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Stealing Jane: The Artist Formerly Known as Hyjinx By Tiffany Razzano
As the band started to take itself more seriously, they decided to change their name for legal reasons, because a band from Delaware, also called Hyjinx, owns the rights to the name, says Pat Ianelli, the band's saxophonist and manager. But really, everyone in the band simply hated the name Hyjinx. "We all hated the name from the moment we first had it," he said. The band adopted the name for a high school battle of the bands and it stuck. "We never thought it would go this far. We used to be a ska band and a lot of people on Long Island still remember us as a shitty ska band. That would hold us back a bit. People used to say, 'I remember you guys. You sucked.' It's a fresh start for us really." "I can't tell you how many times I've handed a demo to somebody and had them say, 'Oh yeah, I saw you guys five years ago,' and then they say, 'Oh yeah, you're that ska band,'" said Bryce Larsen, lead singer and guitarist. "People see the name on a show and think they know what they're going to see. There are a lot of people on Long Island who remember us as a ska band and even more that remember us as a cover band, because that's how we made our money for a long time." He added, "Hyjinx was only supposed to be a temporary name. It felt a little bit too quirky, even as a ska band. A lot of ska bands have silly names, but I think it was pretty silly."
The band renamed itself Stealing Jane after Maroon 5's album Songs About Jane. With everyone in the group having different musical tastes - from metal to emo to pop - Maroon 5 had special significance for them since it's the first band that all members of Stealing Jane liked. "That record was probably the first record everyone came into agreement on and said, 'Wow. What a great record,'" Ianelli said. "It changed us as a band. Before that record came out, we were ska and then we thought, 'Wow, pop is really cool.'" "That album was a big part of what formed our sound," Larsen said. "It's tough when you have seven guys that have no common ground musically. Our trombone player is an old fashioned metal head. Pat likes newer metal, like Korn. Matt is into jam bands. I was into ska and slowly got into a lot of R&B. Our trumpet player is an emo kid. Our bass player is into old fashioned punk rock and our drummer likes old hip hop." Maroon 5 turned out to be their common ground. "Something that had that much of an influence on us, we wanted to pay respect to." Last year they released Say Something, produced by Ianelli and released on BTO Records, the label he started specifically for Stealing Jane. While their first album genre hopped, Say Something is much more focused. "This record we knew what we wanted to do," Ianelli said. "It's more of a targeted record. The problem with the last record was there was a ska song and then a pop song and a rock song. It didn't sound like it was from one band." Everyone in the band has also grown into much stronger musicians, both individually and as a group. And Ianelli definitely takes his job as the group's manager and producer seriously. Prior to recording Say Something, he analyzed the group's first record, making note of its weak points. Then everyone in the group took music lessons to work on their weaknesses. "There's a big difference between these two records," Larsen said. "All of the tracks on this record are all different songs, but they work together better. It's more marketable. I'm really proud of it. It's the kind of thing we can hand to a radio station or label and not care which track they put on." Right now, Stealing Jane is busy doing what they do best: Performing a slew of gigs throughout New York and New England. They're also hoping to win a spot on this year's Warped Tour. You can vote here to get them there: www.warpedtour.battleofthebands.com/stealingjane. They also recently released a DVD recorded at Hofstra's Studio A, featuring live performances of older and newer material, as well as interviews with the band. Stealing Jane has a number of shows coming up on Long Island. Go to www.myspace.com/stealingjane or www.stealingjane.com for more information. |
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