No lie -- it's been fun writing about Josephine Collective. Over the past few years, the screechy emo pop band from Johnson County developed a sizable -- mostly teenage -- fanbase, got signed to a major label, experienced a little backlash, partied hard and (some members) exhibited occasional signs of egomania. But it's all over now.
Well, the Collective part is, anyway.
After hearing a rumor that a Beaumont gig last weekend was JoCo's final bow, I rang up singer Alexander Sandate, who confirmed the news. A seven-member ensemble back when I wrote about them in 2007, JoCo shed its bass player and drummer last December. Since then, the line-up was down to Martin Swank, Dillon Devoe, Sandate and Damon Baltuska. Sometime before that, the band parted ways with Warner Bros. Sandate poetically described the split from the label as "a slope into a lot of fog."
"All I know is we don't owe them any money and they haven't given me some money that I deserve," he says.
Sandate said that for a while the plan was to write an album and get back on the road as a four-piece. But as time went on, it became apparent that everyone was more interested in their own projects. "It kinda felt like we were growing out of ourselves," he says. He plans to pursue singing -- he was getting ready to fly somewhere for an audition. "Dillon has many tricks up his sleeve," Sandate said. "Martin wants to travel. We all want to travel; we all want to play music."
The band hasn't ruled out the possibility of a reunion someday. And disappointed at being able to squeeze only four songs into last weekend's set, Sandate said the band hopes to schedule a proper send-off gig for later this summer. "But it's definitely time that we each branch off from our brotherhood right now and become independent so that nobody's leaning on each other," he said.
Future developments involving JoCo members will be promoted on the band's MySpace page, he added.
Good luck, boys.
Photo by Chris Mullins, courtesy myspace.com/josephinecollective.
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Well, I gotta say that for a long time they were absolutely fantastic, probably one of the better live acts I've ever seen, there were no 311 or Brand New by any means, but they had that live draw that made your heart race. They played the KC music scene to death though, tired out their fans, and thats why people stopped coming to shows, and then, even though I will always love them to death, when I could tell that everyone on stage was high or tripping or whatever, the music stopped being so good, and surviving after the label fiasco is a stretch of a word, by that point they looked like death on every stage they occupied them. Yet after every show Dillon greeted me with a smile, as I shook his hand and told him good show. Even at a little show in Springfield MO, where one of the openers was a bunch of shithead retards pretending to be hawthorne heights. And the 4 of us, die hard fans till the stuck around, and sang our hearts out. Shook hands at the end, talked with queens club, and went home. When I shook dillons hand and said, "great way to go out," at the end of the Beaumont club show, I meant it, every word, and I really did love the new songs, I just want those boys to get the lives they lost back. maybe im a sap, but they will always be the first local band I fell in love with , about six years ago, with all the screaming and albert crying, all of it. good guys, fun times, life goes on.
Whatever:
We have been accused of many things, but no one has ever accused us of pimping David Cook. Cheeky!
That's cool about the FTSK guy.
Crystal you serious? The Pitch need only look in the mirror to find THE source of the backlash...
The Pitch came across as a bunch of Architects groupies or ex girlfriends that hated the fact that some punk a-- kids got signed to Warner at 18, and the band came across as what they were 18 year old kids!
Just taking a look at other bands handling in their local scene (The Maine, Anberlin, Forever the Sickest Kids etc.) showed me the importance of local support. But forget about it when you can pimp David Cook...
Kent Garrison from FTSK put up on his Twiiter a couple days ago "the most underated band of all time - Josephine Collective, Johnson County KS"
All time is a stretch, but they definitely had to go to Dallas, Buffalo or Pensacola, not KC to get support.
Sad to see the ride end, hopeful there is more to come.
They were by far the most talented band I have ever come across. It isn't just their music. It was their lyrics, their random poetic outbursts in MySpace bulletins, their amazing live performance (7 members), and their ability to survive for quite some time after losing half their members and being dropped from a major label. I saw JoCo with The Used back in the summer of '07. It was my first concert. They blew every act that night out of the water (including The Bled and The Used). They are by far the best live act I have ever witnessed. Good luck members of JoCo, it was fun while it lasted.
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