On the eve of Luca Brasi’s upcoming national tour, front-man and proud Tasmanian Tyler Richardson chats to the Green Ant Rant about the origins of Jackies Are On The March, the JackJumpers season so far, and the being able to play live shows again.
Origins of Jackies Are On The March
The story of Luca Brasi and the JackJumpers goes back to mid 2021. Where all around basketball fan Tyler was excited about the new Tasmanian NBL team, the JackJumpers.
“I’m basically the basketball nut, I’ve dragged the other boys in with me, and now they’re JJ boys too though. We are all big sports fans and for them the Tassie team is a no-brainer,”
At that time the JackJumpers were yet to play a game, however they had a logo, uniforms and players signed. But what they were lacking was a song, enter Luca Brasi……
“I really wanted to do a song, and Pat our guitarist and back up singer just started playing this riff. I instantly went, ‘yep, that’s it, that’s the song’. I was spinning it back and forth in my car and just smashed that chorus out.”
The band wanted the song to be unique to the JackJumpers and Tasmania. But they also wanted the song to be simple and not too too serious.
“We really wanted to lean into that whole cringe and fun business with it. Our idea was write a Van Halen style song and all I could see was those classic NBA vids we’re they’re all in the studio singing along. It had to sound fun,” Tyler said.
Once the song was finished, they planned to release the song in the week prior to the JackJumpers historic first home game on 3 December. However, the song made its way to several of JackJumpers players first.
“We literally just dropped it in their [the JackJumpers] lap and said ‘here you go’. A bunch of players have reached out since and the boys play it in the locker rooms, it’s been so fun.”
The band didn’t have to wait long for the team to show their love for the song. The band were in the stands on opening night as Jackies Are On The March was played after they defeated the Brisbane Bullets in overtime. The song is now a staple at MyState Bank Arena after every JackJumpers win.
Love of basketball and the JackJumpers
Luca Brasi are quickly become veterans when it comes to getting involved with sports in Tassie. Having already performed at AFL matches in Hobart and Launceston, they most recently performed on the opening day of the Ashes test match at Bellerive Oval.
But its basketball that appears to be true sports love, and Tyler has been closely following the JackJumpers progress in their debut season
“Mate, it’s an exciting progression to see. Roth said from the start that we were going to be a defensive team and to see that constant ball pressure is unreal,” Tyler said.
“What I wanted was to see that passing open up and that floor spread, bit less iso and contested 3’s. Which is just what is happening, seeing the boys get those looks and start knocking them down gets me bloody fired up.
“I’ve been into ball a long time; tragic Celtics fan. I did also play socially for a long time, was never any good.”
But if Tyler was to compare his social game to one the JackJumpers, who would that be?
“I’m 6’3 and 90 odd kilos so in a social league I got some boards, maybe the odd turn around hook shot too. I’ll say I’m akin to Will Magnay, but with a lot less blocks.”
Getting Luca Brasi back on the road
The band kicks off national tour in support of their latest album Everything Is Tenuous on Friday 11 February in Melbourne, with further shows scheduled in Melbourne, Sydney, Wollongong and Adelaide. The tour has been rescheduled numerous times due to COVID restrictions, but the band made a return to the stage in late 2021 at Launceston’s Party in the Apocalypse music festival. Despite not playing Jackies Are On The March in full on the day, they haven’t ruled out adding it to future shows.
“We gave the tune a quick little intro [in Launceston], didn’t actually play it, but got the crowd to chant the MARCH bit back at us- they loved it. Seeing that chant at the games is a bloody personal music career highlight too. I’d be pumped as to play it on the tour, I’ll make it happen!”
Everything Is Tenuous is out now. Tickets and further details for Luca Brasi’s upcoming tour are available via the Luca Brasi website.
