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Initially formed in 2005, REGARDING JACK hit its true stride earlier this year when Ali Zakka (bass, backing vocals), Jay Akins (electric guitars, backing vocals) Derrick Plum (drums/percussion) and Andrew Corradini (lead vocals, acoustic/electric guitars and keyboards) joined forces after a few years of encountering each other on the local music scene. All from various parts of Orange County, but collectively calling Costa Mesa home, REGARDING JACK brings the true golden state mentality to their music and style both on and off the record.
“I would say that we are a pop band,” says vocalist Corradini, “but there’s more to it than that… We try to implement all kinds of sounds in our tunes, while still holding onto that REGARDING JACK thing.” That “REGARDING JACK thing,” is described in the band’s range of influences – everything from Tom Waits and Springsteen, Joni Mitchell and The Kinks, and even more modern artists like Matt Costa and The Shins. They simply soak in their environment and put it to a soundtrack, whether that soundtrack includes country, indie-rock, pop or all of the above, the music maintains the laid-back vibe so often associated with the band’s hometown, as do their live performances and song-writing style.
Each of REGARDING JACK’S members contributes much more than their specific instrumental skills to the song-writing process. Although Corradini composes most of the lyrics, he takes full advantage of the fact that REGARDING JACK has Zakka, an English Major, on bass and an arsenal of ideas coming from Akins and Plum as well. By pulling from the entire band’s creative sensibilities and crediting REGARDING JACK on the whole as writer/composer, music stays fresh and the band stays solid.
Much of their performance style is rooted in REGARDING JACK’S combined songwriting efforts. Thanks to their collective knowledge of each song’s format, their live shows are impressively cohesive, yet, that familiarity allows room for the band to really play – keeping each live performance spontaneous, energetic and crisp.
REGARDING JACK’S first 6-song EP, produced and mixed by INFRASONIC SOUND RECORDING CO.’S Lars Stalfors, was released shortly after their formation. The guys jumped back into the studio with Stalfors in 2007 to work on their follow up EP, which will be released independently in the spring of 2008. REGARDING JACK is currently in the studio working on their full-length, pulling from their arsenal of existing material, live show experience and collective imagination of what “The Pacific Coast” does indeed sound like. Stay tuned.