Meet american poetry club

Ah, can you think of anything more liberating than American poetry? Two radical things coming together to form an even wilder and exciting premise. Even more radical though is the american poetry club. This fantastic fierce folky punky rocky talky group has taken residence in my heart.

Below we chat with Jordan about all kinds of things. Vampires, dive bars, how they got their start in music, and much more. Take a peek below and don’t be afraid to feel things. Poetry has taught me that feelings are healthy.

JULIUS CAESAR AND ANSWERS a Mad-lib by, american poetry club

Julius Caesar was born in 102 B. U. He was a LUMINOUS.general, and between 49 and 58 B.C. he defeated the Gauls, the Goths, and the FRIENDS. After that, he PLAYFULLY.became more famous and defeated Pompey at the battle of GONT.at Pharsala. The Romans then elected him permanent SWIDDENER, and he used to walk around wearing a circlet of ivy leaves on his IRIS. Then Caesar went to Egypt, where he met Cleopatra, the teenage Egyptian SLICE OF PIZZA. When he conquered the Syrians in 46 B.C., he sent back a message saying, "Veni, vedi, SCOREGGIA." In 44 B.C., a soothsayer told Caesar to "Beware the Ides of SLICE OF SALAMI," but he ignored the warning and in March he was stabbed in the SLICE OF LIFE.by a group of senators. His last words were, "Et tu ERRICO MALATESTA?"

Would You Rather

be a vampire cowboy in the old west or a werewolf knight in medieval times? Please tell us why.

a vampire cowboy? Not necessarily because I prefer either but I feel like as a queer leftist jew, I'd maybe be able to find a few more friends in the west than I would in some medieval kingdom somewhere?

Some questions with american poetry club

What was the best music video of all time?

"Our apartment" by Frankie valet - coming out on 2/24 - this is the best record of the year y'all just don't know it yet.

What is the best dive bar in NYC?

The scratcher is where I go the most! It checks off my two big qualifiers for a bar, which are it's dark and "below" (you have to go down a few steps to get there). Unfortunately, it's not ADA accessible which sucks, and I'm straight edge so I don't actually drink there, but it's cheapish and quiet and a good place to hang with friends! You wanna go sometime?

How did you get your start in music?

I grew up not too far away, on Long Island, and after spending a summer at sleepaway camp imagining what Speedy Ortiz' "No Below" was going to sound like based off of a newspaper review my mom had mailed me, I decided to teach myself how to play guitar. Being so close to Brooklyn on LI I knew vaguely about the existence of a modern DIY scene and wanted desperately to get involved, but didn't think I could start a band, so I decided I'd help people who started bands! By the end of my senior year of high school, I had started a tape label called It Takes Time Records (which I still run with Mickey of the band Camp Counselor) and got to my first shows and made my first music friends that way. It wasn't until I moved to St. Louis for college though that I found a group of kids who really encouraged me to write my own music and do my own thing, forever indebted to Kilometers Davis, Sunsulking, Camp Counselor, Rob Apollo, Shady Bug, Glued, and so many others for being accepting and supportive people. RIP Beefs forever n ever.

What was your first email address and or AIM username?

weino523! It's the username I still use today, find me on ultimate-guitar. My first email was jordan.weinstock@hotmail.com. Very boring but I still use it lol so send me an email, say hi!

Did your parents taste in music influence your own?

A tad! My dad played in a new wave covers band in college, and so I group up around him playing and messing around with his old school synth. He gave me a pretty strong appreciation for funk and r&b, even if those sounds don't necessarily pop up in what the bands I've played in make. The fact that he was in a band at all though was big for me, made it seem a little less scary when I was ready to make the jump.

Who is your favorite American poet?

Rory Ferreira, it's not even close.

What was your best hiding spot in hide-and-go-seek?

I'm on the smaller side, so whatever nook or cranny was nearest, I wasn't so good at that game.

What is the music scene in St. Louis like for emerging artists, and how does it compare to New York?

The music scene in St. Louis is my home. Always will be. In New York I feel out of place, I don't have any sense of hustle, no desire to make it, no desire to posture or act any way outside of what truly I am. Feels harder to be that way here, just because there are more finances to consider, and a pretty well-entrenched infrastructure. St. Louis was loose, there weren't enough people making music to be exclusive. Sure there are still cliques and that sort of thing, but at the end of the day, most of us were playing songs after school or work because that's what we needed to do to survive, because art was the key, not because it made us look cool or was gonna be profitable in any way. Things felt more natural there, more supportive and engaged. There I had community, a small one, but a community nonetheless.

You have described your music with American Poetry Club as “cosmic American.” How would you define this?

Cosmic american is an old term Gram Parsons coined, but to me, it means goofing around with yer best friends, it's the sound of loudly proclaiming your love for this life alongside your kin in a crowded basement so the night won't end, it's the sound of self-esteem, the sound of getting better, of realizing this isn't supposed to be a straight line.

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

Start a band! Build a community! Go take a long walk somewhere and eat a slow meal with friends! Join a union, organize, register to vote, and show solidarity when you can. You and I are gonna be fine, we just might need some help along the way.

american poetry club