Blackeyed Katy Interview

Blackeyed Katy Interview
Michelle LaRose talks to Jared Perkins for Southbound Beat Magazine

If you ever wanted to say, “I knew them when” now is the time to shake the hand of Jared Perkins, David Lee, Rory Hoke, and Justin Moore collectively known as Blackeyed Katy.

Hailing from Valdosta Georgia, the quartet’s future is looking bright. Blackeyed Katy has just released their debut album Dealin’ which is receiving airplay from WWRQ and sits on the top of the charts at BandRadioLive.com.

We were able to talk to lead vocalist Jared Perkins and get a little more insight into this band on the rise.

SBM: Where does the name Blackeyed Katy come from?

Jared: Once we formed the band, the name is always the hardest thing. We went through several names and just couldn’t think of anything. A buddy of ours was reading a book, I cannot remember the name of the book but one of the characters in there was named Blackeyed Katy. It just kind of stood out and we liked it.

SBM: Can you tell us about your new album Dealin’?

Jared: The album as a whole draws from our influences a lot which would be the likes of Bob Dylan and Pearl Jam. It’s more of a singer-songwriter-type album. It’s rock and roll with a folk edge.

SBM: You started as a duo with David Lee. How did the decision come about to be more than a duo?

Jared: I guess to keep up with the changes. When we started doing the duo, that’s all that was around Valdosta. You had a couple of bands but pretty much all the bars were doing duos. Then it came about that everybody was putting a band together and we were losing weekend slots that we used to have. So to keep up with the times we put a whole band together and also expanded our sound a little more.

SBM: Was the duo under another name?

Jared: The duo was just Dave and Jared.

SBM: Have you had any formal training musically?

Jared: No.

SBM: What inspires you to write?

Jared: I guess whatever’s happening. Mostly I write on a personal level but I do it in a third person type of way. I put myself outside of the box but I use my own emotions and my own experiences to do it. I guess I write the personal narrative sense. Pretty much just whatever happens, I just write if it strikes me. I can go three months without an idea then again I can write ten songs in twenty minutes. It’s just whatever happens.

SBM: What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Jared: Lyrics, to find the right words to go with the music. I’m extremely picky about the words. To me that’s the most important part with the singer-songwriter style. You have to write something that makes sense that everybody can draw from. It’s being able to write on that level where people can understand you or put themselves in that position. Even though it might be a personal song they can relate to it in another way.

SBM: You’ve paid your dues by playing cover tunes in bars. How does a band get it’s own voice heard when the people only want cover tunes?

Jared: You gotta’ scream as loud as you can!

SBM: [Laughing]

Jared: You just have to keep to the grind and just keep giving it to them. Eventually they’ll come to like it, if not oh well. You got to keep going.

SBM: You wrote a blog stating, “I believe that people have the wrong motivation when they pray.” Can you tell us what you mean by this statement?

Jared: I never do blogs I just had that on my mind. I’m a very spiritual person and I feel that God answers prayers when they’re selfless. Asking him to solve all your problems, every little problem, then what the hell are we here for? I think that trial and error is life and part of life is falling down but you have to get back up. You have to do it on your own. God is there and God will always be there. He gave us free will and with that free will we make decisions, some of them right, some of them wrong. It’s our bed, we make it and we lie in it. I think when a lot of people pray they pray for selfish things, “Please get me out of this jam” or whatever. You got yourself into it; you can get yourself out of it. My belief is that God will be there when he knows that you need him. I think that if you were praying for someone else and give your all to that person then I think the prayer will be answered.

SBM: You’re a huge Florida Gators fan. You’re not from Florida so why Gators?

Jared: My Dad graduated from Florida, all my family is from Florida and I love pissing Georgia fans off!

[Both laughing]

Jared: There’s nothing sweeter in the world! I was born into it. Hopefully one day if I have kids they’ll follow in my footsteps too. Raised with it.

SBM: What’s next for Blackeyed Katy?

Jared: I guess really to just keep doing what we’re doing. Try to get a little bigger one day at a time and to get more people to listen. That’s the biggest thing, to get heard. We just have to keep working hard even working a little harder than we are right now. We just have to keep doing it. You can’t lie down with this job. It’s not as glamorous as everybody thinks it is. There’s a lot of down time. I guess when you do get to that level it’s great. The next big thing is to just keep doing what we do.

SBM: Thank you for speaking with Southbound Beat Magazine today.

Jared: Thank you for the interview. I enjoyed it.