JAY

http://www.candyforbadchildren.com/spotlight_jay.html
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Chad Von Haden of JAY
By: Miss Lisa

I recently did an interview with Chad Von Haden of the L.A. band JAY. I met him on this new-fangled website called Myspace; he sent me a CD and I’ve adored him and the band ever since! Normally I’d do a more solid and quick interview but we had so much fun I couldn’t bare not to share it with everyone!
 
Hi Chad! I love your CD, it reminds me of a cross between Jeff Buckley and Pink Floyd.

Wow! That’s the best comparison yet, thank you! Recently I had a girl say we were a cross between Jeff Buckley (which we get a lot) and the Darkness... Go figure that one out!
The Darkness? No comment, but you’re much better than the Darkness. I don’t like the Darkness.

I think they are awesome, but I don't think we sound anything close to them. The best compliment to us is that 90 percent of the time people tell us we don't sound like anyone.

(small off the record break)

Sorry, I had to call my singer after that great comparison you gave, He was very happy to hear that!

Ha! That makes me feel so special! So tell me, who does the majority of your writing?

George, my singer, and I write ALL the music I write the music and he writes the melody and lyrics.

It's a great combination, I'm such a critic when it comes to lyrics and music, I see very few flawless songs and the CD is as flawless as it can get, it still has a raw energy to it.

That’s so funny.

Why is that?

I give him shit all the time because I think the lyrics are cheesy, but I have to admit, everyone really seems to gravitate to them, so I let him say what he wants. We really couldn’t be two different people, It's like the Dark and Light of JAY.

Give me a little history of JAY, I know at one point in your own career you had quit the business altogether right?

Yes, as you may know, when the music is really in you it will never leave you alone.... I was in a signed band about 6-7 years ago. We toured America and when we got back I quit and swore I would never play music again, I was just fed up with fake people and the biz in general. I sold everything I owned and just started the day job thing. I was managing a head shop (I still do), and one day in walks Dee Dee Ramone! We become really good friends and one day he comes by and asks me to come see him play the Cat Club, a little Club on Sunset Blvd next to the Whiskey, He was playing there every Thursday…

So I end up going up, I sit at the bar and of course I open my big mouth as usual... I quite loudly exclaim that I could play better music in my sleep than the DJ was playing that night, the bartender overhears me and tells me if I think I can better than I should come back the next night and do it since the regular DJ had something to do… So, after the night is done and I'm packing up, he asks if I'd like to come back the next night and DJ. I ask him if the other DJ is gone that night also and he says NO, I'm letting him go, you're hired! Dee Dee hears about this and specifically asks if I can DJ his night. This goes on for awhile, until sadly my friend passed away.

I’m sorry, Dee Dee was awesome; one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met.

I am still not really over it; He was unlike anyone I have ever met in my life. So, anyway...

I quit. Fast forward a short while, who am I to turn down money and all the beer I can drink for free and play whatever I feel like... I came back! One night I am sitting up stairs looking down over the band setting up, a three piece named Adrian. They start playing and I am fucking hypnotized by this Singer/ Guitar Player! Not only was he the Best Singer I have heard in the last 10-20 years, But he was one of Greatest Guitar players I have ever seen!

I mean the guy was seriously fucking insanely good, He ended being the Wednesday night band there for awhile and for the first month I didn’t know what to say to him, I was actually intimidated. One night he comes upstairs where I DJ and has a Smoke and makes a comment on the song I was playing telling me he hasn’t heard it in years I give him my CD book and tell him to pick a few songs... BAM! Instant fucking best friends. We haven’t parted since. I tell him what I think of him and let him know that I am starting my own acoustic album and would he mind recording it for me since he has his studio in his house.

He comes by and I show him my songs and he says we'll get together in a few days well...

I don't hear from him for more than a few days and the next time I see him I ask him what’s up about recording me, He says "Oh yeah, about that... I want to talk to you about it". I'm thinking, fuck, he doesn’t like it and I'm shit out of luck. He goes and gets a beer and comes back upstairs and says...

"You're songs are amazing. Would you like to join my band?" Well, after a week I quit… about 8 months go by and on New Years Eve we meet up drun - In The Spotlight