http://thestarceleb.com/2010/04/18/my-radio’s-tunes-heard-in-‘the-joneses’-fox-sports/
April 18, 2010
My Radio’s Tunes Heard in ‘The Joneses,’ Fox Sports
Written by: Mandy Rodgers on 18 April 2010 | One Comment |
Opening this weekend in theaters across the nation, “The Joneses”—starring Demi Moore andDavid Duchovny and directed by Derrick Borte—features music by My Radio, a group recently featured on MTV Music and Fox Sports, all without a record deal.
The members of Roanoke, Va.-based band My Radio knew they loved music, but the idea of pursuing it came after each took different career paths first.
“I think it’s a combination of we all wanted to play music andhad played music since we were young, but we had all done other things,” lead singer/keys John Paul (JP) Powell told The Star Celeb. “We all met making music and backing music, and I don’t know if we expected to kind of form a band and have success like we’ve had, but, for me, I was in the Air Force for a while, and I just didn’t know how I would find my way into music.”
Brett Lemon (guitars) went to college, dropped out and met Powell, forming a nearly instant “bond.”
“Things just quickly moved forward,” Lemon said. “It was really great, really special.”
“It was really kind of a stroke of luck but kind of not cause we had all crossed paths before—it sort of just worked out,” explained Hunter Johnson (drums).
Rounding out the quartet is Jeff Hoffman who gives the group its bass sounds and heads up its online outreach as his fellow band members call him the “internet beast.”
Without a strong music scene in Roanoke, the guys decided to make “the best original rock pop” music they could and try a different route than the traditional record company chase.
“Our whole band strategy was not to find a record deal but find a placement company,” Powell revealed.“Because the best way for people to hear our music was if people here it through TV and movies.”
And so far, this method has done well for the band who received an important placement deal with the feature film “The Joneses.” The use of My Radio’s song “Yeah Yeah Yeah” (of the debut “Give Us the Sun”) came from its involvement with Ocean Park Music Group, a company that works with independent musicians to achieve placement of their pieces in film, television and commercials. My Radio sent songs in to the company and received the spot.
“(We’re the) only unsigned group that they are working with,” said Hoffman.
The band had just seen the final product with the music in place and was in awe when they spoke with The Star Celeb.
“It’s two and half minutes straight of just the actors doing different things,” Powell said. “Everyone that sees that movie is forced to listen to that song. It’s great placement. It was lucky.”
He continued, “For me, honestly, seeing the clip of our music in the film, these moments, you’re watching Demi Moore strut her stuff in time with your stuff, you’re like this is pretty cool.”
However, there’s another side to this unique venue for future fans to be introduced to new tunes.
“It’s also a little scary, cause it’s like you think you’ve made it, but we have so much work to do,”marveled Johnson. “It’s surreal.”
To celebrate the film’s release, My Radio traveled to Atlanta—the city where it was filmed—and played at a launch party at Muse Salon and Spa, owned by Daniel Jones.
“(The party was) surreal and fun,” Powell recalled. “With a ton of nice people. The next morning, they were like, ‘You have to come in here before you leave,’ and we all got free haircuts.”
Whitney Noonan, an extra in the feature and one of the party organizers called on My Radio to join the soirée.
“They have a really unique sound because they’re an indie rock band, but they’re being picked up too, and I noticed their genuineness,” Noonan said. She explained that the group wanted to give a percentage of the proceeds from CD sales to charity, and they donated the money to a cancer center.
Looking to the future, My Radio is already four songs into the next record and hoping for an August release date.
And what’s up with the ambiguous and hard-to-Google name, My Radio?
Lemon—the photographer of the pals—had his grandfather’s antique radio from the ‘70s in the rehearsal space when they were taking press shots and thought, “It just really represented the music we were trying to play and feel of the whole situation.”
So the prop made it into the first press photo.
Powell explained the meaning: “Everyone wants to hear their music on the radio, and I think we write songs that sound like they should be on the radio. Like driving down the highway, you turn it up, that’s literally the connection we want. There are some powerful moments through song on the radio.”
To hear My Radio’s songs, visit the website: www.myradioband.com or watch “The Joneses” at a theater near you.