Jet (band)
| Jet | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Melbourne, Australia |
| Genre(s) | Alternative rock Hard rock Garage rock revival |
| Years active | 2001 – present |
| Label(s) | Atlantic Records Elektra Records EMI Music Group Rubber |
| Website | jettheband.com |
| Members | |
| Nic Cester Chris Cester Cameron Muncey Mark Wilson |
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Jet is a rock band from Melbourne, Australia, whose debut album Get Born, released in 2003, has so far sold over three and a half million copies throughout the world.[1]
Contents |
History
Formation and Dirty Sweet
Brothers Nic Cester and Chris Cester grew up in Dingley Village, Victoria listening to classic rock from the 1960s and 1970s such as The Who, AC/DC, The Easybeats, Faces, The Loved Ones and particularly The Rolling Stones and The Beatles; these were their father's records. In an interview for the documentary "Take It Or Leave It", which was also recorded on the band's Right! Right! Right! live DVD,
"It's always interpreted that our father had a great record collection, but that's not true. It was actually a really shit collection that Nic managed to find the gems in."
However, according to Nic, it was Australian band You Am I who had the biggest influence on Jet’s developing musical tastes:
“Hi Fi Way was the most important album of my generation ... I think everyone our age, who played guitar, played You Am I songs for the first time in front of their school assembly ... That was the record that made you realise you could be in an Australian band, you didn’t have to be a grunge band and you didn’t have to be influenced by American bands. It changed everything.”[2]
They decided to form a band with Cameron Muncey, Nic's friend from school and with whom he had been in a band, and with bassist Doug Armstrong whom Nic and Chris met whilst working together at their Dad's spice factory.
During 2001 an old high school friend of Chris' joined the band on keyboard, and it was at this time that the band took their current name from the song "Jet" from Wings' 1973 album Band on the Run. "Radio Song", from their album Get Born, was written about the troubles that the band had getting recognition at this time. Jet got their big break when seminal Melbourne Punk rock band The Specimens took Jet under their wing and put them on as an opening act at The Duke of Windsor.
The new band met Mark Wilson one night in 2002 at a concert and, despite already having a bass player, asked him to play with them. Wilson was then the bassist in a band called The Ca$inos, so he initially declined. However, a few days later he called the band and said he would like to join them instead.
In 2002 the band, consisting of its current members, released the Dirty Sweet EP, which drew its name from the T. Rex song "Bang a Gong (Get It On)". While the band only pressed 1,000 copies, there was such a demand that they pressed 1,000 more. The timing of this record coincided with the breakthrough of The Vines, meaning that international interest in Australian rock bands was high. NME obtained a copy of the single from Dirty Sweet, "Take It or Leave It", and praised it. Elektra Records offered the band a contract and re-released Dirty Sweet in 2003.
Get Born
Jet entered the Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles with Dave Sardy to produce their debut album Get Born. Sardy had previously produced records for Marilyn Manson and The Dandy Warhols. They also enlisted the services of keyboard maestro Billy Preston for two of the songs. The album derived its name from a line in the Bob Dylan song "Subterranean Homesick Blues" from Bringing It All Back Home. Halfway through recording, the band received a call from The Rolling Stones offering them a support slot on the Australian leg of their 2003 tour.
Their singles "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and "Rollover DJ" were voted number one and number nineteen respectively on the 2003 Triple J Hottest 100. "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" appeared on the soundtracks for the games Madden NFL 2004, Guitar Hero: On Tour and Rock Band, the 2006 animated film Flushed Away, and the 2008 film What Happens In Vegas. It was also part of two major worldwide advertising campaigns for Apple's iPod and Vodafone. Get Born also includes the song "Timothy", dedicated to vocalist/guitarist Cameron Muncey's brother, who died before he was born. Due to the sensitive nature of the song, the band rarely plays "Timothy" live. [2]
In early 2004, Jet teamed up with The Vines and The Living End on "the Aussie invasion" tour of US cities. A new Jet song not included on Get Born, called "Hold On", was featured on the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack that year. TV/film producer J.J. Abrams - whose credits include Lost and Felicity - contacted Jet to record a song for the Season 4 premiere to his show Alias. "Cold Hard Bitch" from Get Born was used, and became the soundtrack to a frenetic scene of two CIA agents sprinting down a Hong Kong street, giving Jet further US exposure.
Later the same year, the band was nominated in seven categories at the ARIA (Australian Record Industry Association) music awards. These included single and album of the year. At the awards ceremony on the 17 October 2004 Jet received six awards out of the seven nominations. Nic Cester also performed as part of supergroup The Wrights, featuring members of other Australian rock bands Spiderbait (Kram, drums), The Living End (Chris Cheney, guitar), Dallas Crane (Pat Bourke, bass) and You Am I/The Pictures (Davey Lane, guitar).
The album was praised for being influenced by many classic rock artists such as The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and AC/DC.
Shine On
The debut single from the band's second album Shine On, titled "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is", was released to radio on August 7 2006. Shine On was released on September 30 2006 (October 2 in the UK, October 3 in the US) with a final track listing of 15 songs. It debuted at #3 on the Australian charts but failed to match the success of Get Born. Critical reaction to the album was mixed; British music magazine NME called the record "another joyfully old-fashioned rock'n'roll album immersed in the classics,"[3] while the American review site Pitchfork Media posted a totally anomalous review containing only a video clip of a chimpanzee urinating in its own mouth.[4] Rolling Stone said that the album sounded too much like Oasis while also praising songs such as "Eleanor" and "Stand Up". The song also appeared on NME's compilation CD, NME: The Essential Bands - Festival Edition.
Jet played at the MTV Europe Awards in Copenhagen. It was their first live performance since Nic Cester's laryngitis halted their World Tour. In November 2006 they flew back to Australia to perform at the Make Poverty History Concert in Melbourne at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl; upon their return they also held a secret show on a barge floating on the Yarra River. The second singles from the album, "Bring It on Back" (in the UK) and "Rip It Up" (in Australia) were released in November 2006. The album also spawned an EP, the Shine On EP released December 2006.
The title track, "Shine On", was released on various dates in March 2007 around the world as the third single (second single in some countries). The song is a tribute to Nic and Chris Cester's father, who died from cancer in 2004.[5] It was written by Nic Cester from the perspective of his father encouraging those who survive him to "shine on." Many songs on the album ("Come On Come On", "Bring It on Back", "Stand Up", "Holiday", "All You Have to Do") are primarily about overcoming adversity and challenge.
Jet headlined a series of shows during the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand, with opening acts Tool, Muse, The Killers, and My Chemical Romance. The band played their Rip It Up Oz tour in late May and June 2007, which was supported by Channel V. Also in 2007, they released a new song for the Spider-Man 3 soundtrack titled "Falling Star". In addition, their song "Rip It Up" appeared on the TMNT soundtrack.
The band returned to Australia to perform at the AFL Grand Final and to finish the rest of their world tour. They announced on their website that they would begin production on their third studio album, due for a 2008 release. However in October 2007 the band announced they would take "time off" for an unspecified amount of time. They stated that after touring for Shine On they needed some "down time".[6] As of October 24 Chris and Mark produced a song, under the name "The Vice Lords" for the Japanese duo Superfly titled "I Spy I Spy".
Third album
Jet's third studio album is currently being recorded and is due for a early 2009 release. In a new video on their website, the band talks about writing and recording songs at Atlantic Sound Studios in New York City. Chris Cester joked: "We've got to stop writing; we got fucking too many songs." They have also collaborated with Iggy Pop to release a cover of the Johnny O'Keefe single "Wild One". On their official website it states that the band is hard at work on the new album.
Band members
- Nic Cester – vocals, rhythm guitar, piano (2001-present)
- Cameron Muncey – lead guitar, backing vocals (2001-present)
- Mark Wilson – bass guitar, keyboards, harmonica (2002-present)
- Chris Cester – drums, percussion, backing vocals, guitar (2001-present)
Current touring/session musicians
- Stevie Hesketh – keyboards
Former members
- Doug Armstrong – bass guitar (2001-2002)
- Jason Doukas – keyboards (2001)
Discography
Albums & EPs
| Date of Release | Title | Label | ARIA Chart Peak | U.S. Billboard Peak[7] |
| May 6, 2003 | Dirty Sweet (EP) | Elektra Records | ||
| October 7, 2003 | Get Born | Elektra Records | #1 (Platinum) | #26 |
| March 9, 2004 | Rare Tracks | Elektra Records | ||
| October 1, 2006 | Shine On | Elektra Records | #3(Music recording sales certification) | #16 |
| December 12, 2006 | Shine On (EP) | Elektra Records | #54 (on the ARIA Singles Chart) | |
| 2009 | Third Studio Album | Elektra Records |
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARIA Singles Chart | U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. Modern Rock | U.S. Mainstream Rock | UK Singles Chart | |||
| 2003 | "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" | #20 | #29 | #3 | #7 | #23 | Get Born |
| 2003 | "Rollover DJ" | #31 | #51 | #14 | #14 | #34 | Get Born |
| 2004 | "Look What You've Done" | #12 | #37 | #3 | #33 | #28 | Get Born |
| 2004 | "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" (re-issue) | - | - | - | - | #16 | Get Born |
| 2004 | "Cold Hard Bitch" | #33 | #55 | #1 | #1 | #34 | Get Born |
| 2004 | "Get Me Outta Here" (UK single) | - | - | - | - | #37 | Get Born |
| 2006 | "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" | #14 | #61 | #7 | #15 | #23 | Shine On |
| 2006 | "Bring It on Back" | - | - | - | - | #51 | Shine On |
| 2006 | "Rip It Up" | #49 | - | - | - | - | Shine On |
| 2007 | "Shine On" | #54 | - | #30 | - | #114 | Shine On |
| 2008 | "The Wild One" | #66 | - | - | - | - | |
DVDs
| Date of Release | Title | Label | US Billboard Peak |
| November 01, 2004 | Right! Right! Right! |
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| November 23, 2004 | Family Style |
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Activism
PETA
In June 2004, Jet joined Pamela Anderson and Paul McCartney to lobby the world's largest chicken fast food chain, KFC, to improve the lives of the chickens raised on its farms. "Please let me - and concerned consumers throughout Australia - know that you will end the most horrific forms of abuse suffered by chickens raised and killed for KFC," Jet band members Nic Cester, Chris Cester and Mark Wilson wrote in a letter to Yum! Brands CEO David Novak. The letter was part of a campaign backed by PETA. [8]
The Fred Hollows Foundation
In May 2008, Jet released a video clip on YouTube paying tribute to the work of the late Fred Hollows. Lead singer Nic Cester says he wanted to highlight that Professor Hollow's work to restore sight to the cataract blind in developing countries was ongoing 15 years after his death. "Fred Hollows was such a big figure in Australia and he had a huge impact, but he passed away when there was still work to do," Cester said in a statement. "This clip is a bit of a reminder, hopefully it encourages people to make a donation to keep Fred's work going."[9] The video tribute features Jet's hit song Shine On along with images compiled by The Fred Hollows Foundation.[10]
References
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Wizards of Oz The Daily Telegraph
- ↑ NME review
- ↑ Pitchfork Media review
- ↑ Jet dominate the ARIAs (The Age)
- ↑ Jet split... for now (thelondonpaper)
- ↑ Billboard, Allmusic.com
- ↑ Jet takes on KFC (SMH)
- ↑ Jet releasing Fred Hollows tribute clip (NINEMSN)
- ↑ Jet releasing Fred Hollows tribute clip (NINEMSN)
External links
- Jet home page
- Official UK Jet Website
- Jet's Nic Cester interviewed on Static Multimedia
- Nic Cester interview on Indiependentmusic, 19 June 2007
- All Music Guide Jet article
- VH1 Jet band page
- Review of Shine On
- Review of Shine On #2
- Jet On Demand
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