Wax Jaw Interview
“You can feel the magic at these shows, and people really show up and show out. As a musician, you can only hope that people are having a good time and feeling whatever it is you are trying to show through the music and we are so grateful. ”
October 13th, 2023
We caught up with Wax Jaw at Paulie Gee’s Pizza to discuss their new EP to be released October 21st.
BEFORE TOMORROW: I am here with Wax Jaw, can everyone introduce themselves?
WAX JAW: I'm Sean and I play guitar, I'm Shane and I am the singer, I am George I also play guitar. I am Greg I’m the bassist, and I’m Ben I play the drums .
*At this moment our pizza arrived at the table*
BEFORE TOMORROW: First thing is first. What is everyone's slice?
WAX JAW: Vegan freddy, Hellboy, vegan freddy, vegan vidalia, I also got a vegan vidalia (Sean) so ethical. (George) I guess I am the only sinner among us.
BEFORE TOMORROW: Tonight is the night of your secret show for the Ep release, how are we feeling?
WAX JAW: We are stoked, yeah, really excited.
BEFORE TOMORROW: What can you tell us about this whole process? What was it like writing and choosing the songs for the Ep and how did it kick off?
WAX JAW: Yeah, it started about a year and a half ago I guess with Sean and I (Greg) writing songs in my bedroom and then everyone joined up and we started all together around January of this year. Everything came together pretty organically, everyone has a say of what goes into the songs and we started recording around early April and we finished up just about a month ago. (George) These two (Sean and Greg) were definitely the foundations for the instrumentals and then as we grew together we slowly figured out how to write together during practices and a lots been coming out of that.
BEFORE TOMORROW: Are there any bands you were listening to during the writing process that you think influenced your sound?
WAX JAW: This is something we fight about a lot. Everyone has very varied tastes which makes it very fun to collaborate musically because we all came up listening to such different things. I would say Greg probably listens to the most modern surf stuff, Sean is definitely the truest child of punk, George has metal roots, with some punk, shoegaze, and psychedelic too, and I (Ben) am kind of a classics guy, you know, that rock-n-roll; for the most part, I am 60s-80s kind of guy.
BEFORE TOMORROW: How would you describe the EP in one word?
WAX JAW: Bodacious, cathartic, big, Ortlieb's, mixture.
BEFORE TOMORROW: What would you say your favourite part of getting the EP up and out has been?
WAX JAW: My (Sean) favourite part is the live shows. Getting to play the EP live is the whole reason why I wanted to start a band when I moved to Philly. Getting to go absolutely fucking crazy live is easily what makes it all worth it. (Greg) The process of recording and mixing, getting to hear the masters for the first time and all of the different versions. We have been playing the songs live for so many months, and it's great to be able to have them in a solid form that you can just blast on the speakers.
(George) For me, I think it's really hard to put something out into the world and wonder: is it finished? Is there one more thing we could have tweaked? But I think it's nice to hear from strangers and just people in Philadelphia music how much they've enjoyed what we have put out so far.
(Shane) my favorite is live shows too because that's when it feels the most emotionally heightened. You are just hoping that the audience connects to it in the same way that you have. Being very grateful also has been one of the best parts. (Ben) I got to listen through the process from July on, (Ben is a new Wax Jaw addition) and I was able to hear the mastering process. (Wax Jaw) Oh, shoutout to Ian who played the drums! Shout out Ian!
BEFORE TOMORROW: Now for the moment of truth, what was your least favourite part of this project?
WAX JAW: All the deadlines can be very stressful and doing all the tedious promotional stuff: emails, messages to everyone, and long nights at the studios. A lot of days we were barely at home. We would work all day and go straight to the studio until late at night, the grind was rough but worth it. It’s a hard balance to do shows as we are: still making music, designing merch, booking tours, and promoting. We do everything on our own and with all the promotion that goes into it, we learned so much about how music works in terms of streaming services and how to get people to listen to your music instead of just sending it out into the ether and hoping people will find it.
(Sean) I have a very specific answer to this question. My guitar part on Big Hang. It’s a clean tone and you can hear when I fuck up so it took me 4 hours to land.
BEFORE TOMORROW: Being such a self-starting band that handles every aspect of Wax Jaw themselves, how has that changed the way you listen to music and go to shows?
WAX JAW: Really realizing what goes into the recordings of your peers. We respect everyone way fucking more because we didn’t realize how much goes into this. I think listening to tiny details more, for example, when we played with “Ugly” we heard these little licks that they put in the songs and I'm just like “holy shit” because I know how much thought went into that tiny touch that an audience might not necessarily even notice but makes it sound so sick.
BEFORE TOMORROW: You guys are going on tour soon. Are there any bands that you are looking forward to playing with?
WAX JAW: “Grace Vonderkuhn” 100%. They are from Wilmington and are playing with us there and in Philly. “The Azures” too because when I (Greg) was trying to get our first gig together and I made a post on the Philly music DIY facebook page asking for bands that wanted to join the bill, they were the first band to reach out and want to play a show. We have been trying to get something together with them for months and it is finally happening so I am excited to see that through. Also a lot of these shows are with “Trash Boy”, and they are such friends of the scene and such great people.
BEFORE TOMORROW: What would you say makes the Philly music scene different from other cities?
WAX JAW: Well I’m (Sean) coming from Pittsburg so for starters it has a scene. Boom! (George) We would love to play Pittsburgh. Please come to our Pittsburgh show one day. I (Shane) think Philly has an artful and thoughtful streak in their scene that is so gritty but also really refined. I think that Philly’s toughness and genuineness comes out at shows. You can feel the magic at these shows, and people really show up and show out for bands and are so supportive of us. As a musician, you can only hope that people are having a good time and feeling whatever it is you are trying to show through the music and we are so grateful.
I (Greg) have lived in a couple of other cities and being a part of this scene has shown me just how great a local DIY scene can be. It makes me wish I had explored some of the other scenes of cities a little more. (Ben) I think there are a lot of great venues here in Philly, especially ones that are supportive of up-and-coming bands. Lots of bands that support each other too which is great.
BEFORE TOMORROW: What would be a Philly venue you’d like to play?
WAX JAW: (George) Dream for me is Union Transfer, (Greg) Underground Arts or The Church, (Shane, Ben) Underground Arts.
(Sean) Umm… Lincoln Financial Field! ( Wax Jaw) Maybe next year.
BEFORE TOMORROW: Who is your music written for?
WAX JAW: It's hard to nail down. I think right now it is written for us. It comes from the heart and when we first started writing we really wanted to make music that would make people move. The first time I (Sean) met Greg, I was like “I am trying to start a band and I don't care if it is dancing, discoing, or moshing. I can't stand still at a show, I need people to be moving.” So people who have energy and like fast-paced music? We joke that we need a ballad at some point.
(Shane) There is also a song dedicated to little me, and that would be “Attitude.”
BEFORE TOMORROW: What city do you want to play next that's not currently on the tour?
WAX JAW: New Orleans, Austin, Portland, London, Lisbon, Cork ( the Philly of Ireland), Pittsburgh because I (Sean) have a lot of friends there and I hated on them, but I do love Pittsburgh.
BEFORE TOMORROW: Anything to say to current or future fans?
WAX JAW: We love you, Thank you for being there and supporting us, we really appreciate everyone who has been coming to all these shows. A huge shout out to you, the ride or dies, for the last several months of coming and listening to the same 8 songs, we promise more are coming soon! I guess come to a show and hangout with us, we love meeting everyone!
Make sure to check out the review of Wax Jaw’s show as well as their photos below
-Before Tomorrow
