Social Jet Lag
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Social Jet Lag

Huntsville, Alabama, United States | SELF

Huntsville, Alabama, United States | SELF
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"Social Jet Lag Interview"

What were your goals as a band when Social Jet Lag first started? Have you accomplished and of them yet?
When Social Jet Lag first started I think we were all just hoping we could tour the US and record a professional album. It was never about fame and fortune for us. We just wanted to play music and entertain people.
As we got older and as we grew in the industry we added more goals, but I'd say that we've accomplished a lot of what we initially set out to do.

In your opinion, what makes Social Jet Lag different from other bands in the music industry?
The nature at which Social Jet Lag blends two completely opposing styles together is what sets us apart. It's an art form doing what we do and I think it helps that we aren't trying to be something we're not. We aren't looking around trying to see what's hot and adding it to the mix. Each member knows exactly what he or she likes and brings that to the table when we write. It's not our female lead singer, it's not our metal riffs; it's the way everything comes together.

You have been a band for three years, and you've already had the chance to tour the United States quite a bit. What is the most important thing that you've learned on tour?
Don't sweat the small stuff. When you're in an independent band you aren't given many of the luxuries that major label bands are given so regardless of what is thrown at you (because there will be a lot thrown at you on tour) you just have to smile, breathe, and move forward.

Do you have any wild tour stories that you can share with our readers?
Hahaha. Not without embarrassing someone outside of the band. Let's just put it this way: tour is a lot of fun. On tour you're broke and only play for 30-60 mins on any given night so you have 23 hours left of the day to fill up. The question each day is, "What can I do for free to keep me entertained?" That is a very dangerous question.

What is the biggest challenge that the band has have to face while touring? How did you overcome it?
Ultimately, the biggest challenge is ourselves. For a while we traveled in a full sized van, NOT a 15 passenger van. I'm talking a regular, full sized van. It was cramped, dirty, old, noisy, no AC, no CD player, no AUX port, nothing.

When you're on the road with 5 other completely different personalities for weeks at a time, especially in cramped quarters like that, things can get hectic and a little tense. Thankfully, we all work and travel really well together but that doesn't mean we didn't have our moments when the gloves came off. The only way to really overcome things like that is to just have the mindset, "This is my family. No matter how tense or awkward things get, I'm stuck with these people (in a good way)." Having that mindset makes all of the awkward situations go away pretty quickly.

I understand that you released your debut full length this year, how has the feedback been so far?
So far the feedback has been great. What's been really exciting is to see everyone outside the US supporting our music. We have a huge Russian fan base and then there are the people in England, Japan, and Argentina that have been repping us hard. Our first music video, Where Did They Hyde Dr. Jekyll?, just took off because of those fans. It's been great. Just great.

Is there a concept behind this album for listeners to grasp?
The overall concept behind the album is that no matter how dark the night may get, the dawn is not far away. We're all about hope. Things can get incredibly bad in life but that doesn't mean you're defeated. Every song is written from personal issues we've dealt with so hopefully people can grasp each song's message and realize that they're not alone and that things will be ok in the end.

I also understand that just recently you shot a new music video. Can you give us any details about it?
We're actually in the middle of shooting for it right now. It's going great. I can't actually say what song we're doing it for but I can tell you that it is focused on the judgement we feel from others. It's got a "take the plank out of your own eye" kind of vibe. We're really excited about how it's turning out.

What was the filming experience like for you?
The filming experience for this one is completely different than the experience for the last one. With "Where Did They Hyde Dr. Jekyll?", we were all new at music videos. The band, the extras, even the videographer. We were all testing each other out and hoping for the best. With this one, there is a very clear story, a very clear idea, and a very clear look to it. It's just a much smoother and established experience this time around.

What can we expect from Social Jet Lag in the next few upcoming months?
Well, we have a new music video coming out in October, we'll be on the road again in October, and by the end of the year there will be some details about new music. There are also some surprises that will come up here and there. It's going to be a very interesting few months.
Find us on your favorite social networking site! We're there and we talk to you. We've always felt that the interaction between fans and the band is what makes being in a band so great. We're not making music just so you can observe and listen. We make music to reach out to and connect with our fans. - Stitched Sound


"Social Jet Lag Seek the Monster Within in 'Where Did They Hyde Dr. Jekyll?'"

Killer Lyrics: Strangers with familiar faces / Slowly lock their eyes on me / Is it the curse that drives them mad / Or am I the one suffering?

"The overall theme to 'Where Did They Hyde Dr. Jekyll?' is finding yourself," Jeremy Eslinger, bassist for Huntsville, Ala.'s Social Jet Lag, told Noisecreep. "The outside influence of the media, politics and even our peers starts to weigh on us and the truth we used to be so sure of is now becoming nothing but gray."

'Hyde' appears on the band's first full-length, 'The Monster Inside,' a mix of ferocious metalcore and clean pop melodies. Their style's dichotomy is encapsulated in the dueling vocals between Ben Enslinger and Melissa Germano.

Eslinger stressed that the lyrics to 'Hyde' encouraged people to maintain beliefs in the face of opposition, and that life's "monsters" might not be what we always expect them to be.

"The bottom line is that you have to make the decision for yourself to stand for what you believe in and ingnore the opinions of others and resist the 'monster inside' yourself," Eslinger explained. "Find the strength inside to hold on to the truth that you knew growing up. Find the courage inside to fight against what you know is wrong. Find the hope inside to push forward even when everyone else is pushing against you. Find Dr. Jekyll." - NoiseCreep


"ALBUM: SOCIAL JET LAG – THE MONSTER INSIDE"

Since the mainstream success of Paramore, we have been assaulted with an abundance of abject attempts at female fronted bands aiming to duplicate the prosperities of the Franklin rockers. However, Alabama’s Social Jet Lag have re-written the book and burst upon the scene with a sound combining moments of sheer metalcore madness with contagious pop melodies, re-defining the dynamics of bands fronted by a woman.


As this debut full-length rings into opener ‘Everyone Knows A Richard’, Melissa Germano instantly proves she’s not just another Hayley Williams wannabe. With an almost European sounding tone to her voice, she leads the band into a strong opening, before screamer Ben Eslinger explodes in with his high pitched vocal, similar to that of Austin Carlile (Of Mice & Men).

As the album continues, venturing through a paradox of emotion and sound, unifying catchy pop hooks with stormy, venomous breakdowns, the five-piece almost juxtapose genres with catalytic effect. As the sweet vocals of Germano are layered upon brutality, each song twists and turns through a vortex of lyrical art and musical passion, spitting in the face of all the wrong people at all the perfect times, conveyed in opening lyric, “This cycle never ends, the backward motion of your thoughts keeps me hanging on”. This is a record with a message, a message to all those haters, to all those who have doubted what they do, a message themed with anger, structured on envy.

It would appear the quintet have created quite a flawless record. Finding the perfect balance between addictive choruses like that in ‘No Way To Die But To Be Dead Already’ and ‘If Water Could Burn’, and moments of pure, thrashy perfection. However, what allows Social Jet Lag to stand out in a genre littered with good intentions but poor results is their ‘Hollow Crown’ moment if you will. Like Architects, they have written an instant, classic pop song which will be ringing around your head for days in acoustic number ‘Imperfect:Beautiful’. As Germano is joined by bassist Jeremy Eslinger on vocals, proving not only the diversity but the individual talent of a band showing great promise and ambition.

Although this is a debut equal to any other within their genre, Social Jet Lag still have a lot to give. They could easily write an outstanding pop-punk record while there are signs within ‘The Monster Inside’ that show they could release something with the grit and intensity of a Bring Me The Horizon album. The potential they have shown has given hope to an increasingly boring genre, and could be the missing element to help push metalcore to new and unfamiliar territory.

Written by Chris Loomes - Dead Press!


"REVIEW: SOCIAL JET LAG – THE MONSTER INSIDE"

In light of recent revelations regarding certain female-fronted American rock bands, it would be easy to dismiss many of its inhabitants as insincere fame-mongerers, built on image and design as opposed to genuine musical talent. Everywhere I look I seem to see disillusionment creeping into the scene, which is unfortunate, as backstage politics should never be allowed into the onstage arena and usurp the true talking point: the music. That said, if Alabama’s Social Jet Lag have shown anything with this release, it’s that there is gargantuan promise yet to be tapped, so don’t write them all off too soon.

What’s most colouring my opinion here is the vocals on this, the debut full-length from the Alabama-based band. They stray quite happily and, indeed, ably into the realm of goth-metal style “Beauty and the Beast” vocals, a style championed by many European metal bands but as yet relatively untapped on the other side of the Atlantic. Without placing undue emphasis on geography, it’s rare to hear this sort of precision from the US – European theatrics and Scandinavian accents befit this sort of thing, so to have an American band not only try it but execute it quite well is very welcome indeed.

Vocalist Melissa Germano has a pleasing voice. It’s sweet, instead of mawkish, with a rare and glasslike, pristine quality that sets her apart from many of her contemporaries. Alongside her, “screamer” Ben Erslinger is a striking contrast, cutting quite the disparate silhouette with a throaty and accomplished growl perhaps more traditional to heavy music. I’m not sure whether such efforts can adequately be described as mature but they are – his vocals are capable, abrasive, well-honed; they stand out in a genre littered with good intentions but poor results. Many have tried growling, few succeed, but the trick is getting the tone right and the vocal interplay here works exceedingly well.

Musically, the band may at first appear formulaic, but a closer listen unveils glimpses of experimental ambition and technical mastery. It would be interesting to hear who SJL’s influences are, as there are enough burgeoning attempts at prog-rock style vacillation to indicate they may be edgier than they appear.

“Everyone Knows A Richard” is a fine opener, an underlying siren tugging at the guitars and adding a compelling sense of urgency to the album from the outset. Everything is dynamic, rough, and ready, and although Germano’s dulcet tones detract a little from the heavy intentions, the contrast almost serves to enhance the song. It, much like the rest of the record, is a surprising package, managing to be both absorbing in its straight-up rock graft and haunting in its undue sweetness.

“Dear Mrs. Grundy” is fairly brilliant fare. It starts off rather innocuously, before pausing in the middle to yield to a savage breakdown that ought to be cataclysmic live. “If Water Could Burn” takes a detour and adds some delicate keys in the middle, lending tenderness and poignancy and signaling a mid-album reroute to introspection, from the furore of its beginning. There’s also a group vocal refrain that reminds me, for some reason, of the group chant in “MIA” by Avenged Sevenfold, which may not make sense to anyone else but is meant as an honest compliment!

Thereafter, “Imperfectbeautiful” seems to take the detour a little too seriously, exploring some readily familiar heartache territory and abandoning the growling for acoustic completeness. That said, it manages to evade much of the cheese factor, the vocals aching with enough conviction to add relevance to a lyrical story we’ve heard many times. Time Machines are a Waste of Time follows and happily reinvigorates the album, featuring some seriously ambitious drum work, and perpetuating the ardor pulsating throughout.

“Give them the Bayonet” chops and changes between urgent and harangued, becoming mellow, bare, and intimate. It’s a triumphantly infectious piece of work, its initial hysterics contrasting deliciously with the mystical refrain of “hallelujah” that paves the way for the record’s denouement. This spiritual vibe lingers in “The Voice,” which builds from abrasive intensity to float upon an almost haunting underlying vocal melody. At first serene and eloquent, the voices later blaze into a bizarre solo that sounds almost scientific in scope and leaves one breathless and ambiguous in the album’s wake.

Ultimately, The Monster Inside is an album of contrasts, from the intensity of its opening to the distinctly softer, more reflective manner in which it closes, to the chugging fury of the music, yet interspersed with gentler moments, and the by turns rugged and chaste vocals. A google search reveals that the term “Social Jetlag” describes a state of misaligned biological and social time, a fitting analysis for an album and band so defined by mismatches. A difficult band to compare, SJL are nowhere near matching the lofty intentions of [say] Epica, but musically, they could almost be a stripped down version. The experimental theatrics are in place and the sublime duality of the vocals is exceptional. There’s less grace and classics, but then again, that sort of eloquence isn’t to everyone’s tastes. This is a beautifully forged piece of work, wrought with earnest vision. It may be divisive, people either warming to its spunkiness and bravery, or discouraged by the same things, but it’s a very rewarding listen. There is certainly an audience out there for female-fronted bands armed with this sort of depth, and Social Jet Lag ought to find a willing one.

Score: 9/10
Review written by: Grace Duffy - Under the Gun


"Request"

We love your music for shizil'. I want to put some of it on our site when we redesign and there is a music player. - Gilgal Clothing


"Great Sound"

Ya'll have a great sound! Especially having a girl with a nice voice in a screamo rock band! Not many have done that. - MySpace User


Discography

Cry, Please Cry Single (2007)
dancecore (n.) (2008)
Harmony in Discord (2009)
The Monster Inside (2011)

Photos

Bio

Breaking into the scene in May 2008 with their first EP entitled dancecore (n.), Social Jet Lag has completely redefined and represented the dichotomy between pop and metalcore music. The Huntsville, AL based band has accomplished something not seen too often in the industry: they have layered their hardcore/metal roots with strong, pop melodies without sacrificing or compromising either style. The result is a sound all its own. Fronted by singer Melissa Germano and screamer Ben Eslinger, the band has made a footprint in an industry that is ever changing and always searching for something new and fresh.

The band has played the VANS WARPED TOUR, CORNERSTONE FESTIVAL, and BAYFEST; shared the stage with bands such as KORN, DROWNING POOL, MYCHILDREN MYBRIDE, and VERSA EMERGE; and has been on tour after tour across the United States building a following of some of the most die-hard and loyal fans around. Social Jet Lag released their first professional EP, Harmony in Discord, in 2009 but it's their 2011 full length release, The Monster Inside, that has gained them world wide recognition. Social Jet Lag has proven themselves in a hurting industry and is a must watch band for 2012.