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FAQ's |
What does the word "Enkephalins" mean?
Enkephalins are neurotransmitters in the brain which inhibit pain and
produce opiate-like effects similar to euphoria or orgasms.
Where are all of the songs recorded?
The songs are recorded in Basement Studios in Edison, NJ, which is
also known as Todd's Basement... The basement of my house... get it!
Have you played any shows?
Sure... We played small parties..
Will you play or record again?
Sure.. we would both love to but we are very busy people and we also
need a new rehearsal space as well as some new instruments..
Were Enekphalins ever been played on the radio?
Sure.. We have been played on WCRN in Paterson, NJ as well as a short
live segment on "Seven Second Delay", the Ken and Andy Show on WFMU 91.1
in East Orange.
Were you two in any other bands?
Yes... Jay Jones was in Ripped Pajamas. Todd E. Jones was in the Basement
People and Bleached Jeans (a band where Kevin "Slut" Mallon was in too.)
The Jones brothers, Jay and Todd were in a band called Compassionate Rain
before they formed Enkephalins.
Who are those people knocking on the door and
telling you to lower the noise at the end of some songs..?
Those are our parents who love us very much but do not appreciate the
fine sonic art we create at 3:33 in the morning on a weeknight. If your
parents don't like it... you know it's cool..
What happened to Kevin "Slut" Mallon and Brian
who are in "Suburban Gangstaz"?
Well, Kevin lives up in Mahwah and has a steady and time-consuming
job. Brian... well, he says that he's a fashion designer in New York..
Who is that girl who sings on "Fire In My Heart",
"Indian Poppy", "Fly Lullaby", and "Martian Man"? Where is she now and
how come she is not in anymore of the songs?
Her name is Tannis and she was my brother Jay's girlfriend at the time
but she got booted out of the group because she was obsessed with Barbie
dolls. She also was in the group The Billy Crosbys from Metuchen. Where
is she now??? No one really knows for sure....
Is there really such thing as a "Beautiful
Girl House" and if so, where is it?
YES!!! There really is a "Beautiful Girl House" and that house (and
the naked ladies inside it) inspired us to write that song.. The house
is in New Brunswick, NJ.
What are some of your favorite bands that you
listen to?
Close
Lobsters, Trisomie
21, Felt, Denim, SuckRock, Wolfgang Press, Tribe Called Quest, Hot
Boys, Juvenile, Beastie Boys, Pulp, My Bloody Valentine, The Roots, Psychic
T.V., Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, The House Of Love, Stone Roses, Happy
Mondays, Ween, Wu-Tang Clan, The Auteurs, Television Personalities, Beautiful
South, Jasmine Minks, Momus,.....and many many more.. Check out Bands
that I Love...
What song is sampled in "The Beautiful Girl
House" where a the lyrics "Professional drug taker" is scratched?
"Fat Neck (live version)" by Black Grape.
Is it true that you have a brother who is in
a different band?
Yes! Scott Jones is in a band called LSDT
who play something like Rock Alternative music. They put on a tight show.
Check out their site at (http://www.lsdt.com)
Enkephalins seem to experiment with many different
styles of music.. What styles are your favorite?
Jay Jones seems to love punk & pop music especially things like
Beautiful South, Spiritualized, Felt, Denim, New Order while Todd E. Jones
loves pop too (Close Lobsters, Felt, Television Personalities) but also
has a deep fascination with hardcore hip-hop music, jazz, ambient, Gothic,
Industrial, etc... They both keep their minds open to all kinds of musical
styles but they just don't seem to get into country... sorry.
Does Todd E. Jones really know Andrew Burnett
from Close
Lobsters?
Yes.. how the hell do you think he could run The
Official Close Lobsters Home Page.!?!?!
Is it true both of you are vegetarians?
Yes! We both do NOT eat dead animal flesh... We love lentil soup, pancakes,
Indian food, Lebonease food, and Tofu...
Is Jay gay?
No.. no one in Enkephalins is gay... Jay is engaged to a beautiful
woman and is happy. Todd, is free to do whatever he chooses and is happy.
I didn't ask you if anyone was happy...?
Well... the word "Gay" does mean happy but also implies homosexual
behavior. Todd and Jay are both heterosexuals who LOVE woman...
This woman who Jay is engaged to? Who is she
and will she be singing or making music in Enkephalins?
Her name is Tracy and she does like Enkephains. She is a fan and I
would love to work with her on some songs. I can see all 3 of us working
in the future... That would be cool.
Todd was dating a woman for a long time during
many of the Enkephalins' recordings around 95-98.. Why didn't she do anything
on any of the songs?
Her voice is on the answering machine on some of the songs but all
in all, she wasn't supportive on Enkephalins.. she wasn't supprotive at
all, she was a big meanie..
Who are the other woman who played with Enkephalins?
Well, there was Lacy, Jill, Denise, and some other stripper junkie
who was incredible sexy and believed in Wicca.
Who's the "cubby tiger" that the woman refers
to in the song "Dark Disorder Daze"?
Bainy is Jay's beautiful cat who is more like the feline princess of
the Jones household.
What bands have you sampled in your songs?
Felt, Black Grape, Trisomie
21, Television Personalities, Close
Lobsters, My Bloody Valentine, DJ Krush, United Future Organization,
Digable Planets, The Coup, The Wolfgang Press, Brand New Heavies, Meat
Beat Manifesto, Jamiroqaui, Tangerine Dream, Xymox, Psychic T.V., The Stone
Roses, The New Fast Automatic Daffodils, etc...
Many of your songs seem to have drug references
(ie "Jonsin'", "The Beautiful Girl House", "Food & Drink", "Suburbin
Gangstaz", "Slide My Way", "Vegetable Infinity", "Indian Poppy"), how do
you think the drug culture influenced your music?
Drug references? I never noticed that...hmm.. that's weird...
What are your favorite television shows?
Well... I cannot speak for Jay but Todd's favorite shows are Oz, The
Sopranos, The Tom Green Show, 120 Minutes, Rap City, the Howard Stern Show,
Behind The Music, Kids In The Hall, Young Ones...
What are some of your favorite movies?
Trainspotting, Pulp Fiction, The Blair Witch Project, Blue Brothers,
A Fish Called Wanda, Fritz The Cat, Shakesphere In Love, Resevoir Dogs,
The Pillow Book, True Romace, Good Fellas, JFK, I Love You To Death...
What's Jay's favorite movie?
"Road House" with Patrick Swaze.. he watches 4 times a day and invites
strangers over to his apartment to watch it and try to act out the fighting
scenes...
Really? Is That true?
No.
What is that weird loud clanking sound in the
song "Honkeycentric"?
It's an empty seltzer bottle with pennies..
In "Honkeycentric", what does the line "We're
all electric.." mean?
It does not matter the race (black or white) because we are all electric.
We are all molecules and charged particles conducting electric current.
So you guys are actually pretty deep, you're
not just a silly band?
You know it..
What was the first Enkephalins song ever recorded
and what was it about?
"Banana Hammok" was about those ugly Speedo bathing suits cock diesal
guys wear at the beach. Tannis sung the song with Jay while I played drums..
Maybe I'm wrong, before that, Jay and I recorded "Fader (Vanished)" and
I recorded "Excited".. Those are two instrumentals with dope dance beats
that were bade in between Compassion Rain demos and Enkephalins.
Who else have you jammed with?
Vasil from 9-Volt records, Mike Wilson, Kevin Shampoo Slut Mallon,
Brian B-Lite Alexis, some geeky guy who was a rhodie for Stereolab.. the
list goes on...
Who is Chris Carlucci?
He's a friend of ours who lived in our basement when by brothers and
I lived in New Brunswick. He was out of luck so we gave him a place to
stay. He's a real fun guy. He doesn't owe my brother 40 balls, he owes
him 40 bucks! Still, he's a fun guy who should have a fun theme song.
Who are The New Jeru Poets?
The New Jeru Poets are a hip-hop group that I belong to. It's kind
of an Enkephalins side project. Vasil, Kevin Shampoo Slut Mallon, and Rob
"Icon- Shank Williams" Gonzolaz are apart of the group. You can check out
some of out dope hip-hop freestyles if you go to The
Never Ending Rhymes.... Songs like "Ya' Know What I'm Sayin'" and "Suburban
Gangstaz" are songs by The New Jeru Poets. Since The New Jeru Poets are
strictly hip-hop, we run the Hardcore
Hip-Hop Record Reviews by The New Jeru Poets on the Endorphin Bath
site.
Do you guys have any jobs besides music?
Yes.. Jay is a biologist and I am an Internet Administrator/Developer
for an international staffing and recruiting firm.
What kind of women are your type?
I know Jay likes women who are small and thin.. very thin.. He won't
even talk to a woman if she is overweight. Every time he sees a big woman
he yells.. "FAT!" really loud. It's very odd.... naa... that's not true..
He does like very thin women though. I like women who are much more curvy.
I like the feminine features of a woman like the behind, hips and the breasts.
Most important, she needs to be astute, open-minded and with a sense of
humor and a sense of style and sophistication.
What inspired the lyrics to the song "Food
And Drink"?
My brother and I went to my cousin Ricky's wedding. We're both vegetarians
so we had a limited menu.. That's why there are pigs sqeauling in the background
when we sing "I'm not going to eat the food..." There's also a sense of
sophistication and wealth when we can dress up in high-class clothes and
celebrate life with food and drink. At the time, I was going out with a
very snobby woman who did not want to dance at all. I kept on asking her
to dance but she just wanted to sit there and she also wanted me just to
sit there with her... hence the line "I ask you to dance to enhance the
romance." Still, besides all that, I had a good time at the wedding because
of the realization that it was a celebration of life, food and drink.
What is the last line in the song "Spinnin'
& Winnin'" where you both sing..."...I'm ponching, I'm living with
her now, We're spinning and we're winning so come on over and get your..."
and it goes all crazy, loopy, fades out and ends?
I cannot tell you that... it's a secret that Jay and I will take to
the grave...
What's the deal with the "Stop Soaping" in
"Suburban Gangstaz"?
It has multiple meanings. One is to get the hell out of the shower
and get out there and start hustling. Also, some lowlife drug dealers tend
to cut their drugs with actual soap so the verb, soaping, means to cut
drugs with soap. It's also a term for people being clean and off drugs.
When people are soaping, they are being sober so when suburban gangsters
tell you to stop soaping, it means that they are telling you to stop being
sober, give them all your money and buy their drugs..
So it's an anti-drug song?
Yes.. I think it should be played as the theme song for D.A.R.E....
what the hell's wrong with you?
What is your definition of Lo-Fi?
Lo-Fi is music is for people who do not have record deals or not much
money to invest in making their own music. They can record music using
anything from answering machines to small tape recorders from the 70's.
We use a stereo recording ghetto blaster with left and right mics so we
can record in stereo. We layer songs and do overdubs but we do not have
the luxury of a recording studio where we can cut and paste within the
song.. If we mess up, that's it... we have to do the whole damn' thing
again... how you love that?
So Enkephalins are important people in the
New Jeru (New Jersey) Lo-Fi scene?
Yes... but we inspire people all over to go in there basement and make
music using anything and everything to make weird sounds. We had a weak
drum machine from the 80's which made cheesy drum beats. We threw it against
the wall and now, the drum beats are all hard and warped. It's great..
Another thing, in the song "Chris Carlucci", the tape got all warped in
the sun so we used that as an extra effect to make it sound more trippy
and crazy.. We just try to find the most unique sounds without spending
tons of money.. It's a very creative process.
Would you say "Tension Invention" is a typical
Lo-Fi song?
Yes... because everything is made with the sound of out mouths.. There
are no samples, no drums, no seltzer bottles with pennies, no drum
machines... The beat, bassline, and melody is all made with the sound effects
that Jay and I made with out mouths. Of course, the lyrics came out of
our mouths too... Now, people make music with their mouth often.. Look
at Rahzel from The Roots.. I believe Biz Markie was one of the first though...
What's the deal with Jay and this dragon...
In "Nothing Sounds Like It Really Is", he goes "Bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep
goes the dragon..." and in "Tension Invention", he calls himself
the dragon..?
I don't know.. He thinks he's a dragon... If he wants to think he's
a dragon, let him. It's not like he walks around the street on all fours
breathing fire... He thinks he's a dragon, let him be a dragon... It's
not against the law to think you're a dragon... let the man be.. damn!
In the song "Silly On The Microphone", there's
a line which says, "Screaming like Bitty in Jack and Jill's home.." Who's
Bitty?
Bitty was this huge African American man in my elementary school. He
was like 35-40 years old and took the school bus back and forth with all
the kids. The kids just sat there silent because they were all scared of
him because he was so huge and mean.
What does "Opiatopia" mean?
Opiatopia is a made up word which mixed the word Utopia with Opiate.
Put two and two together why don't ya'?
What does the song "Phototrophs" mean?
I believe it has something to do with organisms, like humans since
we are humans, who love and live in and for the sun. What the hell is this
a vocabulary quiz?
Do you guys use hand held razors or elecrtic
razors?
Jay uses an electriv razor because he likes the vibrating sound....
alot. I use a manual Gillette razor because I like to cut my face and bleed
all over the sink. Though I do use my elecrtic razor for sound effects
in some songs, I usually do not use it on my face.
What kind of education do you two have?
Jay has a masters degree from Rutgers and I have
a Bachelor's degree in English Education with a minor in Creative Writing
from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Pro Choice or Pro-life?
Well, life is a good thing but I believe a woman has the right to choose
what she should do with her body especially her uterus. Like Ladybug from
Digable Planets said, "Why is the government all in my uterus?"
Do you believe in creation or evolution?
The only creationn I believe is in Alan McGee's Creation label for
bands like Ride, Primal Scream, and My Bloody Valentine. Jay and Todd both
believe in Darwin's theory of evolution. Though, Todd does think the Shroad
of Turin is pretty wild..
Besides music, what are some of your other
interests?
Jay loves biology, bikes, snowboarding and surfing. Todd loves writing
poetry, plays, screenplays, stories, etc. You can check him out doing poetry
readings at various coffee houses and at The Rutgers Poetry Festival. They
both are interested in computers (web pages and internet stuff.) Todd has
a fascination with The Baader-Meinhof Group. (http://www.baader-meinhof.com)
Todd is writing a novel and is the webmaster of ENDORPHIN
BATH.
What's the secret to the enkephalin special
sauce?
Well it's in the spicy layers of melted vibes
and warped beats compounded by interwoven spooky, groovy, and always toungy
in cheeky, vocalazations. Guitars, harmonicas, electric shavers, and empty
seltzer bottles with pennies inside help too.
What drives the spirit of Enkephalins?
Creativity, wild times, open-minded people, and improvisation! Practically
every single song comes out of improvisation.
How can people get in touch with Enkephalins
or buy any of their music?
Easy... email me or you can mail money, instruments,
letters or requests for Enkephalins music if you
Contact:
Enkephalins
c/o Todd E. Jones & Endorphin Bath productions
211 W. Hegel Ave
Edison, NJ 08820
Is there a future for Enkephalins..???
Yes.. The fun is not done. I think Enkephalins are only just begining
to get things crazy...
sscwon@bellatlantic.net
and check out their record label..
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