Radios Birds, formerly known as JK & The Lost Boys, consists of Atlanta locals Justin Keller, Jaz Dixon, Chase Lamondo, Colin Dean. The guys scored a gig opening for Bronze Radio Return and we are stoked! We got to connect with Justin Keller of the band to get the down-low on his first concert experience, the band’s most memorable gig and his dream lineup! Check it out.
What’s the first gig you ever attended?
It’s been a long time. I think the first show I went to was Look Mexico at the Masquerade. I was probably 12. My brother’s friend from high school played drums for them. It’s funny what a small world it is. The same drummer for the band actually designed our new Radio Birds t-shirts.
What is the best gig that you ever played/performed?
My favorite gig I ever played was the 99x Mistletoe-jam at the Buckhead Theatre. We were playing with Sleeper Agent and AWOLNATION. We were opening up the show and we had planned this intro to our set where we were going to start with the Tomahawk Chop. We had asked the light guy to black the stage out when we walked on and to bring all the lights on half way through the Chop. So to get to the green room at the venue you have to walk through the theatre where the crowd stands. We had to go do a meet and greet so we decided we’d meet back at the green room fifteen minutes before we were supposed to go on. When it came time for us to meet up, we walked into the theatre and there were only 30 some people in the room and this intro we had planned just wasn’t going to work with a small crowd cause we wanted the crowd to definitely participate. As we were getting ready to go on we contemplated getting rid of the intro since no one was really there yet, but we decided to just go ahead and play it. When we walked out on stage it was totally dark and we couldn’t see anything past the stage. We started the intro and started to here folks chant along, then the lights flashed on and there were something like 2,000 people chanting with us in the crowd. It was just one of those moments I’ll never forget. It was an amazing show.
What is the best gig you have ever seen?
Best gig I ever saw was sort of a surprise. I was going to school at Georgia State and my old drummer, Casey, gave me a call as I was leaving class and asked if I had any plans that night. He told me that GCSU was having a big homecoming concert and wanted to see if I wanted to go. We had some friends in Milledgeville we wanted to see anyway, so I hopped right in my car, picked him up, and headed that way. Mute Math was playing that night. I had heard of them before but didn’t really know any of their music. They took the stage and from minute one it was mind blowing. I’ve still never seen a band put on such a great show. Their energy is unreal. There have been shows that I’ve looked forward to for months, shows where I know every song they play, and knowing nothing about this band I left and could not think of any show that topped theirs.
Gig you would most like to play?
I think everyone wants to play an amazing venue like Red Rocks or the Gorge. It would be amazing. I think I’d probably get distracted just checking out the scenery. But I’d really love to play one of the huge festivals (Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Jazz Fest etc.). I love getting in front of crowds that don’t know us at all and trying to win them over. It’d be great to get that opportunity on such a huge scale.
What would be the lineup for your dream gig?
It would be a festival size line up with the most ridiculous match ups. It’d be James Taylor, The Band, Middle Brother, Stevie Wonder, Dawes, Jonsi, Joshua James, Mute Math, Prince, Simon and Garfunkel. The list just keeps going. The lineup wouldn’t make any sense, but damn it’d be one hell of a show.
Grab tickets to see Radio Bird rock out with Bronze Radio Return on Wednesday, July 24 at Vinyl!
