Wednesday
May132009
35,000 FEET!!
05.13.2009
Jesse caught up with Jason at about 35000 feet after 2 days of intense touring and had a few questions that were pretty cool... check out this excerpt from their conversation!!!
JG) So here I am on an airplane with Jason and it occurred to me that no one has ever really interviewed him to get all the inside information… so I figured that since he and I go back about 15 years now and I know him better than anyone that I should ask him a few questions that you’ve sent in through http://www.myspace.com/building429 over the last few months. He’s dozing off a bit at the moment, so his answers may be a bit interesting, but I’m gonna wake him up and put him to the test…. Here goes!!
JG) Hey Jason…. Wake up man, WAKE up….
JR) Hmmm… what’s up bro???
JG) Got a couple of questions for you from the fans….you up for it??
JR) Ummmm, yeah man… go ahead (shaking his head to wake himself up)
JG) Tell the fans man, what was the first band that you ever played with and how long did it last…..
JR) Well I was a kid in high school and a couple of guys got wind that I could play keys… so they asked me out to their rehearsal room late one night to hang… it wasn’t a Christian band and I had never played with anyone before so I didn’t have a clue what to do… I just basically set up my little keyboard and followed along… playing keys was ok I guess, but the guitar player looked cooler to me so after playing along to one song on keys… I picked up one of the other guitars in the room, plugged it into an amp and assumed the rocking position. I started singing a little something I’d been working on and we recorded it. It was a terrible song but it was fun and I only went to 1 more rehearsal and then I was done…. I think the band name was like “Blood Leaf” or something.
JG) (Laughing out loud)BLOOD LEAF… REALLY
JR) Yeah, I knew I shouldn’t have said that… that’s gonn be fodder for the bus for months now.. NEXT QUESTION.
JG) That was in Mount Pleasant, TX right??? That’s about the time that we met.
JR) Yeah man, about that time I really started getting into your band “Mustard Seed”. We’re brothers now, but back then I was in awe of you guys… I burnt the tape up and I always dreamed of having a sweet Marshall amp and a pedal board with a Big Muff fuzz pedal on it… You could say that you take the credit for kick starting my musical career.
JG) Awe that’s nice
JR) Yeah well that was then, this is now… and I’m not in awe anymore… lol
JG) Ok tell the fans what type of gear you play
JR) Cool question: I have several guitars… Gretsch Silver Falcon (You Carried Me), Gibson Les Paul Standard(Glory Defined, Erase, and Incredible), an American Fender Nashville Deluxe Tele(End of Me), Taylor 514 CE, and a smoking White Mexican Strat rebuilt with all American parts and ALNICO 5’s at home that I bring out occasionally. So I have the gamut covered for guitar sounds. I have two amps that I use… both DR. Z prescription’s and I love em. Funny about the amps… Since you joined almost 5 years ago I’ve been through Mesa, Vintage Marshall, Vintage Fender, and a ton of other stuff, but that hand wired DR Z. stuff is it for me. I run them both slightly broken up and LOUD for that tone… which is why they have to be backwards on stage….I learned that from you!!
JG) Thanks man that’s cool, what pedals do you use man??
JR) Well after 5 years of trading and buying and selling, I think I’ve had the same configuration now for almost a year which is straight up amazing. Ernie ball JR. Volume pedal, into a MXR modded Dyna comp, into a Sparkle Drive, into a Menatone Blue Collar, into a Boss DD-20, and then stereo out to both amps. I’m using a Peterson Strobe tuner on the board right now that runs into a JDI radial direct box with the Jensen transformer for my acoustic line… it sounds SO SWEET!!
JG) Most lead singer/guitar players just kind of strum along and fill in the gaps… would you put yourself in that category?
JR) Well obviously you cover most of the really super involved stuff so I could lay back and play chords if I wanted to… and a lot of our music calls for someone covering that, especially when I’m on acoustic, but I like to think of myself as a guitar player with at least a few chops… I get to play some of the cool solos live and that makes all of the gear and guitars a lot more fun. I will admit though that I hate just playing the chords… that’s why I love the live versions of songs… way more riffs… and you’ve really got to practice to separate your voice from your hands. That’s what separates the men from the boys.
JG) If there was only 1 piece of gear that you’ve mentioned above to take out of a burning house to a gig…. What would you grab first??
JR) Awwwwwwww man.. it’s to early for that mess…. Hmmm. Honestly.. my white strat would have to be it… That guitar is my baby.. my first real guitar and it freakin’ rocks.. it is of extreme personal value.. and I could smoke any gig on that thing no matter when or where I play it.
JG) Ok..good answer. Now lets say you are a samurai living in the hills of Asian country and a pack of ninjas came in on a surprise attack and your samurai sword was no where to be found….or your wife took it with her to the rice patty fields. What piece of gear would you grab to defend yourself and ultimately annihilate your attackers…..oh yeah, from gear mentioned above??
JR) I would take the Boss DD-20 cause it weighs like 25 pounds and I’ve seen the way the airlines people throw that thing on my pedal board… it looks deadly!! Maybe my Black Falcon… a samurai would have to be scared of the name at least right?? A black falcon… oooooo scary.
JG) Good answer bro… ok finally tell me one thing that you can’t live without on the road.
JR) That’s easy… Americanos… whooooo baby that stuff is like cat nip for clones… One of those around 3 in the afternoon gets me fired up for our sound checks… you gotta watch out when I get a triple shot… I forget what the words “Rhythm Guitar” mean…. Solos for days.. as many note in a measure as possible.. that’s the best policy right???
JG) Hmmmm I’ll have to get back to you on that.
JG) So here I am on an airplane with Jason and it occurred to me that no one has ever really interviewed him to get all the inside information… so I figured that since he and I go back about 15 years now and I know him better than anyone that I should ask him a few questions that you’ve sent in through http://www.myspace.com/building429 over the last few months. He’s dozing off a bit at the moment, so his answers may be a bit interesting, but I’m gonna wake him up and put him to the test…. Here goes!!
JG) Hey Jason…. Wake up man, WAKE up….
JR) Hmmm… what’s up bro???
JG) Got a couple of questions for you from the fans….you up for it??
JR) Ummmm, yeah man… go ahead (shaking his head to wake himself up)
JG) Tell the fans man, what was the first band that you ever played with and how long did it last…..
JR) Well I was a kid in high school and a couple of guys got wind that I could play keys… so they asked me out to their rehearsal room late one night to hang… it wasn’t a Christian band and I had never played with anyone before so I didn’t have a clue what to do… I just basically set up my little keyboard and followed along… playing keys was ok I guess, but the guitar player looked cooler to me so after playing along to one song on keys… I picked up one of the other guitars in the room, plugged it into an amp and assumed the rocking position. I started singing a little something I’d been working on and we recorded it. It was a terrible song but it was fun and I only went to 1 more rehearsal and then I was done…. I think the band name was like “Blood Leaf” or something.
JG) (Laughing out loud)BLOOD LEAF… REALLY
JR) Yeah, I knew I shouldn’t have said that… that’s gonn be fodder for the bus for months now.. NEXT QUESTION.
JG) That was in Mount Pleasant, TX right??? That’s about the time that we met.
JR) Yeah man, about that time I really started getting into your band “Mustard Seed”. We’re brothers now, but back then I was in awe of you guys… I burnt the tape up and I always dreamed of having a sweet Marshall amp and a pedal board with a Big Muff fuzz pedal on it… You could say that you take the credit for kick starting my musical career.
JG) Awe that’s nice
JR) Yeah well that was then, this is now… and I’m not in awe anymore… lol
JG) Ok tell the fans what type of gear you play
JR) Cool question: I have several guitars… Gretsch Silver Falcon (You Carried Me), Gibson Les Paul Standard(Glory Defined, Erase, and Incredible), an American Fender Nashville Deluxe Tele(End of Me), Taylor 514 CE, and a smoking White Mexican Strat rebuilt with all American parts and ALNICO 5’s at home that I bring out occasionally. So I have the gamut covered for guitar sounds. I have two amps that I use… both DR. Z prescription’s and I love em. Funny about the amps… Since you joined almost 5 years ago I’ve been through Mesa, Vintage Marshall, Vintage Fender, and a ton of other stuff, but that hand wired DR Z. stuff is it for me. I run them both slightly broken up and LOUD for that tone… which is why they have to be backwards on stage….I learned that from you!!
JG) Thanks man that’s cool, what pedals do you use man??
JR) Well after 5 years of trading and buying and selling, I think I’ve had the same configuration now for almost a year which is straight up amazing. Ernie ball JR. Volume pedal, into a MXR modded Dyna comp, into a Sparkle Drive, into a Menatone Blue Collar, into a Boss DD-20, and then stereo out to both amps. I’m using a Peterson Strobe tuner on the board right now that runs into a JDI radial direct box with the Jensen transformer for my acoustic line… it sounds SO SWEET!!
JG) Most lead singer/guitar players just kind of strum along and fill in the gaps… would you put yourself in that category?
JR) Well obviously you cover most of the really super involved stuff so I could lay back and play chords if I wanted to… and a lot of our music calls for someone covering that, especially when I’m on acoustic, but I like to think of myself as a guitar player with at least a few chops… I get to play some of the cool solos live and that makes all of the gear and guitars a lot more fun. I will admit though that I hate just playing the chords… that’s why I love the live versions of songs… way more riffs… and you’ve really got to practice to separate your voice from your hands. That’s what separates the men from the boys.
JG) If there was only 1 piece of gear that you’ve mentioned above to take out of a burning house to a gig…. What would you grab first??
JR) Awwwwwwww man.. it’s to early for that mess…. Hmmm. Honestly.. my white strat would have to be it… That guitar is my baby.. my first real guitar and it freakin’ rocks.. it is of extreme personal value.. and I could smoke any gig on that thing no matter when or where I play it.
JG) Ok..good answer. Now lets say you are a samurai living in the hills of Asian country and a pack of ninjas came in on a surprise attack and your samurai sword was no where to be found….or your wife took it with her to the rice patty fields. What piece of gear would you grab to defend yourself and ultimately annihilate your attackers…..oh yeah, from gear mentioned above??
JR) I would take the Boss DD-20 cause it weighs like 25 pounds and I’ve seen the way the airlines people throw that thing on my pedal board… it looks deadly!! Maybe my Black Falcon… a samurai would have to be scared of the name at least right?? A black falcon… oooooo scary.
JG) Good answer bro… ok finally tell me one thing that you can’t live without on the road.
JR) That’s easy… Americanos… whooooo baby that stuff is like cat nip for clones… One of those around 3 in the afternoon gets me fired up for our sound checks… you gotta watch out when I get a triple shot… I forget what the words “Rhythm Guitar” mean…. Solos for days.. as many note in a measure as possible.. that’s the best policy right???
JG) Hmmmm I’ll have to get back to you on that.
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