KJ JANSEN
What are your earliest memories of loving music? When did you begin to realize that it would become an important outlet for you? Which bands were your first favorites, and were there any specific ones that inspired you to begin writing your own songs?
I remember being with my mom and hearing “Candy Man” by Sammy Davis Junior when I was maybe three or so. Ironically it was in a place called “The Pop Shoppe”, which was where you bought different flavours of soda in these big crates of bottles. They would refill the empties when you brought them back. It was a fun, happy place and that’s maybe what hammered home the music that went along with the memory. It made me feel good. Later, when I was eight or nine, my sisters started getting into music. One of my sisters was into what was on the radio and the other was into the less accessible stuff. I was way younger then they were and they each wanted me to be into what they were into. Subsequently, I got into both of them. I started listening to the radio a lot. My parents both came from Holland and when one of my sisters went there for a visit in the late seventies, she came back with a bunch of records that my punk Dutch cousin gave her. Sex Pistols, Stranglers etc. I taped them and brought them to school to play for my friends. I loved the music but I also loved knowing about something that the other kids didn’t. Shortly after that time I remember Boomtown Rats, Vapors and Visage records showing up at the house. I listened to those a million times. But, like a lot of people, the first band that made me realize I could write songs was The Ramones. One day the school bus didn’t come pick us up and instead of going home to tell our parents we went to a friend’s house. He had that had a sister that was into punk and played us one of her VHS tapes with The Ramones on it. They became my everything.
When did you first pick up a guitar, and how did you learn to play? Did songwriting and playing go hand-in-hand from the beginning? When you started writing songs, were there particular influences you wanted to emulate? When did you begin developing confidence in your own playing and writing?
I didn’t really pick up a guitar until after high school. The first instrument I had was a drum set. When Mike Eggermont, Mark O’Flaherty and I started talking about actually making a band, that was gonna be my job. I was gonna be the drummer. Then when nobody wanted to write songs, I wrote some songs. Then when nobody wanted to sing those songs there was talk that I was gonna be the singer/drummer. I didn’t like the aesthetics of the singer/drummer so I decided that I’d be a standup singer and we’d get a friend to take over on drums. I realized I didn’t like the idea of that either so I saved up and bought a guitar. At the time there was a lot of inspiration to learn to play as we were getting some pressure to play a show from our friends. I’d sit in front of the tv and make barre chords on my guitar and try and hold my hand in that position for as long as the commercials lasted. Guitar fucking hurts when you start playing so thats how I got through that. There were lots of bands we wanted to emulate but most of them you had to actually know how to play to play in their style. We were in no shape to do any of that. Still aren’t. I’m very thankful that The Ramones existed to us then. We could pull off a bad version of what they were doing and get away with it. The confidence came a bunch of years after that.
Do you recall the first song you wrote that you felt proud of? Did you show your earliest songs to anyone else, and if so who were the people who showed you the most support and encouragement as you were learning? Did you record any songs prior to Chixidiggit! ?
Chixdiggit was the first time I’d ever done anything organized that involved music. The first song I was proud of… it might have been “I Wanna Hump You”. Mostly because the other guys in the band liked it. At the time they and my sisters were the most encouraging people for me. Our friends were too but my hunch is that they just wanted to see us make asses of ourselves.
The story of Chixdiggit!'s formation has always confounded me considering how great you guys are and have been since the beginning. Was it really formed more or less as a goof and extension of the t-shirts that you made for friends? To what extent were you guys already seasoned players at the time of your formation? How comfortable were you with your own songwriting at that time?
It was pretty much an extension of the t-shirts at first. Then we started believing that we’d be this incredible band. At the time the total musical experience of the band was a year of piano i took when I was eight and Mark had a couple guitar lessons from what I recall. There was zero seasoned anything going on with the band. Zero comfort as well. I think that the lack of all that was important for us as we really had no idea of all the reasons we really shouldn’t have been doing it in the first place.
Your songwriting often evokes a stadium rock feel, but Chixdiggit! has a very down-to-Earth vibe as a band. Was there some thought put into those opposing aesthetics? Lyrically there's also an interesting juxtaposition of fairly harmless humor and wit against the backdrop of hard-rockin' tunes. Shadowy Bangers, for example, has a genuinely badass vibe to it yet the lyrics are deliciously silly! What's your take on the Chixdiggit! sound?
Hey thanks! I think it started from the fact that we didn’t know how to play when we started and it made people laugh that we were pretending to be awesome and triumphant when we were basically just making the equivalent of a giant fart sound with our instruments. We’ve improved from there in the sense that we all play the same note when we’re making that fart sound.
Your songs are interesting in that many could have easily been reworked into huge rock anthems or something with an acoustic singer-songwriter feel. The "pop punkness" of your songs seems more incidental just based on the simpler approach to arrangements and so forth - and yet Mark still cranks out very rocking solos. It kind of goes back to my earlier question - was Chixdiggit! ever meant to become associated with the fairly specific scene of Ramones-influenced pop punk?
There was no real plan for how we were going to sound when we started out. We were all into the Ramones but outside of that there wasn’t much else we all agreed on. We were all learning how to play and the easiest style of music to play was what is now called "Ramones-core". There were no bands of that style around that we knew of so we weren’t trying to do that. We just all loved the Ramones. Keep in mind that when we started it was pre-Internet and we lived in Calgary, which is pretty isolated in terms of bands touring through there. We just wanted to fuck with people and get drunk and have fun. Simple music is the easiest to play when you’re drunk.
What's your typical writing process? Do you typically work from titles first, or do you tend to start with a riff or melodic idea? How do you "store" your ideas so as not to forget? Did you/do you record at home often? Do you write on an acoustic guitar? How do your lyrics typically develop?
There’s no real process that I stick with. Sometimes something will pop in my head and I’ll record it on my phone usually with an acoustic guitar. Sometimes a lyric will come to me and I’ll write it down. Sometimes they come at the same time. I’m just trying to make sure I save all the ideas so I don’t lose anything. I just wait for the universe to provide. I would never sit down to write a song. It either comes to me or it doesn’t. I’ve never recorded at home. We have, in my opinion, one of the best recording engineers and producers in the world in Russell Broom living here in Calgary. It’s better to let him do it right the first time and he always does.
There are plenty of short songs in the Chixdiggit! catalog - do you enjoy writing short and concise tunes in general? On later albums there seems to be a more "fleshed out" sound in certain ways - and I recall you stating that there was a point where Chixdiggit! began playing mid-paced songs which was in fact significant but people didn't seem to notice. How has your songwriting naturally evolved over since the self-titled album?
I feel that most songs go on too long so I don’t want to contribute to that, although we did do 2012 that went on (and on). Sometimes there’s a little bit more to say so the song might be longer. Sometimes I take a short, fast song and slow it down so it’s longer only because it’s played slower. It’s true, we were a bit scared to play mid-tempo songs at the beginning there. People did not notice or care. They’re some of our more popular songs now. They only way I can explain the evolution of my songwriting (if there is one), is that, like everyone else, I’m trying to write the perfect song. And, like everyone else, I’m just coming up with what I want to hear.
I've always been interested in your relationship with Kepi Ghoulie, since you both have similar songwriting instincts and are clearly allies. How did you first come into contact with Kepi? As a songwriter, has he inspired you in any particular way and have you learned anything specific about songwriting through your friendship with him? You both seem to "get" one another as songwriters and I think it's pretty cool!
In January of 1995 we were asked to do a West Coast tour with one of our favourite bands at the time The Best Kissers In The World. It was our first real American tour. We ended up playing in Sacramento at Old Ironsides. At the time I was a lot more mouthy than I am now and t was pretty common for someone to wanna have words with me after the show. I remember Kepi and Roach standing at the front. They looked tough as shit. After the show I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around and there was Kepi. Leather jacket, and all. I thought he was gonna punch me out. Instead the sweetest, kindest voice said “we really liked your show!”. He gave us a tape and we listened to it the whole way home. 26 hours to Calgary. Since then he’s been one of our biggest supporters and one of my best friends. He kind of kept me going when I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it anymore. As a songwriter he’s really inspiring. He’ll be driving and just write a whole song in his head. Lyrics and all. He’ll just start singing this song and I’ll ask him when he came up with it and he’ll have just written a complete song right then. I’ve seen him do it a bunch of times. He has a genius for coming up with simple but very catchy songs that aren’t ripping anyone else off. I believe that writing a good simple song is the hardest thing to do. You have to make it something that nobody else has done and still be good. I think that’s way harder than writing intricate and complicated music. Some of his songs are some of the greatest punk songs of all-time.
Your association with Fat Wreck Chords is notable for many reasons, including that Fat Mike is a big fan of Chixdiggit! What are your thoughts on his songwriting? Have you ever discussed songwriting with him specifically? Do you feel that Chixdiggit! "fits" Fat Wreck Chords well enough? Considering the low-key and down-to-earth vibe of the band, it would make sense if you didn't - but then again Fat is considered the high water mark for quality songwriting in the punk genre, so perhaps that's the fit?
Mike’s probably the most consistent songwriter in punk these days and he’s always getting better. I ofter hear people say that they used to listen to Nofx but haven’t listened past Punk in Drublic, or something like that. They’re missing the catchiest stuff. Every record he writes songs that need to be written and not a lot of bands do that. In terms of fit, I’d say we’re in exactly the right place. We’re kind of a weird band in a lot of senses, but, for example, I’d count The Lillingtons, Masked Intruder and Teenage Bottlerocket as bands on Fat that are in our specific genre. Lots of others too! Fat’s a lot more diverse than people give ‘em credit for.
Your wife Kathy is also a talented songwriter - how has it been to share a life with someone who can relate to you in that specific way? Has the music gene been passed on to your daughter? Does she know your songs? What role does music play in your family's lifestyle? Does your wife still play shows and record?
I agree. I love her songs. She’s one of the filters I run my songs through as she’s got really good pop sensibilities. I run things by the kids as well. If I play something and they don’t respond, I know it’s not good enough. My daughter plays the piano and our son, who’s only three, plays all the percussion stuff we have laying around. He actually keeps really good time. Something he obviously got from Kathy. We all play together at home a lot of the time. Usually songs that our daughter has picked that she really likes or something that I’ve written that the kids like. That’s all that Kathy wants to do right now. She’ll get out there again I’m sure but right now it’s not something that’s not on her musical radar.
From what I've read you work with young people as an educator - are they aware of your music career? Do you see young people today retaining much of an interest in what you and I would consider to be rock n' roll? What about that kind of work is most satisfying to you? Do you find any musical inspiration in what you do professionally?
Yeah, I work with ‘at risk’ youth. Some of them are aware of what I do, but I’d say there’s not a lot of interest in guitar bands with the kids I work with. I’ll teach basic guitar to the rare one’s that are into it though. The kids I work with are pretty incredible. Most of them live lives where they have to get by on their own wits and senses of humour. They’re funny as shit. They've had a lot of gnarly stuff happen to them but they don’t give up. I get a lot of inspiration from them for how they handle the shitty cards they’ve been dealt.
Who are some of your own favorite songwriters? Have you ever received positive feedback from other songwriters who you admire? How would you describe your own songwriting personality? Which songs that you've written are you the most proud of and why?
Other than Kepi and Fat Mike… lemme see. In terms of more established songwriters, All the Ramones, Billy Bragg, Tom T. Hall, Dolly Parton, Elvis Costello, Cheap Trick, Slade, Jackson Brown, Bryan Adams and lots more. That’s a tough one. In terms of more recent songwriters, Morten Henriksen, Mikey Erg, Luke from The Copyrights, Chris Cresswell, Emily Haines, Joey Cape, Parry Gripp, Jon Snodgrass, John K. Samson, Frank Turner, Andrea Manges… that’s tough too. I’m leaving lots of em out I’m sure. In terms of my songwriting, I’d say that what I’m trying to do is write songs that I think need to be written. i’m trying to get away from stuff that’s been done to death in terms of song subject. At the same time I’m trying to make it catchy and to the point. Just making songs that I want to hear I guess.
You've been doing solo shows and there are now KJ Jansen t-shirts available - will there be a solo album as well? What inspired you to do a solo project in the first place? What are the pros and cons compared to your activities with Chixdiggit! What are your future goals as a musician and songwriter, and how do you feel about what you've accomplished so far?
Doing solo shows is a different beast for sure. It’s like kinda the opposite of a full band show but for reasons I didn’t expect. You can’t hide behind the volume and spectacle of a rock show. You’re up there pretty much naked. It took me a while to get used to it but now I really like it. I still have a long way to go till I’ve got it down. I have lots of songs ready to get recorded but I’m just fighting to find time to get started. We have a pretty busy home with two young kids and that’s my priority right now. As the little guy gets older I’m finding more time to get things done. It’ll happen soon. I really like the songs so I’m itching to get ‘em done. Getting that out and a new Chixdiggit album are my next goals. After that we’ll see. We’ve done a lot with this band that a lot of people, including us, thought would be done after just playing one show. I’m proud of that. Lots to do still though.
Any words of advice for the aspiring songwriters out there?
When did you first pick up a guitar, and how did you learn to play? Did songwriting and playing go hand-in-hand from the beginning? When you started writing songs, were there particular influences you wanted to emulate? When did you begin developing confidence in your own playing and writing?
I didn’t really pick up a guitar until after high school. The first instrument I had was a drum set. When Mike Eggermont, Mark O’Flaherty and I started talking about actually making a band, that was gonna be my job. I was gonna be the drummer. Then when nobody wanted to write songs, I wrote some songs. Then when nobody wanted to sing those songs there was talk that I was gonna be the singer/drummer. I didn’t like the aesthetics of the singer/drummer so I decided that I’d be a standup singer and we’d get a friend to take over on drums. I realized I didn’t like the idea of that either so I saved up and bought a guitar. At the time there was a lot of inspiration to learn to play as we were getting some pressure to play a show from our friends. I’d sit in front of the tv and make barre chords on my guitar and try and hold my hand in that position for as long as the commercials lasted. Guitar fucking hurts when you start playing so thats how I got through that. There were lots of bands we wanted to emulate but most of them you had to actually know how to play to play in their style. We were in no shape to do any of that. Still aren’t. I’m very thankful that The Ramones existed to us then. We could pull off a bad version of what they were doing and get away with it. The confidence came a bunch of years after that.
Do you recall the first song you wrote that you felt proud of? Did you show your earliest songs to anyone else, and if so who were the people who showed you the most support and encouragement as you were learning? Did you record any songs prior to Chixidiggit! ?
Chixdiggit was the first time I’d ever done anything organized that involved music. The first song I was proud of… it might have been “I Wanna Hump You”. Mostly because the other guys in the band liked it. At the time they and my sisters were the most encouraging people for me. Our friends were too but my hunch is that they just wanted to see us make asses of ourselves.
The story of Chixdiggit!'s formation has always confounded me considering how great you guys are and have been since the beginning. Was it really formed more or less as a goof and extension of the t-shirts that you made for friends? To what extent were you guys already seasoned players at the time of your formation? How comfortable were you with your own songwriting at that time?
It was pretty much an extension of the t-shirts at first. Then we started believing that we’d be this incredible band. At the time the total musical experience of the band was a year of piano i took when I was eight and Mark had a couple guitar lessons from what I recall. There was zero seasoned anything going on with the band. Zero comfort as well. I think that the lack of all that was important for us as we really had no idea of all the reasons we really shouldn’t have been doing it in the first place.
Your songwriting often evokes a stadium rock feel, but Chixdiggit! has a very down-to-Earth vibe as a band. Was there some thought put into those opposing aesthetics? Lyrically there's also an interesting juxtaposition of fairly harmless humor and wit against the backdrop of hard-rockin' tunes. Shadowy Bangers, for example, has a genuinely badass vibe to it yet the lyrics are deliciously silly! What's your take on the Chixdiggit! sound?
Hey thanks! I think it started from the fact that we didn’t know how to play when we started and it made people laugh that we were pretending to be awesome and triumphant when we were basically just making the equivalent of a giant fart sound with our instruments. We’ve improved from there in the sense that we all play the same note when we’re making that fart sound.
Your songs are interesting in that many could have easily been reworked into huge rock anthems or something with an acoustic singer-songwriter feel. The "pop punkness" of your songs seems more incidental just based on the simpler approach to arrangements and so forth - and yet Mark still cranks out very rocking solos. It kind of goes back to my earlier question - was Chixdiggit! ever meant to become associated with the fairly specific scene of Ramones-influenced pop punk?
There was no real plan for how we were going to sound when we started out. We were all into the Ramones but outside of that there wasn’t much else we all agreed on. We were all learning how to play and the easiest style of music to play was what is now called "Ramones-core". There were no bands of that style around that we knew of so we weren’t trying to do that. We just all loved the Ramones. Keep in mind that when we started it was pre-Internet and we lived in Calgary, which is pretty isolated in terms of bands touring through there. We just wanted to fuck with people and get drunk and have fun. Simple music is the easiest to play when you’re drunk.
What's your typical writing process? Do you typically work from titles first, or do you tend to start with a riff or melodic idea? How do you "store" your ideas so as not to forget? Did you/do you record at home often? Do you write on an acoustic guitar? How do your lyrics typically develop?
There’s no real process that I stick with. Sometimes something will pop in my head and I’ll record it on my phone usually with an acoustic guitar. Sometimes a lyric will come to me and I’ll write it down. Sometimes they come at the same time. I’m just trying to make sure I save all the ideas so I don’t lose anything. I just wait for the universe to provide. I would never sit down to write a song. It either comes to me or it doesn’t. I’ve never recorded at home. We have, in my opinion, one of the best recording engineers and producers in the world in Russell Broom living here in Calgary. It’s better to let him do it right the first time and he always does.
There are plenty of short songs in the Chixdiggit! catalog - do you enjoy writing short and concise tunes in general? On later albums there seems to be a more "fleshed out" sound in certain ways - and I recall you stating that there was a point where Chixdiggit! began playing mid-paced songs which was in fact significant but people didn't seem to notice. How has your songwriting naturally evolved over since the self-titled album?
I feel that most songs go on too long so I don’t want to contribute to that, although we did do 2012 that went on (and on). Sometimes there’s a little bit more to say so the song might be longer. Sometimes I take a short, fast song and slow it down so it’s longer only because it’s played slower. It’s true, we were a bit scared to play mid-tempo songs at the beginning there. People did not notice or care. They’re some of our more popular songs now. They only way I can explain the evolution of my songwriting (if there is one), is that, like everyone else, I’m trying to write the perfect song. And, like everyone else, I’m just coming up with what I want to hear.
I've always been interested in your relationship with Kepi Ghoulie, since you both have similar songwriting instincts and are clearly allies. How did you first come into contact with Kepi? As a songwriter, has he inspired you in any particular way and have you learned anything specific about songwriting through your friendship with him? You both seem to "get" one another as songwriters and I think it's pretty cool!
In January of 1995 we were asked to do a West Coast tour with one of our favourite bands at the time The Best Kissers In The World. It was our first real American tour. We ended up playing in Sacramento at Old Ironsides. At the time I was a lot more mouthy than I am now and t was pretty common for someone to wanna have words with me after the show. I remember Kepi and Roach standing at the front. They looked tough as shit. After the show I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around and there was Kepi. Leather jacket, and all. I thought he was gonna punch me out. Instead the sweetest, kindest voice said “we really liked your show!”. He gave us a tape and we listened to it the whole way home. 26 hours to Calgary. Since then he’s been one of our biggest supporters and one of my best friends. He kind of kept me going when I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it anymore. As a songwriter he’s really inspiring. He’ll be driving and just write a whole song in his head. Lyrics and all. He’ll just start singing this song and I’ll ask him when he came up with it and he’ll have just written a complete song right then. I’ve seen him do it a bunch of times. He has a genius for coming up with simple but very catchy songs that aren’t ripping anyone else off. I believe that writing a good simple song is the hardest thing to do. You have to make it something that nobody else has done and still be good. I think that’s way harder than writing intricate and complicated music. Some of his songs are some of the greatest punk songs of all-time.
Your association with Fat Wreck Chords is notable for many reasons, including that Fat Mike is a big fan of Chixdiggit! What are your thoughts on his songwriting? Have you ever discussed songwriting with him specifically? Do you feel that Chixdiggit! "fits" Fat Wreck Chords well enough? Considering the low-key and down-to-earth vibe of the band, it would make sense if you didn't - but then again Fat is considered the high water mark for quality songwriting in the punk genre, so perhaps that's the fit?
Mike’s probably the most consistent songwriter in punk these days and he’s always getting better. I ofter hear people say that they used to listen to Nofx but haven’t listened past Punk in Drublic, or something like that. They’re missing the catchiest stuff. Every record he writes songs that need to be written and not a lot of bands do that. In terms of fit, I’d say we’re in exactly the right place. We’re kind of a weird band in a lot of senses, but, for example, I’d count The Lillingtons, Masked Intruder and Teenage Bottlerocket as bands on Fat that are in our specific genre. Lots of others too! Fat’s a lot more diverse than people give ‘em credit for.
Your wife Kathy is also a talented songwriter - how has it been to share a life with someone who can relate to you in that specific way? Has the music gene been passed on to your daughter? Does she know your songs? What role does music play in your family's lifestyle? Does your wife still play shows and record?
I agree. I love her songs. She’s one of the filters I run my songs through as she’s got really good pop sensibilities. I run things by the kids as well. If I play something and they don’t respond, I know it’s not good enough. My daughter plays the piano and our son, who’s only three, plays all the percussion stuff we have laying around. He actually keeps really good time. Something he obviously got from Kathy. We all play together at home a lot of the time. Usually songs that our daughter has picked that she really likes or something that I’ve written that the kids like. That’s all that Kathy wants to do right now. She’ll get out there again I’m sure but right now it’s not something that’s not on her musical radar.
From what I've read you work with young people as an educator - are they aware of your music career? Do you see young people today retaining much of an interest in what you and I would consider to be rock n' roll? What about that kind of work is most satisfying to you? Do you find any musical inspiration in what you do professionally?
Yeah, I work with ‘at risk’ youth. Some of them are aware of what I do, but I’d say there’s not a lot of interest in guitar bands with the kids I work with. I’ll teach basic guitar to the rare one’s that are into it though. The kids I work with are pretty incredible. Most of them live lives where they have to get by on their own wits and senses of humour. They’re funny as shit. They've had a lot of gnarly stuff happen to them but they don’t give up. I get a lot of inspiration from them for how they handle the shitty cards they’ve been dealt.
Who are some of your own favorite songwriters? Have you ever received positive feedback from other songwriters who you admire? How would you describe your own songwriting personality? Which songs that you've written are you the most proud of and why?
Other than Kepi and Fat Mike… lemme see. In terms of more established songwriters, All the Ramones, Billy Bragg, Tom T. Hall, Dolly Parton, Elvis Costello, Cheap Trick, Slade, Jackson Brown, Bryan Adams and lots more. That’s a tough one. In terms of more recent songwriters, Morten Henriksen, Mikey Erg, Luke from The Copyrights, Chris Cresswell, Emily Haines, Joey Cape, Parry Gripp, Jon Snodgrass, John K. Samson, Frank Turner, Andrea Manges… that’s tough too. I’m leaving lots of em out I’m sure. In terms of my songwriting, I’d say that what I’m trying to do is write songs that I think need to be written. i’m trying to get away from stuff that’s been done to death in terms of song subject. At the same time I’m trying to make it catchy and to the point. Just making songs that I want to hear I guess.
You've been doing solo shows and there are now KJ Jansen t-shirts available - will there be a solo album as well? What inspired you to do a solo project in the first place? What are the pros and cons compared to your activities with Chixdiggit! What are your future goals as a musician and songwriter, and how do you feel about what you've accomplished so far?
Doing solo shows is a different beast for sure. It’s like kinda the opposite of a full band show but for reasons I didn’t expect. You can’t hide behind the volume and spectacle of a rock show. You’re up there pretty much naked. It took me a while to get used to it but now I really like it. I still have a long way to go till I’ve got it down. I have lots of songs ready to get recorded but I’m just fighting to find time to get started. We have a pretty busy home with two young kids and that’s my priority right now. As the little guy gets older I’m finding more time to get things done. It’ll happen soon. I really like the songs so I’m itching to get ‘em done. Getting that out and a new Chixdiggit album are my next goals. After that we’ll see. We’ve done a lot with this band that a lot of people, including us, thought would be done after just playing one show. I’m proud of that. Lots to do still though.
Any words of advice for the aspiring songwriters out there?
My only advice for new songwriters would be to not listen to me.
