Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. revs up the engines

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Let’s play a little word association game, shall we? I say “Dale Earnhardt, Jr.” You just thought “Nascar.” I say “Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jr.” You still probably thought “Nascar.” The former is right on. The latter, however, is way off base. The oddly-named Detroit indie-rock duo of Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott, who front the “Jr, Jr” moniker, are pretty far from the Nascar images that just popped into your head — and as it turns out, that’s pretty much exactly the point of their name. The pair met as mutual members of the Detroit music scene (they knew each other, but didn’t know each other, as it so often goes), and were officially introduced musically after Zott put out a solo record with which Epstein fell in love with. The chemistry was electric, and the buzz has put them on the fast track. As they push into the release of their new record, “Corporate World,” they’re gunning to keep tackling your misconceptions and the deadly compartmentalization they can bring. Don’t fall behind, because this car is about to start seriously speeding up.

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I’ve gotta start by talking about the name. It’s pretty brilliant in the juxtaposition of what it implies against what you guys actually deliver musically.
Josh Epstein: When we started the project, we weren’t really planning on having a band. Just a project (laughs). So when we came up with the name, that was just the first thing we thought of. And then it started to make sense to us in this weird way. I think both of us are really kind of worried about where the world is right now, and something about NASCAR represents so much. It’s this giant thing for some people, and yet others know nothing about it. It’s a powerful draw and a powerful force. But we also think it’s kind of symbolic of where music is going, in a way. Even as a sports fan, some outlets may not even cover NASCAR, ya know? And it’s the same thing with music. Things have become really compartmentalized, where some people will only listen to something if it’s being talked about by a certain blog or will only listen to something if it’s on the radio. There are so many metaphors and ideas that it sparked.