Honey Jam Sam records pandemic album from across globe

Rob Nichols, acoustic guitarist and singer of Honey Jam Sam / Courtesy of Rob Nichols

By Jon Dunbar

Former bandmates now scattered across the globe came together ― virtually ― to put together a pandemic-era album and it sounds fantastic.

Honey Jam Sam, a folkish/alt-country band founded in 2017, came back after a too-long period of inactivity during the pandemic to release its second EP.

Rob Nichols, the band's singer, songwriter, acoustic guitarist and one of its few members remaining in Korea, explained to The Korea Times that the band is named after a Korean slang term for "cool/fun teacher." "I thought it sounded a bit like the name of a blues singer, and it stuck," he said.

Although almost all the members have moved on from Korea, Nichols pushed ahead last month with the band's second release, the six-song "For the Losers." The wistful title track has a bit of a blues-rock, 1990s alternative vibe, a bit reminiscent of the Wallflowers' 1996 song "One Headlight." And it sounds like something you'd hear on the radio back then, not music you'd expect coming out of Haebangchon.

"'For the Losers' was kind of written as a political song," Nichols said. "The past few years have been really divisive at various points on the political spectrum. It seemed like a lot of people felt like they were being left behind ― I didn't particularly feel like I was winning and so I wrote it from that perspective."

Nichols, originally from Leeds in the U.K., admitted that the music can be a bit gloomy. "I think I was in a dark place when I wrote most of the songs and decided this time I wouldn't filter any of it, like maybe I have in the past," he said. "I generally gravitate towards sad songs in the stuff I listen to, so I guess that comes through in what I write."

The band previously released the six-song EP "Bedrock" in 2019. It also released the two songs "Down on Me"/"Noksapyeong" in 2018.

"Honey Jam Sam initially started out as a band, with cello, banjo, guitar, kazoo, violin and lots of harmonies," Nichols said. "When we were playing live, Koreans really responded to what we did. I think it was unique, with a country/folky vibe to it. I've found that American expats in particular also really respond to our kind of music."

Honey Jam Sam performs prior to the pandemic. / Courtesy of Albert Alexandro

They had about two years playing that way, "but then some people left, the pandemic hit and we stopped playing altogether," Nichols said.

"I think, like most people, I vowed to do something with the extra time brought on by the pandemic… and then I did absolutely nothing for about a year and a half. I somehow managed to motivate myself in August last year and put together most of the album. The whole thing initially came together in just over a week."

He decided to put together the new album under the name of the band, and managed to get some of his former bandmates to contribute their parts from all corners of the planet.

"Most of 'For the Losers' was put together at home, with friends emailing me their parts," Nichols said.

The electric guitar and bass parts were recorded in the U.K. by Chris Newiss and emailed to Nichols, and cello came from Jeremy Heaven in the U.S. while banjo came from Ryan Murfield in Malaysia. For piano keys, they were provided remotely by Zach Bardon, who is still in Seoul. And drums and mixing were done by B.A. Wheeler of Union Studios in Seoul. Nichols also recorded his own acoustic guitar, vocals, keys, harmonica and drums (on two tracks) from home himself.

"With the exception of Union Studios, all parts were recorded in/on home set-ups," Nichols added. "There were actually going to be violin parts and vocals from Brazil and additional acoustic guitar parts from Canada, but it didn't work out, time-wise."

Now that pandemic restrictions are easing up, Nichols hopes to get back to promoting his music and getting it into the ears of new listeners.

"With the new stuff, to date, I've only played it solo on acoustic guitar, so I'm not sure what the response will be if I can recreate the sound of the album live," Nichols said. "For the time being, I guess it'll just be me who plays any Honey Jam Sam gigs in the near future, but I'd like to think that if any of us end up in the same location in the future, we'll just pick up where we left off."

Visit honeyjamsam.bandcamp.com to listen, or fb.com/honeyjamsam for more information.

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