To us, the Stripe stage at this year’s When We Were Young Festival showcased some of the most underrated yet cherished acts on the lineup. One of which was Phoenix, Arizona's prolific folk punk band AJJ (formerly known as Andrew Jackson Jihad). The rotating stage spun the band to a crowd-facing position revealing a modest but steady growing audience. The guys swiftly moved from their greetings into the setlist of tracks that span across the band’s abundant discography.

Known for their humorous yet poetic takes on the darker pockets of life and society, AJJ takes things with a grain of salt and makes folk magic. The Weekly sat down with the band ahead of their first performance of the weekend and got their take on playing the fest, their influences behind Disposable Everything, and going viral. 

What do you think about playing nostalgic themed festivals like When We Were Young?

Sean Bonnette (lead vocals and guitar): I like how much of a spectacle they are…just how sheerly ridiculous they are is fantastic.

Ben Gallaty (bass): It's good to have it in your back pocket—the nostalgic card. It's great to give people what they want but we’re still an existing band so you don't want to steep yourself too much in the past because you're moving forward.

SB: I have a story actually about when the first When We Were Young, happened. After the lineup was announced I was skating at a park and a guy, a little bit younger than me came up and said, “Oh, hey, you're in that band. Right? You should play that festival because I used to listen to you guys when I was young.”

That’s hilarious, what was your response to that? 

SB: I said, “That’s a great idea.” But we’re not a nostalgia act to ourselves or to the people who are just finding out about us…we’ve been around for about 20 years but we’re happy to play this festival.

Sometimes when I discover an older band it’s disappointing to see that they’re no longer together or they’re canceled so it's nice that AJJ is still around.

SB: People also rediscover us because we changed our name. And they're like, Oh, I thought you guys broke up but we’ve already released three or four albums under AJJ. 

BG: Even people working at venues…we show up, we load in and start playing songs and they’re like that's an Andrew Jackson Jihad song…But I’d say that there were a couple of large benefits after we changed the name. First off, not having to explain what the name means. Because the name has nothing to do with the music, it was just a weird grouping of words that we thought was interesting. 

SB: We do end up having to explain what the initials mean, though, which is defeat self defeating.

Your latest album Disposable Everything dropped this past May. What were some of the inspirations behind this release?

BG: We all watched The Beatles documentary Get Back right before we went into the studio. You know, The Beatles are like the biggest f*cking band ever, sort of. But they were just some guys who were also having challenges with doing things…they were grasping into the darkness trying to figure out what the f*ck is happening, you know? 

SB: They all have their annoying riffs they play when trying stuff out and they revert to the blues a lot and make funny voices. 

Mark Glick (cello, baritone guitar): Another influence…not to make this a COVID album, but this is a very maximalist record just based on the fact that none of us were in the same room for a couple of years. That definitely had an influence and we were finally getting together to work on something as opposed to like, emails and zoom.

Kevin Higuchi (drums): It was also my first record with you guys, too. So there’s a new energy with a different drummer and I was along for the ride. 

SB: Yeah, you killed it too. 

In this age where electronic and pop is so ramped up, where do you think folk fits in music now?

SB: I think there's always a place for folk music in our culture. It might even be made by electronic instruments in the future, and it is a lot of the time now. But folk music, once you divorce it from the way it sounds, or from the song structures, it just means music made by the people. 

Preston Bryant (guitar and keyboard): In some ways, I feel like electronic instruments are sometimes easier and less of a barrier to entry. To play guitar you have to have a room to make noise and sound bad. You may not have that but you might have a computer and headphones. 

MG: Even with a phone now. What’s the easiest way for someone to get a song out? Your phone. You can record an entire album on it, everybody has one. 

PB: To me, it doesn't really matter that rock isn't like the dominant genre anymore because I think that there's always going to be audiences for every kind of music. You know, there’s audiences for like 12th Century choral works, there’s always something and it doesn't need to be the biggest to be vital to whatever community musicians play to. Folk isn’t busting down the charts but who really cares?

KH: I think it’s important to know that making music is hard and it’s a bit selfish at first. But every type of music has its community and luckily we found ours. I’m not trying to please anybody, I’m just making music with my friends because I enjoy doing it. 

MG: When Preston mentioned choral work it reminded me of when sea shanties were viral on TikTok. Everything is for everybody all the time. And speaking of when we were young, people used to be like, “I listen to metal and hate everything else.” But now, everyone listens to everything. 

SB: Some metal head is going to kick your ass for saying that, dude. Haha. 

Since you brought up TikTok, do you guys think it's cool or cringe to go viral? 

SB: I think trying to go viral is cringe but going viral is generally cool. 

I’ve seen people use AJJ songs on their TikToks before and there’s always that one guy in the comments that’s like, “Don’t blow up my favorite band! Keep them a secret!” Is this a good or bad thing for musicians? 

SB: I'd say it's a net positive. We were talking to our agent about this earlier. Trying to go viral is a lot like seeing these people with the slot machines. They don't look like they're having fun and they’re just cranking the slot machine waiting for something to happen. And that's not a healthy way to approach art. 

There’s also no longevity. 

BG: Fundamentally…and this is cliche…but people can recognize authenticity. If your whole sh*t is to go viral, you're probably going to fail and be unhappy. 

PB: The medium is the message.