INTERVIEW: Ben Daughtrey from Love Jones

rj frometa Monday, May 4, 2026 Artist Interviews Leave a comment

1. The Greatest Show On Earth marks your first new album in years, but it doesn’t feel like a comeback record but more like a continuation. Did you approach this project with that mindset from the beginning?

I can only speak for myself, but I feel this record was made TOTALLY in that spirit – the original spirit of true friends hanging out making music for fun and hopefully to share at some point with others.

2. After more than three decades together, what inspired Love Jones to step back into album
mode and start writing new material again?

COVID and the fact that we never really stop doing it…It’s a hard habit to break! PLUS with all the new members it took us to places we’d never been before creatively. Also I got to play instruments I normally don’t play in the band…so new challenges – always good to ride that razor’s edge to keep life and music interesting, and fun!

3. You’ve always existed in kind of your own lane, you know, too stylish for one scene, too
unconventional for another. Looking back, do you see that outsider status as a challenge or as
one of the band’s greatest strengths?

Both for sure. Honestly, I don’t think we had any choice in the matter, we are who we are…and I guess that’s hard to market? I’ve always admired bands and artitsts who didn’t quite fit in, The Tubes, Devo, Talking Heads, David Lynch just to name a few. I guess the fates didn’t align forus to enjoy mainstream success, but I’ve always liked being outsider anyway.

4. What was like working with John Alagía? What did he help unlock in these songs?

First and foremost he’s a friend, a great person, I love him. He also is a musician…that’s important, he gets what’s going on in terms of arrangements/notes/etc. In addition he totally understands pop and the sonic landscape that honors the artist’s vision, but has the clarity to be played on the radio…that’s unique in my book.

5. The album was created across lockdown sessions, warehouse spaces, and recordings at The Village Studios. How did those different environments shape the mood and character of the record?

Barry has a warehouse for his antique business, and that place added to the informality and party vibe of just hanging out and writing and playing together..some days folks would just wander in and listen. FUN!. LaLa land was a little more pressurized, because the clock was ticking and we hadn’t rehearsed the material as long, but it was great to be back in a real studio for sure. PLUS I got to play drums!

Village? That was crazy and unexpected (just like going on Fallon!) I’ll put it this way, seeing everything from Steely Dan’s Aja to Dr. Dre on the walls made it a kind of WTF experience! It’s a totally 70’s era dream of what a recording studio should be. We had no business being in there until we did…we mixed in there, but also added additional vocals and keyboards etc…it was a blast!

6. Tracks like “Looking For Diamonds” and “PDK (You Better Believe It)” have this great cinematic, witty, and emotionally layered. Has storytelling always been at the core of what makes Love Jones work?

Yes. Some songs are just paeans to things we love, but others are little stories. We have a phrase that describes what we’re attempting to do – “The LJ twist”. Basically a story like narrative with a strange or fun ending. Diamonds is the story, initially, of an Archaeologist digging through the rubble of her life…through subtle lyrics we later learn she is a waitress at Fridays. See?

7. You’ve had one of the more unique journeys in rock—appearing on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, landing in Swingers, and even opening for Tool. Which chapter of your journey surprised you the most?

ALL OF THEM! Including mixing at Village, like I said, we always find ourselves adjacent to greatness. We are the hardest working band barely on the edge of legitimate entertainment and I’m grateful for every moment of it!

8. The anniversary shows for Here’s To The Losers seem to have reignited something creatively. Did
performing those songs again reconnect you with what made this band special in the first place?

Actually no for me. The shows are always an expression of what we have always done for ourselves…hang out, joke around and write music. It’s comfortable.

9. In an era dominated by algorithms, short attention spans, and trend cycles, The Greatest Show On Earth feels almost rebellious in its patience and sophistication. Was that intentional?

Hmmmmm. in hindsight probably yes – subconsciously. I am a HUGE jazz nerd and I wanted to streeeetch out and not be confined by anything. GSOE is more of a “jazz” album more than anything we have done before. AND I think it represents where our talent and years of playing (and new collaborators) have taken us musically. I like to think of the songs as mini-suites.

10. More than 30 years into this story, what does Love Jones still have left to say that perhaps only now feels ready to be heard?

I think we have always been saying this, but perhaps now WE are ready to hear it – say it out loud. Life is the greatest show on earth…shine in your role and appreciate the scenery and your co-stars. Give yourself a standing ovation!