VAINS OF JENNA…They Can Never Die !!!
Interview with JP White
1. Hallo guys, say hello to the world by telling us a few words about how did you get the band’s name?
JP: Hello world!, well, basically I just wrote down some names on night that I though sounded and looked cool. I brought around 10 different ones to rehearsal one night and we all thought Vains Of Jenna stood out and sounded the best. The name it self doesn’t really have a meaning to it.
2. How easy or hard was to move from Europe to USA, what kind of difficulties did you face there?
JP: It was very easy actually , It felt like we fitted right in. We made a lot of friends and L.A. and it feels like home to us.
3. Around middle 00s you worked with Gilby Clarke(Guns N Roses) for a demo, what do you remember from this collaboration?
JP: For us it was a great experience. We are all big GnR fans and it was big moment for us at the time. Gilby is a really cool guy, the session went smooth and we had a really good time recording those tracks with him.
4. In 2006 you had a total rock n roll experience by playing in UK for over a month and having your car for accomodation…did you keep
any diary from these dates? Anything you remember from these days ?
JP: Yeah we have a lot of memories from that time. I would say that its probably on the top 3 of best times in my life without a doubt. I always have my camera with me so my pictures will be my diary. Maybe they will be published one day?
5. In the summer of 2006 you had another succesfull collaboration with Bam Margera, how did you meet him and how this contact has helped
you till now ?
JP: We meet Bam the first time at the House Of Blues in Hollywood, a couple of days later he signed us after he saw our live show at the Cat Club. Bam is still a really good friend to all of us and he has really been helping out to get Vains Of Jenna on the music map all over the world.
6. After the release of your first album “Lit Up Lit Down” you went on tour with Ratt and Poison. Was it a
succesfull tour in terms of economics and fame. We always hear stories from smaller bands that they pay to play
support in established brand names and they end up losing money. So pls tell us your own opinion and advice the
smaller bands around that they still dream of big arenas..
JP: We did not loose money, we actually got paid for all of the shows but in the end of the day all of that were spent on gas, crew, hotel ect. It was a good tour and a good experience for us. We definitely won over a bunch of new fans but it’s a long way to the top and fame and fortune dosent just come after one tour like that, you gotta keep on working and writing songs. What we went through on that tour Is a dream come true for every band and we are lucky enough to been able to taste the good life of being in a rock band.
7. I still remember this cool video for the “Noone’s Gonna Do It For You ” track with the cool girls and the swimming
pool. Where did you film this video and of course where do the girls come from ? We want the whole story about the video, concept
and the party afterwards…
JP: We filmed the video in Westchester Pennsylvania at Bams house, the live scenes we filmed at the local Rock bar called Rex’s. I guess bam wanted the video to be about a huge party and so it was. Bam and his crew had called up some local collage girls from Westchester and brought them down to the set. It was def a great time. We filmed all day and ended up at Bams house later that night driving cars cars into his outdoor pool.
8. What about your next tour afterwards with Cradle Of Filth and Gwar, What do you remember from this tour ? Cradle Of Filth
has caused some damages to bars during the European tour, do they still party hard in US?
JP: that tour was a disaster tour. It would be perfect as a reality show. I heard Cradle had been pretty crazy on earlier tours but I guess all of them sobered up or something cause I never saw them drink a beer.
That tour was insane, We were fucked up and was closed to get kicked of the tour in Florida after getting into a huge fight with Cradles tour manager and the whole production team. CKY lost their singer during the tour and wrecked the tour bus, all kinds of shit happened.
9. How is the collaboration with Steve Rachelle as your manager?
JP: Its been great! Stevie has guided us through a lot of stuff that has to do with the music industry and help the band to the level we are at right now. We can’t thank him enough.
10. In 2010 you had a change of your vocalist and Jesse Forte took over..What were the reasons behind this change
and how different does the band sound now ?
JP: Lizzy basically didn’t feel the same way about the band anymore and had different priorities in his life. I wish him the best.
Jesse has a different voice and a wider vocal range that allow us to write a lot of different kinds of music in my opinion bigger and better music and I’m very happy to have him onboard and as our new singer.
11. Let us know about your latest album “The Art Of Telling Lies”, how different is from your previous efforts?
JP: It’s a more mature rock album in my eyes both musically and lyric wise but still with the hint of our early punk rock sound at times. We worked for the first time in a real studio with a producer (Bent Woods) who helped out in may ways to make this album sound great.
12. What about your letest EP “We can Never Die ” ?
JP: Fist of all its an amazing track, Nicki did a freat job writing it. It def got a different vibe to it that we all really dig. We recorded “We can never die” at our friend Jens Claeson studio back in Falkenberg, Sweden. It was a very lay back vibe and it felt really good to work with someone like Jens that we have know for a long time. The first mix was done by Jens, Anton and Nicki then Chris Laney at Polar Studios in Stockholm called us and wanted to remix it. After a couple of days he sent us a new version so we ended up putting out both tracks on the EP.
13. The new song “We Can Never Die” from the same titled EP has a more modern sound and sounds more European to my ears
with more pop melodies. Do you intend to invade Europe by looking in new music directions?
JP: Not just Europe we want to invade the whole planet with our music. We have been listening to a lot of English type Rock bands like Oasis but also bands from the U.S like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club that has that kind of Raw simple style of Rock N Roll with good melodies.
14. You are about to tour with Pretty Boy Floyd and the rest of dates on your own, what do you expect from this tour ?
JP: Yeah we are doing 3 shows with Pretty Boy Floyd in South America and I think it will be totally crazy! None of the bands has been there before so I think the fans will go nuts. The guys in PBF is very cool to so we will have good time for sure. After that we will head out to a buch of cities in the U.S by ourselfes and I think it will go really well, we are very exited to get back on the road again.
15. How is the rock n roll lifestyle in 2010 / 2011 ?
JP: Its pretty good I guess we do pretty much the same things as all the rock bands have done over the years.
