Photo Courtesy of HRG Photography @hrgphotography63
Contributed by Becky Oviatt
Saturday, July 31st, Static Cycle played their last EVER concert, here, “home” in Alaska. As the show started, Jared Navarre, frontman for the band, stated they were supposed to have canceled ALL of their shows, but he refused to cancel this one, because Alaska was the most supportive place EVER, and this was where it started.
Sunday, at noon, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Navarre and Andy Sheridan of the band for KONR radio 106.1 FM.
I am currently doing a one-hour weekly show, highlighting artists from the Mat-Su. Our corner of the world is (or was) home for so much musical talent. Local, regional, statewide and national/international acts have been spawned in this area.
This interview went something like this:
DJ: We have with us Jared Navarre and Andy from Static Cycle. Last night, they played their final show. It was really emotional. It was a sad night. It was a happy night. It was a fantastic concert.
Jared: Thank you.
DJ: My clothes are still pink from the chalk.
Jared: I'm taking it out of my ears and oh, it'll be in me for another week.
DJ: Oh, jeez. So, Jared, you started out at age 19. And just literally burst onto the scene, or at least that's what it seems like. MTV called you the greatest young front man in Rock. What got you started? Where did you get started?
Jared: Well, getting started in music was a combination of my family, you know, I always had music around. My mother played, piano from the day I was born, so that was just part of our family culture. Then, I went through choir in church and in school and all that, I actually picked up a guitar when I was 16 and I wrote my first song that day. It was my dad's guitar. We started a band, I think, a week later. And we were awful.
DJ: Most usually are to start with.
Jared: Yeah, yeah. And then things took a really good turn right around, yeah, 19 or so.
DJ: So, when did you leave Wasilla and go to Points South?
Jared: We released our first record, our single pressure which organically kind of took off around the country. So right after that, we jumped on the road and went on tour, still based in Alaska. Eventually, the traveling and everything was enough that we had to pick different bases, home bases in Connecticut for a little bit, Nebraska, Colorado and all that. And now Nashville full time.
DJ: That must be amazing. I lived in Nashville for a while and, I mean, that the city for someone who is nonmusical is amazing.
Jared: Mm hmm…
DJ: It must be doubly so for someone who is musical. I wasn't musical at the time. My husband and I have a duo and we're awful. Actually, we're not that bad. But it seems lately everybody goes down to Nashville.
Jared: I think it's the hottest city in America right now. Uh, it's my favorite. IF you're in music, I think it dominates L.A. and New York, I think Nashville just has music is in its veins. It's apparent everywhere. You really can't avoid it.
DJ: No, no, you can't. I mean, you go out to dinner, and you run into somebody.
Jared: Yeah, you run into Andy.
DJ: I mean, I've run into a lot of music folks out to dinner and it's just like, oh, hey, how's it going? It's going good. How are you? All right. Done.
Or you walk up and say, hey, how's it going? My name's blah blah blah. And if they're interested in talking, they'll talk. I talked to one of the guys from Mason Profit one day for three hours.
Jared: Fantastic. That's fun,
DJ: But then they were my first concert, so that was that was really special. But this isn't about me. This is about you. So basically, Static Cycle has been your life, as you said last night on stage. What now?
Jared: Well, this is it is bittersweet because this is the close of the Static Cycle chapter. I have put all my, you know, blood, sweat tears into it. It comes with great news, though. We've had some very big signings recently that are great for our career. And so, it's going to be new music, new band name, new brand, all that coming back.
DJ: Excellent. And I imagine you're not at liberty to share any of that right now.
Jared: Not yet. But the truth is, we don't even have a name yet. We're supposed to release the first single in a couple months.
DJ: And you don't have a name.
Jared: We don't have a name now.
DJ: Toxic Potato.
Jared: Oh, that's. . . a good name. Put it on the list.
DJ: That's our that's our standing joke. Every new band should be toxic potato.
Jared: It's good, I like it better, than the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
DJ: Right, right. And being from Alaska where potatoes grow really well,
Andy: I didn't know that.
Jared: Yeah, they really do. Oh, they do,
DJ: You think? So, you when you were talking last night, you said you wrote a bunch of new songs, You and Andy. Now, are those going to go into the new band or are they going to just. . . rest?
Jared: At least a few of those that we played on stage last night are going to make the new project. We don't know how many yet. We've got probably150 songs, floating around from that, you know, we've started and kicked to the curb. So that selection process isn't fun and honestly will be left in the hands of the business side. We will fight for the songs we want.
DJ: Well, nobody's every song makes it onto an album.
Jared: Yeah.
DJ: So, your song “Stay” was amazing last night. Do you want to talk about that at all?
Jared: Yeah. So, I've told this story a few times, but that song was written for a close friend of mine, his son passed away really, really young. His heart just stopped in school, and they lost him. His dad was in the ambulance, actually, you know, on the way to the hospital with him. His dad's a doctor. I knew him well. He was like a brother to me. At his wake, we were all hanging out, celebrating his life and he asked me if I could write a song for Ian and it took me lots of years, but that's that's where “Stay” was birthed from. We got to bring in, you know, family, friends and other loved ones into the video and make it a story about and a tribute to people who passed that we all miss and love. Then my mom actually passed, um, two weeks or so before the song was released and I was able to, you know, get a little tribute to her in there as well, so that's an awesome song to us.
DJ: On stage, you know, you had said that no one should lose their parents at a young age.
Jared: Yeah.
DJ: I lost my mom. I was probably about your age. And I, I really felt that when you sang the song, I've always liked that song anyway so then to hear the story behind it was pretty amazing.
Jared: Yeah, that was that was tough. My family's in the crowd too. And they were they were crying and teared up. So that was tough but special. And there were quite a few people out there in the audience that were part of the of the video that made the final cut or had sent in their stories and stuff, too. So weird experience for me is seeing them as well. And I know, you know, there was a woman there. She lost her child. I think he was two or three. And, you know, they shared their stories. So, yeah, it's got a lot a lot a lot of meaning to us.
DJ: Yeah. yeah, I bet... How many albums do you have out now?
Jared: Well, there's three. When we when we released this last batch of songs, we actually pulled the last two records for various reasons. I think everything's going to go back up on all the streaming services as we transition to this new name and stuff so everybody can still get all the old music and listen to it and stuff like that, huh?
DJ: I will be honest. I had heard of you. I hadn't heard any of your music until I started this show. I'm looking through the archives going, OK, who's from the Valley? I turned on. one of your albums from Spotify. And I just went, where have I been? These guys are fantastic, so I was really sad you were done last night. I just went, no, they can't be. I just found them.
Jared: It's tough, we just started this this this new record, I mean, we just released the first song right before COVID hit and we had, you know, uh, this massive show and tour stuff going on. And then that all got to push pause. And now this next iteration, it's exciting, but it's weird for us.
DJ: I can well imagine. Your band members, are they all original?
Jared: No, no. I’m the only one left from the original.
DJ: Oh yeah. Well, you're the most important one.
Jared: No, I'm the only one that's consistent in it. I guess we'll say that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're still here in Alaska. Now we're all based in Nashville. Uh huh. And you have to be. If you're going to be playing music, it's tough being based out of Alaska.
DJ: It is. It is.
Jared: It’s nice. We've got, like, the low NPR voices going right now.
DJ: I know. (laughs)
Jared: What other bands, Valley bands and stuff. I mean, I know Portugal, are you featuring and showcasing? A lot of just current stuff?
DJ: Yeah. Current local bands, Portugal, the Man, we did Adam Patterson and the Heavy Hearts. They were my first guests. I've known them through open mics since they started so that was, that was pretty cool. Harp Daddy. I don't know if you remember him…
Jared: Great name, though.
DJ: Yeah, it is, it is. And Madeline Smith, she is literally burst onto the scene. She's a fantastic singer. There was a talent show we were entered and kind of thought, oh, we might have a chance, Madeline opened her mouth and I went, Nope, nobody else had a chance.
Jared: It's amazing how much good music has come out of the valley. Yeah, yeah, it's pretty impressive.
DJ: It really is. Now, I interviewed Portugal, the Man, Zach, last week, but you're the first one national with national acclaim..
Jared: Thank you. Superstardom, greatest band in the world.
DJ: …. That I have actually met in person.
Jared: Are we the first in studio?
DJ: You’re the first in studio with national acclaim, yeah. Yeah, everybody else we do live, but with your schedule was not possible.
Jared: So, yeah, this was crazy coming up this time and Andy's never been to Alaska, so he said he was not coming up unless he could go fishing. So, absolutely, we're going to run and catch some stuff,
DJ: Going fishing out of Whittier. Yeah, that's an awesome place to go.
Andy The guy at the hotel was like, yeah, what are you guys doing here? And I was like, fishing.
Jared: Never mentioned anything about the show and his priorities.
DJ: Yeah, well…
Jared: We’re doing something on Saturday, somewhere, but I know we're going fishing.
DJ: Excellent. Well, there's all sorts of things to do. I work at the reindeer farm and I'm sure you were there, you know, as a kid.
Jared: I named a reindeer when I was a kid, one of Santa’s reindeer. HAHA. Andy’s confused right now.
Jared: Of real reindeer at a farm
DJ: Santa’s Reindeer. Yeah, I named one, too.
Andy: How big are they? As big as moose?
Jared: Pretty good-sized. No, they're not as big as moose.
DJ: Deer size. Yeah. There's a moose there. You can kiss it. You can kiss a moose. And then you can get a T-shirt that says, “I smooched a moose.”
Jared: Oh, actually I didn't even think of that. That's a good recommendation, I take it for granted because it doesn't seem that crazy to me.
DJ: It's changed a lot since you were a kid.
Jared: A lot. Yeah.
DJ: They've got moose, bison, alpaca, yak.
Jared: So, muskox?
DJ: No muskox, that's the muskox farm’s thing.
Jared: So, we're just giving a promo now for the reindeer farm. That's what it turned into. Yeah.
DJ: It did.
Jared: But yeah, we had a late night.
DJ: I can imagine. We left right after the concert.
Andy: I mostly spent picking out pink color stuff out of my clothes. That's why I was up late.
Jared: No, it wasn't. No, we actually went wandered the streets of Anchorage for probably two hours or so.
DJ: Oh, wow. It's changed a lot.
Jared: Yeah, it was fun. Yeah. And again, Andy hasn't been here, so. He's got to experience, Alaska's finest,
DJ: So, we have.
Jared: We're going to Double Musky tonight.
DJ: So that's pretty cool. So, how did you guys do with your ax throwing and all your VIPs?
Jared: Did you throw an ax?
Andy: I didn’t get to throw one?
DJ: What? Not even one? Frosted Ax is right down here on Fireweed, man. Let's go.
Jared: I got sidetracked, I went in there, my little brother and I are very competitive, and he was there and when I walked in the ax thing, he had just thrown his second ax and he popped a balloon on there.
DJ: Oh, nice.
Andy: You throw a star? They had throwing stars.
Jared: I didn't even see that.
DJ: . Yeah, we've been there and, I can throw an ax. Yeah. Underhand!.
Jared: Underhanded… My brother. So, he stuck it and popped the balloon on the second one. Nice. But it bounced off and then it doesn't count. Right. It shouldn't. He said it counted but I went in and stuck one first try so I went yeah. Yeah. As an older brother you have to assert your dominance.
DJ: So, you were born in January, and he was born in December. Yes, he told me that last night.
Jared: That's right I’m thinking, how did you know that? We were Irish twins.
DJ: Irish twins. I like it. Yeah. No, we had quite a conversation last night.
Jared: Yeah. We had matching rat tails and amazing, very neon matching outfits throughout life.
Andy: I'm sad I didn't know you back then. Yeah.
DJ: Well, I'm happy to know you now.,. Well, it's really been an honor and a privileged to have gone to your last concert and to be doing your last interview.
Jared: All right. It's crazy, this is this is this will be our last interview. Yeah, it's even that you wanted to talk with usf after the last show, we were wrapping our heads around it like, well, you know what, she's amazing. So we'll come and sit and talk with her and do the last interview because, um, it is it's good to kind of put a bow on this.
DJ: Yeah, I think that's it was a coup on my part, Of course, when I asked you to come and interview I didn't know it was going to be your last interview, right?
Jared: But that's okay. Oh, yeah, good point.
DJ: Yeah, it's all right. Are you going anywhere else?
Jared: I think it's mostly just going to be fishing.
DJ: Okay, yeah. Well catch some fish for me, huh?.
Jared: We will. Yeah, it's going to be fun.
DJ: Catch me a halibut man…
Andy: I had a friend come up just a few months ago. Matt and I, uh, we have a friend that came up here and just for fishing and he sent us a picture of a halibut that's as big as he is. So, um, you got to beat him. I've been looking forward to that ever since.
DJ: Well, getting a halibut as big as you are is going to be a feat - as tall anyway.
Andy: Yeah, I think he was. I mean, he's like probably five-eleven, six foot, something like that.
Jared: It was huge.
DJ: I think the biggest one I ever caught was 100 pounds. That was big enough.
Jared: That's big. Yeah. I've never caught one hundred pound anything.
DJ: Well, you're in for a treat the.n And if all you catch is rockfish, you're still in for a treat.
Andy: If I don't catch anything, I'm throwing you off the boat.
DJ: Oh, don't do that, be better. Well, what else do you want to talk about?
Jared: My mind is moving, you know, I'm stuck in the past, still all the Static Cycle stuff. And but today I woke up and started working on a song that we’re ending. I started writing for this new project... You know, that's where my head is. The new stuff.
DJ: Excellent Nice. Yeah.
Jared: Last night was a perfect night. you know, a perfect farewell for us.
DJ: Yeah, it was. It was an amazing concert. It was an amazing night. I mean, no rain, no clouds.
Jared: It was beautiful, weather was perfect.
DJ: It was I mean, you couldn’t have had anything better. And the venue. Oh, they were great. Yeah. That's a new venue. Yeah, it's pretty cool.
Jared: They put a lot of effort into that. Mm hmm. And owner Matt Tomter, he wanted to make that a beautiful place where people come and, you know, share local and national music and all that. He pulled it off. It's great he did.
DJ: We were sitting in the VIP tent, and they kept kicking people out. And we're just like, oh, we don't belong here. And the one security guy says, I got you.
Jared: There you go. So, you guys had that pro look. He wasn't going to kick you out...
DJ: You know, it was kind of cute, but then there’s my husband, right? He was he was right there and front and center. And having a great time, and I'm sitting back there watching him laughing,
Jared: Yeah, you were rocking out. (to Scott, who is off mic) Yeah, how do we say farewell,
DJ: How DO you say farewell?
Jared: Well, we can say thank you to you for this. A music program you have that's focused on the valley, incredibly unique, incredibly needed. Thank you. And when I heard you were doing it, that's why we came in. And I loved it, too. So, what you're doing there is an awesome value. Never had anything quite like that. Yeah. You know, we've had plenty of local music programs, but nothing focused on the valley. Now, there is so much talent out there.
DJ: There is. It's absolutely amazing. And whether it's local talent, talent that travels around Alaska or talent that travels around the world, it's all talent. And I mean the talent right in front of me. I mean, you're energetic. You're a great songwriter.
Jared: Thank you. You are a good singer. And not hard to look at it all. I mean, for the fronts man of a band, you've got it all. Don't burn yourself out
Jared: You say that, but, maybe 2 or 3 seconds into the show, I tripped and fell over that stair into the somersault.
DJ: So, sorry I missed it.
Jared: I got things to work on.
Andy: I mean, you played it off very well into a back somersault. I think that's why a lot of people missed it, is because it looked like you meant to do it.
Jared: Yeah. I've just fallen so many times in life that I have exit moves. Yeah, I did. I did a full somersault. It was… I did have a couple of people come up to me after the show and said, man, when you did that flip, that was the best part of the show was like,
DJ: yeah, I missed that somewhere...
Jared: Well, my brother captured video. He was very proud of that.
DJ: I have to get together with him and get him to share that with me. Yeah. I mean, now that we're such good friends,
Jared: How do we say goodbye? Farewell. I think this is just going to be, you know, see you again soon.
DJ: Absolutely.
Jared: You name the new music, all that. It's even more exciting than what we've had with Static Cycle. And that's not to undersell Static Cycle. But this is you know, we're, I would say kind of entering our prime is the truth because, you know, being down in Nashville, you're surrounded by the greatest songwriters and musicians in the world, and that makes you step your game up quickly.
DJ: Yes.
Jared: Um, so this is it. This is the next chapter. Whatever it's called, Toxic Potato is the leading candidate right now.
DJ: OK, I want credits for that. Yeah.
Jared: You got fifty percent of the band if you come up with the name.
DJ: Right. Well. It is it has been an absolute pleasure. Thank you. I'm sorry to say farewell to Static Cycle. But we will not say farewell
Jared: To us…
DJ: To Jared Navarre and Andy. Well, thank you very much for coming in.
Jared: Thank you.
DJ: Enjoy your fishing.
Jared: We will. Glad we got to stop in and see you.
DJ: Yeah, I am, too. It was pretty amazing. Awesome.
Jared: I love it.
Are you a musician from the Mat-Su? If you would like to be featured on KONR radio 106.1 FM, gve me a holler. bexterov8@gmail.com