Interview: Coming ‘Full Circle’ with Taking Jupiter

The members of Taking Jupiter talk about their debut album, releasing music in Mongolia, and how COVID-19 has impacted them. 

Written by Dhiren Wijesinghe

Photos courtesy of Nik Harshaw

Young and ready to take on the world, Taking Jupiter is Dallas’ newest indie rock band to hit the scene. The group released its debut album, Full Circle, on Oct. 31. Taking Jupiter's naive take on life is both charming and refreshing, but the band’s deep lyrics and complex song structures hint at a more profound level of introspection than meets the eye. 

Afterglow sat down with Carson Aday (Vocals, Rhythm, Piano), Luke Finn (Bass), Jacob Parson (Lead Guitar), and Eric Austgen (Drums) of Taking Jupiter to talk about their new album.

Afterglow: Can you tell us where you got your name from?

Carson: One day we were talking about Scientology, and Eric said, “it'd be funny if Scientologists took over the solar system. They would definitely start by taking Jupiter.” Then we kind of rolled with it. People always ask us where we got the name, but we don't have a cooler story.

What genre would you guys place yourselves into?

Eric: I'd say indie rock. We have a lot more rock influences. Especially in the new album, you hear plenty of distortion and gain. Stuff that you hear in rock. But we also have tons of other music that would be classified as rock. 

Carson: A lot of the decisions we make about chords and structure take from alternative rock and gives it that indie twist. Especially on the song, "Full Circle," we do this odd chord structure that was just really unique.

Speaking of your new album, Full Circle, what kind of influences went into making that?

Carson: My lyrics are a combination of everything I listen to mixed with my life experiences. So like, Briston Maroney. He's a big guy for me. And also Remo Drive is one of all of our favorite bands.

Luke: Most of my basslines are influenced by Radiohead to tell you the truth. Like, on our song, "It's Not Enough," It's based on the first two base notes of "Jigsaw Falling Into Place." 

Jacob: Definitely Hippo Campus. Especially on "Monday Pt. 1" or (“Monday Pt.  2”). It's very reminiscent of the Hippo Campus style with the tapping lines that Nathan Stocker uses.

How's it feel having your debut album out now?

Carson: It's kind of crazy. Every time I open Spotify, there's a full album that we created. It's just crazy to have the ideas from our heads be made into something real. We started the writing process in January, and started recording in April and May. We did something almost every single day for that album. It's been so long. All throughout COVID too.

Jacob: I'm sure others can relate, but times are kind of weird. Especially in quarantine. Some months feel faster than others.

Did quarantine affect the material y'all wrote and or the recording process for the album?

Carson: Yeah, definitely. We had a mini tour lined up. Then when COVID hit, we kind of just had to scrap everything we had going on. That was really hard because we were really looking forward to playing with these other bands on a bigger platform and gaining an audience. Actually, we were originally only planning to make an EP, but when COVID hit, we just got together and started writing music. Soon enough we had 10 songs and decided to make them into an album. 

Eric: There are a few songs that we wrote before COVID. And I feel like the songs that we wrote during COVID are more somber because that's how everyone felt at the time. I know I wasn't in the right headspace at the time. So it's kind of lonely. 

Carson: Yes. Duck in our rooms. I know for the first few studio sessions we were wearing masks and stuff. Eventually we decided that Justin, who's our recording engineer, was safe enough to be around. We kept it really small and didn't hire any studio musicians or anything. 

What's the Dallas music scene looking like right now with everything at a standstill?

Jacob: It's rough. A lot of independent venues have closed down. It's the smaller ones that bands like us would go and get gigs at that are closing. So even after COVID is over, places like that might not be a resource for us.

Luke: I've really only heard of bigger bands doing drive-in shows.

Carson: It's hard to think about how the music scene is going to recover after this. It's going to take a while. 

You guys all seem pretty close. How did y'all meet?

Luke: Jacob and I have been best friends since first grade. And Eric joined us in fourth grade. Jacob and I started out taking guitar lessons from the same instructor, and we always wanted to get a band together, but none of us could sing at all. We'd always known Carson, because he went to our middle school and high school. And I started getting more involved in some youth groups around Flower Mound, and Carson was heavy into all that. I got connected to him through worship music.

What's your favorite song on Full Circle?

Eric: It varies person to person. I think "Under the Sun" is my favorite.

Carson: I hate that song! I think my favorite’s "It's Not Enough." 

Luke: I think my favorite is "As Promised," even though I don't play a huge role in that song. I just like the general vibe of it. And my bassline in the chorus is pretty fun. 

Carson: My favorite would be "Monday, Pt. 2." Obviously it sticks out from the rest of the songs. And it's kind of something that reflects my own style.

It seems like each of you is attached to a different song. How did you decide what made the album and what didn't?

Carson: Normally we write a song, then play it in our studio. And then we record it. And if we don't like it, we're like, "Well, we've already spent $500!" But usually at least one person really likes it. So it's cool.

If you had three words to describe the band, what would y'all use?

Carson: I would say fun, energetic, ambitious. That's so cringe, haha. 

Jacob: I'd say ambitious for sure. That's probably the top word for us. We started from my garage. Now I think our top song has over 10,000 streams, which comparatively isn't enough, but for us that was a big milestone.

Eric: There's a big difference from our first EP. Actually, there was a single that was never released in America. 

Carson: We accidentally released it in only Mongolia and nowhere else, haha. Yeah. That was my fault.

You're just starting out with your debut album, what's the future of Taking Jupiter?

Carson: I think in the immediate future, we're working with a few marketing agencies and seeing how they think our music can do on social media. It's pretty exciting to think about the potential success we can have. So we're just really looking forward to getting our music heard by everybody. Because, I can speak for all of us and say, we love doing this, and we love making music. So we're just hoping that translates into people listening. And hopefully they'll love our music, too.

Eric: I remember the night we were releasing the album, I came over and Carson was already working on new stuff. So it'll always be a thing. There'll never be a time where, even if people aren't listening, all of us will still keep doing music.

Is there anything else you want our readers to know about Taking Jupiter?

Carson: Give Full Circle a listen.

Eric: We're proud of it.

Interview has been minimally edited for clarity and length.

Listen to Taking Jupiter on Spotify.