Interview with Not Tonight Josephine guitarist Jake Moore

Check out the song: “All That She Wants”

I recently had the opportunity to speak with the guitarist for alt-rock band Not Tonight Josephine, Jake Moore, about their debut full-length release All On The Horizon. Taking their name from a quote by Napoleon, these guys have created a disc that is packed full of big, swirling melodies combined with deeply personal, introspective lyrics that resonate long after the songs are over. They’re hitting the road this summer and plan on touring non-stop in support of the record. Here’s how the conversation went.

Now that your new disc All On The Horizon is complete, how do you feel about it and are you satisfied with the outcome?
Jake: We are and I think as with anybody you just hear it so much that you start picking it apart especially when we got it first put together and went the through mixing and mastering process. I feel it is a great second step from our EP. We are happy with where it is. We feel it is very cohesive, it has a great sound to it and it really represents us well. We feel it is high energy just like our live show and we wanted to get as much of our live sound into this record and we feel like we did a good job. For the budget we were on, not having the money and not having a label we are extremely satisfied and we are looking forward to hearing what people have to say about it.

What was the writing process like for this disc? Did you guys all write together?
Jake: We definitely have a collective writing process. Everybody has fair input and people will bring in a riff and we just kind of work on it from there. We will go through 5 or 6 different verse ideas. We will flip around chorus ideas until we feel that they are where they are supposed to be. Everybody is completely involved in every aspect of the writing.

Are there any tracks on the disc that are personal favorites or that have good stories behind them?
Jake: My personal favorite is “We Will Never Be The Same.” So kind of like from here forward everything is going to change for us. Now we have a full-length album, yes we are still unsigned and we are doing this on our own, but all the chips are on the table and we are all in doing what we are doing. We are going out on the road and our plan is to tour, tour, tour and continue to write new music until we have enough to put out a new album. That is pretty much where we sit with it all.

I am sure you get asked this all the time, but what is the story behind the name?
Jake: Yeah we do get asked it all the time. Napoleon would always go off to war because that was his passion and for us music is our passion, we wanted something that was memorable as well. The story behind it is Napoleon wrote a letter to his wife and basically said that he was not going to come home from war, “Not tonight Josephine.” For us we have to leave our families and loved ones behind to go out on tour and it is not the easiest thing in the world to do, but we do it because we are passionate about what we do and we are chasing our dreams.

I know you mentioned you will be touring. What kind of plans do you have?
Jake: Well we just did a tour kick off here in Florida at The University Of South Florida then we will be heading out for a whole month of touring. We will come home for a few days and then we are back on the road again for the summer.

What kind of feedback have you been receiving from the CD so far?
Jake: The feedback has been really positive so far, but that has mostly come from people that are really into our music. I think the first thing we are really looking forward to (because we have really thick skin), is for someone to give us a heavy critique of the album. That is what we are really looking forward to. We understand not everyone is going to love this album and what we do, but so far so good.

Check out the song: “Carousel”

What would fans be surprised to find on your iPod?
Jake: Dr. Dre and Eminem.

Do you have a book that you have read that you think others should read?
Jake: ‘Interview With A Vampire’. I know it is an oldie, but I love that book.

What 3 words best describe Not Tonight Josephine?
Jake: Energetic, Fun and Listenable.

If you had not become a musician what other career path would you have liked to attempt?
Jake: Culinary School would have been awesome.

If you were a superhero who would it be and why?
Jake: Batman it is just that childhood thing. It is not about superpowers it is just about being Batman.

Any closing words at all?
Jake: First off I appreciate you taking the time. Hopefully everybody will take the time to listen to us and form their own opinions about the music. If they are not going to support us go out and support some other local band. Go out and go to a show local bands need the support.