Just Friends: From the Bay Area and Beyond

Interview by Mary Perez

Graphic by Rebekah Witt

The Bay Area is a special place, and as a Bay Area native, I’m proud to have grown up with such a rich music scene that is still thriving today, especially with the help of one of my newest obsessions, Just Friends. The funk rock group is not afraid to flaunt their roots—when I first saw the band on their Pure Noise Records run in the fall, their constant pride in their origins, along with their fun performances, had me hooked. I was lucky to catch up with the band before their set at The Story So Far’s holiday show in December to talk about their plans for 2022 and reflect on the past year’s adventures. 

Seeing as you’re finishing up the year with this holiday show with The Story So Far, can you talk a little about some of your favorite memories from 2021?

Kevin Prochnow: It was nice getting to tour after such a long time. Having to learn how to function as a band again was probably how I’m going to remember 2021 five years from now. That’s pretty cool.

Sam Kless: We got our house in order, and that’s pretty cool because it was kinda a tough summer, tough year, and getting back into it, we had to learn to work together again and trust each other and work on those relationships. I think we had to shed our old skin and be reborn. It was hard work, but that work that we put in over the summer and stuff has led to us being in the best position we’ve ever been in as a band. We have a record coming out, we all can communicate very well. I used to do a lot of the stuff myself, and I’ve been able to let go. Everyone’s developed their own lane to help the band to succeed, and I don’t have to do so much anymore because I can depend on my best friends. 

Brianda León: After shedding the old skin, I feel like we were able to elevate our performance, and that was really exciting for me. I like being better than I was yesterday. Like Sammy said, I feel like we recommitted to the band. We’re all quickly reaping the rewards of doing that. The last tour we did was the best tour we’ve ever done, the best we’ve ever sounded.

SK: As soon as we got our house in order, we realized what we were capable of, which is incredible. We’ve played around with new stuff, but that’s only to see where we can take it. All of those shows were dope. That Tempe, AZ show was crazy.

BL: Dude, Riot Fest this year was wild!

SK: Oh my God, best show we’ve ever played as a band, or one of them. That was like iconic. We went out there and rocked it on main stage.

BL: That show changed me.

SK: Yeah, same. We all wore black, too. People were talking about us a lot after that. Because of that, that Chicago show on our headliner is almost sold-out, which never happens. We’ve never had a sellout before the tour’s started. We’re like 45 tickets away, and our agent’s looking to upgrade the room. She’s looking at our ticket count from our last tour in 2019 before COVID, and we’re playing the same places. Unbelievable, already beat the ticket count. That’s the thing for us as a band.

Brandon Downum: Lotta lowlights, but I gotta say it was really fun touring, even though it was difficult getting back into the swing and groove of it. I really liked meeting Bearings, they’re so cool.

SK: Dougie!

BD: We’re going to be on the road already when they hit the Bay Area, otherwise we’d hit up as many shows as we could go to. Hanging out with Four Year Strong, they’re super cool.

SK: We learned a lot.

Seeing as tonight’s lineup is entirely artists from around here, do you have any artists from the Bay Area that you draw inspiration from?

SK: Lil B, for sure. My mom showed me The Pack when I was in the sixth grade, and they were on some magazine cover. She was like, “You might like this,” and that’s when it hit me really hard. We got to do a song with him this year.

BD: Green Day, for sure. I wouldn’t have picked up a guitar if it weren’t for Green Day.

BL: There’s this artist from San Francisco whose name is La Doña. I’ve come across her in the last two years or something. I think she’s really cool, definitely a different lane of music than us, but I appreciate how much she wears her heritage in her art, and that’s definitely something that I strive to do. She’s inspired me to do that, especially when you’re bringing the past and doing it in a way that’s modern and unique and your own thing is cool. She’s a role model for me.

KP: Sleep, Ceremony, Sabertooth Zombie are sick hardcore bands from the Bay.

BL: I used to see this one band called Just Friends. I was like, “Oh my God, I’m so jelly. You guys are so cool. I like them.”

SK: I grew up seeing The Story So Far. When I was a junior in high school, I saw them at a house show in Concord, and that was incredible to see. They covered Taking Back Sunday, everyone was going crazy. You knew something was special about them all the way back then. I always loved that Parker [Cannon] was always like, “We’re from Walnut Creek.” Being where you’re from, that was always important when we started the band, putting Bay Area on the merch. We still do! Going all the way back to the funk roots, there’s ton of amazing talent from here that you’d never know. Third Eye Blind’s from here.

On that same note, do you feel like the Bay Area has influenced your music, given that this is a place known for being innovative and creative?

BL: As you were saying, I think the people in the Bay Area are bred to be unique or to take something and make it their own. When I’m trying to do something that’s cool or worth doing, it automatically has to be my own and has never been done before. I wouldn’t say that we sit around and think about how we can make super unique things, but it just kinda flows from us. Having the mix that we have, we’re all so different in our own ways that, when we put our big minds together, it makes something that’s something very special.

SK: We all grew up all over the Bay. We’re all around the same age, and it was different back then. It’s transformed into this crazy techno place, but a lot of those places, all of the culture that is there is so deep that it affected us on a subconscious level. There are documentaries and stuff on Netflix where Too Short’s talking about how he’s rapping about what he sees and where he’s from. Oakland and the Bay, especially the East Bay, has always been this melting pot of culture. Growing up here, we were privileged to have that in our DNA. Definitely, it’s different over here.

BD: I can’t imagine being from any other place, really, or calling any other place home. You go East Bay, and it feels so different from South Bay or North Bay. A world itself is the Bay, and everywhere else is their own little worlds, too. It’s just the pride that you take from your hometown.

SK: We play a game on tour where we look up the Zillow prices and are like, “Whoa, we can buy a house here.” Then you gotta think about the snow, lots and lots of more crazy white people, there’s gonna be freaks everywhere, but the freaks here, most of them are fun.

You were mentioning your headline tour, so anything new that you’re planning?

KP: Probably going to do a lot of new stuff. We have a blank canvas since it’s our headliner, and we’re kinda in charge. We’re probably going to do something fun and maybe work on some visual stuff, too. 

BL: I don’t want to promise anything, but I’m looking to play around with set design. I’d really love to get something crazy-looking on stage with us and have physical things helping us to tell a story or whatever. At this show, we’re testing out having a motif running through the set, and I hope it goes well. We’re just trying to get more put-together.

SK: We’ve never named a tour either. I’m a big music fan, I nerd out about the different bands I love, and there’s different eras and stuff. The era that we’re in, like Kevin was saying, we’re playing a lot of new music, experimenting with set design. Tyler, the Creator, for example, you look at the different eras that he’s had, and the show goes with the songs. Same with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, all these other tours. I remember that I went to the “In Your Honor” tour, and my parents went to the “Californication” tour. I want kids to come and be like, “I went to the ‘Love Letter’ tour” and remember that. We all love being creative, and this is a blank canvas to really tell a story. I think the record turned out interesting, to say the least, because we worked on it, tore it apart, gone through a million and a half ideas, and it turned out the way it’s gonna turn out. We have so many stories and things to explore with it, and we’re excited to do that with this group of people. It’s going to be crazy. I saw Tyler do the “Flower Boy” tour, and he had the staircase and Christmas lights. We might do something like that…

Going back to the Pure Noise tour, were there any standout moments or shows from that run?

BL: Columbus, OH!

SK: We did an off-show in Columbus with Real Friends and Bearings, and not going to lie, we stole the fucking show. It went crazy.

KP: We had some surprisingly good shows in Salt Lake [City] and Denver.

BL: Yeah, we did!

SK: So we played here, and it was baller. We went crazy, and then we had to drive to Salt Lake City that night. Horrible, and we were like, “This is going to suck.” Salt Lake City, Denver, Indianapolis, some of the best shows of the whole tour. We crushed it, as far as like fan participation, merch, everything. Undeniable! One I want to shout out because it was one of the smaller shows and people were giving us flack was San Antonio. We had never played there before, and it was this big room. We came out there in all black, kicking it, and they really had a lot of fun. We made a lot of new fans that tour.

Your stage presence is so fun and interactive - how do you get into that mindset before shows?

SK: We have a warmup, group warmup.

KP: We all just kinda get physically present together before the show. We don’t meet up right before we’re supposed to go on. We’re generally together for a good 20 minutes before. I’ll be warming up on the bass, Ben will on a drum pad, they’ll be doing vocal warmups, we’ll all just be warming up.

BD: We like to make each other laugh, too. We try to have fun with it and stuff. In terms of choreography and stuff, we try to think of what would look funny or cool to do onstage while doing this song.

SK: It develops throughout the shows. Someone will do something, and we’re like, “We gotta do that again, but crazier.”

BL: I really like following Kevin and Brandon’s dance moves, like if I see them doing stuff.

KP: We make stuff up. Sometimes I try to get him to mess up on stage.

BD: It happens like nine out of ten times.

KP: I’ll try to detune his guitar while he’s playing. If he doesn’t notice, we’re gonna sound bad, but that’s on him for not noticing.

SK: I’ll try to say some stupid shit on stage. I try to find the one that sticks. We’re playing a lot of new songs that people don’t know. One song has a longer intro, so I started the “Shake what your mama gave ya,” and people really liked it. 

BL: I think it’s fun to do shows, it’s fun to do music, the company’s great, the shows are fun.

You’ve been mentioning your upcoming album, so what should fans expect?

BL: You tell me!

SK: It’s been done for a while. We tracked it at the end of 2019 and then tore it down. Lots of tears, lots of friends. Did some things, and it’s gonna be something we’re all proud of. I think it’s going to be an incredible jump from Nothing but Love to this.

KP: It’s way different. Our live show’s becoming what the record is. If people have seen multiple live shows of us over time, especially more recent shows, we’re starting to represent what this record’s going to be.

SK: Not a lot of horns, either. It’s a lot more synth, dance, vocals. This record is coming into our own, and the record that we’re going to start writing is some stuff that’s crazy. It’s going to come out, and we’re excited. We have two features—I called in a really big favor from my other band’s time on the road. This one’s going to be like, “How do these motherfuckers know these people?”

KP: It’s not The Wiggles.

When fans recommend your band to others, what song do you hope they choose first?

SK: Right now, I’d say “Fever.” That song I’m extremely proud of, and I’m very proud to be a part of that song. I’m also proud of the different ways that we’ve been able to take it and change it. I think it really shows who we are, and it’s also an even showing of me and Brond’s talents.

If there were Band Member Olympics, what events would they have?

BD: Drinking coffee.

KP: I’d win that one. Sorry, dude. You can do the weight one since you’re the one who lifts weights.

SK: Yanko’s not here, but he’d win Best Driver. We actually used to do these things called “Unsung Hero Awards” when someone would do something crazy or cool. I think I’d win “Being Able to Fall Asleep Anywhere.” 

KP: He can also be asleep and awake at the same time. He’ll eerily respond to you.

BL: Brandon would win “Best Chants” or “Most Chants.”

SK: Class clown.

KP: Most likely to join a cult.

SK: Most likely to end up in a Ponzi scheme. 

KP: Ben? Most likely to make you feel better.

BL: Most likely to do his laundry by himself.

SK: Ooh, the solo laundry!

KP: Most likely to take advantage of the amenities off the tour.

SK: You didn’t do it this tour, but all previous tours’ “Leftover Queen.” On this last tour, we went to Culver’s and somewhere else, and you got both and hadn’t even made it through the Culver’s yet.

BL: I like flavors. A little bit of everything!

SK: Yanko’s “Most likely to go to a fancy dinner and invite no one!”

Some artists name songs after famous people, so who’s someone you’d name a song after?

SK: I’d say Anthony Kiedis.

Remi Wolf just named a song after him—she stole your idea!

KP: Jake Johnson. I like Jake Johnson. Jake Johnson’s my real answer; Margot Robbie’s my “trying to be funny” answer.

BD: Maybe a Big Lebowski reference!

I have a radio show on campus, so I’m curious: if you could have a radio show, what would you do or play on there?

BL: I had a podcast at one point.

BD: I feel like Ben and I would do table reads of movies and shows together, divvying up the characters.

KP: I would do comedy.

SK: I’d do “World’s Saddest Sports Fan” because I like some bad teams.

BL: Wait, let me do a plug really quick because I do have a podcast. It’s called “Casa 22,” and it’s about girl problems. Yanko, what would be your podcast?

Matt Yanko: My podcast? 

SK: It’d just be him talking about guitars.

MY: That’s true. It’d either be that or cooking. 

Any final remarks for fans?

BL: Hiiiiii!

KP: Don’t stop believing in what you love.

BD: Can’t wait to see everyone on tour!

SK: Thank you. Seriously. I often look at where we came from and what we’re doing. We’d still be doing this without ‘em because that’s who we are, that’s what we do. For anyone to come into our world and be part of our crew, that’s incredible.

BL: They sure make it a lot better. 

Although this interview is a few months old by now, the band’s latest record, Hella, was recently released and celebrated with a Berkeley show at Cornerstone. Undoubtedly, Hella is fresh and exciting, infused with the classic Just Friends energy that makes their music so invigorating. Featuring several previously released singles and a few new tracks, it’s catchy and fun, encapsulating what the band’s all about. It is the Bay Area’s finest making their impact on the music industry and doing what they love most: having fun with the people they love.