Stealing Jane (formerly Hyjinx) is a band of 8 from Long Island, New York. Formed in 2000, Stealing Jane is grabbing the attention of many with their groove/pop rock blend. Stealing Jane has played all over the east coast, and has played with many well known artists including Lifehouse, Ryan Cabrera, One Republic, and Hanson. In 2007 they recorded their first album �Say Something� and filmed a music video for their song �Outside� in June of 2008. I met with the guys of Stealing Jane before their concert at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) on November 18th, 2008, read below to see what they had to say.

Can you guys introduce yourselves and say the instrument you play?
Jesse Sears - I'm Jesse and I play keyboards in Stealing Jane.
Matt Giordano - I'm Matt I play guitar in Stealing Jane.
Dave Calzone - I'm Dave I play trombone.
Andrew Mericle - Oh, it's my turn? I'm Andrew, I play trumpet.
Brian Bunce - I'm Bunce and I play the bass.
Bryce Larsen - I'm Bryce and I play the guitar. [Bryce is also the lead singer of Stealing Jane.
Brett Newman - I'm Brett I play drums.
Pat Iannelli - I'm Pat and I quit after Bryce's answer *laughs*, I play saxophone.

How would you categorize your music style?
Pat - Uhm, I read somewhere that it's not wise to give the answer we always give which is 'oh there really isn't one.' So I guess you could say groove rock.
Bunce - Rock n' roll!
Matt - Alternative!

How were Stealing Jane formed?
Pat - That's a long story...
Matt - I read somewhere it isn't wise....
*laughs*

Jesse - Well what happened was....
Pat - Here's the short version of it...
Jesse - They asked me to be in the band...
Pat - The five of us have been together for years and years and years, and every time we had a roadie, we'd make him a member. So it's been the core five of us, Matt, Dave, Bunce, Bryce, and me, then Andrew went from being a drum tech to the trumpet player, Jesse went from being the guitar tech to keyboard player, and Burt, well Burt was just Burt, and there it is. [Just an FYI - Burt is a band nickname for drummer Brett Newman.] *laughs*

Your album 'Say Something' was released last year, when can we expect a new album?
*laughs*
Bryce - NEVER!
Bunce - The next time you vote!
Pat - I'm going to be ambitious and say fall 2009.
Matt - We're going into the studio in December.

You did a video shoot for the song 'Outside' at the beginning of June. What was your favorite part about shooting?
Matt - Not the 7 AM part.
Bryce - Finding out that our van can power a PA system.
Jesse - That's not going to cut it.
Bunce - That's not that exciting!
Andrew - Playing on a football field, that was really cool.
Bunce - Yeah the last scene of the video.
Matt - Honestly I think it was that 50 fans showed up at 7:30 in the morning to be in the video so that was awesome.
Pat - Yeah, other than that it was kinda like 'what is he going to do with that terrible thing I just did.' And somehow he made it look really good so it was a new experience I think, for all of us because we've never, first off, it was acting. It's one thing to like try to do everything you do when you're on stage, but then to be in front of people that see that, like all the fans, and for them to see that you're mimicking yourself, its just silly.
Matt - You aren't really playing the music, you're just kind of listening to it.
Pat - And trying to be a parody of yourself.
Matt - But that 3:30 in the morning driving from New York, was not my favorite part.
Bunce - It sucked. I pulled the all-nighter driving.
Pat - Actually, the best part was falling asleep for 2 hours and waking up to this. *mimics Bunce driving* like crust on his eyes. "Bunce how ya doing?'
Bunce - Is the sun up yet?

If you could perform with anyone, who would it be?
Pat - Dead or alive, actually, OAR.
Brett - I'm going to say Blink [182], they've been my favorite band forever.
Bryce - Elvis Costello.
Bunce - Reel Big Fish.
Drew - Dave Matthew's Band.
Dave - New Kids On The Block. *laughs* Led Zeppelin.
Matt - I was going to say Dave Matthews Band, but I'll be different and say Pink Floyd.
Bunce - Say Fish.
Dave - Just say Fish Jesse!
Jesse - Alright, Fish. Coheed and Cambria, how about that one?

Is there anything you'd like to say to your fans?
Drew - THANK YOUUUUU. WE LOVE YOUUUU.
Bryce - We're pretty honest with our fans.
Matt - Yeah I think they already know, that we appreciate them
Pat - Yeah, I mean a fan got us this show tonight, fans have been getting us shows for years.
Matt - Since we're an independent band, fans are the reason we're here.
Pat - I think 2008 was one of the, actually was the, most successful year as a band, either it by Hyjinx or Stealing Jane, [Hyjinx was the former name of Stealing Jane] it's 100% contributed to the fact that the fans are the fuel that runs this band.
Matt - They do, they promote, they book us shows.
Pat - They spread the word for us...
Matt - They make cookies! Brownies, they feed us.
Jesse - Yeah, birthday cakes,
Pat - They come to see our video shoot and run at 5 in the morning
Bryce - Some of them fly to come see us
Drew - I get like really cool Spiderman stuff.
Pat - They drive and fly from Illinois and other states to come see us at the RockLobster. I think pretty much it goes like this. Thank you for not having this end for us.
Matt - Here's to keeping it going!

For more information on Stealing Jane or to see a list of upcoming shows, check their website or Myspace.

Interview conducted by Ally Pfeiffer.