Jeremy and the Rooster- Band Interview

Edition Six- Week Six; Unit 2:

Written by: Mercedes Barreto

What inspired the name for the band? What is the significance there?

“Two interesting points about the name… First, we came upon it by accident. Second, people often ask “Which one is Jeremy?” To which we reply “Umm… Jeremy is dead.”

One day we were getting ready for a rehearsal, and our lead guitarist Tony texted us.

Tony: “What are we going to work on tonight?”

Doug: “Jeremy and The Rooster”. 

A few hours passed….

Tony: “I can’t find that song anywhere who is it by?”

Me: “Ummmm… Jeremy by Pearl Jam and the Rooster by Alice in Chains?”

We had no name yet, so I looked online for bands with the name Jeremy and the Rooster and found nothing. Bam. Named!

These are two iconic 90’s grunge songs which fit our genre perfectly. 

The song Jeremy was written after Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder read a newspaper article about Jeremy Wade Delle, a 15 year old who had walked into his 10th grade classroom and taken his own life in front of the class with a revolver. Hence my (admittedly tasteless) reply. The Rooster was written by Jerry Cantrell about his father’s time as a soldier in the Vietnam War. His was a machine gunner nicknamed  “Rooster” and the song is about the psychological scars he suffered from due to the war.

Both songs are admittedly macabre but they really sum up the sea change in music that occurred in the early 90’s. We were moving from pop rock dribble about meaningless subject matter (Cherry Pie? Rock You Like a Hurricane?) to tragic painful subject matter. It made people feel something uncomfortable and painful and touched their inner souls. That’s what made is such a special time in rock history.”

How is Jeremy and the Rooster preparing for future events and opportunities, including the coming year 2025?

“We have more than 6 hours of cover songs nearly exclusively from 90’s rock bands. We believe we have covered the genre more than sufficiently so have started to move towards specialty shows. 

In July 2024 we played the entirety of Pearl Jam’s quintessential album “Ten” at The Garage at Lucy’s Pleasantville. We had an absolute blast learning and performing all of the songs. It is one of the best albums of all time.

In 2025 we are beginning to explore tribute shows, but with a twist. We are starting by paying tribute to the Foo Fighters but – we will be performing the songs from all decades, and using the unique arrangements that the Foo Fighters play live! We debuted “All My Life” as performed by the Foo Fighters in Glastonbury in 2023 at the Sleepy Hollow Haunted Hayride Street Faire in October 2024 and can’t wait to do an entire show!

We are also looking to create some original songs, heavily 90’s influenced. Think Pearl Jam meets Rage Against the Machine.”

Who would the band love to work with if they could pick two industry executives today?

“Can’t really say we think about such things.”

What is a song or setlist that most resonates with the listening and following audience?

“Some of the most universally enjoyed songs in our set list are:

Everlong, Foo Fighters 

Killing in the Name, Rage Against the Machine 

Zombie, The Cranberries 

You Oughta Know, Alanis Morrisette

Undone, Weezer 

Machine Head, Bush 

American Idiot, Green Day 

Jeremy, Pearl Jam

Bullet with Butterfly Wings, Smashing Pumpkins

Teenage Spirit, Nirvana.”

How is the routine on and off set, as well as the dynamic between members?

“Drama free. Friends, “framily”. We are just a bunch of musicians with a love of playing live and a special bond with the 90’s alternate rock movement. And thankfully we are all good people who sincerely like each other.”

Where can we hear more, and why should we? What marks this band iconic and unforgettable?

“We transport people back to a special time in their lives. Whatever they were doing, whoever that were with, wherever they lived, they have a special connection with the 90’s and we transport them back to that time in their lives. The music does the same for us when we play it for them.

Https://jeremyandtheroster.rocks has everything and links to social media pages.”

Anything to add here?

“We didn’t start Jeremy and the Rooster with the goal of being a tribute band to 90’s grunge and rock. We started it to play music and have fun.

The more we learned songs from the 90’s the more we realized how special that time was, and the more we wanted to play. Once the pandemic ended and we started playing for people and seeing how many people had that same love for that same time, we couldn’t get enough.

We absolutely love transporting ourselves and our audience back to that time and look forward to doing it for many years to come.”

Questions For The Photographer-