'Everything, everything'll be alright': 8 questions with Jimmy Eat World's Jim Adkins

Since the breakout 2001 album "Bleed American," Jimmy Eat World has maintained an underground status as harbingers of the pop-emo rock genre. The title song to that album and tracks like “The Middle” and “A Praise Chorus,” and the followup, “Pain,” have solidified their place in rock history for a generation of compassionate music listeners.

The band headlines Saturday’s Ohio is for Lovers Festival at Riverbend, championed by Dayton’s Hawthorne Heights. I had the chance to speak with lead vocalist Jim Adkins ahead of the fest about the band’s growth in Mesa, Arizona, their early tours in Cincinnati, and about the upcoming show.

Q: I know that touring is a blur, but do you have any stories of passing through Cincinnati that I can share?

A: Bogart's, and Sudsy Malone's across the street. We actually did one gig at Sudsy's, and it was super fun. That was touring in a van. Is that music shop still around there? A really good music shop.

Q: Mike's Music?

A: Yeah. I still have an amp that I bought there a while back. That whole zone there is just rock and roll memories.

Q: You grew up around Mesa, Arizona, and got into music at a very early age. What was the scene like at the time? Was there something about the town or your upbringing that helped you believe that music was a viable career for you?

A: There's absolutely nothing at all to reinforce the idea that music would be a viable career for anybody in Mesa. The scene was basically kids setting up and promoting their own gigs and shows and art at spaces that were legally questionable at best because we couldn't get it in at the bars. And the scene that was happening in the bars was just a different kind of music than what we all were interested in doing. You have to make your own fun.

We learned that the only thing you can really count on is just being proud of what you're doing and having fun and challenging yourself. If you satisfy that, there's really no reason you can't do music in some way forever. Whether or not you're going to be able to make a living playing in a rock and roll band is up for debate, but it's not really about that whole bunch of seemingly contradictory things. Like, by not focusing at all on making it, somehow we ended up here.

Q: By the time I was in high school, y'all had achieved a cult status with my musician friends. Everybody knew "Bleed American," but the cool kids knew "Clarity" and "Static Prevails." How were you able to stay authentic to your punk and DIY influences while making such radio-friendly rock?

A: We were just honest with what was exciting for us to make ourselves. That's been the guiding principle behind it all. If you're chasing some imaginary listener's approval for what you're doing, you're never going to make a connection with people. But if you're excited about what you're doing and you're honest about it to yourself, I think the right people will catch on.

Not everyone's going to like it, but the right people will connect with it, and that'll be really meaningful. It was never about an effort to stay true to some imaginary scene. It was about us just being honest with ourselves and going along with the process. We just happened to come up in a scene that can connect with honesty. So it worked out.

Q: Jimmy Eat World seems like a band with very little interpersonal drama, especially not publicly, and that's with two singer-songwriters involved. How do you deal with conflict and egos within the band?

A: Everyone's fighting for the same thing. You've got to realize that of course there's going to be passionate disputes over creative ideas, but if you can look at it that way, that everyone's fighting for the same thing, it's easy to treat those differing opinions with respect. And really, when you try the different ideas that are floating around out there, we all see eye to eye on what we think is effective and good.

There's never been a case where we go through all the ideas on the table and at that point aren't unanimous about what we should do. There's nobody holding on to something they think is cool that obviously doesn't work for everyone else. There's a commonality in what we are into that just works out right.

Q: You've been sober for about 10 years now. Congratulations. How has that decision affected your life?

A: There's no way it hasn't – is the short answer. If you're doing it right, it will affect everything, and the entire thing is much better for it, I'll tell you that.

Q: JT from Hawthorne Heights told me that the two bands that everyone in the band was influenced by, and that they all could agree on, were No. 1, the Beatles, and No. 2, Jimmy Eat World. I could tell he's really stoked to have you for the Is for Lovers Fest. What was y'all's thought process for joining the festival?

A: They asked. And we said yeah, that's cool.

Q: I wish it were that easy to get you on one of my shows.

A: Sometimes it's harder. Sometimes it's as easy as that.

Ohio Is for Lovers Festival

When: 1:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 9.Where: Riverbend Music Center, 6295 Kellogg Ave., Anderson Township.Tickets: $128.75.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 8 questions with Jimmy Eat World's lead vocalist, Jim Adkins