Following the release of two well-received singles, Roxercat released their six-song EP "Pearls” on Jan 13th. Roxercat is a progressive rock band based in Nashville, Tennessee, led by singer and songwriter Price Jones, guitarist Stan Lassiter, and bassist Bill Francis. Various guest musicians also appear on the recordings. Roxercat's sound features the imaginative storytelling and stellar musicianship expected from such a seasoned group of Nashville creatives. Crime is a rocking plea for people to stop giving away their power to systems designed to distract, pacify, and influence – "you drink their whines 'til you’re drunk with rage," sings Price Jones.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
The interview was conducted with Roxercat vocalist Price Jones.
Hey Roxercat, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. How has the time gone for you since our last interview?
Hey Kamil, Good to talk to you again! It’s been really busy around here. Music promotion is a lot of work but we’re thrilled to finally have our new EP released!!!
How do you balance your time in the studio with other commitments such as a part-time job, family, admin?
When I’m in the studio, I go into the “zone” and totally lose all sense of time. I can be in there 8 hours or more and it’ll feel like 2 except that I’m probably incredibly hungry when I emerge lol. It’s really helpful that my family can hold things together while I’m off creating. Personally, I really need to be able to lose myself in the creative process and not get distracted while I’m working so I just don’t make commitments when it’s studio time and no one interrupts me unless there’s an emergency.
Your latest song is 'Crime'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
I wrote Crime a few years back. It’s a really fun groove to play. For the longest time I only had one verse & chorus written. The night before our recording session I finally dove in and wrote the rest of the lyrics. On the tracking day Clarke Schleicher, our engineer/co-producer, stopped us after one or two takes of Crime and suggested we come up with something else for the ending. We originally were fading out with the opening riff. So we threw around some ideas for about a half hour and ended up with what you hear on the record.
How do you know when a work is finished?
As far as the recording process, I need to live with a song for at least a few days to know it’s finished. If it’s not finished, something will start to bother me pretty quickly when I’m listening back. But I really need to get away from the process for a day or two and listen with fresh ears to make that decision.
How do you find yourself in the music business? When you started out in music, did you know it would be like this?
I’ve pretty much always been a musician. I started writing songs when I was a little kid. In high school I got a 4 track reel to reel and I’d spend hours and hours in my basement recording. I’d record 3 tracks & then bump them down to one & then add 2 more and bump them to one etc & so on. I still have the elaborate demos from way back when that of course sound horrible but they’re cool to listen to every now and then because that’s what got me hooked. I’ve always LOVED the recording process and creating in that space.
As far as knowing what the music business would be like… I really didn’t know what it would be like when I started, I just wanted to play my songs for people.
Who is your favourite musician?
I honestly don’t have a favorite musician but all time favorite band is The Beatles.
Describe your favorite and least favorite part about being a musician.
My favorite part of being a musician is actually picking up a guitar and playing and writing songs! It’s very cathartic & feeds my soul. Recording is also one of my favorite parts. Hearing a song I’ve written become a mastered recording is an amazing feeling. My least favorite part is that it’s not like a job where you have a task & you do it and then you’re done. You can write a great song, record it and you’re still at the very beginning of the process of being done in order to be successful.
What’s your scariest experience?
I can’t think of a scary music experience…
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
I’d change all those crazy genre titles… There’s so many different genres now, I honestly don’t have a clue what half of them are and on top of that it seems that everyone’s definition of each particular genre is different. It’s just gotten too confusing. I think we need to whittle it back down to like 10 or 12 genres instead of 40 or 50.
What can we expect from Roxercat in the near future?
We have another music video in the works for the song “2020”. That’s also my favorite song off of the EP. I don’t want to give too much away but we’re working with an incredible AI animator who is an up & coming visual artist in Europe. It’s going to be stunning. The video is so good it almost looks like we wrote the song for the video. That’s your teaser and we’ll leave it there!
Thanks for the chat!