Today we’d like to introduce you to Jarred McKinney.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I began writing music for what is now Signs of Progress back in 2012. I previously played in metal bands but decided I wanted to change genres and try something that was more approachable for listeners. In 2015 we finally had a lineup that stayed consistent, so we were able to start playing shows and working on our first release. We only got to play 4 shows before members started leaving the band and I found myself back at square one. From 2015 to 2019, more members kept coming and going through the band until early 2019 where we finally had a consistent lineup again. We were actively preparing to start performing and going to the studio, but we once again had a major setback.
We lost our vocalist/guitarist unexpectedly and the way it happened really hurt us, and at that point, I decided to give up on the project. Justin (our current guitarist) decided to keep looking around and with some luck and the help of a website called Bandmix, found our vocalist Sage and reached out. We didn’t expect anything to come of it because she was in Long Island, NY and the rest of us are in Gainesville, FL so we knew it was already a long shot. She was also at a point where she had given up on trying to get a band going but she gave our music a listen anyways and fell in love with it.
She “auditioned” by writing two songs with our music, and we were absolutely blown away. After a few more emails and figuring out the logistics of what we were about to attempt to do, Signs of Progress finally found its legs and we hit the ground running. We worked tirelessly on what became our first EP “Safe Haven,” which was recorded with Lee Dyess at Earthsound Recording in Valdosta, GA, and released in November of 2020. It took the weight of the past 8 years of struggling right off our shoulders, and we were extremely fortunate with its reception, and it gave us the foundation we needed to grow.
We ended up recording some music videos and other web content all based around “Safe Haven” and it helped us keep our momentum while we began writing our second EP “The Static Hero.” It was also recorded with Lee Dyess at Earthsound Recording and released in late 2021. It had admittedly mixed reception, as it was a darker tone than “Safe Haven” and we were still figuring out our sound. All the music on those two releases were the songs that I wrote during the time before we had Sage, and we decided that we were going to write all new music for our next release.
In August of 2022, we all travelled across the country to Crown Pointe, IN to work with Seth Henderson at Always Be Genius. It was a truly surreal experience and he helped us discover what we are able to create without any influence from our past experiences. Our third EP titled “Everything Alters Us” was mastered by Mike Cervantes at The Foxboro and we released the first single from it in November 2022 titled “Truth or Dare.” Two weeks after the release, we played our first show since 2014 here in Gainesville and we had such an amazing turnout. it was a real turning point for us and proved that we aren’t crazy for how much we have sacrificed to do this.
What you can look forward to from us next is our second single from “Everything Alters Us” titled “Saltwater” releasing in March of 2023 followed by the full EP release in April. We are also working on booking more live performances throughout 2023 as well as working on new music as we go. Stay tuned!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not. There is nothing smooth about chasing your dream, especially in the music industry, I have lost significant others, family members, and friends in pursuit of this over the years and it never gets any easier. I’ll either make this work or die trying because that’s the only way I can justify everything I have sacrificed over the years.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I used to think I was most proud of the music, but honestly what I am most prideful of are my bandmates. They have trusted me every step of the way and done everything I have asked of them, and I have done the same for them. Whether we fail or succeed, we do it as a group and I am forever thankful that I am not alone in this.
What sets us apart from your “average pop punk band” is both our resolve and our sound. We have to have a high level of grit to make our situation work, with Sage being in NY and everyone else being in FL. Being so far apart has many challenges and few advantages, and few bands at our level would even attempt it. As far as our sound goes, I do everything I can to write music that is familiar but fresh to pop-punk listeners. I’m not saying we are completely unique or anything, but there is definitely a trend in the “popular sound” right now and we are doing something different for ourselves. I’d like to think we are distinct in comparison to our peers.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
If you’d like to work with or collaborate with us, just reach out! We’re easy to get a hold of and we’d love to work with you. As an independent band, we need all the help we can get. Booking agents, managers, sponsors, we need all of the resources that larger bands have in order to get to a higher level.
If you want to support us, there’s a few things you can do. Buy our merch, share our music, come out to performances if we are in your area, interact with us on social media, basically the same things every band needs.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.signsofprogressband.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/signsofprogressband
- Facebook: facebook.com/signsofprogressband
- Twitter: twitter.com/progressofsigns
- Youtube: youtube.com/@signsofprogressband
