JACK ON FIRE
Sunday Sermons

Jack On Fire have been kicking around for a few years now, but Sermons From The Eastern Seaboard signals a band that have well and truly completed their apprenticeship. CHRIS HAVERCROFT spoke to multi-instrumentalist Sam Wass ahead of their shows at Settlers Tavern on Friday, January 27; the Rosemount on Saturday, January 28; and Mojos on Sunday, January 29.

Jack On Fire may have humble beginnings in Perth, but it is Melbourne where the band have truly found their feet. Sharing members with Institut Polaire, the grittier Jack On Fire found themselves on the other side of Australia when the much loved pop of Insitut Polaire found themselves drawn to the eastern states on the back of airplay and the lure of bigger gigs. As things would turn out, it is Jack On Fire who have stood the test of time and become the longer lasting of the two.
“When we moved over (to Melbourne) with Institut Polaire, Ben [Blakeney] wasn’t really in the band anymore,” explains Wass. “Ben had mentioned he was going to leave [Institut Polaire], but would move over with us until we found someone else. Over half of Jack On Fire were moving over anyway, so we kept going after Institut Polaire broke up. They are both pretty separate bands anyway so Jack On Fire never felt like an offshoot or a side project.”
The move has been kind to Jack On Fire who have found a greater audience for their niche tunes that embrace country, swamp rock and bluegrass. Wass doesn’t feel like they are treated any differently in Melbourne than they were in the West, just that there is now more opportunity for them to show their wares. There are more venues and more bands to play shows with, so Jack On Fire have been able to play regularly without saturating the market.
“We didn’t have any expectations when we came here. We didn’t come here with the aim of ‘cracking it’,” says Wass. “It was just a bit of a challenge for us. Because Institut Polaire weren’t as well known in Melbourne as they were in Perth, we were also able to separate the two a little bit more as well. When you play too much you have to find the happy medium between keeping the momentum going and people getting bored of you. It is the same in Melbourne, it is just on a larger scale. It hasn’t been any easier or harder than it is in Perth.”
It is more than the location that has changed for Jack On Fire who started as an outlet for the fertile mind of Ben Blakeney to exercise his songs. Blakeney remains the frontman, but now there are songwriting and singing contributions from both Wass and George Hyde giving the band an even broader palate (although the shades are still predominantly a dark hue).
“All the songs are quite different to each other. Having more songwriters makes things different, but having all the same band members helps to tie them all back together. You have that consistent sound of the band as a whole across everything. They are all Jack On Fire songs, but they each have a little signature of the person who wrote them.”