The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
 
Origin: Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Years Active: 2003-Present
Label(s): Virgin Records (EMI)
    Capitol Records (EMI)
 
Members:
Ronnie Winter - Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Duke Kitchens - Guitar, Piano, Vocals
Elias Reidy - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Joey Westwood - Bass, Vocals
Jon Wilkes - Drums, Vocals
 
Discography:
Albums:
2005
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
2006
Ass Shaker/Justify/Face Down EP
2006
Don't You Fake It
- Producer David Bendeth
2007
AOL Sessions Undercover EP
2008
Second Studio Album in the Works
- Producer Howard Benson
 
Links:
redjumpsuit.com
redjumpsuitalliance.com
myspace.com/redjumpsuit
 
    
  
   
 

 
 
What are you all up to when you finish off your European tour? You’re not going on the Warped Tour?
Ronnie Winter:
No, we’re not doing Warped Tour this year. We’ve done it three years in a row now. We did everyday of the tour, and I think we broke a record. Last year we won 23 out of 46 Energizers. [The Energizer Encore Music Competition; where fans in the various Warped Tour locations vote for a band to get an extra ten minutes added to their set when they get to that city] Paramore won four. I think we won more than any other band has ever achieved in one year.
You know we enjoy it, and it’s done. We have definitely put our stamp on the Warped Tour.
So now we’re going directly into the studio when we get back from Europe; we’re just getting right into it. Before this we took basically three months off to go back to our home town; which is Middleburg in Florida. We built a studio in mine and Dukes garage, and pretty much did nothing but write, record, jam. Basically just got into the same vibe we were in when we first started.
 
Who’s going to be producing the album this time round?
Howard Benson [Less Than Jake, The All-American Rejects, Hawthorne Heights] which we’re really excited about. We were going to use Dave Bendeth [Don’t You Fake It] but we couldn’t get the scheduling worked out. So we called up Benson; who has just been so cool about the whole situation with our label and everything. I don’t know if you guys know this or not, but the only thing that Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Smashing Pumpkins and Red Jumpsuit had in common is that we were all on EMI. Now though only we are all the other three bands left. Three amazing bands. Why? Because EMI is in shambles. When our first record came out, believe it or not, we didn’t have the huge push that a lot of bands get. Our label folded whilst our record came out. Virgin folded into Capitol; which is owned by EMI. We’re just glad we’re even getting to make another record. We’re making it for a new company; Capitol now.
All the people that were involved in our first record have been fired. It’s really weird for us. So we just decided not to even care anymore. That’s why we changed the tab on our MySpace to Unsigned. They just have to hash up their crap. As soon as we would talk to one guy he would be fired within a week. Literally, a week turn around. After a while we just said to them Look there’s no communication here, we’re going to go into the studio now, with or without you.
Benson has been so flexible. He told us I don’t care. There’s going to be a new Red Jumpsuit album, and I’m going to be the guy to make it. We’ll figure out the money later.
You know our label told us that they didn’t want us to come to the UK; they said they wouldn’t help us pay for a trip here. They wanted us to go into the studio straight away saying that if we don’t do that then they wouldn’t help us.
We came here anyway.
We paid for it all ourselves. That’s not fake; that’s called real life. That’s what we’re dealing with right now. It’s cool though, we paid for it all. We came over here. We’ve had an awesome time, and we’re going to blow them away tonight [London Islington Academy, 26.05.08].
 
 
 
The response you guys have had over here has been amazing. When you’re tour was announced forums, bulletin boards etc went crazy. It’s incredible, especially considering just how little marketing you’ve had in Europe.
We’ve wanted to come for a long time. Most of the cool kids know who we are. The proper fans who care about Rock n’ Roll; that’s what we consider ourselves as. We are a Rock n’ Roll band.
That is really clear, especially after seeing your live show. Your performance at Bamboozle this year was immense; you ended your set by smashing up all your equipment.
Yeah, that was great. We talked our drummer into letting us smash his kit. That’s the kit he’s had from day one. He’s had those drums forever; it was really a momentous occasion. I couldn’t believe he let us do it.
Joey Westwood:
He was a little upset maybe, I don’t know. In a good way though. It was a good moment for him to retire that kit.
RW:
Now we’re all getting new kit, and we’re excited. We’re switching over to Maples, and I’m stoked about that because I like Maples. They’re incredible.
 
There has been talk that you’re starting your own label. What’s the story with that?
The latest idea is really just helping out other bands in any way we can. We’re one of the only bands that weren’t put together by a label. That’s another reason why we don’t have the huge marketing push behind us. We don’t have somebody who has their hands in everything that we do.
We really are five kids from Middleburg, who met in their hometown. We sold our own demos until we got noticed. We got a record deal; a once in a lifetime opportunity to make music for a living and we took it.
If you aren’t put together by a label, then you don’t have the infinite resources that they have; but then you also don’t have all their hands in your business, which is something we’re stoked about. So while we’re not going to complain, we’re just saying that the truth is that if you weren’t put together by a label it’s a lot harder for you. We’re a good team though, and we work independently.
 
 
There is such a stigma surrounding Major labels; the control they have over their bands is always an issue that comes up. How have you as a band managed to avoid this?
We just basically beat them off with brooms; that’s what you’ve got to do.
 
In the UK Indie Music tends to dominate the scene. It is Indie bands that get the airplay and TV features. Whereas in the US there is much more of an emphasis on Alternative music. How aware are you of the music scene/Industry over here?
Hey that’s all new to me. I’m from America! Whatever, I don’t know a lot about the scene; I don’t try and say I do. I just know what I do from the forums online. We have our own, which is called The Red Jumpsuit Alliance, because we wanted to let people know that we do really answer our mail and stuff. As opposed to just going on some MySpace page or whatever.
As far as the UK scene goes, we knew we had fans here. They’ve been asking us to tour over here for years now and I mean what can you do? You can only ask your label to help you out, and what they normally do is set up an awesome, huge tour for you with promotion, ads in magazines, this and that etc. Then you come over and you do it. In our case we didn’t have that support, so we just said screw you.
It took us forever to save up enough to come over here. We wanted it though. We’re all friends, and we wanted to come together. We wanted to bring our sound crew, we wanted to bring our techs, we wanted to bring our Manager Steve, and our Assistant Manager Carl. We just wanted the guys who are with us everyday. Our team.
There’s a lot of people, and it’s not cheap. I hate to keep talking about money, but that is the reason why it took us so long to get out here. Not because we didn’t know we had fans. We knew we had fans. We knew we were going to do well here.
Our fans know we’re Rock n’ Roll. The only people who don’t really know anything about us are people who don’t like our music, and we’re ok with that. Honestly, it doesn’t bother us. I don’t care about AbsolutePunk.net. I don’t care about papers and magazines; those guys are going fade away in time, and they’re just jealous because they’re not doing our jobs. So you know when you realise that, none of it bothers you, not even for a split second.
We’re just really happy to be in this band together, and to be here finally on our own terms. We did it on our own terms like we always do and we’ll continue to do that. We’re always going to bring who we want, no matter what they say. We will always do what we want because they don’t really care about us. You have to worry about yourselves and each other first, and that’s what we’re going to do.
We’re going to be back, we’ve had such an amazing response. I mean, it’s been pretty epic. If you weren’t there yesterday [Slamdunk Festival, Leeds] you wouldn’t believe it. You wouldn’t believe how I feel. We had the biggest crowd, the narley-ist mosh pits, kids were going absolutely crazy. Every single song we played they were chanting out loud. It didn’t matter which track.
It doesn’t matter what certain people say. It’s how the kids feel about you, and we know they care about us here, and now all we’ve been talking about is when are we coming back.
We want to do bigger venues like this one. [London Islington Academy] I’m stoked about tonight. We’ve been doing what we said we were going to do; come over here play the small clubs, just like we did in the States. We didn’t want to just push that aside and be like we’re cool now and play the huge festivals and all. Trust me, if you were at any of these past shows; they were small, hard to get into, with tiny, cramped stages. That’s the way you should do it. That’s how we wanted to do it, so no one could go, How does it feel to be first time here and playing in front of 25,000 people? I don’t know ask somebody else because that’s not how we did it. It’s not the case for us. We’ve been hanging out with fans every night because we know they’ve been waiting so long to see us.
JW:
It’s been awesome. Like small house parties every night.
It started out the same for us in the US. Each place is different. Sometimes it’s better to play smaller venues, it all depends how much touring you’ve done. We’re on our third year of touring now, and when you’ve played the same area seven times in a year sometimes you want to, sometimes you have to, scale down.
RW:
Here though we definitely want to come back and play bigger. Just for the bigger stage if anything.
 
 
One of your dates was at The Orange Box in Yeovil. That is a really tiny stage.
That was an insanely small show, but it was cool for the kids who got to see it. That show sold out a long time ago and they deserve to see you first before everyone else catches on.
 
Do you think you’ll be paying for your trip the next time round?
No body likes to pay for anything you know. I like to hoard my money and spend it on stuff I like; on beer all night long. Whatever though, no ones going to stop us, we’ll figure out a way to do it every time. If someone wants to help us out, then great, help us out. If that person happens to be our label, even better. That would be great and if it works out that way we’ll be happy, and if not then we’re still coming whether they like it or not.
 
What ties do you have with your label?
Elias Reidy:
I would say other than sexual; we have no relationship with them.
RW:
Like I said, everyone that we ever worked with has been fired, other than the top two guys who just care about themselves. I’m not trying to say anything new or bad, I just don’t know. I mean they don’t call me everyday, so they definitely don’t care that we’re here now talking to you.
So other than those top guys everyone was fired. All the people that we met, that worked hard, that helped out in our career in the States; they’re all gone. So what can you say, we’re looking forward to meeting the new team at Capitol not Virgin. Hoping to establish relationships with them and getting them on our side, and if they aren’t then whatever, we’ll figure it out.
 
You seem so aware of what is going on around you, both with what directly involves you and things that don’t. It’s really positive to see such a mature approach to being in a band. You have a much clearer, more realistic understanding of your situation than any other current bands do. You built yourselves up from nothing, taking it all one step at a time in a steady process, gaining real fans and real experience. It is really easy to see longevity with your band, and this new album is really going to be something to look forward to.
Thank you!
We’ve been writing it for so long. We’re so excited about that, you know, we took the few months off. Just hung out with each other and reflected on the fact we’re in a band for a living. It’s crazy.
 
Is that what you always wanted to do?
I mean that or be astronauts, or president.
ER:
Or Darth Vader!
RW:
Seriously, we’re living the moment, its pretty awesome I won’t lie. It’s pretty awesome to be in this band.
 
At the Slam Dunk Festival after party you all looked like you were having a great time. When Face Down came on the sound system all eyes were on you as your shouted a long to it. You were also constantly at the bar!
It was brilliant. We were hanging out. A lot of people say that bands don’t hang out with others. Whatever. We will take on any group of dudes and chicks who think they can out drink us, or out party us.
We were having a good time; we wanted to hang out, so cheers!
 
 
When you meet a band and they’re off or abrupt, they may be your favourite band, but they’re rude your opinion of them goes down.
Yeah, totally. I’m not going to lie and I’m in a band. That happens to me. You meet a band, and if they’re jerks to us then we’ll talk about it for weeks afterwards. Oh yeah, that band hmmm…
It’s all a big brotherhood. Every body knows everybody, and everyone has bad days. I’ve had bad days with fans before, and I’m sorry. But you know, whatever, I had a bad day, sorry it does happen. Most of the time though, we’re pretty positive dudes I think.
 
What bands or music are you all into?
ER:
New stuff, modern stuff?
Have you heard of The Ruddles. They’re from Liverpool. They’re like the Monty Python Beetles. We really listen to classic Rock and stuff. We haven’t really listened to many modern bands, mainly because the state of the music industry is just so horrible. There’s not that many awesome new projects coming out with the right promotion invested behind it.
We’re into The Beetles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Hendrix, Sublime etc. We don’t have any guilty pleasures or anything, music’s, music. (Breaks out into Umbrella-ella-ella-ella) I have all the N’Sync Records, and Justin Timberlake is on my IPod. He’s awesome. He’s a great dancer and a great performer.
RW:
Try to out sing that guy. I dare you. It’s not going to happen.
We just re-jumped back into the Foo Fighters. They’ve just been around for so long and have been kicking ass forever. Since I can pretty much remember they’ve been dominating the scene. They’re definitely a band that we’re influenced by; I mean they’re a rock band. If we ever have to put ourselves in a genre we say we’re Rock n’ Roll. If you don’t agree then whatever, that’s what we are. That’s just how it is.
 
You are all such genuine guys, and really down to earth, it’s refreshing, especially in this industry of ego’s.
Don’t believe the hype!
JW:
The camera’s on!
RW:
Ah don’t even worry about that man.
ER:
You’re going to say in the review They’re a bunch of twats [English accent]
Are we allowed to say that?
Is that a bad word?
How about tit?
You never hear that in the States. You’re a Tit.
RW:
Everyone just cusses out there, we’re potty mouths.
 
Do you think that’s because of the big Hip Hop scene out there?
Yeah maybe you’re right. Back in the States if you’re not Hip Hop, then you’re nothing.
JW:
The clubs here are more like trance, and pulse. It’s cool. It’s not just constant Rap.
There’s not much of a UK Hip Hop scene.
ER:
How about The Streets? We know them
 
Back to your partying, and drinking. Doing that every night on tour, doesn’t it play havoc with your voice, how do you handle it?
RW:
[Sings a high note, perfect pitch]
I don’t know man, but there it is.
 
There was an empty bottle of Jaeger where you guys hanging out at the Slam Dunk after party.
ER:
We usually have three or four of those. As long as you stay away from the Whiskey, that stuff is poison. It will literally deteriorate your throat.
RW:
If you’re sick that does it though.
ER:
You get better every single night, it gets easier. You get your tour voice, you settle into it. So now 13 or 14 days in we’re pretty much there, we’re just finding it right now. When we talk we’ll be all raspy and hoarse, but that means tonight we’ll sing great.
RW:
My voice is a lot higher off tour, it’s so weird. Like Mickey Mouse.
If after a show you’re a bit rough, you do just get better at it. It’s like muscle memory. You’ll settle into your tour voice. So now what, show ten, we’re pretty much there. I don’t know how we do it but it’s more like its ready; you just keep going and sound awesome.
As a band we sing awesome together. We know that. We’re stoked with that. We’re so excited about that for the new record. We know we’ve got better over the past few years, and we’re stoked to show that. This time it’s going to be dual vocals. That’s how it is live with us. Now with Howard [Benson] that’s what we want to do. It’s me and Elias. It’s not just me with Elias harmonising. That’s what Red Jumpsuit is about. The new record will be more like our live show.
 
 
Do you have any idea of a finish or release date for album number two?
We don’t know a release date yet. We’re just going straight in the studio. The great thing with Howard is that he was just said I don’t give a shit how long it takes. To us that was just Woah, great. Awesome answer.
We just have a start date, and we’re just going to see, you never know how it could work out. I can tell you that these will be the best songs for us right now, ones that represent us best in our career at this moment. That may be old songs, ones we write or re-write in the studio, some that may have been sitting around for years that no ones heard for a while. It’ll be a culmination of all three. It won’t just be one record that sounds like the same damn song the whole way through.
That’s one thing I am proud to say our first record from straight away isn’t. Don’t even try pigeon hole us man, listen to the record. That’s what I’m talking about.
How we pull that off is that we don’t just sit down a write a record. We take stuff from when we were younger that we wrote and some we hang onto from now. Everyone in the band has they’re own bits they add onto and write. We just put it all together, and that’s Rock n Roll. Some of it’s with screaming, fast pace snares, clean guitar…but still just as emotional as before.
If you liked our first record its going be impossible for you not to like our second record. We’re going do it the same way, and we are the same people.
 
Do you feel any pressures for this second album? There’s the dreaded second album curse where bands have a smash hit debut and then seem to have this massive turn around with their follow up only to crash and burn. The most recent example being Panic at the Disco. They’ve not failed spectacularly, but Pretty. Odd is certainly no comparison to their first album.
If you sign before you play your first show then you have a lot more people involved in your business. Labels just tell bands, If you do this we’ll make you huge. Now with Panic, they’re probably thinking; Wait a minute this isn’t what we want. We want to do what we want. So that’s the point, they’re now doing what they want to do. I personally don’t like the record and their stuff in general but I’m more of a Rock n’ Roll guy. Nothing personal and nothing against them, that’s just not my taste. It’s not my cup of tea. I like the new Used record; that’s what I’m into. But, I do think its cool they went out there on a limb. You should, as a musician, do that. If you don’t do that then you just feel like a tool. Panic didn’t want to feel that way, and it’s hard for me not to support that as a fellow musician.
That said though they’re still definitely huge in the States.

They’re huge here too. They had instant success from the moment they arrive on the scene. Panic we certainly one of the bands, along with Fall Out Boy, Paramore etc, that put Fueled by Ramen on the map.
I have issues with Fueled by Ramen.
You want to know why? I’ll tell you why.
Number one we tried to sign to them and they turned us down. So did Victory, so did Equal Vision. We wanted to sign to an Indie Label, we really did, but no body would sign us. That’s the honest to God truth. We had to go major because no one would sign us to an Indie deal.
You can ask Epitaph; ask anyone. They all got one of our records, years, literally years before we signed to Virgin. In the end we got told that Virgin wanted to sign us. Finally. Alright, it had to be a major, but I mean we tried.
The only thing I don’t like about them [Fueled by Ramen] at all is the perception that they’re all Indie label. They’re 100% not an Indie label. It’s owned by Atlantic. It has been for the past four years. They have the same radio department (which is really what breaks a song). If they have a single that wants to go to radio, they use the Atlantic radio staff.
They just use that to trick people and say Oh we’re Indie. There’s deception there. There’s lies. We don’t do that, we don’t lie about what label we’re on. That’s not just Fueled By Ramen. That’s not just me picking on them. That’s any Indie label, that’s really a Major, that’s a liar; I just don’t like. Kids aren’t dumb, they will eventually find out.
Paramore are at least a bit honest about it though. In the new music video [That’s What You Get] the record that’s playing says Atlantic, not Fueled By Ramen. So I think some people have started asking about it. Questioning about bands being on Fueled By Ramen, but getting a major, major, major push, with way more marketing Dollars than that label would ever have, even after signing Panic. It’s because it’s a lie.
We are the same label. We own Tooth and Nail. People always say; Wow a Tooth and Nail band sold 300,000 Units. That’s because it’s EMI, check it out. Google it. E..M..I. The same label I’m on.
The only difference is they don’t have the staff that fire themselves every week. It’s still owned by the same global giant. They still have the same marketing push. The Almost were on the radio. There’s a Virgin logo on the back of that record, but also a Tooth and Nail logo. Kids are going to figure it out; I don’t have to be the one to break it to them.
I don’t like causing controversy with the bands and I don’t mean anything personally with the band; just the label.
 
 
There aren’t many bands that seem to have particularly good words to say about their label. Four Year Strong seem to have very similar opinions about their careers that you hold. They’re signed to Decaydance and have made sure they’re always in control.
With Decaydance it’s different. It’s controlled by a musician. Any time you’ve got a label controlled by a musician they’re always going to care about the band.
If you’re signed before your first show, you just don’t get a lot of say. That’s just fact you know, whatever.
 
It’s the bands choice how they make they’re money at the end of the day.
I think it’s got a lot to do with how the band was created too. If it was a real band, with real kids, who were real musicians; they’re going to want control. Why would you ever want to hand over all you’ve built to some asshole in a suit? Would you ever want to do that? Hell no, course not.
It’s all to do with whether you created your band, or if someone created it for you. 
 
 
The media and press, in general, tend to stay away and avoid the truths of record labels.
You want to know why? Because they’re all buddies.
 
VerseOne is all about the music, and the truth. It’s all about honesty. There are no credits or favouritisms. It really is just all about the artist and the industry.
That awesome. Kids are going to know that, and really support your shit.
 
The last issue featured many band members that never really get a say. Josh from Paramore for example, and Laurent from UK band Gallows.
We know them. They played Warped. They’re a little heavy for me. Very rock. The guy has a narley chest piece. I think they’re cool.
Anyway though. Out of all the labels it’s Victory we would not diss. Honestly, they’re the one white flag that is completely independent out there. This one guy Tony [Brummel, founder of Victory Records], say what you will, but he doesn’t listen to anyone else. He has a vision, and he doesn’t lean on anyone else. And in my opinion they’re the last true Indie label.

They’ve had a lot of bad publicity with all the issues with Hawthorne Heights.
You know the truth right? You want the truth?
I’ll tell you right now.
The president of EMI paid to try and get them to leave Victory. He paid to get them in the studio. So now they’re being sued over it.  That’s 100% fact, there’s a lawsuit and everything.
Hawthorne Heights are awesome dudes though, they were just doing what they had to to stay alive. I mean all of a sudden this dude comes in, writes a cheque and says we’ll look after you, we’ll take care of it, everything will be ok, great! But you know you can’t just do that. You can’t go steal another band from another label. Tell that to Jason Flom, he thinks he can do what he wants. Well except give us tour support. Apparently it wasn’t worth as much to him to get us over here as it was to get sued by Victory.
 
 
With that final note the band begin to wander away. Ronnie and his strong views head upstairs to the merch stand, ready and waiting for when the doors open at 7pm. He wants to make sure he can meet the kids that have been waiting so long to see his band. The rest head off for a quick visit to Abbey Road, the home of The Beatles. The excitement on Elias’ face mirrors than of a child on Christmas Eve as he is about to step the lines his idols one walked.
It is refreshing to come across with a band not jaded by the bright lights of stardom; a group of five men who know what they want and know how to get it. Some are yet to discover, and some are still to see but The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus will undoubtedly gain the longevity they so rightly deserve.