Jive Talk is an 80s inspired band that is now based in Nashville! The members are a tight knit group who’ve inducted a couple new members once they got to the area.

Oliver grew up in small Linberg County, Kentucky. A one stop light sized town. “I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness and so really I was not allowed to do a lot of extracurriculars. I stopped going to church when I was like 15 and I kind of started doing everything. I wanted to do everything. One of the things eventually I got into was musical theater at my local community theater.

Oliver and Isaac met in college where they both majored in musical theater. Isaac now plays guitar and synth in the band. “Being a musical theater major is like therapy. It’s wild because no other major like it… It kind of helped me break out of my shell and that religion put me in.”

They met in rehearsal and started out creating bedroom demos “just for shits and giggles when we were drunk. Isaac is a multi-instrumentalist creating tracks and everything. And I would just like scat into a microphone. He would write down what words he thought he heard me saying and I would like to build a story around that.” Meeting Isaac was essential for Oliver’s journey becoming a writer and musician. He introduced him to all kinds of music, as Oliver didn’t have much that he listened too as a kid. 

After graduation they pursued separate careers in acting. They moved all over the place and they lost touch for a bit, but then they both found themselves living in Memphis for a while. They kind of picked it back up. 

Ben and Isaac were actually friends in high school. They grew up in Chihuahua, Mexico together. Their parents were missionaries so they were in an extremely small graduating class of about four kids (together). When Oliver and Isaac picked back up where they left off, Ben was building a home studio off of Gallatin Ave. Somewhere near Sip coffee in East Nashville. Isaac and Oliver decided to move to Nashville so they could collaborate with Ben. They were driving up from Memphis to visit frequently anyways.

That’s how the three of them, the core group, ended up here in Nashville. Then there was the devastating tornado that ripped through East Nashville in 2020. Soon after that the pandemic became a whole thing. The band sort of felt displaced and wasn’t sure what the next step would be. 

Once the pandemic sort of subsided they met their fourth member at an east Nashville dive bar. “We actually met Phil at Mickey’s. We were new in town and we were talking about how we didn’t know anybody, and so we made a pact. We’re like, everybody go meet a new person right now. And so we got up and we walked around and it was Isaac’s partner at the time that met Phil. And that is how Phil came into our life.” Phil eventually ended up playing drums for the group. Oh, Nashville… you could throw a rock and you’re guaranteed to hit a musician.

The original trio had actually never played a show before moving to Nashville. Once they did they began performing at little showcases here and there. Like the New Faces Night at The Basement. Their first show was a house show, of course, which seems to be a quintessential experience for Nashville bands, especially in the indie scene.

“It was actually at Ben’s old house. He had just moved out of it, but his friend works in the industry and was having an industry mixer. We were going to play and we played like four songs too, it was, it was the worst thing ever. I had accidentally gotten high beforehand. So, it was a really bad experience, but allegedly it went okay.”

Jive Talk is Oliver’s project and band, though all the members seem to have a strong hand in it. It’s the only project that Oliver has been a part of which makes sense because his first exposure to writing and recording was with Issac.

Their music has evolved into an 80s inspired synthwave band. With their main influences being Prince, Flock of Seagulls, Mitski, John Prine and Arcade Fire. Somewhere in between dance music and storytelling.

They’ll be releasing new music in the months to come. Their main producer is Ben, they still work primarily out of his house studio. They recently started seeking outside production, they’ve been working with Jared Corder from repeat repeat and his studio on his and Kristyn’s farm! Jerry was actually the one to reach out to them and ask about producing/recording some of their songs. 

Their new single “Potions” releases on January 20th. Follow the band on Instagram.