Just after the release of "The Great Burrito Extortion Case" the band were asked to do an interview for Redeye Magazine being the only one available Lee went along and did the interview. Thanks to Greg at Redeye for the transcript.

Jeremy's Box have become one of Jackson County's hottest acts selling over 2000 copies of their début CD "The Great Burrito Extortion Case" in less than 3 months. We caught up with songwriter and guitarist Lee Taylor to chat about the band, touring and why underwear should be made illegal.

Redeye: Hey Lee how are you today?

Lee Taylor: I'm good thanks. I just got off work so I’m a little tired. We have a show tonight and I don't think the adrenaline will kick in until I actually walk out on stage. So right now I’m running on Coffee!

RE: Tell us about the new CD and what it was like to finally have some pretty wide exposure.

LT: It's been a blessing and a curse. Sure it's nice to get people coming up to you and saying how much they love the CD. But when you're at Sonic Burger or something trying to eat it can be a bit annoying. But I usually smile and talk to them because without these people we'd just be playing clubs of 10 or 20 like we used to do when we first started. Making the CD was a whole new experience for me. Jaret, Gary and Joe had all been in a studio before so really I was the only one stood there going "WOW! Look at this!!". They just humored me I think. But once the work started the time seemed to fly by. In fact as the sessions closed I found myself going "Look I have a million more ideas here can we not stay for a few more days?" Sadly we couldn't but they'll keep for the next CD hopefully."

RE: Tell us a bit about the songs.

LT: There are a good few on the CD I’ve learned to love. I think my biggest fault is that I’m too hard on myself. When I first got sent a master of it I sat there listening to it going "Shit I wish I’d have done that" or "I should have written that line differently". But now it's actually out and people are responding to it positively I am really pleased. Especially with things like Punk Rock 101 and Running From Your Dad.

RE: Glad you mentioned Punk Rock 101 is it true it's about Averil Lavigne?

LT: Er yeah sort of. We met her at UMKC radio which is the local college radio station. And she had this bunch of people round her telling her what to wear and what to say. It really pissed me off. So we were sat in the green room with her and she was talking about how her song had just gone to number one all over the world. So Joe said "How long did it take you to write it?" And she confessed that most of her songs are written for her so that gave me the idea for a song about mass produced rock music. You know the kind I mean where they take a pretty boy or girl and stick them in front of an audience with a guitar and tell them to mime. We sweat our balls off each night playing real music live and she has just to simply turn up where she's told and mime or say what somebody wrote down for her. She gave us all free copies of her CD though and I have to tell you they make great Frisbees.

RE: So would you say you're totally against all "Manufactured" music?

LT: No not at all I think everything has a place. Just don't tread on our toes and we won't tread on yours. I hate people who pretend to be something they're not.

RE: When you write a song what inspires you?

LT: It could be anything. A situation, something I’ve seen on the news. Most of the time I write about love and loss but I try to do it with a sense of humor. There's too many of these goddamn singers out there who are just whining about how some guy or girl left them and their life is over because of it. I also write about things like regret and day to day life in general. I'm just working on a song about a woman who is living in the past and her kids think she's so lame for doing it. I've also got another song in mind about celebrities and how lame a lot of them are. I get these ideas. Some of them work and some of them suck more than a $10 hooker!

RE: So how does the song writing process work?

LT: I'll usually come up with a set of lyrics and a basic tune. Then I’ll take it to Jaret and we'll work the whole thing out. Last Call Casualty is a good example. I had this riff going through my head for days and finally got a chance to spend 5 minutes alone with my guitar. I played this riff to myself and got the first few lines "You caught me out, you said you're done with me, but I can't seem to remember anything at 3am" After that I had no idea where to take the song. So I went to see Jaret and he sort of had this idea for a song about a guy who calls up his ex when he's drunk. We put the two together and we came up with Last Call. Other times I can go in with a full song and the rest of the band will add bits to it until we're all happy with it. We have sort of an unwritten bond that if we all don't agree on something then we won't do it. And it really works. I've turned up with some songs that I thought were the bomb and instead the guys have made me realize just how much they sucked.

RE: So would you say it's a democracy?

LT: Fuck no! We argue all the time. Seriously. One of us will want to do something and the others will hate it so we'll all storm off in a huff. But in the end we always kiss and make up. We love each other like family and we're so not gonna fall out over a stupid idea. It usually ends up with one of us saying "You were right. I'm an asshole".

RE:Can you tell us about some of those songs that didn't make the grade?

LT: I had a song called Bipolar which was about this girl I dated years ago who really messed me around and the chorus was something like "Why can't you just be Bi-sexual instead of Bipolar." Jaret and the rest of the guys just didn't get it. It took me most of the night to try and convince them it was a good song. In the end though I had to 'fess up and admit it was pretty cruddy.

RE: You've gone from crowds of a few to crowds of over 200 people per gig how does that feel?

LT:It was pretty scary at first. You know everyone who came to those first gigs were friends or family. Now it's a room full of different faces every night. So you feel you have more to prove. And if you fuck up there's more people to say "you sucked" rather than a few close friends who'll say "Better luck next time".

RE:Is it true you never have a set list?

LT:It's absolutely true. We never have a set list. We just play what we feel like playing. I mean sure we will play the things we know people want to hear. "Halfway 'Round The World" and "Almost Had You" are two songs that we've played each night since we started. Ad those, along with a couple others, will be in the set list until the day we decide to call it quits as their real faves of the people that follow the band. Other than that we just play whatever feels right. Jaret will usually give us warning by introducing the song but there have been a few times when he's started a song and we haven't had a clue what the hell it's been until he sort of looks at s like "Why aren't you guys with me?"

RE:Where does the chat that you guys have between songs come from? Is it rehearsed?

LT:No absolutely not! We are the same way on stage we are with each other in real life. You know we'll be in rehearsal. One of us will screw up and Jaret will go into this funny rant about how we're fuckin' up the band. And he'll do the same thing on stage if one of us fucks up.

RE:Thanks for talking to us today before we go we have a few quick fire questions for you.

LT:Sure go ahead.

RE:Pizza or Pasta?

LT:Pizza because I’m lazy!

RE:Decaff or Regular

LT:Regular! Why drink unleaded?? You might as well drink water!

RE:Boxers or Jockey shorts?

LT:None! Underwear should be made illegal! It rides up your ass on stage and annoys the shit out of you!

RE:So you go commando?

LT:Heck yeah! It's the only way to be!

RE:Thanks for your time. I think we'll leave it there before we find out more than we need to know.!

LT:No problem. Anytime.

The Great Burrito Extortion Case is out now on Ffroe records in the local KC area. The band are playing 35 dates over the next two months.