Jetboy: A Press Conference Is Held To Announce The Release Of Feel The Shake!

Originally published in Rave-Up #16 (1989)
By Devorah Ostrov (with thanks to Alison for transcribing duties)

Jetboy - Feel the Shake LP cover photo

MCA Records (1988)

Jetboy recently held a press conference at the Stone, in their hometown of San Francisco, to discuss the band's debut album as well as video and tour plans.

On the press side, there were three of us: me (Devorah), Sadie O. (technically a Rave-Up staffer, but she was covering this event for another 'zine), and some guy with a vague connection to MTV (who hadn't seen the video and asked confusing questions; we refer to him as MTVdude because we don't know his name).

On the band side, there was: Mickey Finn (vocals), Billy Rowe (guitarist), Fernie Rod (guitarist), Sami Yaffa (bassist), and Ron Tostenson (drums).

* * *

Jetboy (MCA publicity photo)

L-R: Ron Tostenson, Billy Rowe, Sami Yaffa,

Fernie Rod, and Mickey Finn

Devorah: So, now that the album is out and you're on MTV, can you come home? Or do you have to stay in Los Angeles?

Billy: We don't have any home anymore. We're going on tour!

Devorah: I've heard that you're opening shows for Kix. Is that the story?

Fernie: No, that's half the story. We're going out on our own first.

Billy: Until we meet up with Kix on the East Coast.

MTVdude: In terms of the first music video you guys did ["Feel the Shake," the title track from Jetboy's LP], how was that experience? I mean... you know... you're obviously used to being onstage, but I mean...

Sami: But not for twelve hours solid!

Fernie: We did a twelve-hour show of the same song.

MTVdude: I haven't seen the video. Is there a theme, or is it straight-forward rock 'n' roll?

Jetboy - publicity photo

Fernie: When you look at it, you think that we're really doing it.

Devorah: But you're not?

Fernie: I mean, we are really doing it, but we sound just like the record.

MTVdude: So, when you guys do the next one, is there going to be anything different? I mean, in terms of...

Fernie: I think we're going to do "Make Some Noise" and the band is going to be naked.

Sadie: Yay! Oh, excuse me.

Devorah: How did you guys come up with the concept of a skull for your backdrop? Is this LA trendiness showing through?

All at once: Noooo!!!

(Sami threw whatever was handy in my direction — it happened to be a copy of Rave-Up. I threw it back and kicked him under the table for good measure.)

Ron: That's a kamikaze pilot — a "Jetboy"!

MTVdude: When you talk about attitude... I mean, when she says "Los Angeles"... I mean, there's obviously an attitude difference between North California and South California [his phraseology].

Billy Rowe and Mickey Finn meet Stiv Bators at a Lords of the 

New Church in-store appearance - Rainbow Records, 1985.

Photo: Judy Jansen

Fernie: Well... See, LA needs an attitude adjustment.

Sadie: At least you're closer to the music industry there. At the moment, if you're not thrash, San Francisco is a very bad place to be business-wise.

Fernie: Yeah, it's all relative to time and place. Before we officially moved to "that hellhole down there," we were living here and commuting back and forth. But the labels had their beady little eyes on us all the time.

Fernie Rod in action (probably 1985)
Photo: Devorah Ostrov

MTVdude: So, what kind of logic is it in terms of the record company... Why would they put out funding for a band to put together product, and then not get it off the shelf?

Billy: Are you talking about in our case?

(It's eventually decided that the question is about Jetboy having been dropped by Elektra Records shortly before the release of Feel the Shake, after which the band was promptly signed to MCA.)

Fernie: We call it the ninth wonder of the world. We don't really know what the heck happened. It could have been a multitude of things. There was a personnel change; some political things were going on. It isn't like we told Bob Krasnow [head of Elektra] to rot in Hell. Oh, hi Mick!

(As if on cue, enter Mickey Finn.)

Sadie: But it looks like it might be a positive factor for people to see that you slogged through all this shit, and you're still going.

Mickey: Yeah, I think people know that we're not a fly-by-night band. I mean, we've been through the mill, you know. We basically got all the bad breaks. Now that things are finally going good, I think people can be sure that we're gonna be around for a while.

MCA advert for Jetboy's debut LP

Fernie: It's just like life. There's no guarantees in life; ain't no guarantees in anything you do. Nothing you really want comes easy. You have to earn it.

Sadie: You know, that's probably what separates you from the attitudes in LA. Those bands have this idea that if they do their hair right, everything will fall into their lap.

Fernie: That's true!

Sadie: So, since I'm like hopelessly stupid, what kind of thematic shit do you deal with? I mean, I've seen the one video...

Fernie: Thematic?

Sadie: That's all about making noise and stuff.

Fernie: There is no theme, it's just a matter of your own personal...

Mickey (mumbled under his breath): Zen...

Sadie: Zen? What!?

Mickey: No... I said, "Yeah." We wanted the video to just be live and raw, like when we recorded that record. And I think it does capture that. I mean, halfway through the video, my pants were ripping apart and we were all dripping with sweat, but we didn't say, "Hold everything! We gotta blow-dry our hair and change our clothes." You look at the video, and it looks like a live show.

L-R: Mickey Finn, Billy Rowe, Fernie Rod, and Ron Tostenson

Photos: @scarpatistudio

Fernie: I did have a stand-in on some of the jumps and splits.

Sadie: And you had a harness, so you could...

Fernie: Did you see the strings?

MTVdude: When you guys talk about creative freedom... Like you want to express your attitude being raw on the video... Did you find that anybody wanted to like, shape your attitude in the studio... And when you came to do the video, did they try and like... "Here's some ideas, and you get to pick and choose."

Jetboy is the "Metal Pin-Up"

Mickey: Yeah, they did a little bit.

Fernie: But you know, it's the old "goes in one ear, out the other." We just did our thing. In the studio, it was just us and the producers and the engineer. When it came time to do the video, the suggestion [from MCA] was to just go for it. Just do what we do best — play live! There were really no major conflicts.

Sadie: Did an audience come in and watch you do the same song for twelve hours?

All at once: Yeah!

Sadie: That's devotion.

Fernie: I don't think it was devotion. I think it was the promise of food.

Devorah: How did you guys feel the first time you saw "Feel the Shake" on MTV?

Sami Yaffa onstage with Jetboy
Photo: Devorah Ostrov

Fernie: I thought I looked taller!

Mickey: For me, the first time I saw it... I thought it would be so exciting. Then when it actually came on, I felt self-conscious like, "Oh my God, the whole world is watching this! It's not good enough." But then, after that, it was a good feeling.

Sadie: You guys got any other exciting interests or something? I mean, apart from Jetboy.

Mickey: Skateboarding... motocross… pet iguanas... I've always been into reptiles. In fact, I used to live in this house on 11th Avenue, and we got raided about a year ago. You might have heard about it 'cause it was on the news, in the newspaper. They were all: "Poisonous snakes lurking in San Francisco!"

Fernie: Well, the only thing I've noticed... In certain publicity shots, you're beginning to look like some of those things.

Mickey: Then there's our fascination with the blues... harmonica... slide guitar... On the next album, there'll be a lot more harmonica and slide guitar.

Sadie: Do you have any people that you emulate?

Billy: James Cotton... Johnny Winter... all that stuff. We're crazy about it!

Mickey Finn - Jetboy's 2006 reunion
Photo: Devorah Ostrov

Devorah: Are you looking forward to playing for all your friends in San Francisco again tonight [the second of two SF shows]?

Mickey: It should be fun. We rocked last night! You know, we're starting off the tour in San Francisco, and I said, "I'm gonna take it easy, be mellow, pace myself." But last night it was like, "Aarrgghh!"

MTVdude: As far as your earlier fans and friends... Are they... you know... When a band starts getting capital and cash... It's strange... People are really turned off; it's like they feel deserted.

Mickey: Once a band starts seeing some success, it's real easy for old fans to start cutting us off, "Oh, the record's no good. I like their old stuff." How can you help being a little jealous, or like you said, feeling betrayed by the band? It's like, yeah, we took up and went to LA and now we're doing it. We're doing what we always wanted to do. Some people can't accept that.

Fernie: Yep. I'm doing what I always wanted to do — sitting in the Stone, in the early afternoon, drinking my Beck's beer.

Ron: Out of a can.

* * *

2018 update: Jetboy has completed work on a NEW album, which will be released through Frontiers Music.

Please click on these links to read my other interviews with Jetboy:
devorahostrov.blogspot.com/2018/05/jetboy-sami-yaffa-joins-group
devorahostrov.blogspot.com/2017/10/jetboy-year-into-their-glittering-career