In just a year, the band JAMM has made a name for themselves in Chico. With upbeat, feel-good music and a sound that combines a variety of styles ranging from reggae and blues to heavy metal, they are now set to release their first EP (an album with six tracks).
JAMM is made up of Chico State students Matt Crocco (guitar), Ian McIsaac (bass), Anthony Coseo (vocals/saxophone) and Mitchell Koff (drums). The band formed from close connections and a little bit of advertising.
“Mitch and I are actually cousins, so I’ve known him my whole life…and then we put up a Craigslist ad for a singer and that’s how we found Anthony,” Crocco said.
Q: If you could describe your style in just two words – what would it be?
“I can actually give you one word. Our style is eclectic,” Koff said. “It pulls from many styles…all of us have our own taste and influences that we bring into our songs.”
Q: Who or what are your biggest influences?
“My number one influence is definitely Pink Floyd,” Crocco said. “Pink Floyd and Stevie Ray Vaughan.”
“Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers. He’s probably one of the best bass players out there,” McIssac said.
“I used to play in a jazz band so from then I was listening to a lot of [Grant] Green, Wes Montgomery,” Coseo said. “Whatever we’re playing, we’re listening to.”
“For me, I started out really with heavy metal, thrash metal from my dad. Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax,” Koff said. ” As I started getting my own taste, I got really into grunge and hardcore punk…and then I took a big soft turn and really settled into reggae in the past like two years.”
For JAMM, the ability to connect with their peers brought them a lot of opportunities.
Q: What about the Chico music scene do you enjoy most?
“The music scene and really the city of Chico is very community-centered,” Koff said. “We popped up as a local band doing yard shows and within a month we were connected with local bands in the area and hopping onto local shows and venues. In the next month, we’re heading up to Redding to do a show with Evertone and Abstract Blue, you know, guys we met a year ago.”
As for JAMM’s future plans, be on the lookout for their first EP and plenty of shows.
“We’re called JAMM for a reason – because we jam, and it’s a lot of fun and a lot of high energy tunes,” Koff said. “I can’t stress enough that it would be a good time for everybody to come out to these upcoming shows.”
You can catch JAMM live at one of the following dates:
- September 25 @ 12 pm – Trinity Commons / Chico, CA
- October 2 @ 8 pm – The Maltese / Chico, CA
- October 5 – Brew Craft Coffee / Redding, CA
For more information, JAMM can be found on Instagram @jamm.official.
Kati Morris can be reached at [email protected] or @neutralsoymilk on Twitter.
