One of the biggest problems that bands with a considerable amount of fans is the disconnect from their fan base.
Large venues and vigorous touring schedules make it very hard to make time to talk with fans and show your appreciation.
But where as most bands don’t seem to care that much, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus are embarking on their first ever acoustic tour to show that they really do care about their fans.
Here is what lead singer Ronnie Winter had to say about the tour and the future of the band:
TM: You’re now on your first ever acoustic tour. Can you tell us what an acoustic tour has to entail and what instruments are maybe going to be cut out?
RW: It is what it is. A lot of bands hide behind backup tracking and all these other things live, and we don’t. We decided to do an acoustic tour because we can play our instruments, all of us. We’re good at playing our instruments. So we decided to do an acoustic tour for all of our fans who want to have a little bit of flavor and also give us a chance to play some of the songs we don’t normally play. For a lot of people who have seen us on warped tour, you only have thirty minutes a set, and you know we’re going to play our faster heavier rock songs. This is an opportunity to play some songs like “Cat ‘ Mouse,” “Your Guardian Angel,” and songs like that. Basically, it’s for our fans. The only people who come to this show are people who really like the band and no one else really comes, which is great and is awesome for us.
TM: Obviously your first album, Don’t You Fake It, had a tone of success with going platinum and you guys being featured in all types of media, from magazines to papers and even TV. How does it feel to have been accepted so well?
RW: It’s basically cool. It’s nothing that bothers you. But, you want to be remembered for your music and not your face. You know, our goal is to continue to make great songs and if we get on the cover of magazines, awesome.
TM: What is the most meaningful song on Don’t You Fake It?
RW: Well, that’s a hard question to answer. All the lyrics I wrote, and they’re based off of true events. Spanning back from ten years of my life to all the way to some songs being written on the fly about some things that happened in the last week. I guess , I couldn’t really say which ones are the most meaningful, honestly, because they’re all extremely meaningful to me. But, what I would say is that the song that I wish more people would have heard and listened to is “Misery Loves Its Company.”
TM: How will the new record compare to your last. Will it be similar or more of a progression?
RW: I can tell you what we’re not gonna do. We’re not gonna go crazy and do some themed, over the top, concept record. We’re all about having a good time and being a bunch of friends who make rock music. We went back to Middleburg, for the past three months, built a studio in our house, and recorded all of the new songs, demo style, that are gonna be on our new record. So we wrote it like we wrote the first one. We went back to where we were, made some more music and it’s gonna sound like the first one, just better.
TM: Out of all the show you played, what’s been your favorite city?
RW: Of course, hometown is always gonna be awesome. But, Florida in general, Tampa, Orlando, Gainesville, Tallahassee, they’re awesome. But, as far as the rest of the country goes, Jersey is probably our second favorite place; we always do really well there. Philly, Salt Lake, Denver, and Los Angeles, California are also great cities to play.
TM: You guys played a benefit show in Alabama. How does it feel to be in a position to be able to give back?
RW: Well, it’s something that we’ve always done. Honestly, it’s something that we do because we are good people, it’s as simple as that. It feels amazing. It’s probably one of the best parts of the job, is being able to do something where you actually see the difference you make in this world. Bands like The Beatles, back in the day, are the ones who started that. And anytime you get a chance to do something good for the human race, you should. And anytime you don’t, well then I don’t know what to tell you. Your priorities are in disorder.
TM: When did you know you wanted to make music your full time lifestyle?
RW: It wasn’t over night that’s for sure. Any band that’s not put together by a record label knows that. We started doing this in 2001, I graduated, it took me about five years to get a record deal and at that point once we actually started talking to people on a serious level and started selling out venues all over Florida. That was probably the first time, because we were selling out venues not even signed that bands on the radio were selling out, and we decided to all quit our jobs and we all quit school and we devoted all our time to the band and we made it.
TM: What kind of music inspired you as a kid?
RW: We’ve been listening to a lot of older music lately like Boston, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Peter Gabriel, but we also listen to a lot of modern music. I really like The Used, Coheed and Cambria, My Chem, we listen to both old and new and anything rock and roll I like usually.
TM: Lastly, are there any words of advice you would give to a kid aspiring to be in a band?
RW: Yes. If you want to be in a band I can tell you one thing. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but also the greatest thing: I’ve ever done. So don’t listen to anyonelse, write your own music, don’t play cover songs, that’s an easy way out, and you know, try and really connect with people. If you can find a few people who really believe and you and find some good band members, don’t try and do it on your own, and you’ll probably make it.
Make sure to check The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus out next Wednesday, April 23 at the Orpheum in Ybor. I’ll surely be there singing along, come out and enjoy these guys, because you will not want to miss out on this tour.
“Misery Loves its Company”