Joker’s Hand

Photo by Vivian Ortega of So Finch Photography

Dealing The Cards with Joker’s Hand

Interview by Ken Morton - Photos by Vivian Ortega of So Finch Photography

Joker’s Hand is an alternative rock band on the rise, based out of Southern California and more than ready to go nationwide! Their latest album is entitled All-American Rage, and the band has recently released a brand new single entitled Danny Phantom featuring the one and only Jakob Nowell. They were personally selected to play Beach Life Festival in 2021 and have had quite a few of their songs played on the legendary local station KROQ. Highwire Daze recently conducted an interview and photoshoot day at Dystopian Studios deep in the heart of Downtown LA. and invited Joker’s Hand over to participate. Before the session with Vivian Ortega of So Finch Photography, Highwire Daze interviewed Kevin Kawana and Matt Lau to find out more about the amazing Joker’s Hand! Read on...

carrot that social media and people who influence tend to do to consumers to perpetuate the status quo of buy, consume, rinse, reuse, repeat – that kind of thing. Matt: It kind of reflects and paints this picture of this very American culture discontent – the idea of the haves and the have nots – the idea of dangling the carrot. All of us want to get somewhere and all of us see the people that are up there – maybe intentionally or maybe not – kind of wanting what they have. There’s a little bit of hope – like you can get there – but also there’s a sense like they’re just showing you that and it’s for us – the people on top. Kevin: At the same time, it’s kind of scary too, because the image you often see of people up at the top are people that are very cutthroat – people that will do anything to get there – which is not something that we identify with. I’m sure success is something that everybody wants, but it’s not something that I’m willing to bend my morals for.

Introduce yourself and tell me what you do in Joker’s Hand.

Kevin: I’m Kevin Kawano – I sing vocals and I play guitar. Matt: I’m Matt Lau – I play lead guitar and I do backing vocals.

What do you think about our local Los Angeles/Orange County music scene and how does Joker’s Hand fit into the scheme of things?

Matt: That’s a good question. I think it’s very varied – the scene around here. There’s so much variety. There’s so many different people and all different styles. I feel like we fit into the alternative kind of camp. Kevin: I agree. It’s nice to have a scene in this area, because the area that I’m from – the South Bay – there’s no scene. LA and Orange County – I would say it’s the alternative – I don’t know if we fit into the heavier scene – that’s the thing. There are some songs that we have that are somewhat heavy. Matt: I think we kind of dance in that realm, especially with our never stuff – I feel like that we can kind of sit with the heavier bands, but also offer a lighter, melodic side to it too.

Is there any overall story or concept behind your album title All-American Rage?

Kevin: The story behind the name, for me, was the dichotomy between rich and poor that’s occurring, not only in this country, but worldwide. And kind of the dangling of the

Let’s talk about some of your newer songs. You’re Why I Don’t Sleep At Night – what was the inspiration behind that one – any person, place, or thing?

Kevin: I guess just a myriad of relationship issues he and I have both had. (To Matt) You’ve had some stories of people with relationships who just kind of ghost of you? (Matt agrees) That’s kind of a similar thing that both of us have dealt with before – with both friendships and relationships honestly – with people deciding that they don’t want to talk to you – they don’t want to talk it out – they’d just rather not ever speak to you again. That’s kind if the inspiration for that.

Danny Phantom featuring Jakob Nowell. Tell me the inspiration for that one and how did you get Jakob to perform on it?

Kevin: Honestly the inspiration answer for that is not too different from Why I Don’t Sleep At Night. I think this one was a bit more specific. And the way that got Jakob on it… Matt: ….we played a couple of shows together. When we first met him, we had this small local show at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach – like that’s where we first connected when we first saw him, and he first saw us. Kevin: Well, we played Casbah with him in San Diego – we played Alex’s Bar – and we played a showcase with him at South By Southwest in March of 2022. But the first show we played with him was at the Venice West. And I remem-

ber during his shows he would make this little – the name’s Danny Phantom and the theme of going ghosts – that was something that was in the back of both of our heads for a bit. We were cooking on this idea for a while – and he seemed like the perfect person to be featured on this. One – sonically because we love his voice, and we love his energy. But two – we noticed every time he played the live shows with us, he did this little thing where he would play a bit of a theme song and just, he like “he’s a phantom.” He and I knew that was a reference from the show, so automatically we were like “okay, he’s going to understand.” We had a lot in common in terms of like what kind of media we like to consume – anime, cartoons, music, you name it – video games too.

What was it like performing the actual song with him live the first time?

Kevin: Super cool! I was so nervous, man. I was trying not to forget lyrics and everything. It just made it kind of a lot more for me – “okay, don’t fuck up.” Super scary. It felt really good doing that honestly. Matt: It was really exciting. A couple days leading up the show, we weren’t really sure he was going to show up – if he was going to be there that night. He was like, “Yeah, I’ll try and come through”. And day of, it was like “I’m not sure but maybe” he might come through. And then he did. Kevin: He’s a funny guy. I’ll like message him, and then he won’t respond for maybe five days. And then midnight in the sixth day he’ll respond with a paragraph – and I’m like oh wow, okay!

You guys did a really big festival – Beach Life. What was it like to play a festival like that?

Kevin: It was really exciting. You may have a better way of putting it – exciting is kind of common (laughs) Matt: I think with any sort of step up – as a band, you get that next tier – even for that one show – it’s nerve-wracking – even more so than usual. And just the setting, seeing all the stages and just how the event was organized and how big it was, and how many people were involved – just getting the bones of it together – it was kind of a lot. It was really motivational to be there and fun to be a part of that.

Since we’re all in the LA Rock Collection, let’s talk about them and how you became involved the organization.

Kevin: We actually got involved with them – I want to say Versus Versus or Loser Parade reached out to us – it was one of those two bands. One of the bands reached out to us and asked if we wanted to play a show out in San Bernardino. It was a little house party in the middle of summer. It was close to 105 degrees. There were 30-40 people there – pool in the middle – a dog – I always love a dog at a house show. And that’s how we met them. I met Hvnted – I think we already knew Minor Strut from a previous show. I’m kind of surprised that everybody is involved with this. We knew you before, but it was really cool seeing everybody at these events. Matt: It’s been exciting to have this sort of community come together. For a while when we were kind of getting our feet wet, it kind of felt more cutthroat – like you were in it for yourself. But with the collective, it feels a lot more like we’re in it together – which is really cool.

What do you hope 2023 brings for Joker’s Hand – what’s the plan for you guys?

Kevin: We have a lot of content planned. We were going to put out an EP this year, but we didn’t. A lot of that had to do with the record label and scheduling and the fact that I guess no one is releasing stuff in winter typically. I don’t know. But we’re going to put out an EP. We have a myriad of covers we are looking to put out as well – music videos – hopefully we can get some touring in. And I think we’re probably looking to record another EP, because the one we’re releasing has been done for a minute, so it’s just a matter of when to put it out.

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