Jonathan Terrell

Preparing to devour the weekend

📷 Tina Terrell

Context- I realize many of you did not know me in a previous life. Before I was your current spicy, Texas Songwriter extraordinaire lol.

My friend Wes and I started this band around 2005 just so we could hang out and obsess over bands like the Sonics, T Rex and Iggy Pop. This was a really really fun pre phone era of Austin where a lot of this old greasy rock ‘n’ roll was colliding with electro clash and indi sleaze and we were all meeting up at the Beauty Bar, and Club Deville where Cheer Ups is now.

We didn’t even really want to record an album. We just wanted to play shows and have fun for our friends, but our pal JM booked us a Studio date because he was tired of only hearing our songs at the live shows. We recorded our first album, Bikini and didn’t really think much of it until we started playing bigger and bigger shows. The Band eventually morphed into a four piece adding our best friends and .

We tour pretty heavily, got to play with some amazing bands. We set the band down as I was starting to have a solo career and touring was inevitable.

The importance of this band to me it’s almost unexplainable. I was very shy Songwriter and this band showed me how to communicate with an audience and be a character on stage, and that character could say and do and things I could never do. It showed me the power of a collective and it opened me up to the Austin music community and beyond which I hold dearly. I hold largely responsible 🙏❤️

We’ve been talking about playing some shows for a long time, and decided that an anniversary might be the most meaningful. We have not played together on stage in eight years. Even longer as the OG 2 piece. And it has been totally mind melting to go back through this old catalogue of music. There’s a lot of discovery and a lot of freedom in this band. It was pure joy and pure fu***ng chaos.

See you at June 13 for 15 years of Bikini!