BAND: The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
INTERVIEWER: Kelly Engle (KellyE@bandvibe.com)
INTERVIEWEE: Jon Wilkes of TRJA
DATE OF INTERVIEW: 08.24.07
BAND MEMBERS:
Ronnie Winter-Lead Vocals
Duke Kitchens-Guitar/Piano, Vocals
Elias Reidy-Guitar/Backing Vocals
Joey Westwood-Bass/Vocals
Jon Wilkes-Drums/Vocals
BV: Being that your band lends itself to worthy causes, such as
disaster relief and suicide prevention, what is it like to be able to
help people through your music?
Jon: Oh man it’s awesome. It’s pretty cool all the opportunities that
we are doing right now like The National Coalition Against Domestic
Violence and 1-800-SuicideHotline that we did with the Take Action
tour. It’s all opportunities where it came right in front of us we
said it’s a good thing, lets do it. We don’t really try to go out and
like do all these different causes they just happen and it feels like
the right vibe. I think it’s really cool that we’re able to help
people. I talked to a lady the other day who said that “Face Down”
helped her get through a domestic situation. Our music is therapy for
us too. So it’s written about real situations that happen. So it helps
you deal with stuff when you write songs.
BV: How does is feel to have your song “In Fate’s Hands” in the video
game, Madden NFL 07?
Jon: Awesome, absolutely awesome! On my checklist of things to do
before I die you know I’ve got like skydiving, not checked go down a
mountain on a bike, don’t have that, but song a video game, big check!
BV: Are your songs written with the intention to inspire and relate to
your fans? Like the song “Your Guardian Angel” what would you like a
listener to take from that?
Jon: That song is definitely a love song. We’re actually filming our
third video for that on the 27th in LA. It’s gonna be cool. Most of
the time we write songs about things that happen to us in our real
every day life and then people relate to it because we’re writing
about every day life that happened to us. People are like, “Man, I’ve
been through that too”. That’s the best way to describe it.
BV: How does your writing process go?
Jon: Everybody writes their own parts. Like I write drums, Elias
writes guitar, and Ronnie writes all lyrics and melodies. It’s
definitely music first. We’ll start jamming something and then he’ll
come in and start singing a melody. It’s pretty cool the way he does
it. He’ll sing random words but like have a melody. It’s pretty cool.
BV: What made you realize that music was what you wanted to do with your life?
Jon: It was either this or be a bum.
BV: What are your plans now that Warped Tour is at its end?
Jon: I’m gonna go lay in a bed for a week and a half. The we do a full
Canadian tour. We go to the UK, Germany, Amsterdam, and to random
places over there. And then hopefully start working on another record.
But, like I said, right after Warped we’re doing the third video for
“Guardian Angel”.
BV: What’s the hardest part about being on the road constantly?
Jon: Waiting to play. Standing around from 10 in the morning until 9
at night twiddling your thumbs and be like um I guess it’s time to go
play.
BV: Where did your very unique band name come from?
Jon: The band name really doesn’t mean anything. It was kind of like
let’s come up with a funny, goofy name that doesn’t really mean
anything. It was either this or The Umbrella Ninjas or Evil Slamina
which is live animals backwards.
BV: What makes you band unique?
Jon: Instead of thinking about concepts and writing about past
relationships, or thinking about trying to come up with an idea where
we have like these characters and the whole album is about these two
characters; instead of doing all that we write songs about what we
love and what’s happened to us. “Waiting” is about waiting for a
record deal. “In Fates Hands” is about standing in the crowd knowing
that we could be on stage doing it ourselves. “Guardian Angel” is a
love song about Ronnie that he wrote. There’s a song called “17 Ain’t
So Sweet” who’s about a girl we know who’s a singer/songwriter. It’s
basically a song of hope for her because she doesn’t look like
Brittney Spears, but she’s a great singer/songwriter. It’s basically
like get out there and do it. You got it.
BV: What would you like to say to your fans at Bandvibe?
Jon: Thanks for checking us out. We love you. We wouldn’t be here without you.
For more official information on The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, please log onto:
http://redjumpsuit.com
http://www.myspace.com/redjumpsuit
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