We recently sat down with guitarist Jeremy Hilliard and keyboardist Johnny Young from the emerging jam rock band Peak. This indie psychedelic jam quartet is based in Brooklyn, NY, and gig around the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Their sound is described as mix of poetic, melodic songwriting coupled with moody electro-funk, riffed-out blues-rock, and exploratory yet danceable improvisations. Their other members include drummer Kito Bovenschulte (Particle) and bassist Josh T. Carter (Hayley Jane and The Primates).
Hilliard's history includes being part of the jam rock band Turbine. He used to tour nationally with them, as they were notably on festival bills for Bonnaroo and Gathering of the Vibes. Young is a well known musician from the New York City scene, and is highly regarded as a soloist, singer, songwriter, producer, and composer. We are fortunate that these two hard working NYC artists took a few moments to chat with us about their music, recent studio album release, jam rock tendencies, struggles in life, and more. Peak is one of those under the radar bands that will impress any jam rock fan, and will certainly provide a great night of improvisationally liberating music. We are stoked to bring their story to you.
GratefulWeb: Our readers would like to know a little bit about the band and how the group formed.
Jeremy: I'll take that one. I started the band about seven years ago or so. I was in a band called Turbine for many years, and that ended. I started this from scratch, and made an album in 2017 called Electric Bouquet, which was produced by Dave Brandweis from Turkuaz. There were some other musicians on it.
Afterwards, when I started touring more heavily, I reached out to my friend Kito, who is a drummer. He was in both Ficus and Particle. I knew Johnny, we were already friends. The three of us looked for a bass player, and we found Josh.
Johnny: Haley.
Jeremy: We found the right group of people. And I will say this is the longest that I've been involved with the same group of musicians. In my previous band as well as other creative ventures, people come and go. It's been the four of us for six years, which is incredible.
GratefulWeb: It must be nice to get on a roll and develop a level of familiarity and comfort that facilitates creative exploration.
Johnny: Absolutely. Our jams are really good because we've been together for a while, and we've learned how to listen.
Jeremy: It's like a family or any kind of long-term relationship, there's ups and downs. Sometimes we break through a new barrier, and it's amazing. We also get stuck in a rut as a group, but every time we break through, it’s rewarding.
So when the four of us got together, we made the record Choppy Water, which is the second Peak album. And the first album that was truly the four of us was released in 2020. During the pandemic, we had a lot of time. We were able to safely get together that whole year, work on the band, and make a record, which really coalesced the line up.
GratefulWeb: Oh, that's awesome. Must have been nice to have people you could hang out with during COVID and build your art.
Johnny: We weren't all hanging out in the same place. They were all coming over to Michelle and my studio. We had a place to just do our thing, and really make it happen.
GratefulWeb: That's very special, especially during that time. What are both of your influences?
Johnny: Where would we start there? Everything. Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, blues and jazz. All that.
Jeremy: I was thinking about this today, Jamie. He's saying everything and I agree with him. It's a weird thing because I feel like at a certain point it becomes everything, It's everything. We love everything. That's good. Musicians come to appreciate everything if they're open minded.
My influences started with the Beatles and Chuck Berry, when I was really young. In high school, that expanded to jazz, and then eventually the Grateful Dead, Phish and the Allman Brothers. Blues was really big, and I expanded out from there. In the nineties, Phish was in their prime. I saw them at Hampton Coliseum in 95.
Johnny can speak for himself, though he really loved Yes.
GratefulWeb: That's very cool. Even as a fan, tastes grow as you evolve. Very interesting to hear what caught your ear and how that evolved to shape your musical tastes for sure.
Jeremy: It's an active thing. Every day I’m catching up on stuff that I missed and seeking out new bands. There are some artists that I came to late. Many loved Led Zeppelin in high school and I missed that. I didn’t get into Bob Dylan until my twenties. Johnny taught me about Yes. I'm still hearing some Yes albums for the first time. There’s always more out there.
GratefulWeb: There’s always more. That’s the exciting part.
This is a jam band publication. I've got five rapid fire jam band related questions that I'd like to ask both of individually that pertain to a specific jam band. They are one word answer questions, where the first question determines the next four.
Jeremy: Let's do it.
GratefulWeb: All right. So, who wants to go first?
Jeremy: Okay, I'm getting into the line of fire. Okay,
GratefulWeb: First Question – The Grateful Dead or Phish?
Jeremy: I have to pick one?
GratefulWeb: Yes. This will determine your path.
Jeremy: The Grateful Dead invented this style of music. I love Phish, don't get me wrong, but if I must pick one, it’s gotta be the OG.
GratefulWeb: Never a bad pick not a bad pick. So the next question is “Shakedown Street” or “St. Stephen?”
Jeremy: That's not fair. Can't make me pick between songs.
Johnny: She's intellectually manipulating you.
Jeremy: That's really not fair because I love both. I can't choose. Do I have to?
(smiles and laughs)
I'll I'm going to pick “Shakedown Street” because it's unique in the catalog. There's nothing else quite like it. They managed to pull off a genuine disco funk. “St. Stephen” is great too.
GratefulWeb: You can't go wrong. This is why I picked these songs. The next question is, favorite band member?
Jeremy: Didn't know these were hard line questions, Jamie.
GratefulWeb: This was supposed to be easy.
Jeremy: This is the hardest thing I've had to do all day now. (laughs)
I go with Jerry.
GratefulWeb: He's the guy that started it all, hard to not pick him.
So what was your first show with The Grateful Dead or a side project of The Grateful Dead?
Jeremy: The first show that I attended?
GratefulWeb: Yes. Honestly, I threw the side project thing in there because I personally never saw the Grateful Dead.
Jeremy: I saw them in June of 95 for two nights at RFK. That was it. I only saw that weekend. The second night was my favorite of the two. “Brokedown Palace” was the encore. I think Jerry passed away about six weeks later. It was at the end, but still a great concert.
It remains one of my favorites, and maybe my favorite concert. He was on death's door, but it was still incredible. They opened with “Shakedown Street”, by the way.
GratefulWeb: Oh, wow, that’s what’s up. Ok, last question is what is your favorite Grateful Dead album?
Jeremy: I have to go with Europe 72 because that was when I really started to get that this is a whole other door to another universe kind of thing.
Johnny: For me, that’s definitely Blues for Allah.
GratefulWeb: It's your turn now, Johnny. What’s your choice: Phish or the Grateful Dead?
Johnny: Dead.
GratefulWeb: Okay. So, it's going to be the same thing. “Shakedown Street” or “St. Stephen”?
Johnny: “Shakedown Street”
GratefulWeb: Favorite band member?
Johnny: The Bass Player.
GratefulWeb: Phil Lesh. May that legend RIP. Good choice.
First show with the band or a side project?
Johnny: So, we played a concert with Phil’s son.
Jeremy: He's played with Graham, but I don't think he's ever actually seen any of those guys live. I don't think.
GratefulWeb: That's sweet to have had the opportunity to play with Graham.
Johnny: He sat in with us. Yeah,
GratefulWeb: Oh, wow. That's a big nod to you folks.
Johnny: He's a great guy.
GratefulWeb: So I believe you already gave us your favorite album, which I believe you said was Blues for Allah.
Johnny: Yes. Very cool.
GratefulWeb: Johnny, I think our readers would love to know a little bit more about you and some of the challenges you face that many of us don't have. It’s impressive that you can perform at such a high level.
Johnny: Thanks.
GratefulWeb: We were just wondering if you can tell us a little bit more about your story and how you're able to be so successful?
Johnny: I think once you get used to being blind, you don't think about it anymore. I do need help from somebody to help me get up on stage. Once I’m in front of the keys, the rest is auditory. Auditory. I couldn't do it without Michelle.
GratefulWeb: How what how did you get into being a musician? What got you into it?
Johnny: My parents brought home a giant piano that my sister supposedly was going to learn to play, which she never did. And I went over there and just started rocking. I would imitate songs that my older brothers were already playing in bands. Playing dances and stuff. I learned strictly by ear.
GratefulWeb: Wow. So, you come from a very musically inclined family.
Johnny: Yeah.
GratefulWeb: That is so dope. Do you have a family band?
Johnny: On Friday nights or whenever the holidays come around, that's when we would jam as a family, and it just seemed natural. So to be in a jam band now is a very natural thing.
Jeremy: I don't know if it's clear from this Interview, but Johnny was not that familiar with the Grateful Dead. It's been fun to expose him and he's hearing things. We took him to his first Phish show at Atlantic City two years ago. He’s got a great musical brain, so to expose him to this stuff is a lot of fun.
Johnny: We've been doing this sort of jamming that Phish and Grateful Dead are doing from the get-go when we were teenagers in our family jams. Jamming is so natural, just that style of music where you would just make stuff up for an hour. “Oh, let's jam on these two chords. All right, great.”
Jeremy: Yeah, it's not that he's never jammed before, but it's been cool seeing him get to know the scene.
Johnny: It's nice. Yeah
GratefulWeb: it's a rich scene. So many layers to peel back.
You guys have released some albums, and mentioned your 2020 release, Choppy Water and Electric Bouquet. I’ve listened to both and they're so great. I know you guys have an album on the way.
Jeremy: We have two studio albums and our third one's coming out January 31st. It's finished and the first single comes out in a few weeks. That's called “Vanishing Skies.” (Editor's note: "Run Me Down" was also released between the interview and publishing). We've been working on this for a couple of years, and it's finally coming out.
We also have a series of live albums called Hot Clips. We have Hot Clips 1, Hot Clips 2, and Hot Clips 3. Hot Clips 3 debuted in January 2024, and we're proud of it.
GratefulWeb: That's amazing. Many bands that play for bigger crowds have no albums. Where can people find your music?
Jeremy: Absolutely. Our music is on Spotify. Search for “peaktheband,” to find the studio stuff and the official Hot Clips releases. We also have full live sets and single songs on our YouTube channel. We released one today.
