After nearly a year and a half of melting faces across North Texas, Uh Oh Jiminy came to a crossroads. Life events and opportunities led three of the five band members to leave and go explore new projects. In March 2019, the ’90s-rocking band played what was believed to be its last show. However, frontman Jeremy Butler and bassist Jerry Sandoval felt there was more music to be made and there were more relationships to be built. After months of searching for new band replacement members, guitarist Parker Barrus and drummer Caleb Hodges linked up with Butler and Sandoval, and a new era began.
Uh Oh Jiminy is set to release its debut EP on Friday via most digital platforms, including Bandcamp. The self-titled work follows two singles that the band released in 2018. They’re identifiable by the cool cover art of a Sasquatch wielding an electric guitar.
Formed with the intent to bring people together and capture life’s defining moments, the group started in 2017. Daniel Stinson, though he is pursuing other options, remained involved. As the group’s founding vocalist and lyricist, he continued as Uh Oh Jiminy’s primary songwriter while stepping back from attending rehearsals and playing live shows.
The group reached out to fellow musicians and old contacts who seemed to be a fit for the band to remerge and continue playing live shows, but after a lot of stops and starts, the group found other means of recruiting new members.
“We did take the route of posting on different Facebook pages that are related to the local scene,” Sandoval said. “We had to post, like, two or three times, but finally we got [Barrus], and he ended up being our guitarist.”
Building on the momentum of their hard-knocks story while aiming to capture the ears –– and hearts –– of rockers of different preferences and backgrounds, Uh Oh Jiminy has produced a sturdy collection of five tracks. With a driving indie-rock vibe, the energetic cross-generational tunes speak to and capture events and complexities in ways that not only inspire the body to move but attempt to heal the soul as well. “Blackeyed and Bullet Proof,” “Don’t Look Down, “Find You Shining,” “Out Of Time,” and “Wildfire Night” convey personal feelings that musically lift spirits, totaling a well put-together release from the group’s members past and present.
“The vision and goals of the band haven’t wavered from its original trajectory: making good music, bringing friends together, and serving and promoting the local music scene,” Sandoval said. “A lot of fans connect us to late ’90s/early ’00s alt-pop-rock with strands of similarities to bands such as Matchbox 20, Blue October, Jimmy Eat World … .”
Recorded and mixed at AudioStyles in Dripping Springs by Taylor Tatsch (Polydogs, Cut Throat Finches, Vodeo), who also contributed piano/keys and other instruments, and mastered by Todd Pipes (Deep Blue Something, Cat Power, Drowning Pool), along with cover art by Sam Tarron and additional song development from Daniel Conkovich and Tommy Cauble, the release more than stands out as a combined effort.
Uh Oh Jiminy has played large and small local venues, including MASS, The Ridglea Room, and Arlington’s Division Brewing. The guys appreciate their fanbase and those who support the local scene.
“Typically, we get 20 to 30 people at shows,” Sandoval said. “We are very happy about that. We are pretty realistic about getting people out.”
Uh Oh Jiminy recently put out a stellar live-in-the-studio video for “Out of Time” with the help from Nashville, Tennessee’s Pink House Sessions, a recording studio that focuses on inspiring moments between musicians and filmmakers, and producer Daniel Smith, who enlisted the help of the multimedia company Alexander Productions. Search for the band’s YouTube page for more.
The EP’s tracks share a noticeable and constant sound, such as opener “Blackeyed and Bullet Proof,” which begins with a deep bass solo followed by reverberating guitar riffs and heavy, paced drums, setting the stage for the rest of the EP. Fort Worth emo/punk singer-songwriter Ryker Hall helped with the track’s lyrics. Each song clocks in at about three minutes in length, sharing the EP’s common theme of striving through heartache and despair with wholehearted intent.
Thanks for the shout out. Pink House Studios is actually a project based in Mansfield, Texas. We’d love to collaborate with yall on something some time!