JEF was formed in Bergen in the summer of 2000 by Kjell Engelsen Moberg (vocals / guitar) and Jan Terje "Pez" Pedersen (drums / vocals), both out of Punishment Park, together with Katy Penny (bass / vocals) from Twigs. The genre had one foot planted in punk rock and the other in noisier, indie-flavoured rock, a formula that smelt of rock’n’roll. The name came from No Mean No’s sound engineer, suggested at Punishment Park’s last show with No Mean No at Garage in Bergen.
Kjell laid out a strategy early: lots of live dates, hard work, and a willingness to make something of it. The first two EPs landed in autumn 2001, Alternative on blue 7-inch vinyl and Xenophobia on yellow 7-inch vinyl, both pressed in editions of 250 copies on October Party Records, and both deliberately never repressed. The records sold out fast and became collector items. The Internet did its part too: NRK P3 Urørt picked JEF as Band of the Week in week 3 of 2003 with "Bucharest Express", By:Larm named the band one of ten Year’s Urørt acts in February 2003, and on 26 February 2003 JEF was Garageband.com’s artist of the day in the USA, sitting on the punk top-10 for over a week with the same song.
The live reputation built quickly, a stand-out Little Big Heart Festival show at Garage in Bergen in 2001, then the decision to take it abroad. JEF made a point of bringing a promising young Norwegian band along on each tour, to open doors for the next generation. The first run, Germany 2002 with Lame Ducks from Oslo, was well-attended and well-received. The second, in 2003, took JEF, Goldenboy and McDolly from Bergen through Denmark, Poland and Germany, same outcome, better reach.
In 2004 Kjell put together a UK tour with Greenland Whalefishers, arranged with Arvid Grov, their vocalist, and the two bands left a strong impression at each stop. The following year, Derozer, one of the biggest Italian punk bands, whose Norwegian shows Kjell had helped book earlier, invited JEF to support them in Italy. Packed houses, big atmosphere. The exception was Rome, where the promoter pulled JEF off the stage ten minutes before showtime.
October Party Records released the Punk in Disguise compilation series during this period: vol. 1 carried six JEF tracks, vol. 2 carried four. JEF also turned up on a long string of compilation CDs around the world. In April 2006 the band toured China, as one of the first Western rock bands to do so, playing Beijing, Wuhan, Changsha, Xinxiang, Guilin and Shanghai with Joyside, Reflector, SMZB, SUBS and a long list of Chinese acts. By Kjell’s account the tour helped chip away at the barriers around rock concerts in China; on the same trip, JEF released three CD EPs on October Party Records’ Beijing operation, run by Kang Mao of SUBS, among the first Western punk records put out legally in China.
JEF went on hiatus at the end of 2006 and has stayed there since. Three strong personalities, six years on the move, and a willingness to take risks for the songs.
