tableau sat down with Jake Small, a first-year College student and Virginia Beach native, to catch up with him and his band, The Greater Good. He’s a music major here at the University, but don’t mistake this virtuoso for being soft. Soon to be hitting local frats, bars and events, this rock star is one guy you don’t want to be missing.
tableau: First, give us some background.
Jake Small: The band is called The Greater Good as of now. The other guys in the band want to change it, but until we think of something better, the name’s kind of in flux. I’m the lead guitarist, and there are three other guys beside myself. Tyler Brady is our bassist, David Johns plays drums and Isaac Pirtel sings and raps. I’m currently looking for a full time keyboard player as well.
tableau: How did you guys meet?
JS: We all live in Virginia Beach and met through mutual friends. I was in a previous band called Parkside Green with the drummer, David Johns. I started playing with him again about a year ago and he was playing with Tyler on bass. We evolved out of us just hanging out and jamming. Finally, through a friend of ours, we met Isaac Pirtel. He jumped in on vocals during a [Red Hot] Chili Peppers song we were playing and nailed it, so we asked him to be our singer. So ultimately this band came together through some local friendships and some cool jams we decided to take further.
tableau: Is it possible to describe your sound?
JS: We play a wide mix of things, but it’s hard to classify us into one genre. If I had to, it would probably be psychedelic-alternative-hip-hop, or maybe reggae-funk-rock — a combination of the two really, but psychedelic-reggae-funk-rock-hip-hop is a mouth full.
tableau: Who are your influences?
JS: We’re influenced by a wide range of music, so I’ll just give you the basic list: Sublime, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers — and John [Frusciante’s] solo stuff — A Tribe Called Quest, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Eric B Rakim and MGMT. It doesn’t really do our tastes justice, but you get the basic idea of where we’re coming from.
tableau: Do you write your own music?
JS: Yes. It’s a collaborative environment. Sometimes I’ll write a whole song — all instrumental parts, melody and lyrics. What usually happens is one person will come in with an idea and everyone else will add to and mold that idea while combining it with other ideas until we have a song we’re all happy with.
tableau: And do you perform or record?
JS: We’re in the process of putting together a five-song EP that we should be putting out sometime in June. We’ll follow it up with frequent shows up here in Charlottesville and around Virginia next year. I have played several shows with various groups in the past. While I was in Parkside Green, we had a local agent and would play cover songs with a few originals at private parties and down at the beach. I also played in a jazz combo with some guys from my high school jazz band and did shows back at home.
tableau: Where do you see yourself going over the next few years?
JS: After college I want to try to make music a career, so in five years my band — regardless if the members are the same or not — should be touring the East Coast behind a record. Near the end of college I’m going to put work into getting signed and hopefully the record we’ll be touring behind will be on a somewhat big label. Nevertheless, I plan on putting out as much music as I can, which will probably result in some Indie label stuff as well.
More info and music from Jake and The Greater Good can be found at www.myspace.com/gr8terg00d.
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