He walked onstage with the swagger and excitement similar to that of Stephen Curry walking on to the basketball court right before a big game. Years earlier, the two lead vocalists (and friends), Jon Shockness and Julian Church, had no idea they would be standing where they stood.

“I don’t think we had any idea at the time that it would turn into a full band… When we started we were just kind of going off of production and writing in Julian’s bedroom. So I don’t think we had any plan for it outside of just making music together.” Jon said.

From there, it seems things just fell into place. “We were going to go for more of an electronic sound, production-wise, but then I suggested we try live instrumentation and that’s kind of where it went.” Jon said.

Apparently there was no discussion that went down where Julian and Jon said, ‘Let’s put a rapper, hip-hop singer, bass-player, drummer, and electronic sound board up on stage and make some music’. It just kind of came together.

“For us, we wanted to do the live band, without doing like ‘the roots’ (the norm). We just wanted to find an eclectic way to create live music without copying the normal structure.”

The band was started in 2009 while the two were at Denver School of the arts, and built from there. Their first album, Wonder Age, was released in October 2010. From there, the band received numerous awards including Westword’s best hip-hop band of 2010, 2011, and 2012. Not only have they received many accolades, the 6-piece band has played alongside bands like OneRepublic, AWOLNATION, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and Lupe Fiasco (millcitynights.com).

“The two inspirations for our music were spread out across the genre-board. So I think that’s how it turned into a multi-genre kind of theme.” Jon said.

Jon describes how the other band members (Drummer Nick Spriegl, Bassist Taylor Tait, Guitarist Lawrence Grivich, and Synthesizer Michael Ray) bring a sound similar to that of Phoenix and The Strokes to the table, and mix it with Julian and Jon’s hip-hop background.

The two high school friends had achieved their goal of creating a band, but they shocked by the events which followed.

“We’ve done a lot, being able to tour across the country was a big goal for us. We got signed, that was a huge thing for us as well. So I think a lot of our goals that we set initially have been met. So now it’s just about making the choices, for us, that fulfill us as artists.”
Moving forward, Air Dubai will have some decisions to make as a group. “Air Dubai, as an entity, is a great thing, but it also has to appeal to each individual’s needs as an artist. You can’t get burned out on anything just because you’ve gained some notoriety as a band. The reason we went into it was to be creative, and that’s what I think is gonna carry us to wherever we go next.” Jon said.

So as an artist, what advice does Jon have for someone trying to make music?

“I think even outside of music, it has to come from a passionate place. I think our society is set to tell people ‘go to school, go to college… Get a job, work your ass off on something you may not enjoy and then one day you’ll be able to follow your passion’. But I say [Forget] that. Start by following your passion , find the thing that makes you feel alive, follow your heart and dig into it. If you love it, it will reward you so much more than money will.”

Jon Shockness has turned his passion into a reality, the name of that dream is Air Dubai.