JARED KOLESAR JARED & THE MILL BY TOM REARDON 34 JAVA MAGAZINE
Somewhere around 2012 my daughter, who was 18 at the time, told me about this “amazing” band she saw at First Friday, which was her favorite hangout then. It was emphasized heavily, as in, “Oh my God this band is so amazing. Seriously, they are amazing,” for several months, so the name Jared & The Mill was not foreign to me when the opportunity arose to interview the band’s lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Jared Kolesar. I wasn’t yet familiar with the band’s sound, which is reminiscent of a young, eager version of Mumford & Sons – but the desert version. I love the fact that a service like Spotify exists, so I could go back and listen to the band’s catalog. There is something very fun about getting a feel for how a band has matured. And in the years that have passed since my daughter was a senior in high school and still falling in love with sensitive artists, Jared & The Mill has come of age. JAVA: You have such a big sound. Tell me about your band. Jared Kolesar: So we’re really a bunch of buddies. Myself and my best friend for a long time, Michael Carter (banjo and mandolin), have known each other since seventh grade. We grew up together and started playing music and had some pretty crazy adventures growing up. Did you grow up in Phoenix? Yeah, we’re all born and bred from Arizona. Larry Gast (III) is the lead electric guitar player. He and I met through a very cool mutual friend, Emily Tim. I was getting my degree at ASU, at the WP Carey School of Business. I was kind of nervous about entering the real working world, so I figured maybe I should start a band and just play a couple shows and get it out of my system. Then I’d be ready for the real world. So, I hadn’t really had a band before, but I knew of Larry through Emily, and I kind of cold called him and said, “Hey, I’m starting a band and I’m wondering if you want to be a part of it.” I’d never really done the whole process of jamming and writing songs, so I got together with him and Mike and his buddy Josh (Morin), who plays drums. We met up in a little room in Tempe in August, so it was hotter than hell. Larry called up a kid he grew up with – their dads were in bands together – and that was Chuck Morris (bass guitar). And that was the original five in the band. What part of town did you guys grow up in? Scottsdale. Michael and I went to Chaparral. Larry and Josh actually grew up together, too. They’ve been best buddies their whole life, too, and went to Goldwater High (in North Phoenix). Chuck grew up in Chandler. So, is everybody around the same age? Yeah, more or less. Michael is the oldest at 29, and Chuck is the youngest at 24. I’m 28. I read you guys went to ASU. Was everybody going to ASU when you started? Yeah, four of us were. Chuck was getting his real estate license. We are all in line with the mighty Sun Devils. So, around 2011, you had this urge to start a band, but you had never done a band before? I had played with people here and there, but had never actually done the band thing, where you would play shows, record music and try to sell merch. So, it was definitely a brand-new world for me. I had never really been a part of the scene or anything. I couldn’t name a single local band at the time. I considered the Marquee (Theater in Tempe) to be an intimate venue. I was completely green to the whole idea of playing music and coming up as a band. So maybe that lack of perspective is what helped me drive the band. JAVA 35 MAGAZINE