JOAL: The Punk-Rock Meme Machine Turning Teenage Dreams Into the Jam of a Lifetime

Brisbane punk outfit JOAL might be a new name on your radar, but they’re already packing plenty of riffs, humour, and heartfelt ambition into their “college rock” mission. Emerging from teenage friendships and late-night inspiration, the band—led by Zac Sakrewski and Caleb Bull aka The Wheelchair Bandit—has dropped their debut EP Jam of a Lifetime, a title loaded with both meme origins and genuine passion.

From DIY recordings in sweaty home studios to plans for bigger stages, JOAL are carving out a space that’s equal parts punk energy, indie charm, and joyful chaos. We caught up with The Wheelchair Bandit himself to unravel who the hell JOAL are—and where they’re heading next.

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Who the Hell Is JOAL?

There’s basically zero info about JOAL online. Care to fix that? Give us the dumbed-down origin story. Tell me more about JOAL, how you came together, your relationships, achievements so far, etc.

Zac Sakrewski (guitar and vocals) and I met as teens on the Sunshine Coast. Zac went to school with my brothers and we all bonded over music. The band came into fruition when Zac and I had both gone to see Weezer play the Blue Album in full. Soon after the show, maybe in 2014, Zac came over and said he had an idea to start a “college rock” band inspired by the likes of Weezer and Pavement. After switching bass players and drummers, the lineup settled on Zac, myself, and two of Zac’s other friends: Lachlan Symmons (bass) and Andrew Doo (drums). Zac and the others were all friends through the Conservatorium and other Brisbane bands. The palette of inspiration for the band became more broadly the music Zac and I loved when we met. We’ve done a few small shows in the Valley and played our best show at Jungle Love Festival. We almost played at Ability Fest but didn’t due to COVID, so we’d love to play there! Most recently, we released our debut six-song EP Jam of a Lifetime on all streaming sites.

Acronyms and Attitude

Jam of a Lifetime is a bold name. Is it a piss-take? A mission statement? Or just something that sounded sick at 3 a.m.?

The EP title Jam of a Lifetime is the title of the EP because that’s what the band name JOAL (pronounced “Joel”) stands for. We like to be referred to as JOAL, but the Jam of a Lifetime concept came from an old meme in the late 2000s where people were referring to Animal Collective’s album Merriweather Post Pavilion as the “jam of a lifetime.” We thought that was funny and sounded cool to abbreviate it.

Four Singles Deep

This debut EP has been a slow drip—was that a strategic rollout or just the result of chaos and caffeine? How’s it feel to finally have the full thing out?

It was an intentional, collective choice to release most of the EP as singles first. We wanted to give people a taste of who we are and to hopefully create some anticipation leading up to the full EP release. It’s been a very long process from writing the songs, recording them, mixing, etc., so we are suuuper stoked to have it out. It feels really satisfying to have completed a project with friends, and Cam Bower and Cody McWaters truly hit the mark with the sound we wanted. We’re so excited and really looking forward to doing some gigs, and we’re already working on new music.

Split Vocals, Singular Energy

You and Zac both sing—how do you decide who takes the mic? Is it a vibe thing, a shouting match, or whoever wrote the lyrics?

The singer is essentially whoever primarily wrote the song, especially the lyrics. With this EP, Zac and I would bring a song we had ideas for, whether it was a melody, riff, chord progression, lyrical, or conceptual ideas. All the band members are involved in the writing process as we jam as well, so the songs could look quite different from our original ideas, but we kind of end up instinctually taking the lead on songs we contributed the most to.

First Time Fronting

This EP sees you stepping up vocally. What was that like? Did you find your voice or just yell until something stuck?

Neither Zac nor I had sung in bands before, but we wanted to sing our own songs, so we just started singing. It gave us confidence that there are bands or artists we love who might not have conventionally “good” voices but who make up for it with catchy melodies and thoughtful lyrics. This took the pressure off and was the approach we took to get started. For me personally, I also like singing covers, so I just started singing the songs we wrote as well.

DIY to WTF

How much of this project is stitched together by mates and cheap gear, and how much is recorded “properly”? Are you even trying to sound polished?

We were lucky to have friends like Cam Bower (Big Dead, Milk Buttons), who recorded and produced the album in his home studio. He has a nice setup, is a great musician, and is a bloody legend. We had a lot of fun hanging out and recording, although we spent a lot of time shirtless without AC in summer! The other band members had done it many times before, but being my very first time ever recording music, I had so much fun with the guys. We also got to mix with Cody McWaters, who has done a lot of great work, and we got to mix in his new studio, which was amazing. As for the recording and production approach, we realised pretty early on that the “lo-fi” sound we thought was cool is also a product of its time, and with modern gear we felt it would be a bit contrived to make it sound lo-fi on purpose. I also personally love nice production in pop and hip-hop, so we leaned into making it sound crisp. With Cody’s mixing chops and his new studio, we had to make the most of it!

Scene or No Scene

Where does JOAL fit in right now? Are you part of a scene, or just orbiting Brisbane’s punk galaxy on your own terms?

I think due to the “limited edition” nature of our output so far, we haven’t yet made a splash in the Brisbane music scene as a band ourselves. However, all of the other band members are in well-known local Brisbane bands. We have Zac in Milton Man Gogh, Milk Buttons, and Kodiak Empire; Andrew Doo is based in Melbourne but plays with Bullhorn; and Lachy Symmons plays in Life on Earth Music. It’s my first time in a band, so I feel super lucky to be playing music with these guys, and it’s been lovely making friends with others in the Brisbane music scene.

Influences, But Make It Weird

Who are the bands that shaped JOAL’s sound? Feel free to name-check classics or confess to stealing riffs from something dumb.

It was all the punk, emo, post-rock, and other music from our adolescence. We started the band after seeing Weezer and listening to Pavement, but it’s definitely even more influenced by our adolescent faves like American Football, Sunny Day Real Estate, Further Seems Forever, and Mineral.

Chaos Live

What’s a JOAL live show supposed to feel like? Catharsis? Car crash? Communal scream therapy?

The handful of shows we’ve done have been short and sweet, but we want to evoke the feeling that we have as musicians when we’re playing. We want to include the crowd in the experience of four friends having fun playing music together. We want the fun, pumped-up energy and community of the punk shows we went to when we were kids, with sprinkled moments of gentle, jangly guitars and stage gazing.

The Lifetime Plan

Now that the EP’s out, what’s next? More shows? A nap? Global domination?

We’ll be lucky to get the whole band in the same room, but when we’re in close proximity, we want to do some videos of acoustic renditions of our songs and some local Brisbane gigs. We would also love to be able to play at Ability Fest at some point, and we have already started writing new music we hope to record and release as soon as we can.