Thursday, October 10th, 2013. Raining innumerable domestic animals. Inside the New Way Bar, loners, lovers, childhood friends, and withered businessmen merge with a love of two sacred things in common: music and baseball. The Jet Rodriguez gets the crowd on their feet just in time for the Detroit Tigers to trample the Oakland Athletics with theirs.
Cut to today, when I, after months of virtual stalking, am permitted by the fairies of music journalism to converse with the man who essentially made this all possible.
- BB: “Ok, first of all, where in the world did the name Jet Rodriguez come from? Is there a story there? If so, how many jigs would I have to perform in exchange for it?”
- CN: “Well, protocol is that the one who’s asking us about our name must perform up to three jigs before we enlighten them. But for you, I’ll do it for one really solid jig (I’ll take you up on that later). Jet Rodriguez is a reference to the classic 90’s childrens’ movie “The Sandlot,” in which the hero is named Benny “the Jet” Rodriguez. Which I think is actually yet another reference to the Elton John song, “Benny and the Jets.” So it’s a reference within a reference. Which basically just amounts to double the royalties. Not really worth it, actually.”
- BB: “That’s SO META. Well, with a name like that, your band will definitely be a hit FOR-EV-ER. (I make stupid jokes when I’m nervous around famous people). So, uh… How long have you guys been a band?”
- CN: “This is a hard question for me, incidentally. It seems as though we’ve been a band of four co-expressive men for approximately two years. However, Jet Rodriguez has been a thing for about five or six years now, as it merely started out as my solo endeavor. Naturally, Danny Bowron (the drummer) was the first additional member, whose original role was to help me play the solo material. Then we added a guitar player (Mike ‘”Effing” Daniele) under the same pretense. Then we added a bass player (The Lance Corporal of Darkness, Steve Krycia) still under that same pretense. Finally, my plans to have the guys help me with the solo material all went to hell, because that was a stupid idea anyway, and we became a band, in the real sense of the word. We all contribute to the overall puzzle that is Jet Rodriguez. And I’m confident that that’s the way it should be. We don’t actually call Mike, “Mike ‘Effing’ Daniele.” I just thought that was funny.”
- BB: “So, Are you guys from Detroit, originally?”
- CN: “I’ll let you in on our little secret. We just like to walk around pretending like we’re a true Detroit band. It feels cool to do that. But alas, we are not truly “from Detroit,” as far as Southeast Michigan is concerned. We all went to a high school about 30 minutes northeast of Detroit in a magical place called Anchor Bay. Only one of us has ever lived within city limits. Not to blow the lid on national rock and roll icons, Against the Grain, but they were bred from Anchor Bay as well. We grew up with all of them and, in fact, are good friends with them. But from a regional perspective, we are from Detroit, because that’s easy. However, I will say that the vast majority of our shows are in Detroit and the outlying close suburbs like Ferndale.”
- BB: “What’s Anchor Bay like?”
- CN: “It depends on who you ask. Some people totally hated it. Me, I’m grateful for being raised in Anchor Bay. I consider it a sort of microcosm of suburban America. It’s really diverse for one thing. Part hick, part ghetto, part upper-middle class, part dirt poor. It also supplied a sufficient amount of suburban angst to the artistic kind. It’s right on the water, which was nice growing up. It’s a neat place. Don’t ever go out of your way to visit, though.”
- BB: “But you met your band mates there, though. So that must have made it worth it?”
- CN: “It did make it worth it. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
- BB: “Well, I’m sure I speak for many locals when I say this, but Detroit is definitely lucky to have you here now. What has it been like performing in Detroit since you started?”
- CN: “The music community has really welcomed us with open arms. I haven’t yet figured out if that’s just because they don’t realize we’re imports, or if they’re just a generally welcoming community. I hope it’s the latter, but it’s probably a bit of both. We’ve considered attempting to crash the circuit of other local scenes, but art as a concept in Detroit is just so great, and I’ve always admired the local music associated with Detroit. It’s where the artists go, plain and simple. It’s just an attractive place to express oneself. Playing in Detroit is beautiful. It’s insane to play on a stage like the Magic Stick and think about all the Detroit acts that have stepped foot and sweat and bled on that stage. And it’s exciting to see new and innovative things pop up too, like the Loving Touch. So whether you’re considering what has come before you, or what is to come, Detroit is an incredible place to simply be, let alone have an opportunity to play music. Honestly, we do view Detroit as a home for us.”
- BB: “What genre would you say you fall into? And what are the advantages or disadvantages of playing this genre in Detroit right now?”
- CN: “I would say that we at least fall under the general umbrella of rock. And the true advantage/disadvantage of being a rock band in Detroit is simply that Detroit is rock. I tend to look at it like this: you can either rise above in this town (but only the crème de la crème does that), OR you can fall through the cracks and be completely overlooked (because a lot of other folks are seemingly doing what you’re doing). My hope is that Jet Rodriguez would one day have the honor of being in the former group. The neat thing about rock, especially in this city, is that it really doesn’t have so much to do with the style of music as it has to do with the attitude of it. I think there would be some (clearly uneducated) people out there that would listen to George Morris and not really understand it as rock music. To us Detroit people, we get it. It’s rock. But some dumb folks might not be as quick to call it that. My point is, George and his Gypsy chorus play the most rocking music I’ve ever heard. I mean, he is straight up Detroit rock n’ frigging roll. To me, he’s the difference between someone who plays rock, and someone who is rock. You know? Anyway… That’s not to suggest that I think there’s any shame in trying to classify and pinpoint artists into specific genres. That totally has it’s place. Like right now, I think Jet Rodriguez is maybe a throwback, stylistically. We might have a Woodstock-ish aura, expressed through a 21st century lens though, of course. We’re a lot of 60’s-70’s rock, with a dash folk mixed in, perhaps. I made up a genre to help put it into words: “psychedelicate,” is what I call it, which is something I think effectively captures what we’re projecting.”
- BB: “I could definitely see the psychedelicate aspects during your performance at the New Way. I also loved the way you and your drummer interpreted some of the covers you played that night. A lot of times I despise covers of songs I really like, but you guys did an amazing job with those songs. I was floored when you played ‘Moondance.'”
- CN: “I’m totally ecstatic that you dug our covers that much. In truth, we as “Jet Rodriguez,” do not play covers at all. The only exception being one time last year, when we did Marvin Gaye for Det x Det. The whole covering songs business is really a side thing that Danny and I do under the name Damn Uncanny. Get it? Like Cam and Danny? Damn Uncanny? Well, we’re trying to take it seriously and play out more as a completely separate, more cover-ey duo-ey entity. It’s kind of entertaining for me. I suspect that it’s ultimately an extension of my deeply engrained need to always try to be the center of attention. On stage. Performing. Lights. That kind of thing. It’s all about me. I’m “that guy,” I guess. No, but for real, Danny and I love to sing together. We’ve been doing that since we were 12. And we figured, if it helps pay the bills, then why not, you know? Why not explore that avenue? It’s fun, and people seem to like it. It’s taken me a long time to get to that point, creatively, but I’m here now, with the encouragement of Danny. The idea of doing covers used to piss me off. In the name of Art and Expression, I felt icky about doing something other than my own stuff. But I tried real hard and now I’m a lot more comfortable with the idea. Playing covers wouldn’t ever do anything but help promote my true art in the end, I’m inclined to believe.”
- BB: “And how do you choose which songs to cover?”
- CN: “It’s a very crowd conscious thing. We do a lot of pop songs, 80’s, 90’s, whatever. Some well known classic tunes as well. Anything we think a general audience of all ages could potentially appreciate. Granted, we have to like the song as a prerequisite. We try not do stuff we don’t like. Sometimes a stupid song works it’s way into the set list, but in general, we try to exclude that. We also pepper in the stuff that might not be as well known, but that we really enjoy, like Fleet Foxes or Sufjan Stevens. We try to limit the more obscure stuff. Just enough to make it pleasant for us.”
- BB: “Well, it was definitely pleasant for the crowd as well. Ok, Cameron. Let’s get down to the real stuff here, shall we?”
- CN: “Totally.”
- BB: “Are you left or right handed?”
- CN: “Lefties rule. Righties drool.”
- BB: “Ok, ok. I’ll withhold judgement on that one. Now, describe to me the happiest time of your life. Please.”
- CN: “I would be doing an injustice to the present if I did not say that right now is totally the happiest time of my life. It truly is. I’m playing my music. I’m in love with a beautiful woman who is also my best friend. I have a supportive family, both biological and musical. And I live in (the suburbs of) America’s #1 rising city. Right now is when it is.”
- BB: “That all sounds so fantastic. And any goals for the upcoming months?”
- CN: “We do have some awesome goals! We’re going to be continuing to record our first full length record together. There isn’t yet a release date on that, but it won’t be too long. Really, we’re just laying low and tightening up. Making sure we sound the best we can.”
- BB: “Wonderful! And just a few more things, here, then. What are the top 5 items on your Christmas List this year?”
- CN: “5. Snuggie, 4. Recording equipment, 3. HD camcorder, 2. Snuggie, 1. A new guitar/amp rig!? (Plzzz Santa??)”
- BB: “And what about if you got the chance to meet 5 musicians this year for Christmas?”
- CN: “Oh, good one! Let me think… Ok, 1. Sufjan Stevens (easy answer for me), 2. Neil Young, 3. Van Morrison, 4. Robin Pecknold, 5. George Harrison. Well, in retrospect I think I would have switched Van Morrison and George Harrison.”
Well, there you have it, guys. Not only is Cameron Navetta a brilliant composer, singer, and musician, but he also has great taste in Beatles. Listen to the band now at thejetrodriguezmusic.com, and look for their record, “Day of the Dead” on vinyl, CD, or available for download on their website in the upcoming months!