The Jukebox Romantics are celebrating fifteen years of the band with a bunch of party gigs. The first of these parties was a blast with lots of old and new faces at Lucy's in Pleasantville, New York. They were supported by Neckscars, All My Friends, From Parts Unknown and The Killakee House. The Romantix were celebrating their past, present, and future and brought the heart and soul. Check out these photos by @maxlame:
Mike Terry, JBR's singer and guitarist, wrote this about the bands fifteen years:
When I think about the last 15 years of The Jukebox Romantics my brain breaks it down into 4 distinct time periods and eras:
2008-2011 : The OG JBR
In this time we were figuring out what we wanted to do. We set the core foundations and goals of the band. “Tour a lot” - “Make tons of friends” - “write killer tunes” - “get on warped tour”
By 2010 we had done all that. Got signed to our first label, Altercation Records. Successfully and with the grace of a baby duck, like any touring band, we broke down a lot. But it caused us all to grow as people and truly learn how to problem solve.
2012-2014: The Core 4 - Enter Norm: Norm joined the band after Joe moved to Miami and Eliot had been filling in and killing it. Norm had been practicing with the band most of 2012 before we felt comfortable having him join the band. Norm has and is the foundation of the band. Without Thomas Michael Normann, there is no Jukebox. We wrote “Transmissions Down” and recorded it with one of our hero’s in Pete of The Bouncing Souls. Just like our 2nd record, I think we grew as song writers by leaps and bounds but the production was lacking. But we had another amazing experience. Seth, Mike and Myself were so in synch the songs were writing themselves and Norm was a machine. In the summer of of 2014, the band was at a point where it needed to continue its journey around the world and with that Mike and Seth had their last show. Their contributions to this band is why it’s still going. Along with Joe and Chris.
2014-2020: Time to Fly with Bobby Edge: I met Robert Edge IV in college in 2005. Same place where I met Chris when we were starting JBR. Bobby and I fell out of touch like many college friends. We would run into each other at JBR shows or when his band played my old bar. When we needed a Bass player and guitarist, Bobs name got brought up. Without a doubt Bobby Edge is the most talented person to ever play in The Jukebox Romantics. He pushed me and Norm to be better musicians. In these years, with the help of John Naclerio at Nada, we learned both how to be better singers. During this time, almost nightly on tour, people would say we were the funniest band they ever saw or compared us to Blink 182. Bob and I just had that chemistry on stage for better or worse. Probably our tightest and sloppiest of shows. In this era, we finally made it to Europe for multiple tours, the UK and more. During this time we celebrated our 10th anniversary as a band in 2018 and all past members reunited for an epic show. Once a Jukebox Romantic, always a Jukebox Romantic.
2020-Present: Jukebox Daddies and the Kids
I don’t know what to call this current era/post pandemic band that is The Jukebox Romantics. We are still in it and building it. In the fall of 2020, AJ Chiarella of Shakeout and James MacDonald from the band Maintenance became Romantics. I see a lot of my younger self in AJ. His drive, work ethic, and positive attitude was a welcomed breath of fresh air needed in this band. We are neighbors. We have been buds in the 914 scene for years. He is a machine. He is the truth. James Mac has the voice of an angel. I promise you will hear him sing old JBR songs and new ones and your brain and heart will explode. He conveys the heart of what this band stands for. His sultry voice, thoughtful lyrics, and emotion in his delivery fits perfectly in the old songs and even more so in the songs we are writing currently and are about to release. He’s also a maniac on stage. Norm and I became dads recently. We are still navigating the balance of shows, international tours, festivals and all that comes with be jukebox daddies.
We have new music coming soon, just waiting to be released. Stoked for the future and stoked to be celebrating all 15 years of THE JUKEBOX ROMANTICS.
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