Meet Jay Clark

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay Clark, guitar player and one of the four vocalists in TheBandMint.

Hi Jay, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The four of us met by random chance and a little bit of luck through a mutual friend. Our common interest in playing music is how our friendship began. We come from extremely different backgrounds and that diversity has been instrumental in our growth. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Truthfully, it has been a relatively smooth road. We enjoy each other’s company and we get together to have fun and to play music. As with any group-oriented artistic endeavor, we are constantly making adjustments and modifications on the fly, but those are good challenges and struggles to have. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
TheBandMint plays hip-hop music. We’re kinda like A Tribe Called Quest meets The Red-Hot Chili Peppers. Our signature sound is a technique we call: chatter. Chatter is a call and response communication between two turntables and two slides on a guitar that is supported by a deep rhythmic pocket. There are multiple examples on our debut album “Ground Breaking Through” and a few video clips on our socials that highlight the technique. We are proud of our work ethic, and our gig schedule, and also, we opened for one of our musical heroes: Kool & The Gang. 

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Our bass player and vocalist, Brian Meter (aka Meets, Mr. Magic Thumbs, Santa Garcia) was a walk-on and played football for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Our drummer and vocalist, Jamal Mickles (aka Boogie, Boog…as in… “He can really boogie”) is a lieutenant in the Detroit Fire Department. Our guitarist and vocalist, Jay Clark (aka Bones, Jay Bones) finishes concrete and teaches at the University of Michigan-Flint. Our turntablist and vocalist, Rafel Pouncy (aka Zhaoski The Prodigy) is an animal cruelty investigator for the Michigan Humane Society. 

Contact Info:

• Email: 2bookmint@gmail.com
• Instagram: @thebandmint
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamalbrianjay
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEqDTLHZpY0