Musicians in Lockdown: The Jailbirds Interview

Toronto’s hard rock group The Jailbirds blend elements of ’70s and ’80s rock with their own modern touches for a fun, high-powered end product. Now partnered with Golden Robot Records with a concept EP on the way, this is a band that has a lot in store for their future.

The Jailbirds sat down with The Outer Void to discuss their activity in lockdown and future plans:

What have you been up to during the pandemic?

We have taken this time to recharge, write some new music and work on the projects that we didn’t have time for before! We tried to see the silver lining with this whole thing, harder than it sounds for sure.

Has the lockdown impacted your songwriting this year in any way?

Absolutely! I think it has affected everyone’s writing in one way or another. For us, it really has given us some great topics for new music haha! Being in lockdown certainly can bring up feelings of despair, which sometimes we write about. But it has also brought up some good feelings too — 2020 really put the world in perspective for us. It gave us a wakeup call to the things that really matter to us, like our friends and families, and our art. All of this has gone into our music, just as any other artist absorbs their environment and it naturally comes out in their art.

What’s your favorite show you’ve ever played?

I think that would have to be our Toronto show back in February 2020… at the Hideout (RIP) before it all went down! That show was electrifying, we had the best turnout we have ever had in TO, and the crowd gave us everything they had. We played better than ever because of their energy! I still think about that show, especially since it was one of the last ones we played before COVID-19 hit.

If you could tour with any band/artist, who would it be?

That is a tough question… If I had to only pick one, it would certainly be Monster Truck. Those guys have been so good to us, mentoring us over the years. It would be incredible to play on the same stage as them, they really inspire us to be our best and we are huge fans.

What new album would you recommend to someone who believes there’s no good new music?

Off the top of my head, the latest Ozzy album was absolutely fantastic as well as ACDC’s latest record. In terms of maybe some smaller acts, definitely check out the Dirty Nil from Canada and also certainly check out Crown Lands, they released their debut LP in 2020 and it slays hard. There is so much good music coming out today, you just need to dig a little deeper than before because the market is so flooded.

What are your plans for 2021?

We are rolling out our third single called “I Will Move On” from our forthcoming EP! That EP will also be released this year. It sucks because we cannot play shows yet, but we have some tricks up our sleeves to make these releases plenty interesting, hehehe. Stay tuned! Follow us and keep up to date on all that we’re doing (IG: @thejailbirdsband FB: facebook.com/thejailbirds)

Check out The Jailbirds’ music video for “Dull My Brain” below, and stream them on Spotify and Apple Music!