In 2005 an Englishman named Lee Taylor moved to the U.S. to start work as a student liaison at the University of Missouri. It was during this time he met Jaret Reddick of local band Sherman who was to become front man of one of Missouri's best known bands Jeremy's Box. This is their story.

"I remember the first time I ever saw Lee" says Reddick "I looked up from my beer and there was this huge guy smiling at me. At first I almost crapped my pants I thought he was the freakin' security dude come to throw me out of the bar. But I sorta calmed down a little after Joe, a mutual friend, made the introductions and I had drank another two beers!"

 

The three friends spent the night talking about music and the cultural differences between England and the U.S. "We got so drunk that night that we talked about anything and everything. I was pretty disappointed that he didn't live in a castle though as I thought everybody in England lived in a castle!" jokes Reddick. They talked deep into the night and after getting kicked out of the bar the three friends drunkenly parted company little knowing that the seeds of what would become Jeremy's Box had been planted. Lee went back to his day job and spent his nights writing songs. Joe continued to play bass in his Garage after recently quitting the band he was with. Jaret continued to plow along with Sherman even though he wasn't happy about the musical direction they had recently taken. "We were writing such angry songs. Big, loud and angry metal songs. Each one as depressing as the next. I began to wonder if there was anything different out there."

 

Sherman played their final gig on the 22nd of April. Jaret recalls the final gig "I just really couldn't face it. Playing the same old songs over and over again. I found myself not even putting in the effort that night. I just wanted to get the damn songs over and done with and get off the stage." After the gig Jaret again met up with Lee and Joe. "I told them how I’d become really fucked up by the music we were playing. Then Lee says "Take a look at this" and pulls out this folder full of songs. So I begin to read through them and sat there most of the night laughing my ass off. He has this really unique way of looking at the world. You know if most people got dumped they would write some bitter love song about how heartbroken they are Lee just says "I'm glad you dumped me you had bad breath anyway" I just thought "This guy is fuckin' awesome!"

 

Less than a month later the three found themselves in Joe's Garage jamming. Joe Pintolo (Bass) takes up the story. "You have no idea what that first session was like. We had no drummer at the time so it was us and the drum machine that was on my old Casio keyboard. The riffs and melodies were amazing but the damn drum machine kept losing time. In fact if my beer soaked brain is right I’m pretty sure "Almost Had You" was conceived during that first session. Lee had the chorus down and we sort of had the main parts too. We jammed until the early hours. We knew we had something very special." When the realization hit that they could make something of these jamming sessions they advertised for a drummer in the local newspapers. "We put this ad in the paper that said "FREE BEER!" Then in small print underneath "Not really. But if you're a good drummer we could stretch to a few pitchers. Call Joe for more!" recalls Joe. A few days after the advert went to print Gary Wiseman a local drummer who had been with Army Of Freshman decided to give Joe a call. "I'd seen the advert and thought "Fuck it. I'll try these guys they sound like my kind of assholes."

 

And it turned out they were. Work quickly began on a demo CD "Drunk Enough To Dance" recorded in Joe's basement. "Steph was really understanding. She put up with the fact that we had the recording gear on top of the washer and dryer." says Joe "If the truth was known we didn't have a fuckin' clue what we were doing. We just wanted to make a CD to sell at gigs so we could all be really rich and end up as drunk rockstars!" Sadly that didn't happen but, as Jaret remembers, something very magical did. "We got such a damn buzz from putting those songs down in our basement studio. There we were these four half drunk buttheads who hadn't a clue what the hell they were doing trying to make a record for no money. It was the best time ever." Once the CD was finished and released upon the public it caused quite a stir. "People were coming up to us at gigs and asking us if we really had dated models from Singapore (Emily)and had made porn videos with our ex-girlfriends(A Friendly Goodbye)" laughs Joe "But more than that it got us noticed by people that may not have noticed us otherwise."

 

Jeremy's Box became one of Missouri's best know bands playing to over 3000 people at the Kansas City gay and lesbian festival. As Jaret recalls "That was freakin' bizarre! We opened for Rupal! I mean you don't get a punk rock band to open for a drag act right? But they loved us. We sold more copies of Drunk Enough To Dance that day than we sold over all the tour we did for it. And when they found out Lee was English they went nuts asking him for pictures and autographs. Seriously we must have stood for nearly an hour signing things and posing for pictures but I never saw him complain once. That's the kind of guy he is."

 

It was during that concert that the band were spotted by Jeff Roe who owned a small independent studio and record label. "I was really excited on hearing them. The lyrics were funniest thing I’d heard. And the between song chat was hilarious! At one point Jaret and Lee stopped playing the song to drink a beer leaving poor Joe and Gary to carry on. But the crowed just took over the singing and loved every second of it. So much so I think they even pissed Rupal off a little."

 

Jeff approached them after the concert to ask if they'd be interested in signing to his label which would guarantee them wide spread CD distribution around the Missouri and Kansas area. "At first we said no" recalls Gary "Here was some guy we'd never met before telling us he wanted to sign us and we got scared because we thought we were just this little comedy punk rock band"

 

But sign they did. And within a month they had their first official CD out  "The Great Burrito Extortion Case". The title was taken from a news report about a couple who had claimed to have found a mouse in their burrito at Wendy's. "It was off the freakin' chart! All of a sudden we didn't just have day jobs we had night jobs too. Literally we would go into work do 8 hours and then straight off to set up our gear for the night." says Gary. "But it really took it's toll on us and at one point we almost called it a day. We just got sick of the sight of each other. It felt like all we were doing was playing shows or writing new stuff. It wasn't a happy time."

Jeff Roe picks up the story. "Demand for a new CD was huge. This was only months after the first one came out. In a way I feel guilty because I put too much pressure on them to deliver and when they did the results weren't good." Indeed they were not. The second official CD "Rock On Honorable Ones!" sold badly and was given scathing reviews by the local music papers. As one critic put it "This is what I’d call a throwaway CD. You play it once then throw it away or use it as a drinks coaster."

 

"I would say there were some good songs on there but they just needed more work" says Jaret. "People didn't get the fact that songs like "I'm Gay" or "Why Don't I Miss You?" were meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Everybody thought we were just pissed at our girlfriends." Jeff Roe then decided after the supporting tour that a trip away from Missouri may be in order. "I had this friend called Butch Walker who owned a studio up in Flower Mound, Texas. I arranged for them to go up there and spend two months writing and recording. What came out of that was probably the bands best CD."

 

A Hangover You Didn't Deserve was unleashed on the Missouri public and was an instant hit. Containing classic songs such as "Come Back To Texas" and "Where To Begin?". "We had a blast recording those songs. I mean seriously. We would spend from about midday until midnight writing and recording then go and get drunk. I remember one day Lee staggered in with this sheet of paper going "I think I wrote our best song then he showed me what was to become Trucker Hat."  During those sessions feelings between the band were at an all time high prompting Lee to write "Friends 'O Mine" and ode to his bandmates. "I read that song and almost cried." recalls Joe "It basically told the story of how we'd met and all the crap we'd been through just to get where we were today. I still play that when I’m missing those days."

 

But things were to come crashing down around the band. Joe picks up the story  "Lee had been going through some real shit with the girl he was living with at the time. She just took him for a ride. Then it all came to a head one day when she attacked him with a kitchen knife. I got the call on a Tuesday afternoon from Jaret to say I had to get my butt up to the hospital as Lee was really badly hurt. It turned out she had cut him up really badly." After the attack Lee decided to go home. "I couldn't believe it" says Jaret clearly upset "We had gotten him home from the hospital when he just announced "I can't do this any more I have to go back to England." And so with that came the end of Jeremy's Box. "I still think back to those days with real fondness in my heart" says Gary. "There was so much happiness and so many laughs. We really were good together."

 

It remains to be seen if Jeremy's Box will ever raise it's head again. But one thing is for sure. They left a legacy most bands can only dream of leaving.

Greg Kinnerman - Redeye Magazine.