What's Up! Magazine

Sarah Jerns of Pan Pan. Photo by Matthew Curtis

Sarah Jerns of Pan Pan. Photo by Matthew Curtis

Sarah Jerns of Pan Pan. Photo by Matthew Curtis

At Cafe Avellino, above the din of the Dixie Chicks on the radio and the clanking silverware of the latte-sipping patrons, Sarah Jerns, aka Pan Pan, tells it like it is.

“My audience has to understand instrumental music,” she said, explaining how her shows tend to go over. “It normally does well.”

Does well, indeed.

Since getting together last January, Jerns and her band–which also includes two other trumpet players, an upright bass player and a drummer–have garnered an overwhelmingly positive response.

And that’s not to imply that it’s surprising they’ve been successful. But when considering the nature of their music–jazz and classical with no vocals–along with the fact that they play a lot of the same venues as their rock ‘n’ roll peers, it makes their ascent all the more intriguing, in some ways.

Then again, her vast pre-Pan Pan resume, which includes stints in the Love Lights, the Yogoman Burning band and performing with Presidents of the United States of America, speaks for itself.

“Everyone’s been really supportive,” she said. Most of the artists mentioned also used her in the studio, as well as the stage. So, in a sense, the groundwork was laid; connections were made.

Jerns, a longtime trumpet, flugelhorn and piano player, found her talents to be in high demand over this particular time period. However, after years of side work, there always seemed to be a yearning to branch out and do her own project. While it was a fun experience–she’s been at it since she was 17–she felt the time was ripe last winter to begin her own endeavors.

She and her band mates–Andrew Bybee, Austin Richey, Coltan Foster and Natalia Oncina–are all music majors at Western Washington University, which has proved to be invaluable in the songwriting process.

“It makes it easier, when we’re trying to write, because we’re all music students,” she said, explaining the convenience of everyone having the same music theory acumen. Suffice it to say that everyone speaking the same musical language–not to mention sharing a lot of the same influences–greases the wheels a bit for songwriting.

Pan Pan recently released her record New Arms, (available on ITunes or her MySpace page), which gives one a taste of what her live shows offer. “Eventually, we want to redo all of the tracks, with more people and more instruments,” she said, explaining the band’s future debut for Clickpop Records, her label.

In the meantime, her Myspace tracks get the job done. Deep and brooding, light and airy; the songs lend an endless vibe and mood in some ways saying more than any lyrics could ever say.

“It’s worked up emotion,” she said. “Most of the songs were written during a breakup, and geared towards a specific emotion.”

It does, however, beg the question: how does she come up with the song titles?

“Some do mean specific things,” she said. “Other times, it’s just what fits.”

Regardless, the air of ambiguity is fitting, given that one can interpret the songs to mean whatever they’d like.

Over the course of the past year, Pan Pan has played the likes of the Wild Buffalo, the Green Frog Acoustic Tavern and Boundary Bay. As mentioned, most audiences adapt to the style and the shows go over without a hitch. There was one, however, at the American Museum of Radio and Electricity, that proved to be a bit more of a challenge. “It was loud and packed…harder to control,” she said. But, as it turned out, the virtues were wrapped in the vices, as the band’s jazz background allowed them to improvise with ease and win over the crowd.

The next few months are shaping up to be busy ones for Pan Pan. On Jan. 30, she plays the What’s Up! Awards Show at the Wild Buffalo. A little under a month later, she will follow that with an appearance at the EMP Soundoff in Seattle.

“There are three Bellingham bands on that bill, so it should be fun,” she said.

Her bigger ambitions, however, are reserved for after she graduates.

“We want to go on tour, hit the scene hard,” she said, adding that gigs at the Showbox, the Crocodile Cafe and Bumbershoot are in her sights as well.

“I’d also like to play Sasquatch one day,” she said, alluding to her main goal. All things considered, it’s a justifiably realistic one, given that she’s played there before, albeit not necessarily on her own terms (back then, she was on stage with PUSA).

One other notable aspect of her live show worth mentioning is the refreshingly unorthodox intros. From time to time, she’ll line up some of her musician friends outside of the venue, almost marching band style. The music starts, and they make their way inside. Her own band, upon hearing the spirited cacophony, will then begin playing as well, creating a musical merger with the outside players.

To say that the bar has been raised a bit when it comes to creative show openers would be a slight understatement.

Which just goes to show that sometimes, no words are needed to tell it like it is.

For more information, visit http://myspace.com/thepanpan. Pan Pan will perform at the 9th annual What’s Up! Awards Show on Saturday, Jan. 30 at the Wild Buffalo.