Today I had an absolute blast interviewing Marius Bell and Jack Elias of Free Lady Jane. These two music geniuses have a very unique sound and an even more unique personality! Very thankful to Kya Zaverei, one of the most versatile and talented managers at the University of Southern California, for putting me in touch with Free Lady Jane. Join our conversation as we talk about their band, the future of music, NFTs, and more. 

Niki Winston: For those of us who are not familiar with Free Lady Jane, can you both introduce yourselves?

Jack Elias: My name is Jack, and I’m a junior at USC in the Music Industry Academy, which is very selective (sarcastically), and I met this guy in that program. 

Marius Bell (laughing): I’m Marius. Marius Bell. Jack has no last name, clearly. We met in classes at USC Freshman year. 

NW: I’m so curious to know, how did you name the band? 

MB: Free Lady Jane is representative of our music. It’s about the free spirit or a free-flowing feeling. 

JE: I like the ring to it. There’s not as much significance as you might hope. 

NW: How did you get into music? 

JE: For me, it was through Rock Band, if you want the honest truth. 

MB: I was 7 or 8 and went on a ride in Disney Land called Rock n’ Roller Coaster, and Aerosmith was the featured band on it and I just loved the music. But I was big on Rock Band too, which I guess is an emerging theme.

NW: Can you tell me about your journey with music? 

MB: I started playing piano at around 7 years old but did not know I wanted to go into music until high school. Now, I play the guitar and drums. I also produce. 

JE: When I was little, I actually used to sing in commercials, but I was really embarrassed about it, so I didn’t tell anyone and I didn’t really do much for a couple of years after. Then I picked up the drums and started singing, writing, and producing. 

NW: Do you think that the world of tech and NFTs is changing the music landscape? 

JE: I think that the tech has the potential to add another income stream. I think that most things in the space won’t pan out, but some are promising. For example, since now we have the ability to record everything that we do, we could sell as an NFT the moment we wrote the hit song. There are so many opportunities there in my opinion. 

MB: Or Jack could be a cartoon and we could sell him like that. 

JE: You could put my head on an ape background. 

NW: For sure. I love the sarcasm, it reminds me of the East Coast!

MB: With that said, I’m definitely interested in exploring the space. 

JE: As am I, although there are bound to be some legal challenges, so I’m interested to see what happens with all that. 

NW: So, what do you see as the future of live music? 

MB: I think that we will definitely shift back to in-person events. There is an energy that cannot be matched online. 

JE: I agree for the most part. But I do think that there will be a small faction who concludes that they like sitting in their bed and watching the show. I also think that as VR progresses, the group that would rather just stay home is going to grow. 

NW: Interesting. I had not even thought about VR. On another note, what are the goals for your band? 

MB: I think just to release consistent music and our best work. We are not going to release anything that we don’t fully love. Hopefully, we can play some shows in LA and eventually, tour and play on some bigger stages. 

JE: Agreed. I think to just have fun with it and have steady growth and eventually make some songs that people don’t forget. 

MB: Collaboration with people we like. Maybe Claire Rozenkranz. 

NW: Is it just you two? 

MB: It’s just a duo. I play guitar and Jack sings. 

JE: We write and do some production collectively as well.

NW: So it’s the core two! And what makes the core two’s sound unique?

MB: Yes! Our sound is unique because Jack is more commercial pop whereas I’m more rock and alternative so the combination of the two is nice. My guitar playing with his singing is pretty unique. I feel like not a lot of people have that. It’s almost like Dominic Fike meets Jack Johnson meets commercial pop. 

NW: So, a powerhouse is what you’re saying.

NW: Do you have anything upcoming that you’re excited about? 

MB: We have four songs on the way. We can’t announce the release date (sarcastically), but they will be coming out one month after each other once the first drops. We’re also going to be releasing some merchandise and photos to go along with the music. 

JE: We’re super excited about our song Honey Bunch that should be out around the summer. I think that it will be a somewhat slow period of growth, but we want to do it seriously. I have full faith that we will, but it will take some time because we want to do it properly.

NW: I’m sure that anyone who didn’t know you guys and read this interview now likes you as much as I do, and I wish everyone could meet you live and witness how funny and talented you are! How can we keep up with you both and Free Lady Jane? 

JE: You can find us @freeladyjane (on Instagram and Tik Tok), @mariuscbell, @jack3lias.

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