Monk Turner [Flickr]

Waz + Jamie = Waz

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Boy leaves Midwest town for LA to pursue music.

Boy gets invited to tour with Pete Yorn, does it, then goes solo.

Boy meets Southern girl in a now defunct bar, gets married, starts a band, and moves to Santa Monica.

Boy and girl quickly realize Santa Monica is wack and move to Downtown LA.

That's more or less the story of the husband and wife duo known as Waz. When I sat down to interview them, they had just finished a long day of recording for the show "Cougar Town." After a few glasses of red wine, they opened up about their recent relocation to Downtown and upcoming projects.

MONK TURNER: So you just released a new record. Can you tell us about it?

WAZ: The album was recorded over 18 days last February and it is the most organic thing I have ever done. It is really stripped down. Since Jamie, who plays piano and sings, and I have gotten married I'd say it is based around everything that we've gone through in the last few years from when we met to the present day.

MT: How would you describe the style?

W: I'd say it is Americana, folk, kinda singer/songwriter.

MT: How long have you guys been living downtown?

JAMIE JACKSON: We've been living downtown since July and we moved downtown because we are inspired creatively down here by the bars, the restaurants, the art. We love running into people and have met so many wonderful people downtown.

MT: Where have you been hanging out?

JJ: We hang out at Varnish, Association, we love Church and State...

MT: How is the food there? I haven't checked it out yet...

JJ: It is really good. It is amazing. It is good for a special occasion. We hang out in our building a lot. We've met a lot of people and we hang out on the roof here.

MT: Getting back to the music, I understand you've been working on music for the show "Cougar Town"...

W: Cougar Town in a show on ABC with Courtney Cox. A song of mine was on Scrubs and afterward the creator's wife called and asked we we'd do that sort of music for the underlying theme of the show. It's kinda like me writing little songs in the studio with my team.

MT: Have you written any of these songs while living in downtown?

W: Yeah. We started two months ago which is right around when we moved in here. All these little ideas that I come up with are either in that bathroom or on the rooftop. [laughter] Or hanging out with neighbors or hanging out at Coles or wherever. I just run somewhere and put it in my phone really quick and wait for the guys. If it is a song-song idea then I do the same and we wait for the next recording.

MT: So it sounds likes you've found creative inspiration living here.

W: Absolutely. There is such an amazing environment of spectacles and things I didn't see living any other place in LA. There are a lot of excited people living here because I think people here feel the energy and feel what is about to become the new LA. A lot of artists, a lot of writers, and musicians.

The new album just dropped. Go pick it up so you could brag about owning it before everyone else did. You can also find out more information about Waz at: www.myspace.com/waz.