Grungy, Authentic, and Face-Melting: Jane Doe Discusses Sophomore Album, “Found”
Interview and album review via Kenzie Gay - @kenzwrites
Los Angeles has become a cesspool of varied music over the years - pop, r&b, folk, indie, rap, you name it and there’s a plentiful scene for it there. In the 1970s and 80s, however, rock was a ruling genre in the city of angels with groups such as The Doors, Guns n Roses, Jane’s Addiction, Eagles, and several more. Though rock n roll seems to be a genre that took a major step back both in Los Angeles and everywhere else, it is making a comeback throughout large acts such as Greta Van Fleet, Cage the Elephant, and The Black Keys but there are also thousands upon thousands of smaller (but reputable all the same) groups many overlook.
A Los Angeles - native band themselves, rock group Jane Doe is working to carry the torch of rock n roll in their own way. With their newest album, a ten track work titled Found, the four piece has entered a new chapter in their musical journey. For some insight, I got to pick the members’ brains about Found and being a female-fronted band - read it below mixed with my own perspective on the new record.
Jane Doe via Frankie Seguara - (from left to right) Jake, Zephry, Izzy, and Charlie
To have readers truly get a feel for the people behind the music of Jane Doe, I asked for a brief introduction on each member. There’s lead singer and rhythm guitarist Izzy “Kay”, who likes “riling up (her) Dalmatian mix named Boogie” and “the feeling of a new toothbrush”. Kay’s contributions towards Found and Jane Doe at large are in-your-face, her vocal approach being one that fits tremendously well with the style of rock the band has settled itself on.
Next up, there is lead guitarist Zephry Lyne, who likes “running and making coconut curry salmon from scratch in (his) apartment”. Lyne’s presence is a driving force on the new album with his technique on guitar showing similarities to older artists such as Kirk Hammett (Metallica) and Kenny Hickey (Type O Negative).
Then, there’s drummer Jake Kalichman who not only has a degree in environmental science and forestry but who also played quints in drum line and was drum captain, a drummer through and through (his favorite tree is a Katsura Tree, by the way). Kalichman’s style on the drums is Bill Ward-like (Black Sabbath) from a first listen but as you dive deeper into the new record, listeners will find that he has an extremely distinct demeanor on the kit that is difficult to ignore (who would want to do that, though?).
Finally, bassist Charlie Rhoad serves as the fourth member of Jane Doe. “My favorite Pokemon is Dratini, but the nerdiest thing about me is probably that I did collegiate acapella for 4 years and was music director for 2 of them” he tells us. Though Rhoad may find himself to have nerdy attributes, his poise on the bass is nothing short of legendary and prominent, two traits that can be disregarded by many when discussing bassists.
With all of this in mind, listeners can find themselves falling head-first into the opening track of Found, a powerful track titled Bullseye. This song’s lyrics really spoke to me so I had to ask about its background. The band explained “Izzy writes all the lyrics for the songs and Bullseye in particular is about how she grew up feeling like an outsider. How one day someone told her she didn’t look like how a girl was supposed to look and that shattered her overall view of herself and the world. It’s an unfortunate commonality that others experience. Those of us who’ve experienced bullying can pinpoint that exact moment where someone broke that childlike optimism we all have at the beginning. This song is about not backing down from that kind of myopic mindset”, officiating Bullseye as a song for those of us who didn’t fit in all the time.
Moving forward from Bullseye, Found has plenty more songs that have the potential to hit listeners right in the chest - whether it be the intense guitar solo in Dig a Grave, the dominating grit of The Menu, or the revolutionary wrap up that is Straight to the Veins.
When revealing the process this record took, the band said that this album was a long time coming: “We’re lucky to have an incredible family-like team that helped us put it together. Our music has been mostly produced by Izzy & Jake’s father, Kelly K. He unfortunately passed away in July after a tough battle with cancer. He was Jane Doe’s Number One fan, constantly helping us shape our sound and encouraging us to try new things. There would be no Jane Doe without him. He and our other producers, Patrick Burkholder & Brandon Baumann, made sure that the studio environment was always filled with laughter and collaboration. Dave Vandigitty mixed and mastered our first two singles and the rest of the album was done by Tom Chandler.” Keeping this in mind, Found rings as not only a phenomenally well-rounded rock album but also a stamp on Izzy and Jake’s father’s legacy - one that’s surely influential.
Something I picked up on early on was the feminine energy Jane Doe has in their sound, whether it is purposeful or not. This brought me to a few questions regarding how the industry has treated Izzy and their music.
“If you read Ann & Nancy Wilson’s Kicking & Dreaming autobiography, there is unfortunately not a lot of progress as far as female representation and how women are treated in the industry. We’ve seen men straight up just ignore Izzy and greet the rest of us or a bunch of other eye-roll inducing cliché scenarios. But our music is for people regardless of gender and when people come to a Jane Doe show they see that. There have been maybe 10 women in rock to cross over to the mainstream, and it’s certainly not for a lack of trying. It’s about time that rock, a genre for people from all walks of life, has that reflected in the bands at the forefront of the genre.“ They explained when asked about their journey in rock thus far.
They went even further when I inquired about changes that have been made, stating “We think that what’s happening in the rap and pop arenas is amazing. Women are taking the reins and really changing the way that people view musicians and their artistry. There’s also a lot of women supporting women in those genres. We want to see those same aspects reflected in rock. We want to be a part of continuing the legacy and are ready to carry that torch”.
I went on to ask about “general” things such as influences from both a modern and classic perspective. The group confidently listed older artists such as Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, King’s X, and most notably; “Heart. We worship at the altar that is Ann & Nancy Wilson”. As for newer acts, they pointed out a number of artists that are keeping rock moving forward like Maneskin, Palaye Royale and Spiritbox. Even outside of rock, they identified A Tribe Called Quest, Poor Man’s Poison, Nickel Creek, Frank Sinatra, and Aretha Franklin as major influences. “You like catchy melodies? We’ve got that for you. You like some quieter acoustic songs? Come to on down. You like a jazz drum beat? Check out our song Atlas”.
For fun, I asked what three words came to mind in regard to Found and this new chapter for Jane Doe and their reply, you may be wondering?
Grungy.
Authentic.
Face-Melting. I couldn’t describe it any better myself with a gargantuan emphasis on the face melting aspect of it all.
To close, Jane Doe left me and you, the fans, with some very wise words to live by and acknowledge. Words that I cannot agree with enough as a rock fan myself.
“Rock is not dead. It cannot be killed. It’s just in a bit of a lull right now, and if you like having fun and banging your head and laughing at salty lyrics – Jane Doe is for you. We’re for the people by the people. No gimmicks. We’re a plug and play band that is looking to help keep one of the greatest genres of music alive and well. Our album Found has something in it for everyone and we hope you like it, because there’s a lot more where that came from. “
