_________________________________ “But rock n’ roll and the current climate isn’t about the money, it is about personal growth.  Being able to travel around and express myself through song in these crazy different times, I consider being an honor. It turns into such a cool journey.  I mean honestly, I would much rather in this lifetime have lived it all, than to spend my time counting my dollars.  You come into this world with noting and leave with nothing, so fuck it.” - Jacob Sproul _________________________________

 

 “The whole thing was such a monumental decision, because nothing was guaranteed but we were willing to do whatever we had to in order to make it work.” 

So with a hustle and a dream the band made the necessary arrangements to record their debut LP and enter the hunt for distribution representation.  But what transpired, through all the excitement of putting the wheels in motion, was a reality which failed to produce a product that met tonal expectations.   

“We made a record in with Brendan O’Brien who was the Stone Temple Pilots engineer/producer.  We were really freaked out because he had a lot to do with records that we loved, and we still do.  We were interested to see what would happen.  We were still kids at the time engulfed in the major label hunt.  The plan was to pursue that route and sell the record.  Well, it didn’t exactly happen that way.  We wound up having a few potential songs but that whole record ended up being too much on the pop side for what we were trying to do.”

“We ended up canning the record and felt burned by the whole situation.  While we were there we developed a good relationship with Brendan’s assistant Nick [last name] and after writing a few new songs we ended up showing them to him.  He told us to come back down to the same studio and we will just make a record with no expectations.  The mentality was to do something fun and easy.”

The result from the second recording session was Rose Hill Drive’s pressed LP packed with a jaw dropping rhythmic elegance.

“I honestly think the record turned out to be more groove,” explains Sproul.  “I wrote the lyrics and I felt on the first album it was a growing representation of what I feel I could do creatively; as opposed to what we are starting to write now.  I feel like it was a growing time.   The lyrical content was focused on a little bit but I really wasn’t prepared for what it takes to pen a great lyrical album.  The rhythm definitely took over from us playing together for so long.  We were trying to make a big rock record, and in retrospect I don’t think we did.  It ended up being more of an honest record.”

“We are not rock stars or anything yet,” Sproul says in which some may disagree.  “We just feel blessed with every step that has happened for us.  I can remember first starting out and hoping for the best.  I couldn’t even sing properly over my bass lines.  The other guys in the group were already incredibly good and the weight of that was heavy.”

“But I feel blessed that people chose to support us.  I have so many friends in so many bands that are fucking great and they are just having such a hard time getting anything out. The whole concept of ‘making it’ is changing.  The mode of making it has turned into something different from the shift of major label music and conglomerates.  The Internet is turning into a serious musical outlet.  Artists who are successful might end up not making a shit load of money.  You see musicians put all of this effort and accomplish a huge amount of goals but they don’t have a dime to show for it.”

“But rock n’ roll and the current climate isn’t about the money, it is about personal growth.  Being able to travel around and express myself through song in these crazy different times, I consider being an honor. It turns into such a cool journey.  I mean honestly, I would much rather in this lifetime have lived it all, than to spend my time counting my dollars.  You come into this world with noting and leave with nothing, so fuck it.”

Well if living the dream is something Jake Sproul is concerned about, then I think he can rest easy very every night.  In an unstable rollercoaster artistic workplace where every artist is searching for their own soothing contentment, Sproul describes how his musical endeavors are finally yielding results.  

“Pete Townsend invited us to Chicago to play with him onstage and he actually played a couple of our tunes with us.  It was bizarre at that point, like we were floating to the gig we were floating onstage.  It was such a dream but there is nothing I can really say.  We played ‘Young Man Blues’ with him and that song from Live at Leeds in one of the most important recordings for me because it completely represents the recklessness of rock n’ roll.  It shows how there is beauty and dignity in the reckless of an art form.  Being able to play that with him and being able to be reckless together with him, let me tell you, I shit my fucking pants,” as a bust of laughter concludes the conversation.