Irvine band The Jakes is still strong, even though its members have scattered to different colleges. The Jakes practice in a family room at one of the band member's homes.
The room has been filled with instruments and equipment, the floor littered with cords. Though the six members attend different colleges, they still get together to practice during each break from school, flying or driving back to Irvine to practice, sometimes for only a few days.
Sameer Gadhia, Ehson Hashemian and Jake Tilley were original members, along with some other colleagues.
Later, Sean Fischer joined, then Francois Comtois; Eric Cannata joined last summer.
MyOCHigh: How did the band start?
Hashemian: We wanted to start a fun dance band. In high school all the other bands were 'screamo' bands. Sameer joined the band a week after it started in fall 2004. We recorded rough demos in the garage with one microphone and put the songs online. At that point it was different from everything else.
Gadhia:We were in a Battle of the Bands in 2004 and we won. We had a transient group – it was like menudo. ... We found something became solid when Sean came in on drums.
MyOCHigh: How did you choose the name "The Jakes"?
Cannata: "The name ‘The Jakes' was an acronym from the old members' names. It was a coincidence that we had a Jake in the band."
MyOCHigh: Who writes the songs?
Tilley: Songwriting is very collaborative.
MyOCHigh: What bands influenced your music?
Comtois:"We all have different tastes in music. I like indie music and The Strokes, Animal Collective, Radiohead, Arcade Fire and Handsome Furs."
Tilley:"The Beatles, Dave Matthews, The Strokes, Ben Kweller."
MyOCHigh: What's next for The Jakes?
Tilley:"We hope to finish a CD in mid-spring. In the past we were rushed, but now we're taking it slow and letting the music evolve."
