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We recently got the chance to chat with this great up-and-coming sibling duo Jocelyn and Chris Arndt. The soulful pair recently released their new album Edges, we absolutely love their sound and think you will, too. Stream the whole album below and check out our exclusive GroundSounds interview below.
Thanks so much for chatting with us at GroundSounds! How have things been going lately?
Things have been great! Busy, but great. Thanks for having us. (:
As siblings, what sort of presence did music have while you were growing?
A HUGE one. Music has always been an important part of the Arndt household – we actually have a rule that we can’t start eating at the dinner table until we’ve got something playing in the background. Beyond that, though, music is a really big part of the relationship Chris and I have, both as siblings and as best friends. We grew up with it all around us… It’s just who we are.
Have you been playing together for awhile, or is this a new thing?
It’s been a while. I started piano lessons in 4th grade (I was originally in tap lessons, but I have two left feet and I hated it), and then Chris picked up the guitar a few months later. And then we were practicing in the same living room, so we decided to start playing together. It all kind of snowballed from there. We did a few local talent shows, and then we formed a high school band to play gigs on weekends. A couple of years later, we decided it was time to start writing our own music together. And then we were playing the beer tent at a local county fair when we met our now-producer and manager, David Bourgeois. Fast forward a few years, and we’ve got our first full-length album, “Edges”. We’re still in this for the long haul, and we’re loving every minute.
I’m a really big fan of your new album Edges. The songs are smokey, bluesy, raw, and sounds exactly like the type of rock music perfectly fit for the best of times. How long has the whole process from recording to releasing been and what were some challenges?
Thank you! I’m so glad you dig it! (: We started recording the songs for Edges over a year ago. If you want to count songwriting, Chris and I wrote some of these tunes when we were still in high school, though, so I guess you could say we’ve been working on this album for a lot longer than a year. With that in mind, we really took our time in the studio. We wanted to make sure everything fit together as a cohesive album, from the older songs to the more recent ones. And we wanted to make the recordings as emotional as we could. We actually recorded most of the vocals at our producer’s lake camp in the Adirondacks; it was sort of like a recording retreat. Sleep in, sing for a few hours, sit around a fire. Studios are great, but they can also be a little stifling sometimes. This way, we really managed to keep the environment stress-free, and the songs came out better as a result.
I’ve got a couple favorites off of the album. The first one is “Shame” and the other is “Hot.” What kind of circumstances led to these songs coming to you at the time you wrote them?
“Shame” is sort of a revenge song. You know the story: girl and guy are dating, guy breaks up with girl, girl is upset. Except this time, the story ends with girl writing an angry song about guy so that everyone knows how much of a jerk he is. Be careful dating a songwriter. You could end up on the wrong side of an album someday. “Hot” was a different story… Chris and my Dad were messing around and came up with that infectiously awesome opening riff, and the song came pretty easily after that. I tried to make the vocals as slinky-sounding as possible. We actually recorded those at the legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals! Fame freaking Studios. We stopped in while we were on tour, and it was amazing. And then our producer arranged for G Love to lay down some of his signature blues harmonica as a finishing touch, and if I hadn’t gotten enough fangirling in in Muscle Shoals, well, I made up for it then. That guy is awesome.
If you were told to walk into a record store and pick out one album, what genre is your go-to choice?
That’s tough… I’d have my hands all over everything. I like it all: rock, blues, pop, soul. If I had to pick, though, I’d check out classic rock first. I’d probably head straight for the Queen. Freddie Mercury is my hero. I’d have to make a stop over in 80s pop afterward, though. That stuff is my jam. You’d find Chris in the classic rock section first, too… He’d be elbow-deep in Floyd and Zepplin before you could blink.
What’s your favorite aspect of performing live and do you have some tour dates lined up?
I love the audience! Playing music live is always amazing, but having a crowd really enjoy it just makes everything that much better. That’s why we play; we feel something, and we want to share that feeling with as many people as we can. It sounds cheesy, but it’s true. And when we can do that, when we can go out there and make somebody feel something, that’s a night well spent for us.
As far as show dates go, it’s going to be a busy few months! On May 10, we’re playing at the Health Corps Gala in NYC. Dr. Oz will be hosting that one. I’m hoping he can give me some good health tips. Then, on Saturday, May 14, we’re having an album release show at The Linda in Albany to celebrate “Edges” with a bunch of family and friends! That’s going to rock. From there, we’ve got the Rock and Roots Festival with Rick Derringer on the 20th, and then after that we’ll be doing a ton of radio promotion. We pick up touring again in June with Delta Rae on the 25th in Maine and the 26th in Massachusetts. Oh, and in July we’re playing Summerfest in Milwaukee! We’re booking new dates all the time, so expect more shows coast to coast in August. You can check out our Facebook or our website for updates everyday about what we’re up to and where we’re going next.
Well, thanks a ton for chatting with us. Los Angeles awaits your arrival!
Thanks again for having us. We’ll be out there soon! (:
Stay in touch with Jocelyn & Chris Arndt: FACEBOOK
