If there’s one thing Jimmy Eat World has learned, it’s that sometimes it’s best to do it yourself.  The band had problems with Capitol Records back in the day, then left the label and released one of their most successful albums to date.  After having built their own studio at home in Tempe, Arizona, they’re back and they’re doing it their way. They’ve done this with the utmost confidence as a seasoned band that’s seen a bit of everything on their journey to the radio and back. The latest album, Chase This Light, was recorded at home base instead of the Hollywood hills and they prefer it that way. With family and friends by their side, they’ve set out to take a bite out of the airwaves once again.  

Rick Burch, J.E.W.’s bassist took the time to tell us about the past, the present and future for the band that you just can’t seem to get out of your head. 

SS: How’s the tour been so far?

RB: The tour’s been great. All of the shows have been really good. A lot of people have been coming out and having a good time. It’s great being on the road again, especially with new material.

SS: It looks like you’ve had a few days off. What’ve you been up to?

RB: We went home for a couple days and checked in with the family for a little quality time. 

SS: What does family consist of for you guys?

RB: For myself, I’m married to my wife Jenna and we have pets at home. Tom, the guitar player is married with no kids and then Jim and Zach are married as well. Jim has two sons and Zach has one daughter. They’re all between about four and six, about there.

SS: Sounds like it’s a family affair.

RB: Absolutely!

SS: This dates back a bit, but your song “Hear You Me” is probably the most commonly played song at funerals, especially for teenagers. Did you guys see that coming when you wrote the song?

RB: No, we didn’t see that coming, but we’ve certainly noticed. When we’re out on the road playing, we usually try to hang out and meet our fans after the shows if we have time.  While doing this we’ve often heard our fans tell us about their loved ones whom they’ve lost and how they played the song at their funeral. The song really seems to have helped a lot of people through some tough times.

SS: As a band, what did that song mean to you?

RB: From the bands standpoint the song is about two friends of ours from way way back when we were touring in the van with sleeping bags. At the shows we’d announce over the mic that we were looking for a place to stay and fans would typically put us up for the night.  In Portland, Oregon we became good friends with these two sisters, Mikah and Carly, who let us stay over. They were killed in a car accident two years later. That was the inspiration for the song.

SS: Your self-titled album was a series of tighter pop-punk songs, while Futures seemed to give you some room to experiment a bit more.  Where do you see Chase This Light fitting into this mix of albums?

RB: I think Chase This Light was simply the next step for Jimmy Eat World and it was a lot more fun to record because we were able to record the album in our own rehearsal space that we built in Tempe, Arizona. It was a lot of fun to be on our own turf without having to pay the daily huge fee to be in the studio. It was also really cool being able to go home and sleep in your own bed and catch up with the family, as opposed to going home to an empty hotel room every night. Being that we were in our own studio we had everything that we owned plugged in and turned on so that we could experiment with different parts of each song until we found the right sound.  I think you can hear that in the songs.

SS: I read that the album was written and recorded in less than six months. What were you looking to accomplish with this album that you may feel you hadn’t in the past albums?

RB: We didn’t really look at it like that. We basically had about 25 solid songs written and we sat down with each of them and discussed which to pick.  Had we picked these particular songs the album might have been completely mellow as opposed to these other 12 songs it would have been a total barn-burner rocker. In the end I feel we picked a nice variety.

SS: I know you guys had some problems with Capitol Records in the past. If you were faced with that same situation where your label wasn’t backing you as you felt they should, would you self-fund another tour in support of an album, like this one for example?

RB:  Yeah we would definitely do that if we were in that situation again. As soon as we got away from Capitol, that was the most free we’d ever felt. We took that opportunity to make Bleed American on our own without a major label looking over our shoulders.  This is actually our third and final record with Interscope. They have the option to pick up the next album but we’ve yet to hear or see anything in writing. So, maybe we’ll be right back in that same situation for the next album.

SS: How did life change as a band and as human beings once thunder struck with the hit single “The Middle?”

RB: Oh geez. We were actually on the road when it started taking off. It was hard to tell what was really going on because you sort of lose contact with the rest of the world while on tour. We started noticing the shows were getting bigger and the people coming to the shows were definitely more of a “radio crowd.”  Of course the record sales started doing really well.  Nothing much changed for us except that it solidified that we wouldn’t have get that job we each had back home once the tour was over…(laughter).

SS: How would you describe the Mesa, Arizona music scene?

RB: It’s always been a really tough place for young musicians. There are only a couple of venues and there are a few people who’ve worked hard to make sure there are a few places for musicians to play. It’s always been hard to have all-ages shows because most of the venues are bars as well, so you can’t have the kids and the booze together. 

SS: Prior to going into the studio for Chase This Light, what other bands were you listening to?

RB: At the time I was listening to a lot of stuff I hadn’t listened to for about 10 years like Fugazi and some of the other classics.

SS: I’m not here to put labels on things, ’cause I think that’s bullshit, but Jim Adkins – would you describe him as a more sensitive guy or simply more honest.

RB: I’d say more honest.

SS: Having gone through several records, grown older, wiser and renowned worldwide; how would you say it’s affected your music?

RB: I think we’re still trying to make Jimmy Eat World music.  It would be really easy to say “Hey, Green Day did that and it seemed to work” and then copy it - but that’s not what we’re about. We’ve learned so much over the years and we’ve tried to apply it all to our music, especially as far as live musicianship.

SS: What would you say is the most important thing you’ve learned while touring the world?

RB: Bring your own pillow…(laughter). Actually the most important thing that I’ve learned is you can’t party full-bore every night. Every show should be just like the first, but you can’t keep the partying up like that. It’s hard though because people are super excited to see us play and we’re excited to play for them, but we need to realize we’ll be doing it the next day for the rest of the year.  It’s tempting to go nuts every night.