Journalism explores self-doubt on debut album Faces
As you might imagine, slapping your band with the moniker Journalism is asking for a lambasting from choirs of millennial armchair quarterbacks and commentators determined to sardonically point out every bit of life’s ironic minutiae that can be twisted into internet meme-ology. Guitarist/vocalist/ co-founder Kegan Zema—who, having graduated from the University of Maine’s journalism program with his thesis on rock criticism in hand, obviously doesn’t shy away from the fi ring-squad wall—is taking it all in stride. And by “taking it in stride,” we mean LOL-ing at the clever quips thrown at the dartboard Journalism mounted its promo pic on.
“We’ll see some funny stuff on Twitter,” he says. “Usually, it’s either, ‘Oh great, there’s a band called Journalism. Are they going to tour with Writer?’ Or, ‘Indie rock and music journalism are dead; they’ve become self-referential and self-aware.’ But that was kind of the point. I choose the name both for the idea that we’re journaling from a point in time and for the humor.”
Journalism’s roots go back about four years when Zema moved to NYC to play music with his high-school buddy, original bassist Owen Keiter. After drafting drummer Brendan Mehan and guitarist Dara Hirsch (Keiter has since been replaced by Nico Headly), the quartet coated itself in elbow grease, recorded debut EP 1324 and embarked upon a series of DIY tours. The personal and business discoveries during this spell have contributed to the theme of debut album Faces. Backing the skittish lushness and gritty Danelectro twang of its soul-searching anthems is a rock record about being a rock band.
“A lot of the feelings discussed on the album are basically conversations between me and my self-doubt and complaints about being in a band reconciled with the fact that I’m really lucky to be able to do this, even though we’re struggling in obscurity,” says Zema. “It’s a lot of work, and it would probably be easier to give up at any point. We don’t have to do this, so even when people tell us the game is rigged, that guitar rock is dead or that we don’t have the PR budget to be heard, it’s something we care about.”
—Kevin Stewart-Panko; photo by Jeanette D. Moses
