Interviews

Interview w/ Jason Jones of The Drownout

By Stoney ⋅ October 5, 2008 ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

As part of several Augusta bands in the late 90’s including the short-lived Rolerboy, guitarist/vocalist Jason Jones sewed his pop oats before heading off to Hot-Lanta in 2000 and forming Southeast touring band Arlington. Now fronting recording/touring band The Drownout, Jones, along with pianist Heather Johnston, drummer Matt Lynch, synth player Matt Baum, and bassist Justin Marchan, are set to release their sophomore album and tour the East Coast.

LL – Now first off, for those in the area that may be out of the loop, The Drownout actually have an Augusta connection. Can you shed a little light on what that connection is?

JJ - Yeah I grew up in Augusta lived there for 17 years in Evans.

LL – So Jason, how long has it been now since you relocated to Atlanta?

JJ - I moved to Atlanta 8 years ago to play in bands and to learn more about recording and making records.

LL – Actually The Drownout isn’t the first touring band you’ve been in since relocating?

JJ - No the first band I started when I relocated was “Arlington” a 3 piece hard rock outfit. We toured the Southeast for a couple years, then went our separate ways just cause we all felt limited with the set up at the time.

LL –So The Drownout was formed in 2005 and in 2007 you released your debut CD “In Flagrante Delicto”. I’ve hear through the grapevine that there’s kind of an interesting story of how you came to not only record the songs, but engineer and produce them as well.

JJ - Yeah I worked in a recording studio in Midtown Atlanta, so I made the record when we weren’t booked. I would work late at night or on days that weren’t booked. Little by little I would work on the record took about 8 months to complete.

LL – Shortly after the CD release you put out the song “Kaleidoscope” as the band’s first single to radio, but you also filmed a video as well. How did you manage to get David Hahn from Turner Broadcasting to produce the video?

JJ - David heard us on myspace and actually contacted us because he was starting a film company. After meeting with him we knew he was the guy for the job, because he had great ideas and a team of people working with him who also had great ideas.

LL –Video is something of a rarity for unsigned bands. What made you decide to go that route and what kind of impact has it made for the band?

JJ - It definitely helped us out in terms of getting it aired on TV. Comcast actually ran a commercial for a while that included a clip of the video. Whenever we were out in the city we’d have people recognizing us all the time.

LL –The band has seen quite a few personnel changes in the short three years you’ve been around. Do you think this current lineup might be the one that sticks together for a while?

JJ - Well yeah we have gone through some recent changes. I always hope that the team sticks together for the long haul, I think relationships among the band members are one of the most important parts of any band, but I guess you never can tell. With 5 different people it’s hard to say, but at this point I think everyone is in it for the long haul.

LL – The Drownout do have quite an interesting sound. Is that why the band has a keyboard player AND a synth player in addition to the classic “guitar-bass-drums-vocals” lineup?

JJ - Yeah it goes back to what we ran into in my old band Arlington. With The Drownout, I wanted more sounds and possibilities to explore rather than your average guitar bass and drums set up. I love keyboards, synths, and weird noises. I try to find new ways to use the guitar when I can incorporating a lot of one string and ambient parts along with heavier riffs and rythmns.

LL –Word on the street is that there will be a follow-up to “In Flagrante Delicto” coming out in the near future. Any word on when that will be and what can fans of the first CD expect from this new release?

JJ - Yeah the new CD is called Paper Trails and Binds and we’re finishing up recording on that now. The sound we’re going for on this record is a little more live and raw sounding but we’re hoping it still contains the raw emotion that the first album does. There are several songs on it that we’re going to take a look at releasing as a single, and we’ve had great live response from them so far.

LL – Now looking at the bands schedule on MySpace it would appear that you guys keep a pretty rigorous touring schedule and will be spending the better part of the next four month touring all over the south as well as Northeast states such as Ohio, Philly and New York. How did you manage to find the time to even record a second CD?

JJ - Little sleep and lots of work. I’ve been doing a lot of the vocals and guitars for the new record through the middle of the night at studios. Crazy thing is I usually have to get up and work the day job the next morning so I don’t sleep much! hah

LL – Aside from the shows, what do you look most forward to on this upcoming tour?

JJ - Well I love traveling to different cities. Its the most exciting when we’re on the road I get so giddy because its so much fun being in a different city every day and meeting new people. I love to meet people who are fans of what we do.

LL – And will you be taking any kind of break from touring when you get back?

JJ – We’re trying to play as much as possible so although there may be a short break, we don’t anticipate taking too much time off.

LL – Man Jason, it really sounds like you’ve been busy since you’ve left Augusta.

JJ –Yeah, I’ve been chasing the dream every since I left, setting goals, and growing little by little. We still play shows in Augusta even though the vibe there is different than what we’re used to. Its fun seeing old friends though.

LL – Well cool man, thanks for taking time to answer these questions!

JJ - No problem, hope to see you guys out next time we come through

You can check out The Drownout at www.thedrownout.com or www.myspace.com/thedrownout.
interview originally published on June 1, 2008

You can check out The Drownout on October 11, 2008 at Sky City.

Random Articles You Should Check Out

• JJ Bower from China with Love & Blue Flashing Light
• Interview w/ The Burgundy Curtain
• Countdown to Lexie’s Lexacy Begins with New “Old” Videos
• Interview w/ Allison Foster
• Metal band Chairleg seeking new guitarist