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red jumpsuit apparatus


whatsername104
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OMG I love them....i was going to post a thread about them like a billion years ago but i forgot so im glad some else did....they are amazing!!!!....they started in a trailer...and was founded by a local record producer...they did a couple songs but nobody signed them so 3 members left....then 3 more came onboard and they were signed....Virgin records then wanted them and rasied the amount or contract in order to have them...lol

 

they are on you hear it first on MTV overdrive so check it out

 

 

here is an article about them...ENJOY

 

What makes a band worth signing? The only thing I can say to that is it’s a feeling you have about the artists because you’re feeling them and their sound in a very personal way. I never set out to sign a band just because of their large fan base, modest CD sales or a long resume of accomplishments. Would it have been nice to have all that? Sure, but it didn’t happen that way in the case of Vision Sound signing The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus!

 

The Real Story of How the RJA Signed with Virgin Records!

 

 

One day while I was at Vision Sound handling the daily business two young gentlemen walk into my office and say they want to record a demo with us. I say "great lets talk about what you’re trying to accomplish and your budget." They then state before we book studio time and record we want someone with experience to come and listen to us to tell us if we're ready to record and furthermore if “I felt they were any good”. I tell them that I never do that without hearing some recordings first and that there are other producers besides myself that I can connect them with that are for hire. They were persistent and stated they rehearse in Middleburg, Florida (where I live) and come to find out they were a skip away from my house so I said "I’ll stop by on the way home and check you out a bit”.

 

 

While driving to the outer skirts of, where the heck am I? (I thought I lived in the sticks people, whew…) I finally found the rehearsal spot. While inviting me to see them perform, each member categorically forgot to mention that their rehearsal spot was a double wide trailer off a dirt road in the middle of no where. I’m still not 100% sure if the location of their rehearsal spot was technically on any map yet.

 

 

I walk in and it looks like a keg party has been going on consistently since say like 1997 or so. But from the ceiling to the floor was top notch gear and I said to myself “well at least they got their priorities in order”. No furniture anywhere to sit on but quality guitars and amps were stacked to the ceiling. So, I sit down on the only piece of furniture they have, the removable bench seat from their mini van. Apparently they had removed it so they could shove more gear into the van while hauling it from where ever they were going that day. In addition to that the RJA was also sharing this tiny rehearsal spot with Veronicas Veil . (RJA's Singer Ronnie's Winters Brother Randy) so it was twice as cramped.

 

 

Right from the first songs intro I knew this was the band I was seeking for so long. I thought to myself "I've listened to thousands of demos over a five year span in my quest to find the act I wanted to sign and this is how it’s going to be huh?" Furthermore the band lives right down the road from me? God and I have always had a small relationship, but since that day it has gotten much better. I learned that day to never over look any band or any situation and I’m sure glad my roots are still with me after all this time.

 

 

They performed two songs for me and that was all I needed. After a long nervous pause; enough that I could gather my thoughts while coming down off the best natural high I've had in my life, I finally said… "I want you to know one thing guys, not only are you good, you’re phenomenal. You are by far the best unsigned band I have ever heard or seen in my life". With a punk, emo sound with even mellow roots at times, phenomenal stage show and an alter ego dark side I was hooked and remain that way till this day. I state again, I only wanted a band that I felt could reach the heights of success. An act with all the members clearly knowing this is all they wanted in life. A band knowing that this had to be first above everything else in their lives and it turned into just that.

 

 

During the first 3 months of working with the RJA we (Myself, Freelance Producer Lee Miles, Daryl Phenneger and Paul Lapinski) made the bands very first 6 song demo. I wanted to send this to labels I connect with to see if we could catch any early interest in the band. I personally really wanted to make sure I wasn't wrong in believing that this band was off the hook and was everything I thought it was. My goal here was to at least catch a labels ear enough to make sure they were paying close attention to what turned out to be the bands very fast growth spurt. While I produced all the pre production and made final decisions, Daryl and Lee worked their usual God given magic producing and recording Ronnie Winters vocals. Ronnie had never entered a recording studio as a lead singer before. Ronnie truly didn't’t know what he was or wasn't capable of at this time vocally, nor did he know if he had a great vocal take or not in the studio. He was very humble to say the least and listened to every word the people with more experience than him had to say. Ronnie was like a sponge sucking up everything musically around him. I asked Daryl to teach him how to sing in the studio and to develop Ronnie’s voice until it was right, not kind of right or sort of right but when people heard him sing they stopped dead in their tracks to hear this unknown young man. When we were just about finished tracking and mixing the initial 6 song EP I started sending rough mixes to a person who ended up being a vital part of assisting with generating the RJA's initial label interest.

 

 

Enter A. J. / Head of artist development for the Kings of A&R or KOAR web site and V.P. of http://www.altsounds.com

 

 

Per her request I sent A. J. a picture of the band and a few of the finished songs right off the press and she was the first to hear the final product. She loved the band and did a small write up on them and posted it on the front page of the KOAR site. I was getting e mails and calls the same day from industry people wanting to know about this band. If any of you are not familiar with A.J, Dean Cramer (KOAR President) and altsounds.com get familiar with the sites, they can be a vital tool for gaining interest from labels. While a flurry of label people called, e mailed and flew in weekly to see the band live none of them were willing to take a chance on signing this young act yet.

 

 

We finished the initial 6 song EP and my sister company SNJ CD Duplication made thousands of promo cd's to be given out for free. I told them to hit the streets and give these free promo cd’s and flyers out to the kids that they felt would be their core target audience. Not just their home turf, the band traveled to different cities, schools, shopping malls and colleges just to give people free promo info about the band. One of them would generally stay home working the free marketing tool myspace like 15 hours a day to reach out to any new fan they could get to listen to their music. All of the guys in RJA worked incredibly hard. They hit the streets for months and months promoting themselves face to face with perspective fans while continuing to promote all over the web. They finally all quit their day jobs and lived on pennies a week just so they could spend all their time, not just their “free time” promoting RJA. These kids wanted this BAD and would stop at nothing to make sure that everyone knew who they were and soon all of this this hard work starting paying off.

 

 

Almost overnight we were getting calls from labels, kids, magazine and newspapers all wanting to know who this band was. The RJA's fan base was growing very fast and the band was busting their butts night and day trying to gain new fans. I knew that with the right promotions and exposure and having an electrifying front man like Ronnie Winter leading the band with "that voice" the RJA would not go unrecognized for long. So far everything seemed to be working perfectly and exactly to the plan for generating a buzz for the band, a crucial element for gaining label interest.

 

 

The Vision Sound team, combined with all the bands hard work had made the RJA the most sought after original band in North Florida. The bands demos eventually ended up in the hands of Virgin Records President Mr. Jason Flom. Jason flew the band to New York and signed them in October of 2005 just days after hearing the band.

 

 

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus was signed to a very promising multi-record deal with Virgin only 15 months after partnering with Vision Sound. Vision was a key ingredient as to why the RJA was picked up by Virgin Records. I am confident due too the host of people involved at Virgin Records that the bands future seems very bright indeed!

 

 

Thanks to a great initial partnership The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is finally getting the recognition they deserve!

 

Scott Fravala

Owner/Vision Sound Inc.

Discoverer, Producer amd Developer of The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

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  • 1 month later...

I listened to the full forthcoming release ( 2nd CD ) and i can say

its great .

They took out some screamo parts compared to the old versions which i think is very good.

The Sound of the Guitars is more effective than the clean rythm Parts

on the *old* Versions.

 

The Production is well done.

 

I like both CD's .

 

They are a very talented Band and deserve to be huge.

 

Catchy and a sure *must buy* :)

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I listened to the full forthcoming release ( 2nd CD ) and i can say

its great .

They took out some screamo parts compared to the old versions which i think is very good.

The Sound of the Guitars is more effective than the clean rythm Parts

on the *old* Versions.

 

The Production is well done.

 

I like both CD's .

 

They are a very talented Band and deserve to be huge.

 

Catchy and a sure *must buy* :)

 

where did you hear it?

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  • 1 month later...

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