The Jins: Nothing’s Going To Break Their Stride (Not Even a Smelly Tour Van)
Alt/rock powerhouse band, The Jins, made their return to Calgary, Alberta - the hometown of lead vocalist/guitarist Ben Larsen - to shake off the cold temperatures during Big Winter Classic. Joined by band members Jamie Warnock (drums) and Hudson Partridge (bass), we grabbed a table near the tattoo flash and thrasher magazine laden walls of the venue to talk about how the band are taking flight across North America on tour. While the band still maintains their humble beginnings, handmaking and packaging their own merch to every devoted fan, the group is gaining significant momentum with their sophomore release It’s a Life. Whether it’s through their viral social media success or their radio-charting anthems, what keeps their bond strong is their ability to never take things too seriously.
REVERIE: Let’s dive in to the origin story of The Jins. I’ve heard a few different stories floating around.
Jamie: What stories have you heard!? *laughs*
REVERIE: Some of you met through a house party? Or was it school?
Ben: We met over 10 years ago now. I was basically living in a ratty SRO in downtown east side Vancouver because I was tricked into believing it was student housing, which it was! But it was terrible and I was desperate to get out. So when I met Jamie through school, I asked if he had a room available at the shared house he was living in. Then we went and rescued Hudson from china town and then we all lived in a big blue house. And that’s kinda where the band got its start.
REVERIE: You released your self-titled album and I always find naming an album your own name is an introduction. It sets the tone for your sound at first and who you are as a band.
Ben: Yeah, we had two releases in the beginning that were self titled. And then Jamie started getting mad because he said we can’t just keep releasing self-titled records. And then we released two singles and just called them the name of the songs. [laughs]. Yeah, we were very original.
REVERIE: And then on your sophomore, were you able to explore more? Or was that a challenge - this time, you had a release you couldn’t self-title.
Jamie: Well…we just stole a song title off the album [laughs].
Ben: When we recorded It’s a Life, we really had nothing going on. It was right when covid broke out and the future prospects of the band were so limited at that point, we just thought “fuck it - let’s just go and have fun in the studio and make another record”. we didn’t have a following on tik tok at this point or anything. It was also right after we did a massive North American tour in 2019, playing in totally empty rooms across the country. It was an epic time with the boys [laughs]. It was so much fun because there was no pressure on the tour. It was basically a big boys trip.
Jamie: I also found out that venue was super haunted.
Hudson: Which one?
Jamie: Super Happy Fun Land in Texas. The one with all the raggedy-ann dolls. I found out afterwards that it was haunted.
Ben: But yeah, It’s a Life was kind of us just chilling and now that we have this crazy audience following on tik tok it’s kind of like…oh shit we have to do something again.
REVERIE: I find your viral success fascinating! Social media is something that artist’s are frustrated and challenged by a lot, rightfully so. What has your experience been with social media and do you have any tips?
Jamie: The dumber the content we make, the more views we get.
Hudson: We struggled with social media for a long time - we used to make funny bits on youtube and skits, and it never worked. So we stopped.
Ben: When we stopped trying and taking it too seriously, it worked better. The algorithms, like posting heavily on facebook, were not like they are now. Tik tok was overnight - 1,000 to 20,000 views. It was instant. It was just a total fever dream in the beginning. That initial break into the algorithm, it didn’t feel real. It was a great feeling that people finally thought our music was cool. But it’s something I still grapple with. The intense highs and lows with the ego. Some days you want to give a shit…
Jamie: …and then other days you feel like shit.
REVERIE: Also it must be an extra layer of stress to always want to top your last video and have it go viral.
Jamie: Oh totally! That’s the problem with cellphones. Everyone’s a fucking goldfish now and their attention spans are no longer than 5-10 seconds.
Ben: That’s why Steve Lacy got so angry when he became a megastar because his song “Bad Habit” went viral as a snippet on tik tok. It was a sped up version, and the people showing up to his concerts only knew that one clip, and he’s storming off the stage! He’s completely in his right to.
REVERIE: Would you do the same?
Jamie: No, we would troll everybody. I’d start playing the triangle out of nowhere.
Ben: I think I’m so desperate and insecure as a person. I will take any attention you give me [laughs]. It’s just who I am.
REVERIE: You’ve mentioned how you feel Canada is a bit slow to catch up with your music, but you’re doing very well on a national level on community radio! How do these underground music communities and showcases like Big Winter Classic impact you as an artist?
Jamie: That’s why we love playing festivals like Big Winter Classic, it helps a lot. This is the 7th time we’ve played Calgary. We’ve played it the most after Vancouver.
Ben: It’s the route we do every time. And I’m from Calgary originally, so I have family here. We used to play Tubby Dog all the time back in the day. It was our old stomping grounds.
REVERIE: We LOVE Tubby Dog (and miss it dearly). That’s the other problem we’re experiencing is the lack of venues in the city!
Ben: Especially ones that are all ages! We didn’t even recognize this one when we walked in [modern love]. We played Broken City in the past [now Modern Love]. It looks great though!
REVERIE: what was your experience living in Vancouver and making music?
Jamie: We’re kinda trapped by the mountains.
Ben: We’re 30 now too - it’s not the same as when we were younger. We have our priorities a little different with the band. We’re trying to be more professional. Back in the day we’d take any show offer we could get - it was good practice but now we want to get into other cities.
Jamie: We planted the seed and now we’re growing the plant. We’re going worldwide [laughs].
REVERIE: Where are you heading off to next?
Jamie: We’ve got a dozen dates in the west US. This is our third run. But we’re not getting into a smelly van again for now.
Ben: It wasn’t that smelly.
Hudson: We lived in it for 6 weeks straight.
Ben: It was great. It was the best of times.
Jamie: And the most traumatic of times.
REVERIE: There’s probably nothing like a long tour that really solidifies that you’re with the right people. You have to like your bandmates to be that close with them for that long.
Jamie: Yeah that tour was where we really figured out how to coexist.
Hudson: The first tour is a milestone for a lot of bands. I’ve seen some breakup afterwards because they couldn’t cut it.
Ben: Even bands that are way cooler than us. And they just break up! It’s like, how could you do that? Isn’t this your life’s work? And you ask them why and they’ll say how much they dislike their band mate. It’s like…damn thats some deep hatred. We try not to take things too seriously.
Jamie: Yeah, we’re really trolling everyone anyways. We’re actually DJ’s.
[The Jins are in fact not DJ’s…or are they?].
We also make all of our own merch and ship it out by hand. So if its a little late please forgive us!
REVERIE: You also have a Seattle show coming up. Ben, you do tend to get compared to Kurt Cobain all the time, although your music is not grunge.
Ben: For sure, it’s kind of the elephant in the room.
Jamie; That’s why we butchered “Smells Like Teen Spirit” really drunk one time at a Vancouver show. We wouldn’t do that in Seattle though. It would be social and career suicide.
Ben: But at the end of the day, it is the music that is steering us. We wouldn’t have the audience we have if it was just me with blonde hair. We also have the chops.
Jamie: Ya give them your best Owen Wilson impression instead. [Ben proceeds to say “wow” in an Owen Wilson voice].