 20 minutes, with about an hour and a half of joking, talking about movies, etc. We try to have a set time each week to practice, but it happens whenever we can.”
Michael Kennedy: “And Beer, he forgot to say Beer. Just sayin.”
Jimmy Jordan: "Slightly inebriated"
-How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
Tim Morrell: “It’s probably a bit more energetic, a little bit heavier, and definitely more complex.”
Michael Kennedy: “Endless Possibilities of Nonsense”
Jimmy Jordan: "Everyone's parts and the songs have all evolved in complexity since we first started.:
-What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
Tim Morrell: “Finding the right acts to play with. Since we are doing somewhat of a new genre, booking agents just aren’t sure who to book us with. It’s getting better now that people have seen us and they realize what our live show is like. Making sure we put the live videos out on youtube has been crucial to helping that step.”
Michael Kennedy: “I feel it’s always keeping the band together. That’s always the hardest thing any band has to do. If you can get that, the rest is Gravy.”
Jimmy Jordan: "Finding time to practice around everyone's busy schedules."
-What's your ultimate direction for your band? Are you seeking fame and fortune?
Tim Morrell: “We ultimately just want to make some good music that people enjoy and enjoy ourselves. Yeah, we’d like some recognition and money, but our lives have enough other fulfillments that we aren’t willing to drop our family and friends for months on end to be a full time road band.”
Michael Kennedy: “Been there, Done that. We’re in it for fun, self-satisfaction, and playing music people enjoy and having a good time listening to. We like to see people wiggling their butts. And, the adoration of/from others is nice too.”
Jimmy Jordan: "Pumping out more tunes and playing more gigs."
-What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?
Tim Morrell: “Network as much as you possibly can, don’t harbor any ill feelings towards anyone, and utilize social media as much as you can”
Michael Kennedy: “1st and foremost: enjoy yourselves. If you’re not having fun nobody else will be. That’s what it’s all about. An escape from the norm and having a good time at it.”
Jimmy Jordan: "Find the right people, have fun, and be yourselves. Unless you're an asshole, then in that case don't be yourself."
-How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard your music before?
Tim Morrell: “It rough dirty rock music with some pop sensibilities that you can dance to. It’s just really fun music”
Michael Kennedy: “That music you’ve been looking forward to hearing, but didn’t know it, a fun and effortless good time to be had by all.”
Jimmy Jordan: "Rough, raw and energetic."
-How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
Tim Morrell: “Right now our demoes are up for free at reverbnation and myspace. When the album comes out we’ll make sure that it will be on all the music download sites like Amazon.”
-Website links in which other people can find your music, or more information for your band?
http://www.reverbnation.com/atomicpajamaparty
http://www.facebook.com/atomicpajamaparty
http://www.myspace.com/inyourfacerock
http://www.twitter.com/atomicpjparty
-Would you ever do an interview like this with us again?
Tim Morrell: “I can’t really answer that definitively. We’d have to get out a yellow tablet notepad and make a pros versus cons list to decide if we would or not. So yeah, probably”
Michael Kennedy: “It really depends on how you answer this question. Who shot first? Han or Greedo?”
Jimmy Jordan: "I suppose."
-Would you like to do more fun/funny questions in another interview?
Tim Morrell: “Yes”
Michael Kennedy: “We’ll turn them into that, anyways. Might as well.”
Jimmy Jordan: "Of course."
-Any last words?
Tim Morrell: “Are you seriously planning on offing us after this interview?”
Michael Kennedy: “Yes, I am, I really am. The thing is, you’re done for, you just don’t know it yet.”
Jimmy Jordan: "Aww maaan."