Interview: Jolly Jackers (Written)

Jolly Jackers, the Celtic folk punk, rock and metal band, are having a busy year! Not only are they about to release a remix album, but later this year they will release a ‘best of’, and all while they work on a new album. In this interview, we find out more about them and what they have going on.

 

 

1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.

Thank you for this opportunity! Jolly Jackers is a 5 piece band from Budapest, Hungary. We started in 2013 in Dunaújváros, and went through a lot of changes throughout the years. The band has 5 albums and 5 singles so far, and we’ve been playing hundreds of concerts all around Europe. Currently, Rea is the frontwoman, a founding member who took over the role in 2024. She also plays the flute and pennywhistle, and she’s a songwriter, lyricist, our webdesigner and social media person. On bass guitar, Eneh has been with the band since the very beginning, contributing as both a songwriter and lyricist. Our guitarist, Mark, ed in 2016 and has co-written songs on three studio albums and several singles while also handling management duties. Simi ed us on drums in 2021, bringing not only rhythm but also songwriting contributions. Ilka has strengthened the melody section with her wonderful violin playing since 2022. She is also a songwriter, lyricist, and responsible for various graphic designs, including the cover art for our latest full-length album, Welcome to the Grind.

2. Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?

We always tell them that we don’t like labels and stylistic boundaries! Originally we play Celtic folk punk, but we often elevate our music with metal, blues, and even country elements.

3. What’s currently keeping you busy? A new album/EP/single release? A new video? Playing live, or planning ahead?

We have a release every month for the rest of the year! We are releasing a remix album on May 23rd, and a best of album later this year. We are also working on our new album, which will be out in the beginning of 2026.

4. What is about this current period that is particularly exciting for you?

Changing the singer in a band is always like Russian roulette. You never know how people will react, how the new person will work on the live shows, etc. We are very happy that although we made a bold choice (Rea is not a trained singer, and she also have to handle the wind instruments at the same time), we are getting really positive s from people on every new release, and we finally arrived to a great mental and professional place where we can thrive as a band.

5. Tell me about the work that has gone into making it a reality and what it means to you.

A lot of planning, enormous amount of work and still, we can’t even count how many times we had to start everything all over again. But one thing never changes: We never gave up, always sticked together, and gave it all we could. This shaped us into better people and closer friends. Things to be grateful for!

6. Making music and being creative can be a very positive experience and can be very good for the mind. In what way has making music had a positive impact on your mental health?

On one hand, writing lyrics and tunes about sensitive topics like depression, failure and suicidal thoughts is very freeing. Hard as hell, but in the end you can let these things go more easily. Also, going to band practice where you meet your friends and have a great time together making music is the best part of the week! Even if we are very tired (we usually are) after work, and even if we go to band practice grumpy, we always charge our batteries there and it makes us happy.

7. It can also be incredibly challenging, more so in the modern times. What have been some challenging aspects of making music and how have you overcome them?

Being originally a Celtic folk punk band, we have experienced that some people have very exact expectations about how our music should sound like. As we mentioned before, we don’t like these labels because it takes away the creative freedom we adore. We decided that we do what our hearts desire, and we don’t have to be how people expect us to be, as long as we are true to ourselves. It worked out so far!

8. How do you handle the online aspects of being in a band? Having to put out content constantly, promoting across several different social media platforms, and having your success measured in likes and follows?

It is a lot of work, we never thought that it would be this much. Handling these things is a job in itself, and it’s always in the back of the mind: what content to do, when can we record videos together, what are the latest trends, what are the changes on the platforms, scheduling and distributing everything… As musicians our dream is to be musicians – meaning we don’t have any other jobs in the band including social media management, content creation for various platforms, booking and tour management, etc. and we can focus all of that energy to our music. Until that, we work extra hard to reach that goal!

9. How do you make this part of things enjoyable, and fulfilling, for yourself?

Personally, I always see this as a job that I do for myself. Ironically, in my personal life I am not active at all on social media, I never post anything and I don’t really scroll either. But doing it for the band and analyzing the numbers, getting positive and likes is rewarding because they all contribute to our dream. That’s all the motivation I need.

10. Speaking directly to listeners – what would you ask they do to help you?

We are grateful for every merch purchase, every stream and every minute of Youtube watchtime. If you find a band online and you fall in love with their music, definitely consider buying their merch and discs! That way you’ll have some cool stuff to display/wear, and you can the artists you enjoy! And of course, come and see us if you are in town!

11. Outside of music, what do you like to do to relax?

In a nutshell: Art and nature! Hiking, traveling, cuddling with our animals, gardening, cooking and painting – you name it, we are ordinary people.

12. Where can people find you?

We are pretty active on social media, the band is basically everywhere:

Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music