"E.P. [Bradley] and I met through Tinder in 2019," she says. "He put out a Craigslist ad in February 2021 in which he found Joshua [Lynch, bassist] and Zach [Bird, guitarist]. "E.P. then switched to guitar, so we needed to find a drummer. Zach's lifelong friends with Sean [Harris] and brought him on in May 2022."
The rest, they say, is history.
"Our sound and where we came from [happened] when we added a second guitar and our drummer," Long explains. "That's when we were really able to encapsulate the sound that we've been reaching for."
The lineup's clearly been a success. In the span of a year — from roughly August 2021 through November 2022 — Joan of Arkansas were maddeningly prolific.
"We put out 18 songs in our first year as a band," Long says, each one recorded with producer Jalipaz Nelson at Audioconfusion studio. "But we recorded 25 to 30 total."
So, why the robust release schedule? Long attributes it to the band's personal lives.
"We're all old, uncool folks in our late 30s to late 40s," Long says. "We have a nurse, a middle school history teacher, a business owner, and then myself, I'm a full-time student at ASU in the sociology program and a project manager for a construction company."
That means their main outlet is writing and performing. But for Long especially, JoA has been a chance to buck against getting older while reigniting a passion for creativity.
"I was a musical theater kid growing up," Long says. "I did musical theater and tap dance and all of that. But then I was an adult and got a real job and worked 9 to 5."
Long attributes their age and lifestyles to helping each other develop musically. For instance, Bradley takes more influences from Pixies, Archers of Loaf and noise pop, while Bird leans into indie pop.
"And then they put their own spin on each other's stuff and it just becomes a little bit more Joan of Arkansas-sounding somehow," Long says.
"And then they put their own spin on each other's stuff and it just becomes a little bit more Joan of Arkansas-sounding somehow," Long says.
JoA has become the perfect vehicle to not only create things but to do so in a way that's more real and organic. It's a lesson in what it really means to get older as a creative type.
"When I was 21, it was about having perfect hair and perfect makeup and doing full vocal warm-ups and trying to sound as pretty as possible," Long says. "Now by the end of it, I have eyelashes on my face, I'm sweating and I'm five minutes to vomiting."
Long, and seemingly the rest of the band, think of their craft as a means of visceral, in-your-face engagement.
"I like performances from Tim Harrington from Les Savy Fav and Mia Zapata from The Gits," Long says. "They just absolutely de-evolve on stage. It's a performance — we want people to remember not only what we sounded like but how we performed, and what our physicality was. We had one review that called us a punk version of Grease the musical. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I think it's a little bit of both."
Their live show, then, is a vital part of JoA's efforts. It's perhaps even more essential than their many singles and EPs.
"I think there's a really big thing to be said for seeing and experiencing live music," said Long. "This is a very small piece of the pie that you're hearing and seeing [with recordings] versus seeing us in shows."
They also attribute their collaborations with Nelson to fostering a similar cohesion and emphasis on live performance.
"He'd say, 'I don't want to add techno beats and all kinds of crazy s**t on your recording. I want you as closely and as plausibly to sound like you do live,'" said Long.
That focus on the live sensibilities is more complicated given JoA's timing as a band. Being older might equal a more sagely approach, but it also means facing an ever-changing scene.
"Like, that was a really difficult thing we found when we were first starting our band: 75% of the venues that we used to play at are now apartments or strip malls or whatever else," said Long.
There's also their eclectic sound. It makes for great tunes but isn't always easy from a booking perspective.
"I think the other thing that has been a blessing and a curse is that we're not punk enough to be on punk lineups," said Long. "We're not poppy enough to be on pop lineups. We're not pretty or young enough to be on shoegaze-y lineups. We've had to formulate our own little weird thing."
As such, the band have made friends with other local artists, including Black Caesar Soul Club and Goodbye Ranger. It's those relationships that have not only resulted in an "upcoming baby tour," but a recommitment to their sonic stew approach of making music.
"We've found that by permeating different genres through our music, we can fit onto any bill that we want to fit onto," said Long. "It's opened a lot of doors for us, and allowed us to make really great friends in the industry with really rad local bands."
They also appreciate being misfits in a scene like Phoenix that's extra friendly to freaks and weirdos.
"There's no room for ego in it," said Long. "I think that people are really quick to call people out on their bullshit if they do walk into that room with that kind of mindset and bring it back down to earth."
All of these experiences and lessons have led JoA to their debut album, the 13-track "Imperfectionists." It's a slightly ironic title given the band's creative process.
"Some of the songs on this are things that we've written previously, and that have been some of our first songs that we've written as a band, but just weren't quite ready to come out of the oven yet," Long says.
That whole approach — nothing comes out until it's out — started with their debut EP, 2021's "Make It Uglier" — and carries with it a pledge for JoA to continually develop.
"Our mantra was, 'More distortion. More on your amps. Turn it up to 11,'" she says. "Our thing was in getting everybody to come out of their comfort zone. But we're never going to make anybody do anything that they're fully uncomfortable with." Long mentioned one song that was canned because it "sounded really similar to an Eve 6 lyric that we had to change."
Still, getting it right doesn't mean safe, perfect creations.
"I think that comes with being an older band," Long says. "Like, it's good enough. It doesn't need to be sparkly or polished; that's not the point. We have that ability to raise our hands and say, 'This isn't ready' or 'I don't like this or this,' and so we're not going to bring anything to the table that's not ready."
It took some real time to reach this cohesiveness. It was ultimately about finding the best ways to communicate with one another.
"So having five different people with five different ways of learning and figuring out what your musical language is, it's really important," she says. "And it took a while to get there; there were some frustrations and disagreements. At the end of the day, we were able to come to a common mindset of, 'Play it more like the Pixies' or whatever it is and figure out what our musical language is."
But there's no arguing with the end result, especially given how streamlined JoA are these days.
"We booked two days with [Nelson]. We had the entire album almost fully recorded on day one," Long says. "Day two was like, 'Do you want to record any more songs?'"
The album itself reflects a lot of these experiences and values. From the "sugary pop bomb" of "Peck" to the "super sludgy and doomy" standout "Final Girl Semifinalist," JoA certainly ran the sonic gamut. But there's also an immediacy to the record; it's not exactly like their vomit-inducing live pace but it certainly bashes steadily along regardless. It's an effort made by folks with a lot to say and the experience and urgency to scream it as loudly as possible.
Oh, and it's only just the beginning, too.
"I think we already have eight to 10 new songs lined up and ready to go," said Long. "We don't have an off button, which is sometimes a good thing and sometimes a bad thing. It's not homework for us. We're not making money off of this."
That attitude of doing this for the love also informs JoA's larger goals and objectives. For instance, they want to play Bisbee's Sidepony Express Music Festival again, and land a "really rad opening gig" somewhere. Still, it's not just about staying humble or setting attainable goals; JoA understand their unique career path and what really matters in terms of achievements.
"I think we worked in reverse of a lot of other bands that get lucky that first time," said Long. "They put something out and that's their biggest hit and then that's what they have to live up to forever. I don't think that we've released our biggest hit yet. I say that with quotations; the thing that sounds the most like us and the thing that we embrace the most. Maybe it's coming out on this next record, or maybe it hasn't even been created yet."
That goal, this dream of a big song that explains why they sacrificed so much and clawed to get here, is all that matters. It's about what Long called "being in it for the cool stuff" — and absolutely nothing else.
"We want to have a really good time, and put out good music that we believe in and that we're confident in and that we have a good time making," said Long. "As soon as it stops being fun for any of us, the road is over."
The Imperfectionists release show is scheduled for July 1 at Yucca Tap Room, 29 W. Southern Ave. in Tempe. The free show begins at 8 p.m. Head here for more info.
