Spinning Jenny

Interview with Spinning Jenny

February 25, 2016

Describe your band, telling a little about it.

Spinning Jenny is a alternative rock/pop band comprising of three sisters and their dad.  Spinning Jenny strives to create unique music with a powerful message, using heavy guitars, energetic drum beats, and catchy melody lines.  Moving forward with a new EP and a mysterious mascot, Spinning Jenny is stretching the boundaries of their creativity to make their new music better than ever.  

What are your names? Who plays what?

Julia Balzano- guitar and vocals

Talia Balzano- drums and vocals

Angelina Balzano- bass, keyboards, and vocals

John Balzano- guitar  

Do you write your own music or perform covers? Has it always been this way?  Originally, we only played covers.  This lasted for about two years before we finally started writing our own music.  

What year did the band form?  2011

Where's the band's home?  We are all from the village of Mingo Junction, OH. 

What's your style or genre?  

Most of our original music is alternative rock/pop, but we love experimenting with different genres such as punk and indie.

What inspires your music?

Julia: My music is inspired by movies, my own experience, and language.  Because I was a writer before a musician, I love finding a new or unusual word or phrase that could inspire a song.  I'm also a huge movie buff, and a lot of my inspiration comes from my favorite movies.

Talia: I'm inspired by anything I'm interested in at the time, or things that I'm going through.  My emotions drive my creative process, and I use both my happiness and sadness to write new music.  

Angelina: I'm inspired by my favorite artists and their music.  I love listening to music and discovering new bands to be inspired by.

How often do you rehearse?

We rehearse regularly, whether we're preparing for a gig or learning new songs to play in our show.  As a family living in the same house, practice is pretty easy to schedule! 

What gear do you guys use?

Julia plays a Fender Jaguar guitar and use a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp.  I also have a Martin acoustic guitar.  Talia plays an electronic Roland TD-15 drum kit.  Angelina plays a 5-string Ibanez bass guitar or a 1973 Fender Musicmaster bass through a Fender bass amp.  For her keyboard, she uses a Roland Juno GI.  Dad plays a Gretsch Corvette guitar and uses a Marshall DSL40 amp. 

Do you utilize a booking agency? What are your thoughts about that?    We recently started working with Steve Juffe, from the Concert Manager booking agency.  We've really enjoyed working with him; he's gotten us some really cool gigs we otherwise would've never gotten.  Working with a booking agency also keeps all of our bookings organized, putting together dates and opportunities.  We're also working with legendary promoter Rich Engler, which we are very excited about.  Rich Engler has also opened doors to many great opportunities that we're anticipating.  

What are your songs about?   Each song tackles something different, but at the heart of every one is the theme of trying to be as truthful and authentic as we can be.  Whether it's a song about a time we messed up or were sad, or a song that celebrates just being a part of life, we try to make sure our music is completely genuine.  

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics?

We all write lyrics and music.  On our newest EP, we really collaborated on every song so that the music reflects each one of us.  

Do you compose in a certain environment?

We most often write in our rooms where we can be alone with our thoughts and ideas.  We do have a piano room where a lot of creativity happens. 

Have you done any covers live?  For the first two years of being a band, all we played were cover songs.   Even though we have original music, we still play covers of the songs and bands we love.  

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs?  The least amount of people to come to a show was probably around 10...this was at one of our very first shows! The most was probably around 10,000 in Buffalo, NY, where we had the opportunity to open up for En Vogue.

What ages are most of your concert attendants?   Most of the time it depends on the venue of our gig, but we tend to get a lot of families at our shows.  We try to incorporate songs that people of any age can enjoy, which helps us reach out to a wide demographic.

Do you always play the same songs live or do you vary?  We have a few staple songs that we play at almost every show, but we very regularly try to update and change our setlist to make sure our shows stay fresh and interesting. 

Do you have a regular place you play often?

We do have a few places that we get asked to play at every year, such as the Weirton Event Center or some of the local fairs and festivals.  We always get to play at our hometown Mingo Community Days, which we are very grateful to be a part of.  

What was your first gig like?  Memorable! The three of us got sick the night before and were struggling to stay on top of our illness to play. Even though we weren't sure if we could do it, we made it through the gig and had a ton of fun.  Even though most of the audience were family members and friends, we couldn't have asked for a better start. 

What was your latest gig?  Our latest gig was in January, at the Charleston, WV Fair and Festival Convention.  Thanks to Steve Juffe, our booking agent, we were able play at this convention and set up a booth to advertise our band and book some new gigs.

Have you had to cancel a gig?  We've only cancelled a show one time due to everyone being sick with the flu.  We've had shows cancelled because of weather a few times, but we personally have only cancelled once.

Where have you played live this year?  

So far in 2016, we've played in Charleston, WV.  Being so early in the year, that's been our first show but we have a lot of exciting shows lined up for the rest of the year.

Where do you plan to gig in the coming year?

This year, we have shows booked at Bethany College, Southside Pittsburgh, Shadyside Pittsburgh, multiple festivals in West Virginia, and Weirton Event Center.  Gigs always pop up as the year progresses, and we will update our calendar accordingly! 

When did you start to sell merchandise and what do you have for sale?  We started selling merchandise about two years ago at the release of our first album.  We sell Spinning Jenny t-shirts in adult and kid's sizes, wrist bands, pins, posters, and copies of our CD "Outside The Lines".

Where can people buy your merchandise?

People can purchase our merchandise at our shows.  We are also working on an online shop for our website, spinningjennyband.com, which will be active soon.

Do you have any role models or idols?

Julia: One of my biggest role models is Johnny Cash.  To me, he was one of the most honest artists of his time.  I also look up to Beck, Chris Cornell, and Tyler Joseph as musicians and writers.

Talia: I look up to Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun of Twenty One Pilots, Hayley Williams of Paramore, and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy. They all are such unique artists with great lyrics. 

Angelina: My main idol is Marina and the Diamonds, but I also love Twenty One Pilots, Panic! At the Disco and Fall Out Boy.  

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands or bands that are more active today?  Modern bands help us get inspired because they deliver the newest trends that drive the industry. However, we love listening to older bands for inspiration because their songs are so timeless. It's a lot of fun to revisit techniques used by older bands and see what worked for them.

What advice would you give other bands or artists?  We're still trying to make our way in music, but the advice we would give is stay humble and work hard.  Being a musician, especially if you're serious about making a career, takes a lot of hard work and if you're not willing to do that you're not going to be as successful as you'd like.   If you really have a passion for music, however, you will be able to do the work without it seeming like a chore.  

How do you get psyched for a gig?  We love listening to our favorite bands before we play to get us excited.  As sisters, we're always joking around with each other, which also helps put us in a good mindset to play and have fun.  

Do you have any new material?  We're currently working on a new EP!  We also released a single, "Hey Jenny", which people can listen to on iTunes.  They can also watch the lyric video for "Hey Jenny" on our YouTube channel. 

What are your websites?

www.spinningjennyband.com

How can people reach you?

People can always reach out through our social medias.  For booking, they can contact Steve Juffe of the Concert Manager booking agency.

Social media address?

www.facebook.com/spinningjennyband/

https://twitter.com/Spinning_Jenny4 

www.instagram.com/Spinning_Jenny4

YouTube channel, Reverbnation, etc.?

YouTube: SpinningJenny4

Reverbnation: www.reverbnation.com/spinningjenny19

What are your plans for the future?  We hope to keep expanding and making music.  Arranging a tour would be something incredible we hope to do sometime soon.

What is one thing your biggest fans don't know about the band?   As little kids, our favorite movie was the Cheetah Girls.  Imitating them was probably our first attempt at singing and being musicians!