With Act I and Act II out for Searching for Strawberries: The Story of Jongo Bongo, we were thrilled to sit down with lead vocalist, James Priestner, and discuss the massive undertaking project was for Rare Americans, how Elmo inspired him, his thoughts on Ren, and more.
ATN: How did the initial idea of Searching for Strawberries: The Story of Jongo Bongo come alive?
James: It was inspired by our bassist, Jongo’s, real story. He was working as a financial analyst at a huge company, making a great salary, and still felt totally unfulfilled. He took a big life-risk and quit his job. He embarked on a soul-searching journey, and walked the 900km Santiago De Camino in Spain. This walk changed the course of his life forever, and it inspired the music-film.
ATN: Was the album written in chronological order of the story as it moves along?
James: It was not. We had written all of these songs in different chunks and pieces and then put it all together afterwards.
ATN: If any, how was the writing process different for Jongo Bongo from other albums?
James: The video element was the big differentiator. Making a 33 minute musical-film with one story is a massive undertaking. It took 20 people a full year to complete. In the past we have done one-off videos which are much easier in scope. This took constant touching, making tweaks, and trying to make it the best story we could.
ATN: What made you guys decide to release the album in three parts vs as whole at once?
James: We are trying to find the sweet spot in content length. I’m sure we will put out the full version at some point, but as a first piece of content, 33 minutes felt like too long to chew when our fans are used to watching 3–4-minute videos. We thought 3 10-minute acts was a good happy medium. It’s our first time releasing long-form content, so we are learning as we go.
ATN: Was there a song or songs that were harder to write or record than others?
James: This recording process was actually pretty smooth. The biggest challenge was we recorded 24 songs!!! We were working at a fast and frantic pace, but the ideas kept flowing and we had extra studio time so we put as many down as we could.
ATN: What was the easiest song to write and record?
James: Stay Curious came together pretty quickly. I remember we all wrote that song together one day and worked on the production/demo’ing straight away. That is different than normal. Usually, I will start a song on acoustic and then bring it to the band. This one we all crafted together on the spot. I think the song found its “home” very quickly, which doesn’t always happen.
ATN: What song surprised you/band the most?
James: Ha! Well, there is a song called Fuck You Elmo. It’s silly. No one expected that song. My partner and I are both high-level squash players. We were playing a match at a private court and for some reason there was an Elmo doll on a chair, as if watching us play. I was playing well that day and my partner in a moment of frustration looked up at Elmo and said “Fuck you Elmo!” in a joking way. I thought, hey, that sounds like inspiration for a song!
ATN: Why did you guys decide to write the album based on the true story of your bassist? How does he feel knowing there’s a whole album now dedicated to him!
James: I like writing from places of truth. All our records are inspired by real people and real situations. Jongo’s story is inspiring, and I thought a lot of people are liking dealing with similar challenges in their life.
ATN: As a child of the 80’s, I flew back in time watching the video. Are there any animations or cartoons, that inspire your visuals?
James: This one is very Dr. Suess! I love the whimsical style, the bright colours, and the wackiness of it. It’s just a style I gravitate towards.
ATN: How much creative input do you as a band have in the creative process of the videos?
James: I guess 100%! We are partnered with Crooked City Studios so we have the freedom to make whatever we want to. It’s always a dialogue and back n forth between us and them. We are almost always on the same page.
SAME 3 QUESTIONS WE ALWAYS ASK
ATN: Artist / band that you feel is the most underrated and why?
James: I like Ren a lot. I think he’s extremely talented. He’s been making YouTube videos for a while, and it’s nice to see him having some success now. However, he is so anti-industry that I find he doesn’t get a lot of industry support. His songs are long, political, and don’t follow typical song formats. However, I think that is super dope and I hope more people start to recognize him.
ATN: Artist / band that you would like to collaborate with and why?
James: I love Alex Turner. He’s been a hero of mine for a long time. I also think Macklemore is super talented and we have similar structures. He is the inspiration of being an independent, family-run, artist.
ATN: Artist / band that you would like to tour with and why?
James: Imagine Dragons would be incredible! I think I have a similar approach to the live show as Dan Reynolds. He talks to the audience a lot, he is inspirational, and very much a front man. When I saw their show I was blown away, and it was cool because we are doing a lot of similar things (obviously on a much smaller level!) to them.
ACT I
ACT II
