Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony Coseo. They and their team shared their story with us below:
JAMM began in the summer of 2018, born from a Craigslist ad. Guitarist Matt Crocco posted an ad looking for a singer to join him and his cousin Mitchell Koff in starting a band at their home in Chico, CA. Anthony Coseo, a recent high school graduate at that time, was living in San Diego and looking to attend college at Chico State in the fall. Anthony knew he wanted to get involved in Chico State’s music scene but did not know anybody in the city yet. So, he looked to Craigslist to find other musicians, and that is when he stumbled upon Matt Crocco’s ad.
Anthony’s first day in Chico, the new band met for the first time and never looked back. 3 days after their formation, JAMM (which at the time was a combination of all four member’s names: Justin, Anthony, Matt, & Mitch) held their first show in Crocco’s backyard. The first show was a success and soon, word began to spread about a new band at Chico State. JAMM hit the ground running and continued to organize backyard house shows year-round.
Eventually, in 2019, Crocco met his new next-door neighbor, Ian McIssac, and the two became friends. Around the same time, JAMM’s bass player, Justin, decided to step down from the position. Matt offered the position to Ian, who did not play bass at the time. But Ian was thrilled and took the position.
The band grew and grew and soon began landing gigs across Northern California and the Bay Area. But at the start of 2020, the COVID pandemic threw the band into a hiatus that did not seem like it would end. Mitch took a great job opportunity across the country, and Matt moved to San Diego. By 2021, JAMM looked like it was dead…
…that is until 2022 when Ian McIssac was attending recording arts classes at Butte College. Here, he met Butte’s session drummer, David Bygum. Bygum and McIssac became quick friends, and Ian expressed interest in having David play with the remaining members of JAMM. Bygum obliged, and the two met up with Anthony later that week.
From the moment the 3 of them began playing, it was very obvious that there was a great musical chemistry between the group. They decided to try and give this ‘JAMM’ thing another shot. And that is what they did.
JAMM again began doing what they knew best: house shows. With ample planning and Matt driving up from San Diego, they were going to make it big. This time around, the band went all out on promotion, stage design, merchandise, and production, and the work paid off. The 2022 year held 5 house shows with an average of 200-person attendance to each.
By the end of 2022, JAMM needed to make another adjustment. Anthony was graduating, and the band had to figure out whether they wanted to keep this train rolling. A lot of thought and reflection was had, but the band decided to move EVERYTHING to San Diego, CA. The summer of 2022 was spent saving, working, finding housing, jobs, etc., and by Christmas 2022, JAMM completely relocated under a single roof in San Diego.
Since landing in SD, JAMM has exploded. After nearing almost 100 SD shows since the move, the band has taken the stage at many iconic San Diego venues, including Winston’s, SOMA, The Holding Company, Petco Park (Wonderbus), etc… The band has felt a welcoming like none other and continues to record and release new music, play new shows, and visit new cities on the daily!
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Absolutely not smooth. COVID alone almost killed the band completely just because we couldn’t play shows anywhere! For a minute, you couldn’t get recording time, people didn’t wanna meet up, or they were busy trying to keep the rest of their life together during that time.
Even today, when we are a LOT more secure in our path and how we want to pursue this band, we still struggle with tons of stuff. It’s not always easy to get consensus on things, and we’ve really had to learn how to communicate with each other. We’re best buds, but that’s still a skill everyone always needs to be sharpening.
Also, even when things are going well, the journey is still super disappointing sometimes. We have had some INSANELY COOL shows to where we’ve all felt on top of the world. But we’ve also had 50 shows playing to a >10-person crowd. Keeping a cool head on your shoulders and not getting too disappointed is an important thing we remind ourselves.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
We write, record, and perform original music. Our style is very eclectic and takes from a wide variety of backgrounds, but we most generally classify ourselves as Reggae-Rock or Cali Reggae.
We are very proud of our ability to have over an hour of 100% original material. Over the years, we have also honed in on our actual ‘show’ very well and strive to deliver an energetic and FUN performance that leaves crowds mind-blown and ecstatic.
JAMM has recorded themselves at their own in-house studio for their EP “Abducted” as well as their latest single “Figure It Out.”
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Words cannot describe how thankful we are for everything we have been fortunate enough to experience as a band. The love that the community, especially since we arrived here in San Diego, has shown us is incredible. We’ve met so many amazing people and have been fortunate enough to meet and play with so many insanely talented bands, some of which we have been listening to for years.
In under a year of us being in San Diego, we were able to headline SOMA San Diego, and that could not possibly happen without the love of such an awesome community.
Contact Info:
- Website: jammbandca.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamm.norcal/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jammbandca
Image Credits
Juan Carlos Abarca
