HATEBREED
by Christine Natanael

LINKS:
hatebreed.com

If you’ve figured anything about my musical tastes from reading this site, then you know that I really love hardcore. And one of the newer bands in that genre that I really like is Hatebreed. Why? Because they do it hard and nasty in the classic NYHC style and mix in just enough metal to make it a bit crunchy.

You gotta admit that Jamey Jasta has probably taken over the tag line “Hardest Working Man in Show Business” at this point. I mean, he’s got Hatebreed, Headbanger’s Ball, his label Stillborn Records, he’s worked with Agnostic Front on their new record, and now he’s helping to promote the First Annual Aggressive Music Festival in Glen Falls, NY on July 17th and 18th. {Note: Hatebreed will only be playing the 17th on their off-day as they have to be in Bristow, VA on the 18th on the Ozzfest second stage). Check out the e-card here..

I did this interview with Jamey a couple months ago. As usual, the band was on the road. It had taken me three or four tries to actually make this conversation happen. And on this day, they had gone off to do some fishing in the afternoon before the gig to blow off some steam. Jamey’s voice was totally shredded and hoarse, so it was a bit hard to hear him at first. But we got it together. Here he talks about how it is to be him, as well as The Rise of Brutality record. So enjoy!

CHRISTINE NATANAEL: You’re so hoarse. What, are you’re screaming instead of singing now, guy?

JAMEY JASTA: I made my bed and now I’ll lie in it.

CN: Yeah. That’s it. That’s it. I could never sing rock for that damn reason. I like to speak.

JJ: Yeah.

CN: So, did you catch any fish?

JJ: Uh, we did.

CN: You did? What did you catch?

JJ: Some…I guess they call it groppy. We ate it.

CN: That’s good stuff, though. It’s really good stuff. So, I only have a few questions for you. I’m not gonna keep you on too long since your throat is killing you.

JJ: That’s all right.

CN: Let’s see. Where can I start? Well, I’m curious as to how you juggle recording, the tour, the record label, the MTV stuff and the home life.

JJ: Uh, I don’t. (Laughs) I just…I’m flying by the seat of my pants.

CN: I mean, when you were recording, you were obviously at home.

JJ: Yeah. I mean, that was good. That’s why we did the record with the Zeus, because he’s right close to us—within an hour driving distance. And you know, if they were doing drum sounds or whatever, I could run home and do my stuff at home.

CN: And then it’s close enough to the city to do the MTV.

JJ: Yeah. When we were in the studio, I was taking auditions, and I was interviewing with them, and then I actually, yeah, I was shooting some stuff with them, too.

CN: How did they pick you? I mean, did you get suggested by someone?

JJ: Yeah, like Riki Rachtman and a bunch of people put in a good word for me, but they…they never really called me when the first round of people had been going through, like….you know, I put my name in the mix and they never really called me. And then I actually called someone at Universal and said, ‘Yeah, put my name back in the mix,’ because I had heard that they had like, 300 people there and that they didn’t find anyone yet.

CN: Right.

JJ: So, they put my name back in the mix, and like, literally, ten minutes later, I had a call from Wendy McSwain, the casting director, and she was like, ‘Yeah. We thought you were doing a record. We thought you were on the road. We didn’t think you’d still be interested.’ And I said, ‘No. I’d like to come down.’ And they said, ‘All right. We’ll give you an interview.’ So I went down and interviewed, and it went really well. They seemed like they wanted to do the right thing for the show, and they called me back for an audition. And I did that. And that didn’t go too great, but I went and I did like, a homework assignment, where I interviewed bands and…

CN: Yeah, you got to do my job for a day, right?

JJ: Yep. And I interviewed them on tape, and I sent it in and they loved it. Yeah. And I just signed on for another year, too.

CN: There ya go. I remember about ten years ago, I was like, ‘You know, that should be my job.’ I’m so glad I didn’t go for that, though. There are just days when I don’t feel like looking so damn pretty.

JJ: I am right…well….

CN: It’s easier for you. You don’t have to wear make-up and stuff. You know…

JJ: Well, you know, if I’m sweating like a pig, they’ll come and like, blot me down.

CN: You get the star treatment…the blotter. At least they don’t scream ‘Make-up!” and have somebody with a big puff come and smack you in the face like in The Three Stooges.

JJ: They’ve powdered me a couple times.

CN: (In a real under the breath voice) ‘It’s the sweaty hardcore boy. Damn!’ (Laughs) So, what influenced you, as far as songs on the new record?

JJ: Um, well….we were inspired by a lot of different events throughout our world tour, and throughout, I guess the recording process--watching the world sort of even go deeper into despair and disease and just scary type of things happening since Perseverence and post 9/11. Everything from the war, to just seeing how the media spins everything. And being all over the world and seeing poverty and kids dying and kids sick, and just sort of crazy things that I never thought I’d really see up close and personal. We just sort of took all our normal musical influences, like Slayer and Sepultura and Obituary and Cro-Mags and Agnostic Front and all the bands that we still listen to the records every day.

CN: The neighborhood boys, yeah….

JJ: You know, we just wanted to do that sort of style and just really amp it up a notch from Perseverance to this one. And I think we did it. The record is crushing, and I think it’s heavier, but still like, remaining more memorable and catchy in certain parts. You know, like, I would say, all in all the whole record is just sort of inspired by, you know, more metal type bands, but at the same time, it’s got all the key sort of hardcore as well.

CN: So you actually sing more melodic on some parts of it as well?

JJ: Not at all. Harder. Harder and more intense. More in-your-face.

CN: Which is always good.

JJ: Because it is The Rise Of Brutality I felt like the title spoke, not only about the music and how heavy music everywhere is blowing up all over the world, but just the world we live in, I think it’s very depictive of the music and, you know, the times.

CN: It’s an apt title, absolutely. What’s your favorite song on the record?

JJ: Right now it’s probably a song called “Doomsayer.” We’ve been playing it live, and it’s just…the crowds go off so hard to it. I was—I’ve never seen us play a new song and get that type of reaction to it. So, it was great to see.

CN: Excellent. Let’s see. How do you choose the bands for your label, Stillborn?

JJ: Right now, we’re pretty much done signing bands for 2004. But the bands that we just recently signed, I sort of went by a different approach for each band. Like the band Love Is Red, we just signed, they’re from Tennessee, they are more like a band that I signed strictly on the basis of the work ethic. They tour. They’re in it for the right reasons. They’re professional. They have a van. They book their own shows. They make their own shirts. They’re just really like, uh, self-contained, and the music is great as well.

CN: Kind of like you in your younger days?

JJ: Kinda. Definitely. It’s great, when you have a band that—you know, there’s so many great bands out there that just don’t want to work, you know. And people would say to me, ‘Oh, why didn’t you sign this band? They’re great.’ I just don’t have the time to work them like, you know, like how I wanted to. But this is a band that, you know, they’re gonna do it on their own, as well as me, you know, adding whatever advice I can and getting the records out where I can. But, other than that…actually, the other signings I can’t really say yet because they’re not done, but we have three other bands that we signed. As soon as the contracts are done, we’re gonna announce.

CN: What’s in your cd player now?

JJ: Right now, well, last night we were listening to Dio.

CN: Which one? The new one?

JJ: No.

CN: A really old one?

JJ: You know what? It wasn’t Dio. It was Black Sabbath with Dio.

CN: That’s even older. That’s the best. Heaven and Hell, right?

JJ: Yeah.

CN: Love that record.

JJ: Good record. And then we were listening to Ringworm Birth Is Pain, and uh, I warmed up the other night, and I warmed up to---I was warming up to Slayer. This is normally what I’ll do. I’ll stretch. And then I’ll jog in place and do jumping jacks…before we play, I just gotta get amped up.

CN: It’s true. You’ve gotta get into that vein of where you’re going. You’ve got to get your energy up.

JJ: Totally.

CN: So I went to a really good show at Union Pool. It was the Gray vs. Blue, the North against the South battle of the bands, and it was a bunch of psychobilly and trashabilly. The Candy Snatchers, The Snakecharmers, She-Wolves… It was just a lot of fun. Union Pool is usually where Roger [Miret] has his car thing, The Rumblers.

JJ: Really? Oh, wow. I remember The Candy Snatchers. They used to always play in the brother’s bar that used to run The Anthrax. They used to always play their bar.

CN: It was a lot of fun. So that scene’s pretty exploding right now as well. It’s too bad that that stuff doesn’t really fit the Headbanger’s format, and it doesn’t fit Subterranean. God knows what it fits, but, the thing is, a lot of hardcore people are into it.

JJ: True. True. It’s got a lot of crossover of a lot of different scenes. Someone should pitch a show to the programming at MTV about that, even if it’s just a half hour.

CN: Yeah. Probably. Good idea. You’ve got the in, not me, dude. So, it’s up to you…

JJ: (laughs)

CN: Now, I don’t know, but what kind of cars do you have?

JJ: Right now I have a 2003 Honda Accord and a ’91 Honda Accord.

CN: Are you into, like, hot rods or motorcycles or anything like that?

JJ: Not really. I don’t have the time and the money. You know, like, I admire—like, I always ask, like, and all the guys come to see Roger and I always listen in and he always shows me the magazines he’s in and tells me about the cars he’s working on, and stuff like that. It’s interesting, but it’s never been something that I was that into, myself.

CN: I grew up in a family where, my dad, that was his thing, so it’s kind of ingrained and inbred in me. Eventually I want to get Roger when he’s home to sit down and talk to me about it. Do you have a lot of tattoos?

JJ: I don’t. I only have four. Tattooing has always fascinated me, but it was never something where I felt like there was something important enough for me to have on my body. So, I never was into having actual art on my body. I was more into having something that I wanted a reminder of. So my tattoos are all personal, like names and stuff like that.

CN: Okay. Who produced your record this time?

JJ: This time we did it with Zeus. Who did—he was the engineer on Perseverance and he did all the pre-production for Perseverance as well. So he’s an old friend of the band. I actually put out his old band’s 7-inch in ’95, called Push Button Warfare. We’ve been friends ever since. He’s done Shadow’s Fall, God Forbid. He’s done a lot of bands. He’s really proven himself. That’s why we had him do this record.

CN: That’s really good.

Unfortunately, this is where the publicist came on the line and told us we had run out of time. But rest assured, I’ll be cornering Jamey at some time in the future to do some more interrogation. If you’ve got any questions you’d like me to ask him in a future interview, send them to: this location and I'll see what I can do.