Cherub Talks Musical Festivals and Influences
Max Cherry ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
The duo of Jason Huber and Jordan Kelley, better know as Cherub, have had their music described as a “dance love-child of 80’s funk, and pop-music from the future.” Cherub has been making their unique style of avant -garde electric pop for over four years and continue to make fresh new sounds that bring together a little bit of everything ranging from pop, to disco to techno and meshing them together effortlessly.
Last week the group performed at Boston’s Paradise Rock Club where Emertainment Monthly had a chance to talk with the two.
Emertainment Monthly: How did you guys start up?
Cherub: We both met at MTSU where we were both studying music production. We were doing our own thing but 5 years later we decided to start making music together.
You’re music blends instrumentals with electronic beats. How did you come up with such a sick idea?
Well we both had a pretty good grasp on making both techno and instrumental sounds. We found it to be a fun and inspiring way to write and we always thought about how much fun it would be to perform these kinds of songs live.
What were some highlight moments that Cherub has had? (Moments that stand out)
Well just yesterday our lighting director got our faces tattooed onto his ass cheeks. W each got one cheek. He told us “You guys are just so awesome and I love working with you guys, so why the hell not?” You can see the picture on out instagram, Cherublamusica.
You’re going to a lot of music festivals this year. You guys excited?
Yeah we did a Bonnaroo a few years back so we’re really excited to be going back there this year. We have a bunch more planned and we just added some badass Swiss festival. We’re stoked about that because we’ve been trying to get to other parts of the world.
Where else in the world would you guys like to tour?
Japan, some other parts of Asia, South America. Honestly anywhere and everywhere.
100 Bottles came out this past year. Is there any new music in the works?
Yeah we’re actually performing a bunch of new stuff on tour and we’ll be releasing a new EP on May 27th
Are there any major influences to your work?
Outside of musical influences, living our day to day lives is a big influence. We are inspired by a lot of 80’s music but we listen to a everything really. We’ll listen to Death Cab for Cutie, Harmony, Michael Bolton, or Dinosaur Jr.
Any artists you’d like to collaborate with?
A$ap Ferg is a big one. Ty Dolla sign, Richard Sheet, and party next door. We’d love to work with a bunch of artists that are currently doing a bunch of awesome things.
What are your spirit animals?
That’s funny we were just talking about this earlier for some reason.
Jordan: Squirrel for sure.
Jason: I was saying walrus but now I’m going with manatee. They’re fat and happy like walruses but they live in the warmth.
How would you describe a Cherub concert in three words?
Wet, wild, and wacky. Hands down.
Do you have a favorite song you like to perform?
We love playing all of our new stuff. It’s all really exciting and we want to get all of it out there and get people into it. Our new stuff is also really diverse and it helps build out the live show. Sometimes we also don’t feel like playing Doses and Mimosas, which actually disappoints some people, but hey, we’ll do what we want.
Any other interesting stories while out on the road?
I got a $2,000 tattoo recently. It’s a friends clothing company called Mind and Matter. It’s surprisingly the only tattoo I’ve gotten on tour so far.
Do you have a lot of tattoos?
Between the both of us we’re beyond the point of counting, really.
Cherub will continue their tour through the U.S and will perform at a few music festivals this year including The Great Escape (Brighton, UK May 8-10), summer camp music fest (Chillicothe, IL May 23- 25), Bonnaroo (Manchester TN, June 12-15) , Firefly (Dover, DN, June19-22), Electric Forest (Rothbury, MI, June 26- 29), and more. They will be releasing their new EP, Year of the Caprese on May 27th.