10 Quick Ones with JARROD EVANS of BELOW 7 – October 2018

According to a recent press release: “Below 7 is bringing headbanging your way with their debut release, Crashing Down, available now via Pavement Entertainment. The band’s sound is simultaneously unique and familiar all at once, and the good news is that they’ve got a whole lot more fist-pumping songs that are sure to awaken your soul. Below 7, from Bristol TN, was founded as a way for the long-time friends to unwind and to share their love of music. What began as a simple cover band morphed into a completely unique beast when the band reunited in 2016. The long-time friends started writing their own music, and what came next was pure magic. Crashing Down reflects their efforts and possesses a solid modern rock sound that anyone can relate to.” We get Jarrod to discuss new music, influences, and much more in our 10 Quick Ones…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release. What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through? Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

There is a lot of hidden nuggets not just in the music to fit the Lyrics, but in the lyrics of course. You will find scattered pieces of sarcasm, deep truths in many aspects of the subject matter. In “Freight Train Coming” you will find yourself that person who has been pushed around and ready to stand up for yourself. In “Scream” the person who don’t have time for silly notions. In “Miss Misery”, the guy who has martyred himself for the woman of his dreams. In “Millennial”, you feel all so familiar with being raised by the TV and disconnection with society while your parents scream at each other obsessively. “It Follows” is about how all the creepy and odd things are there that you find in your own personality and how it screws with your perception of normal. “FU&YM2” is about break ups and also the importance in-laws can play, I mean are you ever really good enough? “Down” Is about being real with what you say others should be, and how we should spin less of a complicated rule set for others than we do ourselves. ( We all hide our skeletons so to speak ) “Whiskey Baby” was about the parallels of living responsible verses just letting go, I referred to myself as the town drunk in a roundabout way. “Church of Prophecy” is about the way people are taken advantage by gullibility, hence the profound references to silly things. And last but not least “Crashing Down” here we find the reference to depression, loss, and hard times. In the second verse the lyrics “A faded face in my memories, as I wait it’s all I see” At this part not only was I thinking of how some people we lost we can’t remember what their face looks like, but also preemptively wondering how it would be sitting in a waiting room in the future. So yes, lots of nuggets. What can I say?

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

We have all five loved music for a long time. For me, it was when I had a huge crush on this gal and I sung in a competition in school. I sung and everyone went crazy and clear a spot for me to sit by that girl. As the story goes I also realized she liked another guy and decided to bow out of the way. Ha ha, we all learn in our own fashion.

3. Who would be your main five musical influences?

Pantera, Anything Ozzy, God Smack,Tool , BLS, So many to try and fit into five, I wanted to put so many more… lol

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be?

Well John Lennon is dead, I hate to bear the bad news… Ozzy or Zack Wylde, again so many greats.

5. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before?

Heavy Metal with a little southern kick.

6. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

Playing music with my friends, and seeing so many different places.

7. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Scotty brings the cold ones most the time, Todd brings the whiskey, we all contribute to each others delinquency. I’m a pretty good cook, always trying to get them to try something. I would say me on the acoustic, or any instrument left unattended, even if just by looking at them really hard on stage.

8. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

Farming and Construction.

9. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over”?

No, I personally cherish my mistakes. I learn the hard way sometimes and mistakes are like lost chapters of truth to me.

10. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

That is honestly a hard choice. Black Sabbath – Paranoid = I wasn’t allowed to listen to “Devil Music” as my family was extremely religious. So I grew up not knowing what I was missing, but when I found it in the form of an old record player and a record hid away from some junk bought at a yard sale, I thought I had discovered some kind of magical alternate reality. This music it wasn’t afraid it wasn’t boring, like an awesome scary movie in music form. It captivated my life and soon my parents were ragging on me for wearing too much black all the time, ha ha ha.

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Category: Interviews