Meet Jonathan Long AKA JayLong. Jonathan is a songwriter, vocalist, violinist, guitarist, and the frontman for the Los Angles based band Vulpes. Vulpes enjoys playing all sorts of music ranging from indie rock to R&B and hip-hop to electronic. Long has been playing violin since the age of five and does not plan on stopping any time soon. He has been playing for almost twenty years. Long also has a degree in Music Education and Music Performance from Xavier University and tends to focus on the “purpose” within music. According to Long his life is centered around that purpose.
Vulpes is actively looking to play shows so make sure to reach out to JayLong on Gigmor. They have a ton of work on the page including really great covers of massive pop hits like Drake’s “Hotline Bling” and Sam Smith & Disclosure’s “Latch”.
JayLong is a self taught producer. He taught himself how to use ProTools and is classically trained in violin as well as the art of acting– talk about multi-talented. With so many different influences, there is no wonder Long aims to create a fusion of as many genres as possible. For example, Vulpes would play live jazz while using 90’s hip-hop samples and a heavily syncopated dubstep bass in the background. Jonathan isn’t looking to find a specific sound, but instead a language that he can communicate through. He really seems like he’s going places between his smooth voice, talent on multiple instruments, and all of his production experience. Make sure to check out his Gigmor page and give him a follow!
Today’s feature is on up and coming rock band Sail, out of Detroit, MI. They have a ton of awesome covers featured on their Gigmor profile and we actually got to spotlight their “Limelight” cover on our “Gigmor’s Best 80’s Covers” blog post. We had the chance to sit down with their lead vocalist Anthony Fink and their drummer Tom Lowe. They weighed in on the band’s current state and a little bit about their beginnings.
Gigmor: Thanks for sitting down with us today guys. First question. What is each of your musical backgrounds? How did that lead you to Sail?
Anthony: I grew up classically trained in piano starting when I was about seven years old, then I got really into choir and eventually wanted to try it in college. I got into the Western School of Music, I really went for it when I wanted to. Then I decided to leave college to pursue gigging and that’s when I ran into them [Sail]. They like me, I like them, for about two years now we’ve been jamming out and it’s been great.
Tom: I started playing guitar in elementary school, then I started getting into drums in middle school. I kept with both of them for a while after. Aside from that, my first ever band experience was [playing with] a couple of my friends from church. We practiced a couple times a week and played some gigs. Now we’re here, doing Sail, and have two guitar players, a bassist, and a new female vocalist and have a ton of shows lined up.
Gigmor: How’s the songwriting process going so far for Sail?
Anthony: As every musician knows it’s a difficult process as well as a fun one. I actually have my solo EP out on iTunes– I’ve been writing since my freshmen year of high school. The other members are pretty into it too. As far as the band’s writing process it’s more about the collective sound. Each member kind of goes in different directions and eventually it all comes together.
Tom: We haven’t written that much music. We’re still working to perfect our four-hour set. Once we have time to put our own individual stuff on the table we’ll see what we come up with as a group.
Gigmor: Hit any speed bumps along the way?
Anthony: Creative differences obviously, people are going to want to express what they want to do. It’s never anything bad and always gets worked out. But it is imperative that everyone is on the same page in the end.
Gigmor: If you had to pick one, would you play only covers or only originals? Any personal favorites?
Anthony: Right now we want to do more originals, we’ll never not do covers. We love them too. We like to imitate the covers we play with a little bit of a modern flare to it. Some of my favorites personally are “Creep” by Radiohead and “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals, the audience always loves “Limelight” by Rush.
Tom: I’d say originals. A cover band lets you make a living, but ideally I’d say originals. My favorite is probably…..”Soul To Squeeze” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Gigmor: One selfish question real quick… How did you find out about Gigmor? How do you like it?
A: Our manager Cheri is very good at networking, your site seemed like it had a lot of action. We liked what we saw and just hopped in! The site looks great and is pretty easy to navigate.
G: On your Gigmor page we saw you said you were “Willing to Dress for Events”…any absurd requests?
A: Not yet! We would love to and are up for whatever!
T: Nothing weird, just suit and tie for weddings and stuff.
G: Okay, last question. What are the best and worst song requests an audience member has made?
A: There haven’t been many requests, we used to get “Freebird” all the time.
T: I can’t even think of a worst… well I guess it might have been “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons. I think it just went bad because that song is pretty synthy and obviously we’re more acoustic. That was more like it didn’t go over well not really a bad request. One of the better requests we got was “Short Skirt Long Jacket” by Cake. I love that song.
G: Well thanks so much for taking the time to sit down with us and best of luck!
