Interview: Where's Jai

We sit down with Where's Jai to talk all thing music.

INTERVIEWS

How did this all start, did you grow up loving music, singing. Was this always a dream for you?
‍Most of us realised we had a passion for music at a young age, but being put in a band together made us even more invested. We all went to the same school but ran in totally different social circles. One day our band mentor (shoutout Gareth) threw us all in a band and it worked, so much so that now we get to live out the aspirations of our 14 year old selves that had just started playing together.

‍Who are your music inspirations/ do you look up to?
‍Everyone in the band has different musical tastes, which surprisingly works so well together. That mix of influences really inspired this album artists from Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, Amy Winehouse, Frank Ocean and Fleetwood Mac.

‍What keeps you motivated?
‍Honestly, knowing that we have something special and we can make it if we work hard enough. We want to make our childhood selves proud, and if we're lucky, stand as inspiration for the next generation of kiwi artists as proof that you can make it big, even being from a small country.

‍Let’s talk about your upcoming album, Fresh out of Air, tell us more about this, the inspo.
‍“Fresh Out Of Air” felt like the perfect name for the album. It sounds like “Fresh Air” but means the exact opposite. It's the panic of being cut off from something or someone you feel like you need. It's about messy situationships and getting older and even reflecting on past versions of yourself/ areas of your life. It's a collection of songs we've written all throughout our teenage years and that's part of the reason it means so much to us.

‍How do you feel your music has changed or developed since your EP release in 2024?
‍The first songs we ever wrote together went on our EP, so since then we've had time to grow and find our sound. Now we have a developed music taste and more life experience. Every song has a story behind it, whereas with our EP -although we love it- it felt like it was mimicking what other people write about. This album is authentic, personal and something we are really proud of.

‍How do you navigate the song writing process as a group, does one person take more of a lead or is it a full collaboration with everyone.
‍It really depends on the song. Often one of us will bring an idea to the band but other times it’ll manifest out of a jam session. The other day we wrote a song, then recorded and performed it the very next day. Where as, others don't feel ready for months. Sometimes songs flow out of us and those are the best ones - ones that were so easy to write that it feels like you can't even take credit.

‍Let’s talk about the up coming tour. What made you decide to go on tour, what are you most excited about, etc.
‍It's always been a dream to go on tour and when you're this young and have an opportunity to do it you definitely wanna take it. To be able to say you're 18 with an album and tour on the way is insane, we're so proud of all the work we've put in this past year and that it's paying off. With our EP release show we got to experience the crowd singing our songs back to us. That was a big moment for us where we were like ‘I want to do this all the time.’ We also really want to meet the fans that have always lived too far to come to a show, we can’t wait to sing with you all.

‍What do you have coming up that you can share with us?
‍There's a Music Video coming out with the album, and a second one coming out in the near future that NZ on Air was kind enough to fund. That’s all we’ll spoil for now…

‍What burger do you think Fresh out of air would be if it were on the BF menu and why?
‍“Modified Thunderbird” it's in the name. Bird, thunder, spices. It’s a metaphor for the whole album. We correlate this album with air even though the title does mean the exact opposite and with air comes birds. So it also can mean us as a band flying into this era of our album. The thunder hits the energy and punch in the songs. And the spices are all the different sounds and flavours that come together beautifully.

‍What would your ideal BF burger contain?
‍It already exists it's called the “forward freak out” (double check name) We’d also love to see a burger hybrid with the “American Muscle” and the “Forward Freakout”
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Sound Check, Vibe Check‍

What is your go to song to Jam out to in the car?

“Underneath it all” No Doubt.

Who is your favourite artist at the moment?

We all have very different taste:

Michael: Masoyashi Takanana

Jai: Black Sabbath

Leigh: Frank ocean

Gene: Turnstile

Grace: Amy Winehouse

One thing you can’t perform without?

Grace- redbull

Leigh- my blue eyeshadow

Gene- my dad in the audience

Jai- my awesome green shoes

Michael - My goodluck undies

‍One artist or band you would love to co-lab with?

A local band we look up to a lot is Strangely Arousing. Their music is insane. It would be awesome to collab with them. It would also be the dream to work with Thom Yorke and Lorde.

‍Go to BurgerFuel order?

The Double american muscle with kumara fries and a caramel thickshake.

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Fire or Backfire?

Pickles in burgers FIRE (Mixed opinions)

Crocs FIRE

Karaoke FIRE

BurgerFuel Aioli FIRE

Acoustic performances FIRE

NZ Music Month FIRE

Festivals FIRE

Singing in the shower FIREEEE