Interview with AM Conspiracy 1.16.10
~Kris Melton
Photography by Susie Ceruto of Shock & Awe Productions
I had the pleasure of interviewing all the guys in AM Conspiracy at Rock Fest held at Planet X in Marietta, GA courtesy of Local Productions. With all the madness occurring inside the venue/ arcade and the yucky weather outside, which was both cold and wet, I was grateful the band invited me on their RV for some good conversation and a staple of all musicians, pizza. Lead singer, Jason Jones, is probably best known as the singer of Drowning Pool after Dave Williams’ death, but he has found a new love with AM Conspiracy and is excited for the unknown road ahead of them. This entertainingly funny band of Floridians shared never-to-be released personal videos, their collection of tattoos (Jason brings his equipment on the road!), and their upcoming plans as seasoned musicians in a band that’s just getting started. Most of the interview is below. The rest was either off limits, too crude, or indecipherable due to immense laughter.
Kris Melton with AM Conspiracy
So you guys literally just released your self-titled debut album in the past week is that right?
Jason: It was actually this past Tuesday (1/12). It was a wonderful day for us.
Dean: It’s very exciting to have a record out.
Jason: After 5 years of beating that shit to death, it’s finally done. It’s out.
So you’ve been a band for 5 years?
Kenny: Yes, that is correct. Kenny says with a smile.
So now that the album is released, what plans do you have for 2010?
Jason: Our overall plan is world domination. That’s what we’re here for. I’ll be doing that tomorrow, you can come back around here and I’ll be sitting here doing that same shit. Nah, we’re actually going to tour as much as is humanly possible until everybody’s ole ladies tell them to f* off because they’re never home. That’s what we’re trying to do here.
Dean: Except for keep our ole ladies.
So you have definite tour plans for the year, or are they still in the works?
Jason: We’re on tour right now, so it’s kind of definite, but this tour is only about 2 weeks and then we go back home. Hopefully we’ll only be home for a couple weeks and then we’ll be back out. That’d be damn skippy.
Do you have plans to make a music video?
Jason: I think we’re supposed to make a video for “Pictures”. We’re basically just waiting on the label to give us the go ahead and hopefully it’ll be a good time.
Speaking of labels, you decided to sign with a brand new independent label, Burnhill Union Records. How did that come to be?
Jason: Well for one thing Shaun Glass formerly of Soil who is now in Dirge Within is one of my really, really good friends. And knowing that he’s behind it, that he’s going to push everything he can into the band and the label’s the same way- we are their “flagship” band.
Dean: Second that motion.
Jason: So it just seemed like a better idea for us cause we don’t want to get lost in the shuffle and have a record that’s somewhere that nobody’s hearing. So we knew they’d get it out pretty quick.
Rob: It does suck when it sits in a vault somewhere. No one ever hears it or sees it.
Jason: Rob was in a band called Still Naïve and that happened to them.
Rob: We were on Maverick.
Going back to “Pictures”, the song was mixed by Randy Staub who has done work with bands such as Metallica. How did he get introduced to your album?
Dean: He really wanted to do it.
Jason: In my previous band he did our whole record, and the placement of the instruments and everything was just really good, especially considering what he had to work with.
Kenny: We’re supposed to be positive. We will no longer be sarcastic.
Jason: Strike through that, he just did a really good job. So when it came time to mix this record I wanted him to do at least one song cause that’s pretty much all we could afford. He’s extremely expensive, but it sounds f*n great. We actually got pushed back from when he was supposed to start mixing it, it was pretty funny cause they call us up and go, “Yeah, he’s running a little behind, he’s doing the new Alice N Chains record”. So I’m like, I can’t bitch about that.
So I’m sure most people know you (Jason) used to be the singer for Drowning Pool. Do you feel people are expecting something from you that’s similar to Drowning Pool or that this new band will let you run in whatever direction you want?
Jason: That is why I am in this band because it is completely opposite from anything having to do with that period in my life. I’m much happier now and it’s a good time. They’re happier, I’m happier, everybody’s one big happy f*n family. Hooray!
I always like to ask this question, especially since Rock Fist namely focuses on local artists. Do you have any advice for other up and coming musicians?
Jason: Get a really good lawyer. Or definitely get a lawyer, and make sure they’re pretty decent. Get a lawyer.
Drew: Make sure you can play your instrument.
Dean: Just do your work. You gotta put your nose to the grind everyday. You can’t slack. You gotta be out there and play to 5 people or play to 500 people. We did it just the other day and now we’re here playing in front of…
Jason: 3 or 4 people
Dean: 10 people hopefully tonight as opposed to the 5 that we did 2 nights ago.
Jason: But those 5 people loved it. Those 5 people bought us more Jager than last night in front of triple the crowd.
Dean: And that’s 15 so…
Kenny: There was one drunk guy there that just fed us a bunch a jager and he probably woke up the next day and went, “Shit, how much did I spend? Why did I buy those guys that?”
So is Jager the liquor of choice for AM Conspiracy?
All: Yes.
Jason: Unfortunately, yes.
Like straight Jager or…
Jason: F* that shit; I don’t put Red Bull in my Jager.
Kenny: I prefer it with Red Bull, but ya know I’ll do it straight.
(Guys debating over to add Red Bull, or not add Red Bull…)
Kenny: I got a box of tampons for whenever you want to borrow one.
I’m a red-headed slut kind of girl myself.
Jason: You know what, we’ve talked about fisting, red headed slut girl… ya know what, I’m gonna marry you. It’s gonna happen.
And then you can give me tattoos and we’ll just live happily ever after.
Jason: I’m down; let’s go right now to Vegas. How do we get there?
Dean: We’ll swing by tomorrow.
Since you’ve made it know that you like to partake of the beverage, I’m assuming there’s got to be a funny story where someone lost clothing or ended up in a weird location, there’s got to be a good one.
Jason: You have no idea, there’s so many of them.
Drew: You do not have enough tape in that machine.
Jason: We’ll actually show you a quick video snippet of when there’s too much Jager going on. So sometimes we drink a lot of Jager, like a lot too much. If that even makes any sense.
Drew: Nope.
Dean: My Deanism’s are rubbing off on them.
Jason: Yeah he’s been trying to rub off on everybody in the band, but none of us are really into it. He even offered cross arming but everybody’s like… nah…
Rob: Don’t rub me off. No, don’t rub me off.
You’re a very close-knit band. I’ve heard about spooning (this was prior to recording unfortunately), rubbing it out…
Jason: Oh yeah, we’re like this
You take care of each other, whatever the need is.
Drew: Just to be clear, I’m not gay.
Jason: We call him “In the Rye”, cause he’s kind of like the Catcher, ya know, in the Rye. But yes, we tend to get drunk and stupid sometimes and I know that’s hard to believe since we’re coming across so intelligent right now.
I’m really finding hard to believe looking at all of you.
Kenny: I bet she’s actually finding it hard to believe we can drive the tour bus anywhere. so how do you drive this thing again? (Whispers) Very carefully.
Drew: We don’t drive this thing carefully, what are you talking about?
Whoever is the least drunk drives, right?
Dean: It’s like drawing straws. Can you grab the straw? No. Can you grab it? Maybe. Then you’re driving. Whoever can grab and actually focus on the straw gets the keys and everyone else braces. We all pray for a safe drive.
Jason: See this is what kills me when we headline, cause I can’t drink until after we get at least 3 or 4 songs in, because I will literally will end up naked on the stage, and it’s not really pretty.
That might be a good promotional tool for the band though; videos would pop up on You Tube everywhere.
Dean: That’s not the kind of promo we’re looking for with this mother f*er.
(The guys shared some hilarious videos from on the road with me at this point, but asked if I could leave the footage and what was shown out of the interview. Sorry Rock Fisters! Take your chances searching the web. Since Planet X is both a venue and a Whirlyball/ Lasertag spot we jumped back into the interview discussing the games.)
Dean: Do they have dodgeball in there?
No, but they have Lasertag.
Jason: I’m not a Lasertag kind of guy. I’ll play dodgeball. Hell yeah.
Dean: You know what they gotta get next door is croquet.
Croquet?
Dean: Kenny and I are avid, avid croquet players.
Jason: When was the last time you played croquet mother f*?!
Dean: Doesn’t matter, its croquet.
Jason: “We’re avid croquet players”, like he does everyday!
Dean: Used to do it all over the place, it’s a good time. You gotta play with the crazy rules, that’s when it gets to be a good time.
How do crazy rules apply to croquet?
Jason: It’s just like prison when he plays it guys just come over and f* him in the ass. I’m sorry, in about 3 hours you’ll probably have about 4 ½ minutes of footage you can actually use. We did this thing for NBC and the only footage we have is of us retarded, like hammered drunk.
Dean: NBC loves us, I just want to say.
So you guys are going to be on NBC sometime soon?
Dean: Did you really just see those videos? No, no we’re not. I doubt they’ll use any of it.
Kenny: I don’t think she wants to hang with us anymore.
Well I’m going to try and wrap up the interview, but this was fun, you guys are great.
Drew: But we have so much more to talk about.
Kenny: I don’t let my kids hang out with us, but we are a wholesome family band.
AM Conspiracy is:
Vocals – Jason “Gong” Jones
Drums – Dean Andrews
Bass – Kenny Harrelson
Guitar – Drew Burke
Guitar – Rob DeHaven
Below are pictures from the AM Conspiracy’s performance the night of Rock Fist’s interview. Click a picture to view a larger image. All photos taken by Susie Ceruto of Shock and Awe.
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Kris Melton with AM Conspiracy
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AM Conspiracy released their debut self-titled album on January 12, 2010. The album is now available at stores.
To see when AM Conspiracy is coming to a venue near you, check out their currently scheduled shows and visit their web pages listed below:
Upcoming Shows
Feb 19 2010 8:00P
Lyrica
Orlando, Florida
Feb 27 2010 8:00P
DJ & Gina’s
Summerfield
AM Conspiracy’s official website: www.amconspiracy.com
AM Conspiracy’s Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/amconspiracy
AM Conspiracy’s Facebook: www.facebook.com/amconspiracy
