An Album in 24 Hours With A Really Really Cool Band

Armed to the teeth with an entourage of seasoned musicians, a few friends, some individuals with no musical experience and a dream to record an entire album in 24 hours, Jordan Zabriskie is altering the music making formula. While he is the founder of the project A Really Really Cool Band, the group is also fronted by Zabriskie’s former bandmate Austin Harris and musician Mike Graves. Overall, the trio has been accompanied by over 60 other musicians and contributors to form the bones of this really, really cool collective that is reshaping the perception of musical creation.

“If you spend a year and $10,000, does that sound better than an album made in 24 hours for zero dollars? Yeah, it does. But does it sound $10,000 better? I don’t think so.”

As any other dreary high schooler working at the local Chuck E. Cheese might do, Zabriskie began recording tracks at his home until he was left with 17 “barely listenable” albums. Graduating from punk basement tunes to touring as a member of successful local act Cinders, Zabriskie then found himself at the intersection of wanting to create music haphazardly while avoiding spending time, money and energy producing sounds no one would hear. “I wanted to get back to what I was doing as a teenager — making music because I loved it,” he says.

“It’s a zone which is totally free of judgment, free of ego. It’s genreless.”

While living in Austin, Texas in 2022, Zabriskie called Harris and landed on the idea to make an album in only 24 hours, leading to 13 individuals coming together to somehow create, record and produce an entire album within two 12-hour sessions back to back. “I had this thought that if you spend a year and $10,000, does that sound better than an album made in 24 hours for zero dollars? Yeah, it does. But does it sound $10,000 better? I don’t think so,” Zabriskie says. “It’s rushed, sloppy and uncoordinated, but it’s awesome.”

That first record — released at the end of 2022 — is titled Volume One and contains 12 tracks, each one sounding different from the next with titles such as “We’re Having a Boy,” “A Very Sad Song” and “Crunch Wrap Supreme.” Zabriskie says, “A lot of these guys had recorded songs, played on a bunch of records and were incredible musicians, but others had never touched an instrument before. It was just magical.”

“I always say this band is a joke. We’re called A Really Really Cool Band. But it’s a good joke.”

A Really Really Cool Band is molded together by dozens of stories like these: sessions where music lovers become sudden instrumentalists, an idea to include all 15 guitars in the room in one track, having a dog as the main vocalist of a song, writing a piece about the puppet Zoboomafoo, etc. All in all, Zabriskie reiterates that the experience is solely about creating music for the love of the game. “It’s a zone which is totally free of judgment, free of ego. It’s genreless,” he says. “On our first record we made a sea shanty with a makeshift men’s choir. Our main instrument on that was an omnichord. That’s just what makes it so fun.”

On Nov. 20, the band released their seventh 24-hour album, appropriately titled Volume Seven. Listeners can expect a range of content including a track from the perspective of a group of news anchors titled “We are The News (Channel 2),” backed by a catchy broadcast jingle, and the single “I’m In a Band With Over 50 Members (and They All Hate You),” which features a chiming melody to support a hearty, punk-rock mainline of repetitive “you broke my heart” lyricism.

“A lot of these guys had recorded songs, played on a bunch of records and were incredible musicians, but others had never touched an instrument before.”

While the songs on these albums may occasionally appear as “jokes,” the instrumental prowess through steady guitar riffs and saxophonic interruptions, clean and bright production quality and occasional Midwest emo vocal realness is more than enough to speak for the collective’s tangibility. “I always say this band is a joke,” Zabriskie says. “We’re called A Really Really Cool Band. But it’s a good joke.”

Check out Spotify for access to all seven volumes and a full list of the rotating roster of participants who all deserve credit for their contributions. You can also learn more about their process on A Really Really Cool Band’s YouTube and keep up with any upcoming album work (and possibly contribute yourself!) through their Instagram @areallyreallycoolband.

Read more interviews with local bands:
Localized: Seeking the Sun
Localized: Chausie