Getting To Know: The Drop Jonnies

We had a great chat with one of our favourite bands at the moment, The Drop Jonnies. They are building a live set that'll take their music far beyond Liverpool. The band are made up of Ed- Guitarist and singer for majority of songs,Max- Guitarist, Ollie- Bassist and finally Thomas- Drummer here's how it went down:

1. Can you share the story of how The Drop Jonnies came together during freshers week at the University of Liverpool, and how the band evolved from the Ed Hunt Blues Band to its current formation?

Tom - We’d only spoken a couple times during freshers week when we found out there was an open mic happening the next day at the Arts Bar. Ed, Max, and I had decided to form an ensemble for the event and asked Ollie if he was interested. He politely declined. He remembered how fickle forming bands was in secondary school and was admittedly put off when hearing that I hadn’t played drums for several years. On the night of the gig, a band name had not been decided and so when asked to put a name on the sign-up sheet, Ed just used his own. He later added“…blues band” to the end as not to seem like a solo act. We still weren’t settled on that though as Ed was reluctant to stamp his name on it and we didn’t actually play any blues. We had been joking about naming ourselves The HMRC since combining Thomas and Max resulted in “tax” so when the announcer called up the Ed Hunt Blues Band, we ended up introducing ourselves as The HMRC. Despite having not rehearsed together before hand the performance went incredibly well and Ollie, who was in the crowd, changed his mind about not joining. We still weren’t certain about a name though so over the next few rehearsals we brainstormed multiple including “The Lucys”, “Lexicon Stand Offs” and “Nob”. Nobody is quite certain where “The Drop Jonnies” name originated; some speculate it’s related to one of our early cover songs “Johnny B. Goode”, others that it’s a reference to a family member and some even believe it’s a crude joke about contraception. In the end it presented itself as the most exciting option and at our next gig we debuted as the Drop Jonnies.

2. With a relatively short time together, The Drop Jonnies have already played in some of Liverpool's iconic venues. Can you highlight some memorable experiences from these performances and how they've contributed to the band's development?

Ollie - Our second performance at the UoL Guild’s monthly open mic night in The Cellar is a contender for our most rewarding gig. Its triumph was largely due to our previous and first gig in the cellar which, as we recall about that night, left us with better quality content for photos than videos… Unfortunately our matching suits couldn’t save us from the ‘My Generation Incident’. 

Max - Yeah, I mean, the “my generation incident” was a real low point. It was the first time we’d played as a four-piece band, and it was not as great as we would have hoped. Though I feel like we did realise over the course of the night that our sound is that rough edge between being accurate and articulated and spontaneous and aggressive. So when it came to practicing for our next gig, we put aside a week or two and met up every other day for a sort of crash course to find our sound and write our own songs since, let’s be honest, that’s how you find your own style. It’s in your own songs; you’re not copying someone else’s ideas and emotions; they’re yours, or in our case, they’re ours.

Ollie - When we returned a month later, suitless and more confident in our playing, we’ll never forget when the third-year host exclaimed “The Drop fucking Jonnies!” as we rounded up The Who classic. For us, that was the true beginning of the band. 

3. The band's sound is described as featuring provocative lyrics about love and seduction sung over rock n' roll guitars with an electric live sound. Can you delve into the creative process behind your music, particularly how your collaborative songwriting practice influences the thematic elements and overall style?

Max - When writing our music, at the forefront of my mind would be the melody. First come chords, then melody, then lyrics, but to me, the most important aspect has to be the melody. Whether a song is finished or not, I’ll bring it to the guys in the band, and we’ll bash out the rest of it. Since we’re all song writers, it’s very effective to throw ideas around the circle sort of thing, you know. I feel the style of the song changes with how finished it is by the time everyone hears it, and I suppose who’s most vocal when the group learns it is also important since we all still have our individual styles and visions for our music.

Ollie - I think it comes down to our varied influences within the rock genre; while Ed brings punk inspiration to his lyricism, Max brings a more classic rock approach to his lead riffs. This paired with the combined enthusiasm of me and Tom as the rhythm section (both using our singer-songwriter backgrounds in the joint creative process) results in The Drop Jonnies signature sound. Often, no single member is more vital to the process than another, though we’re comfortable swapping instruments or particular lead singing roles if it suits the song.

Ed - I write much better when the ideas are spontaneous. Then we can iron out the details as we go, but that initial idea has to come from how I’m feeling in that moment. With the jonnies, the initial idea will begin with any one of us, but we work together and have a shared input to put our stamp on the songs we bring.

Tom - Even when one of us approaches with a fleshed out demo we’ve written on our own, it passes through each of our hands to the point where it’s no longer just my song or just Max’s song, it’s been “Jonnified” as we call it.

4. How do your individual backgrounds and influences come together to shape The Drop Jonnies' unique musical identity?

Tom - I have a weird mix of musical theatre and singer-songwriter inspirations when it comes to writing music. I grew up watching musicals in the West End and was always interested in how they tell their stories. I would try to incorporate those ideas in my solo singer-songwriter stuff and now the Jonnies are no different. I love making connections between melodies and lyrics within and across songs, creating patterns wherever I can.

Max - For me, I always enjoyed learning songs and putting guitar covers up on YouTube; these would be songs by bands like The Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Beach Boys. Though I did have formal lessons for a time, I’d say it was learning the music of these three bands that influenced my style most.

Ollie - My musical background is probably the furthest stretch from my current position in the band, a London folk and jazz guitarist with little-to-no performing experience. My role as my pianist brother’s ’disposable bassist’ however did equip me with a confident bass ability, heavily inspired by Ben Folds Five, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel and of course The Beatles. Safe to say my reluctance to play bass at uni didn’t last long…

Ed - I feel we all have totally different skillsets which compliment eachother nicely. I have my punk influences, which are tempered and balanced with everyone else’s unique input. I like to bring my live experience to the table, whilst Max’s riffs, Shooter’s songwriting and Tom’s unshakeable beats never cease to impress.

5. The band has gained a modest following in just four months, drawing small crowds at open mics and supporting gigs. What has been the most surprising or rewarding aspect of connecting with your audience so quickly, and how do you see this support influencing your future projects?

Max - The most surprising part for me would be seeing the sheer amount of reoccurring faces, like some people I drag over with me but some people we see just as often, and to be honest, I can’t really remember if I’ve ever even spoken to them before. But they know who we are and what we do, and that’s the sort of support that really means the most to me since it’s the most bizarre in a sense.

Ollie - The most rewarding aspect of connecting with our audience has to be how comfortable we feel around them already. At a recent gig we played a slower song written by Max, a shift to the fast paced riffs our audience were probably used to. Regardless, they weren’t apprehensive and seemed to enjoy the new material, something we were really pleased and proud of.

6. Looking ahead, the band has expressed the intention to record and release its debut project in the coming year. Can you provide some insights into what fans can expect from this project and how it reflects The Drop Jonnies' artistic vision and growth?

Ed - For The Jonnies first release, we want to make something special. We want an album with a variety of sounds, that all feel like they’ve come from the same place and we plan to work hard to make something expressive we can be proud of.

Ollie - Our debut will capture both the energy of our live performances and the sincerity of our individual songwriting abilities. Our enthusiasm for experimenting with our songs means there’s not a lot more we can predict about how this first record will sound.

Ed - We don’t fit as clearly into one genre as other acts, which makes our first album release an exciting prospect. We don’t know what it’ll be until it’s out, so no one will know what to expect.