Jane’s Party: In it for the Long Run

A suburban townhouse, four college dudes huddled around an assortment of low-budget gear, singing and playing with reckless abandon, with no clue where these musical adventures might lead. Seventeen years on from the first of these late-night garage-rock jams, the road for indie-pop quartet Jane’s Party is still wide open. And, despite the years of endless touring from dive bars to soft-seat theatres, and logging thousands of miles on the TransCanada highway, these bandmates remain good friends. They still love to write and play music together, but to cram into a van, or hit the road for an extended period? Not so much.

“I love playing live, but I don’t think I could tour non-stop anymore … that would kill me,” says Devon Richardson, the band’s bassist.

When Words & Music connects with Richardson, he’s just returned from walking his dog. As the songwriter answers the Zoom call on this early autumn morning from his home studio, he fiddles with an acoustic guitar; the tools of his trade are always at the ready. It’s these tools, combined with some viral success, that’s given these four lads new fans, new revenue streams, and one more reason to believe Jane’s Party can sustain a career in the music industry for decades more without touring – and instead, making their songs work for them.

Joining Richardson in Jane’s Party are: Zach Sutton (drums), Jeff Giles (keys/guitar/vocals), and Tom Ionescu (guitar/vocals). Since the band’s first low-budget indie release in 2009 (The Garage Sessions), these amigos have toured Europe (opening for Tom Odell), released six records, and had a viral hit with their song “Daydream,” which surpassed 40 million cumulative streams after it was featured in the popular videogame Fortnite.

These days, in between landing global syncs, Jane’s Party are focused on transitioning to a “ticketed” versus a “touring” band – concentrating on playing bigger one-off shows across Canada, rather than doing full-fledged cross-country tours. They’re also adopting a more strategic approach, and following the advice Torquil Campbell (of Stars) shared with them many years ago.

“Torquil told us that Stars always treated their band like it was a neighbourhood corner store,” Richardson recalls. “Some people come into your store and buy your trinkets; others walk by. Always remember, you’re not the mega-mall, you’re a small business; hopefully, enough people like what you sell!”

Getting in Sync

Jane’s Party is a shining example of what a modern Canadian independent band looks like. The pandemic, as it did for many, caused two of Richardson’s bandmates to leave Toronto, the city where the band had always been based. Sutton moved west with his family to Los Angeles, while Giles moved east to St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Zach’s departure led to the band making its back catalogue start to work for them. When the drummer moved to L.A., he focused on networking, and finding sync houses interested in placing the band’s songs. With a DropBox full of tunes lying idle in the cloud, the band was (unbeknown to them) missing out on an untapped revenue stream.

“We started uploading demos and album outtakes online, and sending them to sync libraries,” says Richardson. “All of a sudden, a track of ours that had just been sitting in cyberspace doing nothing, got a micro-sync. [Permission by the copyright holder for a user to include a portion of their song in their content.] At first, it was just a couple hundred dollars, but then all these cheques started to arrive, and we realized the potential.”

With three talented songwriters, Jane’s Party is constantly writing, providing a steady stream of new material to work with. They’ve now had compositions placed in TV series (like Saving Hope, Burden of Truth and Kim’s Convenience); been commissioned for custom compositions for popular podcasts; and even had a fan even ask them to re-write a Disturbed song to make it work as a first-dance song for a wedding.

“Cigarette Buzz” from Tunnel Visions (2016), was synched into several ads, including one for Vaseline in Thailand, and the band were also commissioned to create a new Hockey Night in Canada theme song (a cover of The Bay City Rollers’ “Saturday Night”).

Jane’s Party now works with companies like Songtradr and United Masters, who pitch their creations on the band’s behalf. Sometimes it’s funny to learn where their songs end up, like the sync on Polish television in an ad for a child’s anti-diarrhea medicine. “We pull up this YouTube video, and all of a sudden this little boy comes out of the washroom holding his stomach in pain and then our song kicks in. We we’re all like, ‘This is incredible!’” says Richardson.

Cover Me, Redux

Jane’s Party recently released The Best of Wild in the Woods Vol. 2, an album of 11 cover songs and collaborations. Wild in the Woods began as a fun, low-budget video series, and a way to make music with friends during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. They never imagined viral success, but that’s what happened with their take on the Jefferson Airplane song “Somebody to Love,” that featured Skye Wallace. Thanks in part to a social media boost when the classic rockers re-posted it, the video has now been viewed more than 150,000 times.

The Best of Wild in the Woods Vol. 2 includes fresh takes on classics like Tina Turner’s hit, “The Best,” featuring multiple-award-winning songstress Carolina East; a cover of the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton No. 1 duet “Islands in the Stream,” featuring rappers Shad and pHoenix Pagliacci; and the band’s take on The Faces’ “Stay with Me,” featuring the Sheepdogs’ Ewan Currie.

From its first real gig nearly two decades ago – at Toronto’s legendary Horseshoe Tavern, on a bill with SLAVE to the SQUAREWav; to playing Massey Hall opening for BRITS Critics Choice winner Tom Odell; to releasing albums full of choice cover songs; to placing their original compositions in TV, film, and videogames, Jane’s Party’s journey is only just beginning.

“We’ve been around now for, like, 17 years,” says Richardson, “and hopefully we’ll be around for at least 37 more!”