Hatebreed and Kingdom of Sorrow frontman Jamey Jasta took some time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions for us!
Jamey Jasta
DistortedNews: Your newest album is self titled, was there a reason behind that?
Jamey Jasta: There wasn’t really a word or sentence that could describe the contents of the album and with Wayne back in the band after all these years it kind of felt like we should just let the music speak for itself. Making the record self titled ended up being a cool statement. We’re just getting into the real touring behind the album and the songs are sinking in and hitting hard so that feels good! It’s just Hatebreed. You put the album in and you know its us.
DN: You recently toured the UK with Machine Head, what was that like?
JJ: Machine Head are a great band and great group of guys. It was a cool learning experience seeing how a band like that has persevered and done very well. In the UK Machine Head are especially popular so it was a great chance for us to gain new fans and play in bigger venues. We had an awesome time in Australia & Japan as well. We have a lot of the same fans so it worked out great. Phil Demmel even jammed Live For This with us at the Sydney show.
DN: According to Wikipedia, Megadeth Guitarist Chris Broderick is featured on a track on Hatebreed, how did that come about?
JJ: I guess that is a misprint from Wikipedia or some other site, Chris never played on a track but we’re playing with Megadeth tonight so maybe I’ll ask him to shred on one of our new tracks! We’ll probably end up doing a new Hatebreed album next year. Endgame is awesome, big respect to Chris.
DN: If you were only allowed to listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
JJ: Deftones White Pony because it’s been the soundtrack of so many great memories. Either that or a motivational spoken word album by like Dr. Wayne Dyer or someone with a positive outlook on life.
DN: What made you decide to release the cover album For The Lions?
JJ: We just wanted to give respect and show our roots. We’re very lucky to make our own decisions as a band and have complete creative control so doing a real DIY tribute album to the greats of punk, metal and hardcore was our way of paying homage. Most bands have labels that won’t allow them to do something like that so this was cool for us and we got to record it in our home state and use local studios and then mix it at Planet Z with our buddy Zeuss who did a great job on making all the tracks have their own unique sound similar to the originals but influenced by the modern Hatebreed style production.
DN: Is there anything you’ve done in your career that you wish you hadn’t?
JJ: I don’t really regret much but I guess I wish I hadn’t drank so much booze from 03 to 05, I can’t remember half the stupid shit I did/said but a lot of it was bad haha and I blew a ton of money on partying which I probably should have put in a college fund for my daughter. Luckily I have been doing well over the last 5 years and she wont have to worry! haha
DN: How did Lou Richards suicide affect the band?
JJ: After he quit the band we hoped he would get his life together. We were all very saddened by the situation.
DN: Of all your albums, which are you most proud of?
JJ: Probably our self titled album because I enjoy EVERY song on the CD. I can still put that album in and get excited and it doesn’t bring any stressful memories out or make me think of any bad situations. There’s songs on Hatebreed self titled that bring out all different sorts of feelings within me so it’s very cool for me to listen back now after a year since the writing of it all was completed. Every Lasting Scar has yet to be played live but that will be fun and Hands Of A Dying Man and In Ashes make the crowd go insane live so that is very rewarding. Everyone Bleeds Now has really started to catch on as well. I just really dig the record as a whole.
DN: If you had the power to remove one band from history, who would it be?
JJ: I don’t see a reason to remove any band from history but I often wonder what things would be like if certain bands didn’t exist. If KISS did not exist, life would suck! Same with Madball & Agnostic front! I can’t live without them!
DN: Is there anyone you’d like to work with on a future album?
JJ: Well I just worked with Kirk Windstein from Down/Crowbar. We did a band called Kingdom Of Sorrow and we just put out a 2nd album called Behind The Blackest Tears. That album is out now people can check out our Myspace it came out really cool. In the future I would really like to do something with Chino from Deftones, I’ve been working on a Jasta album and I have a song that I want him to sing on. We’ll see what happens but I’m hoping he does it. I’ve also reached out to some other musicians who seem interested so there could be some really cool collaborations.
DN: What’s next for Hatebreed after the current touring cycle is over?
JJ: We need to put out a documentary that covers the history and crazy shit that has happened throughout the years as well as a new album. It would be great to have something out by fall 2011! We’re also in the process of re-launching www.hatebreedstore.com it’s been really cool to print some older designs up and let newer fans get them for a cheap price. We’ve been able to offer shirts for as low as $7 or $8 which you rarely see so that’s cool, we’re also building our Facebook page up, we’re well over 100k diehard fans on there and we’re growing every day. It’s great to interact with the fans and post their tattoos, pictures and art. We head out on the Mayhem Fest in the states when we get back from Europe and then we’ll be touring into 2011 too.
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