Interview w/ Jared from Jared & The Mill

Presenting to you today an interview with Jared Kolesar, frontman for the Arizona based folk rock outfit Jared & The Mill. The indie-folk group have been rising slowly and steadily within the past year, releasing their debut album titled "Western Expansion" to a receptive audience, and are currently out on tour right now as we speak opening up for Barry Gibb of Bee Gees fame on his U.S. tour. Jared was nice enough to devote some time out of his busy schedule to do this interview, as we talk about the group's beginnings and how their musical influences have shaped and enrich their current sound that has made them who they are today. Here is the transcript from our chat:

Give us your names and your roles in the band?

Jared Kolesar - Lead Vocals / Rhythm Guitar

Larry Gast III - Lead Guitar

Michael Carter - Banjo / Mandolin

Chuck Morris - Upright Bass / Bass Guitar

Josh Morin - Drums Percussion

Gabe Hall Rodrigues - Accordion / Keyboard

How did you guys all meet and when did the group form?

In the late spring of 2011, I wanted to start a band, and we played a show at The Clubhouse in Tempe, AZ in June of that year.  Mike had been friends since the 7th grade.  Josh and Larry had been friends for just as long.  and Larry and Chuck had been around each other and music since they were kids when their dads would play gigs together.  Gabe was added to the band after I recognized him in a coffee shop and asked him if he wanted to play accordion in a folk-rock outfit.

How would you describe your sound to those who aren't familiar with you?

Our specific genre is southwestern indie-folk-rock.  It's like taking the modern folk music revival and mixing it with American Indie-Rock and just a touch of country music.

What music inspired you while growing up and how has it manifested itself in your music and lyrics?

I know it's cliche, but I listened to a little bit of everything and was impacted by all of it.  My songwriting was very much influenced by Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel, as well as come of the old cowboys like Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and the like.

What themes and/or subject matter typically revolve around your music?

The lyrics I write are pulled from the life I live, my writing started as a way to deal with my social anxieties and my self worth issue.  Once I matured and got over the angst of being young I started to revel in my youth and write about the excitement of becoming a grown up and finding purpose in fellowship, love, family, and life in general.

How does it feel to be opening up for Barry Gibb on tour and how influential has his work been on your group?

To be opening up for Barry Gibb is as exciting as it is daunting.  It's definitely a jump up in crowd size from any show we've ever played for.  I think we're up to the challenge and we all really look forward to playing for so many people who have no experience with our tunes, for a lot of them it will be the first time hearing of us, it's way cool.  Everybody has heard of the Bee Gees and Barry is the 5th highest selling artist of all time or something like that, we're going to learn so much from this tour and I'm certain Barry is going to be a great mentor for us in terms of being a professional working musician.

Take us behind the recording process for "Western Expansion", how that all came together and what the experience was like?

Western Expansion was very much our baby upon it's recording, we were so proud to see where our music had come since starting out and our passions manifested on that record.  It's really inspiring every time we listen to W.E. as a band.  The song list of the record is a collection of songs that we had been playing since forming as a band, as well as songs we had just written a month before going into the studio, it gives the listener a really great idea of who we are as artists.

For fun, what do you guys like to do to unwind away from music and the road?

We all pretty much agree on camping and Star Wars.  But other than that we really enjoy showing each other songs that we've written and taking drives around our beautiful state.  We're all born and bread Zoni's (Arizona natives) and we really love the land we're wrought from.

What's coming up on tap for this year after you finish your tour?

There really is just a whole lot of touring in our near future, we hope to continue growing our fanily (fan-family… I just came up with that so forgive me if it's lame) and we hope to just keep doing what we're doing, our growth has been really natural since we formed and we hope it continues this way.

Lastly, how has performing and making music together shaped you all individually?

We've all grown up as individuals since we started this journey, I personally have really gained my confidence as an entertainer, and as a writer.  I can't wait to showcase this growth on our next album! We hope to hit the studio next year sometime.

Thanks once again to Jared for being so gracious with his time in doing this interview! His band contains some exceptionally talented musicians and their knack for creating such harmonious rhythms upon dynamic instrumentation has made them one of the must see up and coming acts in music today. Don't forget to catch them in concert opening up for Barry Gibb when the tour stops by Boston at the TD Garden on May 15.