The songs comprising Sunshower—produced by the band and noted engineer Chris Ribando (The Black Crowes, Priestbird, Mary J. Blige)—blend contemporary styles with a myriad of classic influences, from Dylan and The Beatles to Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac to The Police and Talking Heads. But you wouldn’t immediately hear them. The band has a knack for combining all of those influences into something utterly vital and wholly their own, as they’ve done on first single “Flaming Arrow,” a shimmering, ringing acoustic folk tune shot through with a bumping bassline and New Orleans inspired drum groove.
Sunshower dazzles on tracks like the dancefloor-friendly “Simple Stones,” filled with handclaps and soulful economic riffing that boasts a bass line for the ages while blending ‘80s Stones and MGMT. The epic opener “Volcano” melds The Beach Boys with The Flaming Lips, while delivering one of the disc’s best choruses. If Ishibashi conjures The Shins on “Find Me a Place,” he drops vintage, finger-picking folk on disc-closer “People in the Mountain.” As guitarist Zac Colwell puts it: “We can sound like Simon & Garfunkel, The Kooks, or even from a webisode of Yacht Rock.”
If they had their way, listeners would ingest each track on Sunshower as they would a new chapter in a never-boring book. Says singer/multi-instrumentalist K Ishibashi, “We approach every song like, ‘Will people be able to listen to this over and over again?’ ”
“Each song is like a little world,” adds Colwell. “We’re the same four guys playing the music on each track, but we just like to get way down in there and explore that little world.”
What K Ishibashi (lead vocals), Zac Colwell (lead guitar), Dave Heilman (drums) and Pat Dougherty (bass) have created as a result is a hook-heavy album tailor-made for our ADD times. And that mix-it-up mentality suits the band, as its songs are written by either Colwell or Ishibashi, each of whom have opposing approaches to lyric and melody.
“K leaves things a little more open for the listener,” says Colwell, who also plays keyboards and flute and adds backing vocals. “I consciously try to have a little narrative, and tell a story.” Counters Ishibashi, who plays guitar and violin in addition to singing lead on Sunshower: “His songs are pretty dark. I write bright, fun stuff, a lot of it stemming from one really big emotional experience. I’m more analytical, more left brain, he’s more right.”
“If there’s a theme to the album, it would definitely be bittersweetness,” Colwell continues.
“There’s definitely some humor, playfulness, but there’s also this twenty-something, we-have-to-temper-our-excitement sort of thing, especially being New Yorkers. Our elation is always checked, and some of the lyrics reflect that.” Bittersweet can be contradictory in terms, but in this case, these four unique personalities colorfully complement one another.
Although officially formed in 2003, the seeds for Jupiter One were planted in 2000 when Austin native Colwell and Ishibashi (raised in Virginia) met while working as touring musicians with a traveling circus, the Barnum Kaleidoscope. Bonding over their love for all music from soul to classical Indian, the duo began performing instrumental music in New York in the early 2000s, gradually working their way toward pop music incorporating vocals, and gigs at Pianos, Arlene’s Grocery and other reputable venues around Manhattan. “We noticed that once we started singing, girls started coming to shows,” laughs Colwell.
A former member of the popular STOMP performance collective, New Jersey-born drummer Heilman, caught an early incarnation of Jupiter One at a now-defunct bar in New York’s Lower East Side. “There was a unique, analog keyboard sound, something you don’t really hear anymore, especially then, in 2004,” he says, “and it just created this incredible sense of nostalgia. It made me feel like the band’s music was already history. It totally felt classic, and it made me sit up on the edge of my seat.” The current incarnation of the band coalesced with the addition of Delaware-raised bassist Pat Dougherty.
Taking its name from the spaceship in the ‘60s television show Lost in Space, Jupiter One made its recorded debut in 2005 with a self-titled EP, three songs from which made the transition—albeit in re-recorded form—to the group’s official self-titled debut album. The songs on Jupiter One scored the band a slew of high-level song-placements in TV and film projects (including the upcoming indie film Broken Windows, MLB Opening Day ‘09, NASCAR Talladega Race ’09 NBC’s Heroes Tribute, and the Sci-Fi channel’s Flash Gordon), as well as a number of video games (Madden NFL ’08, NHL ’08, etc.), and commercials (Payless‘09, Mazda ‘08).
Behind the new wave-inspired Jupiter One, the band members—having quit their day jobs—criss-crossed the States, building a fan base and surviving on Subway’s five-dollar footlong special, laughs Heilman. “We spent 14 months sluggin’ it out in the clubs,” he says. “We did not want to be some sort of boring web sensation. We wanted to meet our fans face to face.” And the work has paid off. “It’s definitely a show we’ve put time into, so it’s not just four guys playing a song, it’s supposed to be a spectacle,” says Colwell.
With producer/engineer Ribando at the controls, Sunshower embraces warmer, analog sounds and vintage recording techniques. “It’s the sound of the four of us playing together, rather than layering in the studio,” says Colwell. “Instead of piecemeal, it’s the way we actually sound live.”
Forgetting the sound for a minute, and thinking about the songs, Ishibashi adds: “We just want people to internalize them. We want Sunshower to be a journey.”
People In The Mountain People Of The Ocean
Jupiter One Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We went down to Mexico
And so we stayed
And so we prayed
Under the sun
We were bound to have some fun
But then it rained
Oh it rained
With my arm around you my dear
But it was only a state of mind, you see
And the people
In the mountain
Singing...
When we were sad...
We walked down the only path
'Til our feet were in the sand
Through ocean breeze
The sun was only there to tease
'Cause then it rained
Oh it rained
All I'd wanted, was some time alone
With my heart here for you and for me
But it was only a state of mind, you see
And the people
Of the ocean
Singing...
The song "People In The Mountain People Of The Ocean" by Jupiter One takes the listener on a journey back in time to a trip the singer took with their loved one to Mexico. They reminisce about the good times they had under the sun, praying and having fun. However, their happiness was soon ruined by the rain. In the first verse, the singer expresses their desire for some alone time with their partner, but the rain made it impossible. The chorus then introduces the people of the mountain and the people of the ocean, singing and bringing joy to the singer and their partner. In the second verse, the singer talks about how they walked down the only path until they reached the beach, where they were teased by the sun before it started raining again. They express their desire to be with their partner, but the rain and the state of mind prevent them from enjoying their time together.
The lyrics of this song convey a sense of nostalgia as the singer looks back on a time in their past when they were happy and carefree, but also reminds the listener that the reality was not always perfect. It also explores the theme of the state of mind and how it can affect one's perception of their surroundings. Even though the singer was in a beautiful place with their partner, the rain and their mindset prevented them from fully enjoying it. The use of the people of the mountain and people of the ocean adds a mystical element to the song, making it seem like there was something magical and otherworldly about the place they visited.
Line by Line Meaning
Long time ago...
Once upon a time a long while back...
We went down to Mexico
We traveled to Mexico
And so we stayed
We decided to stay for some time
And so we prayed
We prayed as we had done before and as we always do
Under the sun
Amidst the brightness of the sun
We were bound to have some fun
We were inevitably going to have some good times
But then it rained
But then it started raining
Oh it rained
It rained really heavily
All I'd wanted was some time alone
What I desired was some time spent by myself
With my arm around you my dear
While holding you close, my love
But it was only a state of mind, you see
It turned out to be only a figment of my imagination, you know
And the people
And those folks
In the mountain
On the mountain
Singing...
Chanting joyously
When we were sad...
Whenever we felt sorrowful...
We walked down the only path
We strolled along the sole pathway available
'Til our feet were in the sand
Until we reached the sandy ground beneath our feet
Through ocean breeze
Through the gusts from the sea
The sun was only there to tease
The sun pretended to be present with no real warmth
'Cause then it rained
Simply because then it started raining
Oh it rained
The rain was very heavy
All I'd wanted, was some time alone
What I needed was some alone time
With my heart here for you and for me
With my love for us both being ever-present
But it was only a state of mind, you see
Yet again, it turned out to be only a figment of my imagination, you know
And the people
And those folks
Of the ocean
By the sea
Singing...
Chanting joyously
Contributed by Cameron W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Emeth Delgado
Muchas gracias por compartir :D excelente vídeo.
David HDEEZ
Im from Mexico and I love Jupiter One
Erick Bernardes
This dong remember me of Life is Strange 2
Kenn Crestwell
im crying
Kenn Crestwell
nigga u cute