Even before Radiohead announced that they were offering their album In Rainbows as a download in 2007, British Columbia’s Jets Overhead was experimenting with online album releases. In 2006, the band released their debut record, Bridges, as a free download, letting it hit stores a year later. Lead singer Antonia Freybe-Smith explains that the band was excited to follow a new trend in the music industry, as they would rather listeners download a high-quality version of their tracks than find a pilfered rip-off on the Internet. Gaining a following was more important than making a profit, says Freybe-Smith, though she does admit, “not getting paid is frustrating.”
Luckily, Jets Overhead built an online fan base with Bridges, and the album release was followed by an international tour that included destinations in China and across the United States. In 2007, they earned a Juno nomination for New Group of the Year, and have gone on to open for acts including The Dandy Warhols, Broken Social Scene, and Our Lady Peace.
Heavily influenced by British bands like Pink Floyd and Radiohead (and not only in promotional strategies), Freybe-Smith explains that Jets Overhead’s sound is “ambient and full of swirly noises…a heavy but not aggressive sound.” Last May, Jets Overhead released their second full album No Nations and went on to play Bonnaroo and other “twenty-something” gigs, as Freybe-Smith calls them. She describes this city tour as having been “amazing but exhausting.”
Jets Overhead has since turned to smaller, more intimate venues on their second tour, with the notable exception of this year’s Bridge Tour Benefit. Freybe-Smith says that playing with the likes of Neil Young and No Doubt was “such an honour, and felt like a dream—I was completely blown away by the opportunity.” It was an honest and heartfelt musical experience, she explains, more centred on connecting through music than at the typical concert.
As Jets Overhead gear up for their show in Toronto this Thursday, what has Freybe-Smith learned from their tour so far? “It’s an interesting existence,” she says. “There’s lots of thinking and meeting people. It’s all about a creative exchange.”
Jets Overhead play the Kool Haus with Lights on Nov. 26. For more information, visit jetsoverhead.com.
