Since debuting in 2018, Canadian alt-rock band Rare Americans have made their global mark with catchy lyricism and their innovative use of visual media.
Their latest addition to their JUNO Award and Billboard charting discography is their new album, Searching For Strawberries: The Story of Jongo Bongo.
The crooked narrative follows the band’s bass player, Jongo Bongo as he ditches the rat-race for a 500-mile, self-discovery pilgrimage on Spain’s Santiago De Camino. The 10-song story showcases the evolution of Jongo as he goes from corporate pawn to international rock star.
Jongo’s story will continue on two other releases, Act 2 and Act 3.
We chatted with Rare Americans about Jongo Bongo’s journey, the upcoming releases, and more!
Your latest project Searching for Strawberries: The Story of Jongo Bongo is inspired by the life of your bassist, Jongo. How did you decide on this story for this project?
It’s based on Jongo’s true story, so the narrative wrote itself. Jongo worked as a financial analyst for a big company but wasn’t feeling fulfilled. He took a risk, quit, and went on a 900 km pilgrimage through Spain called the Santiago De Camino. Quite a wild journey!
What was it like taking that story and interpreting it into your own unique storytelling style?
The challenge was working with the music and keeping the story moving along without feeling slow. It took a few iterations before we locked down what we thought was a compelling story. I’ve learned through trial and error that a story in your head doesn’t always work as well when it gets to film. We kept at it and arrived at a place we’re all proud of!
This release is accompanied by an animated film. When you were writing, were you writing with animation in mind?
Definitely for a couple of music videos, but not a full film. I had the idea after we finished recording to try a longer-form project. It’s a big risk! It took a lot of people many months to complete this project.
On Instagram, you noted that his project is your biggest to date. What was it like tackling this project?
Just a massive undertaking. Took a full team of animators nearly a year to complete. There’s a ton of back and forth, getting the story right, making sure the in-between skits were strong, voicing the characters, and just staying dialed week in and week out so the project could be completed on time. Feels like just completing this project and getting it out into the world was a huge step for the whole team, both RA and Crooked City Studios.
Why did you decide to split it into 3 Acts?
We got some advice on how best to release this on YouTube. The advice we received is that 10 minute plus videos are considered “long form content” and that if your retention rate is high, that is the holy grail. We felt 33 minutes could be too much to bite off at any given time for a viewer, so we decided to try 3 acts. This is our first time doing a project of this length, so we will learn from the results!
What can listeners expect from Act 2 and Act 3?
There is a love story that gets introduced. There’s always gotta be a love story, right?! We see Jongo really searching for himself, or as we call it “Searching for Strawberries.”
If you could set fans up in the perfect environment to listen to Searching for Strawberries: The Story of Jongo Bongo, what do you imagine it looking like?
Headphones in, popcorn in hand, phone down, and ready to watch as if you were watching a film on Netflix. I think that’s the way this needs to be consumed. The animation moves fast.
What do you hope your fans take away from listening to it?
I hope they can reflect on their own lives, to see if they feel fulfilled in what they are doing, and if not, maybe this can give them the courage to make a change. You only get one life, you have to make the most of it now.
What can fans look forward to next?
Mad releases for the next year. As of Monday (June 5), the train has left the station so to speak. We have 3 albums already recorded. Stoked for an onslaught of RA music and storytelling.
What is one quote that you have heard or that you go by that you want to ECHO out to the world?
I like this Bob Dylan quote, “A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.”