INTERVIEW: Greta Van Fleet’s Jake Kiszka On New Album, Influences & More

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Greta Van Fleet are on the verge of releasing their debut studio album and have quickly become a band associated with bringing back the classic rock sound. They have endured a come up unlike many other bands in the past decade and are certainly making the most of their experiences.

After the release of their double EP From the Fires in 2017, Greta Van Fleet have not looked back. They have grown significantly as artists and become experienced in the world and culture that is rock ‘n roll. They’re actually, in a lot of ways, bringing back the feeling it had around 50 years ago. They are weeks from the release of Anthem of the Peaceful Army, their debut commercial album via Lava Records, and anticipation for the album has been building since its announcement a handful of months ago.

Guitarist Jake Kiszka was able to speak with us for a little bit about various topics, including the new album, the state of rock ‘n roll, influences, and more.

Michael Cottone: Hey Jake, how you doing today?

Jake Kiszka: Good man, how about yourself?

MC: Doing great, you wanna just dive right in?

Jake: Sure thing!

MC: Alrighty, what do you think has been the toughest part of being a young band and going through the rapid come up you guys have had?

Jake: Hmm.. I’m not sure I know. I think prior to a lot of the immediate growth we experienced, there were people and communities that had a lack of interest or wrote us off just because we were young, it was especially prevalent when we were playing more back home a few years back.

It would probably have to be that, or traveling. There were parts of that and scheduling that we didn’t perceive when we went through it, but traveling can definitely be…rough sometimes I would say.

MC: Yeah definitely, and you guys have been touring pretty extensively for the past handful of months, playing sold out dates and a lot of festivals over the course of this past summer. Do you have a favorite festival that you’ve played?

Jake: It’s pretty safe to say they’re all pretty wild, haha. Coachella was certainly a big highlight, this other festival called PINKPOP in the Netherlands was very fun. Lollapalooza too.

Coachella 2018, Greta Van Fleet – Mojave Tent, Weekend 1 Friday (via Sacramento Press)

MC: I saw you guys at Lolla! Really enjoyed the show.

Jake: Oh, really? Hell yeah man!

MC: So what, to you, is Greta Van Fleet’s mission as a band?

Jake: I think given the opportunity, our objective is always to play for more people and meet more people. And with that ability, gives us more capability of conveying our message of love, peace, and unity. And I think that we’re humble enough to be able to do that now, and I think as we’re able to spread the music and the message at a larger scale, I think that would be one of the things we’ll continue to be ambitious of doing.

MC: And do you have a long-term goal of any sort? Where would you see yourselves in 10 years or so?

Jake: I think that goal is to still be together, writing music, and to maintain the control we’ve had in order to write and perform our music the way we want to. I think that’s very important to us.

MC: And 10 years from now you guys will still be pretty young, so you could still be in the process of increasing your legacy.

Jake: Absolutely.

MC: Your guys’ upcoming album is named Anthem of the Peaceful Army. Where did the title come from?

Jake: I think it had originally come from a poem that Josh wrote that was named Anthem of the Peaceful Army. It took on a much larger meaning as we continue to play more shows. We were seeing all these people altogether and a whole spectrum of age groups in the audience. It made a lot of sense, like, the anthem of the peaceful army was the people. The people who appreciate our music and even us as individuals. And I think a lot of the material on the album reflects that message and the poem overall.

MC: Did you have a favorite song off the album that you guys recorded?

Jake: My personal favorite that we recorded is called “Brave New World.” That was one that was written kind of spur of the moment in the studio. Everyone had left to go home and we stayed back, it was probably around 1 or 2 a.m. We finished arranging it, threw up some mics, and recorded it. All done in one day, there’s a lot of spirituality in the writing to that song.

MC: Sometimes writing in the dead of night helps a lot, comes out a lot more naturally.

Jake: Yeah, it’s even inspiring I suppose. I think it has to do with the aloneness, you know, like everyone’s asleep and we’re still up just in this space.

MC: Let’s move into rock ‘n roll as a culture. You guys are bringing a throwback rock sound which music is unfamiliar with right now, but what do you think is the current state of rock ‘n roll?

Jake: I think it’s very broad, and a lot of people talk about the death of rock ‘n roll, I don’t quite identify with that. I think society deems something dead as soon as it’s not as prevalent anymore, ya know? I think rock ‘n roll has become a minority, spread out, and it’s become very eclectic. It’s moving in a good direction with new bands that can hold it in place. There are only a few stadium rock bands left really, like the Foo Fighters, Guns ‘n Roses, Metallica, Imagine Dragons. Those people are very eclectic in their sounds, but new bands are moving it in a good direction.

And I think for our generation there’s so much going on and so much that’s going to happen. I think there are a bunch of guys getting together in basements all around the U.S, and bringing back rock for our time. There’s a lot of great evolution going on. But as good as it is with the way it’s going, sometimes you gotta look backwards in order to move forwards, you know? There are so many masters who left behind such great works, like Elvis and all the blues guys. Those are people we learned from in order to take rock in a new direction.

MC: And you mention those 50s and 60s influences that you wear on your sleeves, but do you have any contemporary influences or bands right now that you look up to?

Jake: Yeah absolutely, we listen to quite a bit of contemporary bands. A lot of those bands can just hit a chord and have it sound very authentic and rich. Fleet Foxes are a band that I listen to quite often, First Aid Kit is also very influential. They’ve been able to create a lot of complexity within the beautiful simplicity of their work.

I guess for me in particular Jack White is someone I would say, since I’m a guitar player. The Black Keys, Grizzly Bear, Hozier are all up there as well. We listened to the Black Keys a lot when we were younger.

MC: Cage the Elephant?

Jake: Yes! Those guys are great, ahahaha.

MC: You mentioned how you think there are a lot of small bands getting together and changing rock. Do you have any tips or advice for those small or local bands that are seeking that spark you guys got to get the ball rolling?

Jake: Yeah, I think there’s two great factors for bands who want to move in a positive direction. I think that this is applicable in any field for anyone, but persistence. You need a certain amount of dedication to your craft, and there’s sacrifice involved. You know, playing in Greta Van Fleet, it was playing every weekend in high school and early college years for Josh and I. Most kids go hang out with their friends, explore, but we were given different opportunities, like playing in bars, haha. Sacrifice is definitely a big part of it. It’s also being truthful to who you are and what you listen to. It’s not following any trends, ya know? Don’t ride the wave, create one.

MC: Create one, don’t ride one. I love it.

Jake: Yessir.

MC: Now you guys have obviously been made aware of the comparisons you receive to Led Zeppelin, which is by no means a bad thing considering their place in rock, but what do you guys do to separate yourselves from that and get people to know you as Greta Van Fleet instead?

Jake: Yeah, I think the initial thing that society does is in a very primitive way is just to connect. To take things that are similar and compare them together, and they become not so separated from the idea of something, and I think that’s kinda what’s gone on. But I think for people to hear and be apart of Greta Van Fleet, to understand who we are and what we stand for, making that difference is coming to a live show. I think that changes perspective.

You know, it’s easy to listen to anyone’s music or work and sit there and be like “oh this sounds like this” and essentially hyper-analyze the song until the end, and I find myself doing that at times, too. And when that happens, sometimes you get nothing out of the listen besides the connection, then the originality gets stripped away. It no longer carries it’s personality.

MC: It’s just about learning to appreciate the music for what it actually is.

Jake: Right, exactly. And again with the Led Zeppelin thing, I’m very humbled with the reference and honored by the affiliation, but it’s about going into the listen and delving into it objectively, yeah.

And Jake is exactly right. Listeners should appreciate Greta Van Fleet, for Greta Van Fleet. Anthem of the Peaceful Army releases on October 19th on all platforms, and it’s just the beginning of a journey the world will be watching for hopefully a fairly long time.

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