Jam Therapy

When you hear of Liverpool you think of Beatles, when you hear Asbury Park you think of Bruce Springsteen; Jam Therapy wants its name synonymous with Panama City.

This young band has been hard at work, from playing a show at the civic center’s Back Stage Pass to jumping into a car and driving straight to Nashville to be at the studio by the next morning. It began for the band in a high school jazz band. “We all grew up with that music,” said Alejandro “It’s ingrained in us, and when we are honest with ourselves it just comes out.”

Garret Brown and Chase Morgan played together in previous bands trying to find the right line up.

Eventually Garret and Chase brought on Alejandro Rios, the final player to join the team was Joseph Melancon. Joseph was brought in by Garret after the two met at Troy University.

Joseph was originally brought in to sit in on a few gigs, but after the shows Joseph was asked to join permanently to complete the sound.

“I would love to say we are lyrically driven but in truth we are pretty riff driven,” Garret said. “We are about the music as of now. Recently we have been trying to put some more focus towards melody and meanings.”

The challenges of song writing seem to be overcome with ease, with band members drawing on the lessons learned while in the high school jazz band. Garret Chase and Alejandro know all their parts inside and out before adding
Joseph’s drums. There’s one slight disadvantage for the band, with Joseph living outside the area–about a four-hour drive outside the area. He has to bring his A game each time, with the band often not having rehearsal time before playing a show.

With the disadvantage of distance among the band members, they find there is less conflict and they get a more diverse range of songs in their writing. They work as a team, at times with one member contributing the bulk of the writing, but another tweaking it to completion.

“That’s why our songs are so different,” Chase said. “One of us does the bulk of the song writing.” If there is a conflict, the song writer is always right.

While music influences music, each member finds influence for its sound from other aspects of life.

For Garret, the non-musical influences come from films by Stanley Kubrick, whose images trigger outside-of-the-box thinking for this guitarist and lead vocalist.
Women also provide an influence for
Garret: “When I see a cute one,
I try and write a ditty to see if it goes anywhere.”

Funny videos get the creativity going for bass and keyboardist Chase. He likes to find a few good ones from the Internet to set the mood before he takes the stage.

Good health and exercise are keys for Alejandro. They get the lead guitarist into a creative mind set. ”I’m  usually focused on just trying to put soul, energy and fun into it–what my soul brings out of the music,” Alejandro said. “I would rather do my talking with my
actual guitar playing. I just love how whenever you’re playing an instrument that really speaks your soul.”

Joseph uses visual arts, feeling that it goes hand in hand with
music. Graphic artists such as French illustrator Jean Giraud influence his sound. Joseph also uses this skill to create the C.D. Demo art work; his personal art is a great representation of the band’s sound.

The band’s musical influences draw on a mixture of old and new, classic and contemporary, which gives it that retro flavor of
psychedelic rock tempered with modern touches.

Garret draws on the operatic touches of Queen and the blues of Roy Buchanan.

Chase follows Led Zeppelin and the Doors.

Alejandro draws on Led Zeppelin, the Beatles and Dr. Dog.

Joseph finds his sounds through Led Zeppelin, Mars Volta, Black
Sabbath and Pink Floyd.

The roots of psychedelic rock are still fertile to produce new and exciting bands such as Jam Therapy.

“We are not trying to recreate that sound,” Alejandro said, adding that the old sounds have evolved into so many new branches and forms. The band’s goal isn’t to recreate but to re-inspire the fans with that feeling.

“I work at a music shop, and you hear from older people, ‘ah man, they just don’t make music like they made from the 70s and 60s anymore,’” Alejandro said. “I want to show them that there is still great music out there.”