Postmodern Jukebox
is a musical project which started with pianist Scott Bradlee in 2011. It consists of a rotating group of performers and session musicians who effectively take the popular music on the radio and the most famous hits from the last decade and recreates each song in a vintage style. For example, they have released a New Orleans Jazz version of the White Stripe's classic rock song “Seven Nation Army”, and have remixed the controversial “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke in an upbeat and lighthearted Bluegrass genre. The group has in excess of 70 performers from all over the globe and they are constantly touring and releasing new music, and with over 2 million youtube subscribers, the group's success continues to grow.
Bradlee is an American musician from New Jersey. He fell in love with Jazz music at the age of 12 and has since developed a serious musical career. As well as PMJ, he has worked in off-broadway theatre and succeeded in the New York Jazz scene. He helped to compose soundtrack music for the video game BioShock infinite as his mixture of ragtime, swing and jazz styles fits in perfectly with the vintage steampunk setting. His biggest success, however, has been PMJ.
Bradlee began shooting videos with some close friends in Queens. In an interview he described his love of classic styles of music but explained that he had decided to take the music that his friends were listening to and to recreate it in a style that he could more personally connect with. Like many successful musicians, he struggled for a while until he released a video titled “a medley of 80's songs done ragtime style” which went viral. Famous author Neil Gaiman tweeted about this, and this is generally considered the beginning of his online popularity.
The first really popular video under the Postmodern Jukebox title was a swing cover of Macklemore's “Thrift Shop” sung by Robyn Adele Anderson. This acquired over 1 million views in it's first week and over 4 million views in it's first year. The most popular video to date has been their cover of Radiohead's “Creep”, perfectly executed by Hayley Reinhart which has been critically acclaimed and has over 9 million listens on Spotify and 32 million views on YouTube. Most of the videos are filmed in Bradlees living room using a single camera, and apart from the “reboxed” versions, they all feature him on the piano.
They frequently put out talent searches to recruit new members who may otherwise not be noticed in a sea of eager musicians and have members from as far away as Sweden and Germany. The group are constantly touring extensively around America as well as Europe, Asia and Australia/New Zealand as well as releasing new videos every single week. The enthusiasm and talent of the performers is enough to bring a smile to anybody's face, and audience members often feel the need to dress up in art deco and vintage clothing to add an extra level of authenticity to vintage style.