Wednesday, February 10, 1999
Big Rude Jake puts swagger into swing
MUSIC: Serious messages, honest sentiments make audiences both
love, loathe popular Canadian band
By Brent Hopkins
Daily Bruin Staff
When you’ve seen a countless stream of bland swing bands
elbowing their way into the nostalgia spotlight, it’s refreshing to
see something a little different. Offering a different flavor of
the vintage style, spiced with a hyper-confident swagger, is
Canada’s Big Rude Jake. The loquacious singer and guitarist will
bring a hybrid form of music he calls "swing punk" to the House of
Blues as the opener for ’80s favorites, Squeeze. The music is fast,
loud and brimming with excitement. It’s not limited to the
microphone, though – his conversations are every bit as energetic
as his songs.
"We need people to insist that we get off of our asses," Jake
says, pondering the state of the world.
Big Rude Jake developed his unusual blend of swing, jazz, rock
‘n’ roll, and punk in the late ’80s as a response to the glut of
rock bands populating Canada’s music scene. He envisioned it as
being "small and alternative," cut from a different cloth than
mainstream pop. This was prior to the grunge explosion, which lent
a whole new connotation to the term "alternative." Jake’s music
doesn’t fit into this category, but hearkens back to a more classic
era.
His music is straightforward, witty and emotional. Whether
tackling subjects like dining with Satan on "Dinner with the
Devil," or lesbian girlfriends on "Queer For Cat," Jake seems to
have only one setting: full speed ahead. Piercing trumpets cut like
knives through the jazzy guitars, and his shouted vocals don’t
relent until the band has ground to a halt. Though this helped
build a solid fan-base as the band toured Canada in its early
years, it gained them little commercial success.
"The music industry wouldn’t recognize us. That’s when I started
to get really frustrated, so I packed everything up and moved to
New York," Jake says. "I happened to hit New York right about the
time when a lot of American labels were signing swing acts. Because
we had a horn section and we borrowed heavily from jump blues and
old time jazz combos, we fit really well with the so-called ‘swing’
movement."
While they may have been pigeonholed as swingers, Jake points
out that the band isn’t just another clone of most contemporary
swing acts.
"I think the big difference between what’s happening with us and
with them," he says, "is that they’re part of what I like to call
the ‘swing dance craze.’ A lot of people are into the swing dancing
– myself included, I like to take my girlfriend out dancing. (Our
band is) doing a little bit more than that."
Jake is quick to stress that his sound is not intended for
dancing. While some of the music may lend itself to physical
reaction, it is intended to be enjoyed by the listening ear, rather
than the dancing body. It borrows from many genres, ranging from
New Orleans marching bands to rock ‘n’ roll, and ignoring its
emotional and musical content, while focusing on merely the beat,
compromises its intentions.
"It’s really important for me to go into a city, or into a club,
and be able to do a concert for people – not necessarily be the
fabulous soundtrack for their really cool night on the town. I
figure there’s lots of bands out there who can supply that need.
That’s not what we’re all about," he says.
"On my last tour, for some reason, my agents kept booking me
into all these places that give dance lessons. People are not
listening to music, and all that really matters is that there are
eight beats to the bar. We could be a synthesizer, we could be a
DJ."
He doesn’t roll over and give in to public opinion, however. His
somewhat abrasive stage personality has led to his unusual
moniker.
"I’ve been really forced to get tough with audiences and insist
that they stop practicing the little dance moves and try to listen
to the music. That’s required me to even get violent. I almost beat
someone up," he says, relating an incident in Atlanta where
audiences refused to stop dancing or acknowledge the band between
songs.
It didn’t quite come to blows, however.
"I just had to insult them excessively."
There are other elements to this non-dance music; Jake cites
both musical figures such as Duke Ellington, Dr. John and Nick
Cave, alongside literary greats like Ernest Hemingway, Damon Runyon
and Francis Ford Coppola as major contributors to his work.
"I don’t think it’s that weird that an artist in one particular
genre would be strongly influenced by artists in another genre," he
says. "I would say that people like Coppola have done more to
influence pop music probably than some songwriters. The Godfather,
parts one and two, are such lyrical movies that they inspire
songs."
With this diverse spread of artists to help mold his music, Jake
brings a healthy serving of himself to the writing process, and
doesn’t hesitate to give listeners a generous piece of his mind. He
aspires to make songs that blend both emotions with messages.
"No matter how serious the message is, if it isn’t buoyed up by
an honest to goodness emotional sentiment, then it’s a lecture,"
Jake says. "That emotional sentiment is what makes the song
entertaining and engaging. You can’t have one without the
other."
One of his favorite targets of this combination is hypocrisy.
Conveniently, the gold mine for attacks on hypocrites lies right
within his sphere of entertainment. On his upcoming album, an
entire track is devoted to the eradication of two-faced
musicians.
"Let’s kill all the rock stars," he says, growling over punkish
guitar. The song, a criticism of the perception of musicians as
rebels, points out that the prima donna acts carried on by
celebrities are little more than facades. Though many musicians
pose themselves as dangerous outsiders, they are actually more
concerned with sales than messages, Jake says.
"Rock stars are really spokesmen for corporations," Jake says.
"Their primary job is to make them money."
Once this floodgate bursts open, it’s difficult to stop the
torrent of thoughts spilling forth. It seems that few are safe from
Jake’s scathing criticism.
Marilyn Manson, fellow Canadian Bryan Adams, Madonna and
Courtney Love, referred to as "the one who benefits from her
husband’s suicide," are skewered before the anti-celebrity tirade
concludes.
Anyone promoting an image and sacrificing music is an instant
target for Jake’s acid tongue.
It may seem that the songwriter may be a tad over-anxious to be
big and rude, but he claims a case of misunderstanding.
"People just don’t understand rage. It’s kind of sad,
really."
Perhaps so, but if the message of Big Rude Jake spreads, anger
may replace swing dancing as the latest trendy pastime.
Whatever the case, trendy or not, Big Rude Jake won’t be going
anywhere. So long as there’s fun to be had and songs to be written,
the Canadian swinger will be keeping at it.
Big Rude Jake opens for Squeeze Thursday, Feb. 11 at the House
of Blues. Call the House for more info. at (213)848-5100.Michael
Goldman
Canadian swing band Big Rude Jake will be opening for ’80s
mainstay Squeeze at the House of Blues on Thursday night.
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