Behind The Lens: Jet Lag Motel

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How would you describe your music to a first-time listener?

Refreshing yet familiar, we write actual songs, not just riffs. They perfectly balance high-energy beats with thought-provoking lyrics. Bottom line, modern alternative with a new but familiar sound and style. As David B. says, "We were influenced by our misguided 90’s alternative upbringings."

You're celebrating a major career milestone with a trip to the ice cream shop. What's your go-to flavor and why?

Brian: I am lactose intolerant…JOKING. Mint and Chip all the way because the mint makes my nose tickle and the chips, well they are chocolate.

Steven: Rocky Road! Because anything worthwhile is never easy!

Dave G: I’m all about vanilla. It’s the ultimate foundation. When you take care of the base, everything else just works itself out. Plus, let’s face it: you can throw absolutely anything on vanilla and it blends perfectly.

AJ: Neapolitan which he called Napoleon as a teenager because you get a 3 in one of flavor.

David B: Butter Pecan at Leopold’s in Savannah, GA. I defy you to do better.

What do you want fans to take away from your music?

If I listen back to a song of ours, I genuinely hope the listener can see, feel and connect to a version of what I see, feel and hear. I hope they can laugh, cry, heal, remember a simple thing and escape from whatever thy might need to. If they can find some joy or relief, maybe both, that makes me so happy. Truly the best songs are like the best people.  We may not remember every detail of what they said, but we always remember how they made us feel. Simply hearing a person’s name can excite us, inspire us, or even make us angry or morose. Good music does the same, and it’s our highest hope that our music reaches people in an impactful way. 

What about making music makes it fun for you?

Brian: I absolutely love the process. Something gets in my head and I am writing it down or doing a voice memo. This project started with Steven and I so that alone (as he is one of my favorite people) gets the vibe rolling. Then we just work on guitars and melody. I write the lyrics with a passion and fury that makes me feel alive. I have actually cried while writing some. It is where I have always belonged and I feel happiest and alive while creating.

Steven: I love the creative aspect. The most fun part for me is working out the songs and then seeing them come to life in the studio.

Dave G: Making music is the only place where I am completely, effortlessly present.

AJ: Music has always been about the role I get to play. My dad was a guitarist in the Army, and that’s where my love of music began. I discovered early that I had a natural sense of rhythm, and drums became my way of expressing it.

I love being the foundation of a song. There’s nothing more rewarding than creating the groove that lets everyone else shine. Throughout my career, I’ve been told I bring something unique to the music, and that’s because I’m committed to serving the song and the people I play with. At the end of the day, making music is fun because I get to help others sound their best.

David B: I learned that it's better to fall in love with the process more than the result. I choose to find joy in the details, the work, the camaraderie… in healthily obsessing about the craft. That shift was spectacularly freeing and has kept things fresh and fun for me.

How do you know an idea is worth developing into a song?

Brian: I love this question! I think almost all things have a point, whether it is to develop into something else or just live somewhere. For instance our song from our debut EP Listen was what I call a Frankenstein! Literally pieced three things that were great but never fully developed together. Next thing you know, we had a banger. I never let anything go, they just wait for their time.

Steven: I think all ideas are worth developing into a song! But not all songs will be good. 

David B: That’s the thing; it’s so hard to recognize. A tune that we’re immediately excited about sometimes stalls out. And the very best songs will sneak up from behind and smack us over the head. It’s maybe an idea that we don’t have high hopes for, but we stubbornly keep listening and exploring it. Maybe we take a half-written tune into the studio because you really need to fill out the album. Suddenly we’re wondering how our least favorite idea became our favorite work.  

When do you decide to shelf an idea that isn't going to work?

Brian: This kinda runs back for me to the other question. If I am attached, I will definitely get back to it. However, I think back as far as the 90’s to a hook that I can’t make a message out of, if that makes sense. Typically if I feel it, I am running like a freight train to make it fit easily and make it a song. Best example is a song called Try. We have a strong chorus but were struggling to find the full song.  So keep your ears open because it may come to life someday!

Steven: I think it's a matter of "ease". The best songs come fast and easy. If it starts becoming a struggle and difficult to finish, it may be time to work on something else.

Did you think a song was going to be less successful than it actually became?

This one is totally not even in my genre but Frank Ocean’s channel orange album. The whole thing. Everyone was talking about it in 2012. I did not get it at all until that one afternoon. I got to a lake house early and was alone. I put my headphones on and laid down on the couch looking at the sun setting over the water and then it happened. The light started flashing in my head and I totally got it. Thinking about you was so great. It made me wait and I didn’t mind. 3 weeks later he performed it acoustically on SNL (I believe) and then it all blew up!

What’s one lyric you find fans repeating back to you?

From our single "Listen." "Listen, Listen I’m standing right in front of you, I feel I’m slipping, slipping away from you." The thing is, we all have felt unheard and disconnected even when the fun, physicality and desire is there. That component of being heard and getting affirmation is very human and we all have been on the scarce side of it.

You're creating a song for an Olympian. What would you call it and what would it sound like?

Top Of The Mountain The opening would make you feel like you woke up way too early to start working before the sun is up. You are starting at the bottom of the mountain. Your mind must focus which requires the components of grace, strength and self forgiveness as if not even your past and the things you may not like about yourself can stop you. Then it builds with big drums, like a warrior beat. The pain you endure also the thing that gives you strength. Knowing that your wins can influence others to go beyond their comfort zone because you reach the top of the mountain. There is clarity in the view you earned and the Gold medal you will always have to remind you. It would be the new anthem for anyone who desires to strive harder.

If there was a museum dedicated to your life and career, what would fans find in the gift shop? Where can fans connect with you? 

Brian: Since my career life is so crazy from starting off in music on the Sunset strip to delivering babies, being a published author on Babies, birth, lactation and being a father, to jumping back into music and signing with SSK Records. I also love my pants and being nurturing. I could think of a million, but here are a few.

This is what I think makes sense:

• Wild Flower Seeds - A sunset blend of wild flower seeds and a regular blend. On the front "Better Place" with a qr code to the song. On the back "Plant these somewhere. Leave the world a little better than you found it.

• Pocket Journals - The front cover "Check In" inside "Every great song starts as a thought someone almost forgot."

• Film Frame Postcards - Still shots from our videos with with stories on the back explaining the image from my perspective. 

• Baythorne Days - desk-sized metal street sign that people can put on a desk of shelf.

Steven: Steven loves houseplants (we send each other pictures of all our plants) beer and hats.

• Personalized Jet Lag Beer Mugs. 

• Planting pots with Steven's guitars and Jet Lag Motel on them.

• Hats with different effect pedals Steven uses on them.

Dave G: He loves guitars, BBQ and Beer.

• A BBQ cover that looks like a Mesa Boogie Fillmore AMP when covered.

• A poster with him and Robert Goulet holding beers under the Jet Lag Motel sign.

AJ: 

• Signature drumsticks and coffee mugs that say, "Warning: May Tap Drum Fills on surfaces!"

• "Professional Stick Breaker" certificates!

• A life size cardboard cutout of AJ pointing at a metronome that asks, "Were you rushing or dragging?"

• Bobblehead metronomes! That keep perfect time.

David B:

• A JLM mixing board with samples for kids to play with, 

• Personalized DB tool kit for musical instruments and a DB personalized cable making kit.

Fans can connect with us online, at shows, backstage, in music stores, or anywhere someone starts tapping a beat on a table because chances are, we will join in. We always hang at the merch table and love signing special messages, snapping a pic and just getting to know them. We answer anyone on social media or email but we really love connecting with people in person.