ALL ABOUT JOAN.
“Feel it, do it” <3
Joan shot by @daleknows
Hi! We are Alan Thomas and Steven Rutherford, together, Joan. We’re from Little Rock, Arkansas, and we’re happy to be here :)
Why the name Joan? Any specific reasons or inspirations behind that name?
Not really anything specific, no. I (Steven) was in a previous band where Joan was an option for the name and that band did not like it all haha. So I hung onto it just in case something else came along that fit. When Alan and I started writing music together, it was so natural and we had such a good time writing together, we decided to make it a band. When we were thinking of names, I put Joan on the list as an option. Alan hated it at first because it reminded him of the 2005 emo band names, which is not what we were trying to convey musically. But, we do all the visuals ourselves, and I put some mock-up designs together that had Joan in them, and it was very clear then that Joan should be the band name.
How did your childhood environments influence your music and fashion?
Great question! We both grew up on artists like Prince, Don henley, Backstreet Boys, Usher, etc - kind of the whole gamut. When we started writing music together, we wanted to write songs that gave us the same feelings we would get listening to songs those artists wrote. We both have distinct memories of when we were younger where music really moved us, and I think we’re trying to get that feeling out of the music we’re writing.
On the fashion side - there weren’t a ton of kids that cared about personal style growing up in Arkansas haha. We always stuck out from the crowd because we did, and even got made fun of us a good bit, but i think that shaped us in a really good way. It made us not care what others think about us, and wear what makes us feel good and most like ourselves. We were actually talking about this earlier today - i think if we grew up anywhere but rural Arkansas, we may have come out differently fashion-wise because we got fuel from being different from everyone else.
Joan shot by @daleknows
Speaking of Fashion you two both have an awesome sense a style, can you give us a bit about your must-have staple pieces for Autumn Winter?
Thank you, that’s very kind :)
Steven Rutherford shot by @Daleknows
Steven: My two favs are a vintage Jerzees classic black sweatshirt and my beanie. SO CLASSIC ME ugh, but those are two things that i always pack if I’m going somewhere. It seems like it’s always the most simple thing like a sweatshirt that is the hardest to find the right cut and fit, so once i find it, i absolutely wear it to death haha.
Alan Thomas shot by @DaleKnows
Alan: My two fav fall/winter pieces are both gifts i got this past year from family. I have this killer Asos dark blue wool coat that my mawmaw got me that i just absolutely love. it’s like a classic English overcoat that I’ve always wanted and i wear it all winter. my second one is my cherry red vegan dr. marten Chelsea boots that my mom got me. they are big and bold and heavy and i absolutely love them. i can’t play with them on live that much cuz they are too beefy to easily click my little guitar pedal buttons hehe.
Must say i love your music, love the EP PORTRA and would like to know what musical era influenced it?
Thank you! These were the first songs we wrote together, so they were definitely influenced by those artists I mentioned earlier - Don Henley, Prince, etc. Sonically, we were in a time where we’re really loving synths from the 80s and 90s, big choruses, music that made you feel like you’re driving with the windows down in the summer in NYC at 1 am.
What was the best part of working together on this EP?
We genuinely loved everything about writing this EP. it was interesting because we didn’t start writing it in mind of releasing it as an EP. we were just planning on releasing a single at a time every two months, and then once we were like three singles in and had the rest of the singles ready for release, we looked at each and we were like “oh, this is an EP” - so it just made sense to change our release plan a bit and make them a collection of songs.
Favorite song to perform on tour?
Ease your mind - it's super high energy and really fun to see everyone dance to it :)
Tour must be exhausting how would you say you guys keep your spirits up?
It’s super exhausting but so rewarding. This tour that was just on with Flor was our first tour where we actually saw a bunch of our fans come out every night and sing the words to every single song. It was so amazing to show up in a different city every day to see some familiar and unfamiliar faces come together with us and to be together for 30 minutes. We’re in the Philippines right now playing a bunch of mall shows and the same thing is happening. It really feels like we’re building our own little growing community and it just makes it so worth the work.
JOAN. shot by @daleknows
What does this EP mean to you guys individually and collectively?
It was our first offering of songs as a band, so it means the world to us. It’s always a little bit scary to release songs and to release some of the first songs we ever wrote together as a collection and then to hear how it affects the people that are listening to it is just so amazing. Listening to the demo of “i loved you first” the other day and comparing it to what the final version was, and it just showed that we grew a ton together as songwriters even in the six months we were working on it. I can’t wait to see how much we grow in the next 2 / 5 / 10 years.
Any quotes or phrases you guys abide by? If so share one with us you think would be a great message for our readers who are aspiring musicians?
“Support your friends”,
“Feel it, do it” <3