Driven to be something he was not by controlling managers and record executives who were determined to control his image and musical output, Towers spent the better part of the last year and a half fighting a bloody battle to be free of his prior record label contract, a contract that had left him nearly penniless.<\/p>\n
We had the opportunity to catch up with Jordy who was eager to share with us the experiences he had that have led him to where he is now, as well as the lessons learned from that time in his life. Free from the constraints of his previous label, and rejuvenated by SomeKindaWonderful, Jordy gave us his thoughts on the status of alternative music that after many thriving years now stands in the shadow of mainstream pop and hip-hop<\/a>.<\/p>\n AltWire [Derek]: I wanted to start out by talking about your career leading up to the band. Before SomeKindaWonderful, you had been signed to a solo deal and had even released a few singles. But as I understand it, you weren’t really happy with what you were being made out to be. At what point did you realize “wow this isn’t really for me”?<\/strong><\/p>\n Jordy Towers [SomeKindaWonderful]: <\/strong>Even when I was [signed], I wanted to do something different. I was doing it because it was my job. I was supporting the decisions the record company was making, but in the back of my mind I was pretty much unhappy the whole time. But I guess I kind of had to build up the gall or maybe just the \u201cballs\u201d to just say \u201cfuck you!\u201d and walk away, you know what I mean? And that\u2019s what I did. I had to leave, and I was homeless because the management company that I was under stole every penny that I had.<\/p>\n I was living in my truck and I got a text from a family member who lives in Ohio, and I went out to visit her to get away. I was actually thinking of moving there because I just didn\u2019t have anywhere else to go. I was living out of my truck, sleeping on different couches, and you know\u2026spending the night at different girl\u2019s houses, but I was running out on them a bit because I couldn\u2019t commit to one of them.<\/p>\n And then I ended up going in the Midwest and meeting up with some family that I never really met. We were basically friends on Facebook and MySpace for a couple of years but we never really actually met.<\/p>\n And then when I went out there, I went out with her one night to a bar and there was nobody in the bar \u2013 really there were about five people in there and two of them became my future bandmates [in SomeKindaWonderful]. One of them (Matthew) was actually playing the guitar, and the guitar riff that he wrote is the same riff that is now on our top 20 single on Alternative Radio, which is called \u201cReverse\u201d.<\/p>\n I had a couple of beers, so I was a little bit loose, you know? And this guy is playing the guitar at the back of this bar and I go over there and just start freestyle singing, and it was the melody that we ended up coming up with. We just kept playing it over and over again, and I\u2019m like \u201cYo, this is catchy!\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m like \u201cWhat are you guys\u2019 names? Yo, do you guys have a studio? Can we go to your house or something?\u201d and they just look at me and they start laughing, and I\u2019m like \u201cwhat?\u201d They say, \u201cWe have the biggest studio in Ohio; it\u2019s right down the street.\u201d And I\u2019m like \u201cGet the fuck out of here.\u201d So we go to this studio and we end up recording \u201cReverse\u201d that night, and 4 hours later the song is done.<\/p>\n At the time I guess I was really unhappy with everything that had happened to me, but I wouldn\u2019t be here without those experiences. A lot of the things from my past lead me to be where I am now, so I wouldn\u2019t change any of it. I wouldn\u2019t change any of the adversity that has got me (and helped me build) the strength that I have now.<\/p>\n AW: How did the band come up with the name SomeKindaWonderful? Was there a story behind it?<\/strong><\/p>\n Jordy Towers [SomeKindaWonderful]: <\/strong>We [SomeKindaWonderful] made a couple of songs that first time I was in Ohio. We made \u201cReverse\u201d; and we made a couple of other records like this record called \u201cDawn\u201d that nobody\u2019s heard yet. We made this song called \u201cRhinestone Melodies\u201d and some other songs that are not even on the album.<\/p>\n We were kind of going in different directions trying to figure out who we were, but really at one point, we were making music just to make music. I wasn\u2019t really trying to be anything or do anything, I was just like \u201clet\u2019s make something honest and real and organic and rock and roll,\u201d you know? I\u2019m in the Midwest; I\u2019m thinking rock and roll.<\/p>\n So we start making records, and the \u201cReverse\u201d record just kind of stuck out. We were like \u201cthis is beautiful\u2026this is wonderful music\u201d and the first thing I did was text my manager Nima. I sent this dude some music and he was like \u201cMan, this shit is incredible. This song is a hit.\u201d And that was back in January or February of 2013.<\/p>\n He\u2019s like \u201cthis is a hit, we\u2019ve got to get you out of your deal\u201d and I\u2019m like \u201cdude I want you to manage this band\u201d and he said, \u201cI want to, and I will, but before we do anything we have to get you out of those contracts\u201d. And so we fought for literally a year to a year and a half to get me out – to get me completely free to do SomeKindaWonderful legally, and the dude stuck by us the whole time.<\/p>\n We fought to be able to do this. There\u2019s a song on the album called \u201cIn Chains\u201d and it\u2019s about the fact that the whole time we were making the album, we didn\u2019t even know if we were going to be able to release any of it. The song is about feeling like you\u2019re free, but regardless you\u2019re still in chains. For the name \u201cSomeKindaWonderful\u201d, every time I heard the music I just heard the word \u2018wonderful\u2019 in my head.<\/p>\n I wanted to call the album Wonderful, but when we looked it up we went \u201cOh there\u2019s no SomeKindaWonderful name. Nobody has that as a band name, let\u2019s get it!\u201d and so we took it and it just stuck.<\/p>\n The butterfly stuck because we were looking for something to symbolize who we were. We\u2019ve kind of all been in our caterpillar stage for our whole career as musicians, and this music that we\u2019ve created is our butterfly. We\u2019ve bloomed and we\u2019ve evolved.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n AW: To be able to do of all of that on your own now, and be surrounded by people who support you, and who allow you to be free to control your own creative and visual output must be great as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n Jordy Towers [SomeKindaWonderful]: <\/strong>Ah, dude, it\u2019s amazing. My manager, he\u2019s like part of the band. And he\u2019s not just a manager. He\u2019s our art director, and he does everything with us. He\u2019s our quality control and he keeps us focused and helps us make sure that everything we put out is quality.<\/p>\n It\u2019s great to have people around me who I trust as well, and who help me build the vision, because before it was just me. I had to fight off the label, and my [former] management was sucking the label\u2019s dick the whole time and trying not to step on any toes.<\/p>\n So anything the label wanted they got, and let\u2019s just face it dude [major] labels are fucking stupid. They don\u2019t know what the fuck they\u2019re talking about. All they know how to do is reproduce what\u2019s already working. And everybody knows when you try to copycat another project.<\/p>\n Everybody knows and they\u2019re like \u201cAw it\u2019s just another Lorde, aw shit it\u2019s just another fucking Dirtyheads,\u201d and that\u2019s the last thing I would ever want to be.<\/p>\n I want to be an individual. That\u2019s why SomeKindaWonderful sounds like nothing else, and looks like nothing else. We\u2019re not going to look like anything. It\u2019s going to be different and every song is going to sound different.<\/p>\n But now I have a team of people I trust, and it really is a pleasure. It\u2019s amazing because we all share the same tastes. We know what\u2019s hot and we can look at something together and be like \u201cUgh, that shit\u2019s whack\u201d you know what I mean?<\/p>\n AW: Totally. And I get you. I hate listening to a new band and feeling like I\u2019ve heard it before. And I feel your band is something different and I appreciate that.<\/strong><\/p>\n Jordy Towers [SomeKindaWonderful]: <\/strong>Thank you, brother! That\u2019s such a big compliment because I like to call us a no-genre band. I\u2019d almost like the album cover to have the word \u2018Genre\u2019 with like a circle with a line slashed through it\u2026<\/p>\n AW: That would be an awesome album cover.<\/strong><\/p>\n Jordy Towers [SomeKindaWonderful]: <\/strong>Haha, I know, maybe later on. Maybe we\u2019ll make a poster or something. But I can almost speak for everybody in this country and on this earth who\u2019s a music fan: if you look on their iPod or if you look on their phone, they have all kinds of music on there. Everybody likes everything.<\/p>\n Sure there are people who will be like, \u201cOh I\u2019ll only stick to hip-hop dawg<\/em>\u201d but the days are over where it was dominant like that. Good music is good music and if you can bounce around and dip in different genres, and do it seamlessly…then why not?<\/p>\n Nobody\u2019s really done that since The Beatles, and I\u2019m certainly not trying to compare ourselves to The Beatles but I love how every time they came out with an album, or even on certain albums, you could go from song to song and it\u2019d sound completely different!<\/p>\n They were dipping into everything, and why can\u2019t somebody do that again? Why can\u2019t music be that way? And that\u2019s what we [SomeKindaWonderful] wanted to do. We wanted to dip into everything that we love; we want to make each other happy and each one of the band members love all kinds of different shit.<\/p>\n I love reggae, hip-hop and R&B. That\u2019s my favorite shit\u2026like that\u2019s mine. But our guitarist, he\u2019s a Blues guy. He likes Bob Dylan. He likes classic rock, you know? And then our producer and drummer Ben, he like grew up on Metal and 80\u2019s rock like Tears for Fears and Phil Collins. And then Sara, our singer, and percussionist\u2026 we want to make her happy too so we throw that soul shit in, and then it all kind of blends perfectly man.<\/p>\n Maybe not perfect yet, but we\u2019re fuckin\u2019 pretty damned close and we know it. It may be ambitious and I know at the end of the day it\u2019s ambitious. The world wants to categorize everything and it makes it easier when you\u2019re searching through your iPod, but we don\u2019t give a fuck. We just do what we feel, and our fans respect us for it and hopefully, the rest of the music community does too.<\/p>\n AW: Do you think that\u2019s kind of what\u2019s missing from the alternative music scene nowadays? That everyone seems to \u2018follow the leader\u2019 and replicate what\u2019s big on the radio?<\/strong><\/p>\n Jordy Towers [SomeKindaWonderful]: <\/strong>Of course man, I mean look at Lorde. Look at how many girls are coming out with that Lorde shit. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I love Lorde! I think she\u2019s an amazing artist and actually one of my best friends is the A&R on that project and I\u2019m really proud of her. She got a plaque and all that shit and she\u2019s been working really hard for it, and I respect that.<\/p>\n But then I look at the radio (and I\u2019m not going to name names) but literally two weeks later they\u2019re putting these fucking girls out that sound like Lorde.<\/p>\n They got these hip-hop beats behind them, and they\u2019re all dreary and like weird. I think it\u2019s a joke. Alternative music used to be number one! In the 90s when I was growing up as a kid, bands like Nirvana\u2026that was the hottest shit on earth. But you know what the difference is? It wasn\u2019t just a cool name and a cool song. You could put a face with it.<\/p>\n You had Vedder, you had Kurt, and you had these people where I don\u2019t even have to tell you their last names. You had stars, and that\u2019s the difference, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to show people.<\/p>\n You come to our show; it\u2019s not just the lead singer you\u2019re watching. You\u2019re watching the whole band. You\u2019re watching all of us and we\u2019re all characters, and it\u2019s real and we all deserve it. It\u2019s not just one guy who is the leader and you don\u2019t even know who the guitarist is, or who the drummer is.<\/p>\n No, we want people to know who we are. We want people to know who everybody in the band is, and I think that\u2019s what\u2019s missing in Alternative Music.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why Alternative Music is the fourth biggest radio format. It should be number one because it\u2019s the most creative and it\u2019s the coolest, and there\u2019s so much good shit out there right now. Like, alternative music is killing it, but people don\u2019t know cause they don\u2019t know how to brand themselves.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n AW: I get the feeling that some musicians out there agree with you on that too. That rock music hasn\u2019t really evolved in the same way that hip-hop, pop, and EDM have over the last 15 years, and that\u2019s because rock artists seem afraid to collaborate with other artists to evolve and branch out their sound.<\/strong><\/p>\n Jordy Towers [SomeKindaWonderful]: <\/strong>Totally man. You\u2019ve seen The Last Waltz<\/a> right? You know, like what rock and roll were when everybody would perform on each other\u2019s shit, like the songs<\/a> with Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan\u2026that\u2019s when shit was beautiful, that\u2019s when shit was great. And you know why pop and hip-hop are still on top? Because they collaborated with each other, they piggybacked off of each other.<\/p>\n All of them do it. Rappers get on songs with another rapper, and then they have a career. Boom. You\u2019re right, dude. Nobody collaborates. Everybody treats each other like shit in the alternative community. Nobody communicates, and I\u2019m telling you\u2026there\u2019s going to be a big change coming, and you know what? We\u2019re on an indie label and we want to evolve and be that change. That\u2019s where we\u2019re going.<\/p>\n Now we may not be as big of some of these other bands right now, but the only reason why that is happening is because we\u2019re on an indie label and all of these other dudes have huge budgets. At the end of the day financially, we shouldn\u2019t even be in the top 25. But we have support, and we have people who are hungry for what we have.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s what we [SomeKindaWonderful] want to do: bring that movement shit. But it\u2019s got to be one movement. The Alternative radio scene should be one moment like the 60\u2019s all over again. Like the early 90s, when Temple of A Dog went down and all of that COOL shit. Rock and Roll could be awesome again. It\u2019s just\u2026I don\u2019t know, man. With the people that are on top\u2026things have to change a little bit.<\/p>\n There are so many people who are unhappy with what\u2019s playing on alternative radio right now. That\u2019s why it\u2019s [at] number four. We [SomeKindaWonderful] saw a void in alternative music. I\u2019ve done every genre. I could\u2019ve gone out there and told those guys, \u201clet\u2019s make a pop record,\u201d \u201clet\u2019s make a hip-hop record,\u201d or \u201clet\u2019s make an R&B record.\u201d<\/p>\n But then I looked at the landscape, and I said \u2018I want to make a rock album\u2019 but with all the elements of what\u2019s good. [I want to] go across the board, and give people what they want again. If you listen to the album, it\u2019s like [the track] \u2018Cornbread\u2019. That\u2019s what Cornbread is. It\u2019s supposed to symbolize \u2018here\u2019s that good shit again\u2019.<\/p>\n You can have all that nasty, sugar candy, fast food music if you want, but here\u2019s some of that real shit. Here\u2019s some homemade shit. Put that in your gullet.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t want to be politically correct, because I never fucking liked politics anyway. Because fuck politics dude, and fuck being politically correct because that\u2019s not what rock and roll is all about. And that\u2019s one of the problems with rock and roll right now. Rock and roll has no fucking balls<\/em>. And I don\u2019t want to sound like a dick, but everyone\u2019s so concerned about being politically correct and so corporate. That\u2019s not what rock and roll was about.<\/p>\n AW: Rock and roll was supposed to rail against the corporate atmosphere and the establishment; it wasn\u2019t meant to be going along with it. <\/strong><\/p>\n Jordy Towers [SomeKindaWonderful]: <\/strong>Always! And it did! And it made money doing that, and it was okay, and you know why? Because people need a release! The world\u2019s gone fucking crazy [laughs<\/em>]. We\u2019re living in an insane world; we need a release more than ever. Just listen to music that allows you to let it out, like fucking Metallica.<\/p>\n I was just watching this one movie, where the dude was like \u201cWhenever I\u2019m angry I go to the garage and listen to fuckin\u2019 Metallica!\u201d [laughs<\/em>]. I think it was called Silver Linings Playbook or whatever, but it\u2019s true man\u2026people need that release. Where are you going to get a release with all of this weak-ass music, dude?<\/p>\n AW: It\u2019s like in the 1950s with Elvis Presley. Parents freaked out when he came out and started shaking his hips, but for the younger generation, it was a release because it was such a contrast to the bubblegum artists of the time\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Jordy Towers [SomeKindaWonderful]: <\/strong>Exactly! It ended bullshit musicals, and shit like that\u2026like \u2018oh this is HOT!\u2019 But it happens every time. Remember when Alternative music really hit in the beginning, with the Seattle movement back in the 90s? It was like C + C Music Factory, and like Marky Mark and The Fuckin\u2019<\/em> Funky Bunch, you know what I mean? That was what was hot. These were the days when I was a little kid, but my ear was still to the ground. I knew what was going on.<\/p>\n You look back through rock, and there are always movements every 20 years where there will just be shit music. I love EDM, and it\u2019s served its purpose but right now I feel like music is in an intermission. You know when there\u2019s an intermission, everybody is out there smoking in the lobby and the lights<\/a> start blinking? Well, the lights are fucking blinking [on rock music]. It\u2019s time to go back to the show.<\/p>\n \/\/\/<\/p>\n SomeKindaWonderful are on tour this fall with New Politics and Bad Suns. Their debut record is now in stores and can also be purchased on iTunes<\/a><\/strong> or Amazon<\/a><\/strong>. Want more from Jordy Towers? Check out page 2 for some outtakes from the interview that weren’t included in the main article!<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Jordy](\"http:\/\/www.altwire.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/IMG_9635_lzn-1-840x560.jpg\")
<\/a>“I wouldn\u2019t change any of the adversity that has got me (and helped me build) the strength that I have now.”<\/h3>\n
![\"Jordy](\"http:\/\/www.altwire.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/IMG_7518-840x630.jpg\")
<\/a>“The lights are fucking blinking [on rock music]. It\u2019s time to go back to the show.”<\/h3>\n
![\"SomeKindaWonderful](\"http:\/\/www.altwire.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/IMG_9914_lzn-840x560.jpg\")
<\/a>