Meet Postmdern Jukebox, the cover band

SLOUGH, ENGLAND:

Nestled not far below the surface of YouTube and Spotify is the cover anyone with a working ear should know: the Postmodern Jukebox.

Known as PMJ to his fans – and with over six million YouTube subscribers, we have very few – the group is the brainchild of musical mastermind and jazz pianist Scott Bradlee, who reworks popular hits and polishes them into vintage jewels in his way that only wish-granting blue genies know otherwise.

If you’ve ever heard a hit single — a motley collection of ’90s hits immediately springs to mind — you might have:

one) Snooty thought – out loud – why on earth would anyone let such a monster loose in the world

b) You anxiously – and privately – wondered what on earth made you spend hours set up by the radio with a blank tape waiting to record said monstrosity.

If you are the embarrassed owner of this radio and this blank tape, then you have come to the right place. PMJ is known to spin I want to be from the Spice Girls to harmonies that would otherwise come from the Chordettes (think Mr. Sandman), transformed MMMbop by Hanson in a 1950s style number, and made up at that Oops I Did It Again sounds surprisingly tolerable. (Britney Spears is a remarkable woman who has survived everything she has, but no one will ever call her the Mozart of the 90s, bless her).

I should hasten to note that Bradlee does not call himself the Mozart of the twenty-first century either, but there is no doubt that this is a man who knows his piano intimately. Bradlee started out as an out-of-work jazz pianist playing in his basement apartment with his friends when a light bulb hit his head and he uploaded one of their friendly music sessions to YouTube. There was no looking back. Having only looked up since then, Bradlee and the rest of PMJ have gone from strength to strength, gaining a loyal following on the internet, and are now able to tour the world. Just a few days ago the PMJ crew played various shows across Ireland. With no record label in sight, Bradlee did what all musicians think they’ll do when they start their careers: he stayed true to his music and gift-wrapped it for his fans.

What, pray tell, is so great about a cover band?

With YouTube providing a somewhat staggered entry into the music world for aspiring musicians, cover bands are a dime a dozen – but with music snobs and purists also a dime a dozen, it can be nearly impossible for a cover band to create a NEXT. Even established, highly trained musical geniuses can struggle to win the hearts of the aforementioned snobs. Weird Al Yankovic, no slouch in the brains department, will make you scream tears of joy with his absurd performance Bohemian Rhapsody, or make you swear to cut off your ears. And Michael Buble’s voice may be the equivalent of rich warm amber honey seeping straight into your soul, but a small part of him will forever be known as That Sinatra Guy (when he’s not called That Christmas Guy). What sets PMJ apart is their ability to trick their fans into believing their cover version is what the original should have sounded like. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard a 1920’s Gatsby style version Bad romanceor a happy 1950s My heart will go onwhere Jack and Rose might well have danced into an alternate life, if only there had been room in that door.

So what exactly does PMJ do?

In essence, what Bradlee does can be broken down into four simple steps.

1. Engage with a popular song. With music being as subjective as it is, that could be anything Love story to Call me maybe to Last Christmas.

2. With a rotating crew of highly skilled musicians on hand, assign each a different part. Just two minutes into any PMJ video will assure you that Bradlee invites only the best musicians for his projects, and it’s as clear as the nose on your face that every single one of them is having fun. Bradlee himself is almost always at the piano. His right hand soars across the higher octaves as his left soars to the lower keys, driving each number forward with his signature relentless bassline. Sometimes, when a percussion kit just won’t do, there’s a percussionist in the wings, leaping forward to breathe new life into old songs. Other times there is a woman in a glittering dress who begins to sing The final countdown and then nonchalantly whips out a trombone to blast out the rest of it, removing the trombone mute halfway through her solo.

3. Bring on board an amazing singer, with “phenomenal” being someone who has on their resume the ability “can sing Smooth Criminal with the rhythm of Michael Jackson and the diction of Henry Higgins. Or maybe “she can whistle like a Disney princess and croon like a jazz star.”

4. Pour all together. Step into a time machine to produce a sound from a decade gone by. Record it live in one take. Upload it to YouTube.

Don’t waste any more time. Go online, search for PMJ, make sure you don’t have to skip a beat once you start.

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