AM CONSPIRACY
4/12/2006
Back in the Saddle: An Interview with Jason "Gong" Jones
by Rocket, Metalunderground.com
Back In The Saddle Again: An Interview With Jason 'Gong' Jones
posted Wednesday, April 12, 2006 at 07:09:40 PM by rocket.
Orlando, Florida's AM Conspiracy
is led by former Drowning Pool frontman, Jason 'Gong' Jones. He makes
no bones about the fact that at this point in his life, he just wants
to do what makes himself happy musically. This guy really is one of the
rare singing talents that can effortlessly go from a soulful,
bluesy-metal range to high-piercing screams that can even make Halford
proud. Gong is now taking his music down a new road with a different
set of bandmates. Ranging from Layne Staley'esque choruses to being
able to growl with any other of metal's elite, the likes of say a Dez
Fafara or Randy Blythe. Gong Jones convincingly continues onward in
building his impressive rock legacy, more than ready at any point to
show all of us another thing or two by pulling the ace card out from
one of his tattooed arm sleeves. Rocket: When did you first realize that you had the ability to sing?
Gong: I had been playing guitar since I was 12. When I
was 16, some band had a show and needed a singer... so I did it. I
sounded like pure fuckin shit, but it felt natural... so I stuck at it.
Rocket: It's funny, man, I was working for Guitar
Center, and I bumped into some customer on the floor that started
telling me he had a good friend that got the new singing job for
Drowning Pool after Dave Williams had sadly passed away. He said your
name was Gong Jones and that you were one of the baddest metal singers
around that nobody knew of and how stoked he was about it. First, tell
me how did you get the nickname 'Gong'?
Gong: I got that from my homie Ming Cheng. He told
someone at a market that I was his half brother, so I could use his
families credit to buy beer god bless him!!
Rocket: Haha... hell yeah. That's classic stuff, bro. How many different bands had you been in before getting the gig with DP?
Gong: I was in countless other bands.
Rocket: I know we share a mutual friend in Scott Ueda
of Seven Stitches, formerly of Manhole/Tura Satana out of Los Angeles.
He and I went to school together at Venice High. He told me in a recent
interview that you two were working on a band project right up to the
point that you landed in DP. This guy is a talent. What was that
experience like working with him?
Gong: Scott was like a brother to me. He's one of those
people that you meet and the just become a permanent fixture in your
life. We are actually tryin to work on a track together right now for
the Welcome To Venice cd.
Rocket: That would be the bomb ass shit right there,
man. I also know that you once worked at Suicidal Tendencies Tattoo
shop in Venice, actually right across the street from my old high
school. I know Jason of Strapt there and I was just totally fascinated
by this, cause I only started learning about your background right at
the time you were breaking out with DP and your first video was
released from the Desensitized album. And I was like, "Holy fuck...
Gong Jones has been kicking it all along in my stomps." Man, I grew up
in Venice. So to hear all of this about you made you more of a legend
in my eyes, bro. And I don't say that to many people. I have even
bumped into a couple people that you put ink to and observed your work
first hand -- and you throw it down, man. What was it like working as a
tattoo artist?
Gong: Tattooing has helped me more than you can imagine. I'm actually working at a shop called inkredible ink in Orlando now .
Rocket: Damn, I think I might just have to have you
do some work on me. Haha. I am not kidding anyone, Gong is not only one
of the best metal vocalists on the planet, he's one of the badder
tattoo artists around. Man, it's funny how you have expressed to me
before in email correspondance on MySpace how much you miss living in
Venice, California. I know why that is, because we have both literally
experienced the same things, being literally cut from the same fabric.
Tell me what it is though that you miss so much about Venice?
Gong: I mostly miss the homies: Clown, Grumpy, Speedy,
Pauly B, also bein able to get anything I need with one phone call. I
miss my boy Stevo... hell, I just miss it all!
Rocket: Once you started your rise with Drowning
Pool, I went nuts doing as much research on you as I possibly could,
like some damn overzealous teeny bopper or some shit, haha--but it got
me to some areas that I needed to get to, so I could better understand
you as both a person and an artist. You were homeless for a good bit of
time while you were struggling to make it in the music business, if I
understand it correctly. I remember reading that you crashed out in
rehearsal studios of friends and the such for quite some time. I myself
have totally been there and done that, bro. It just speaks volumes to
your character and how utterly committed you were on your path to metal
glory. Can you tell me more about that struggle and what it meant to
you when you were hitting MTV and every national radio station with
your very first single? It was a good feeling to just be able to
accomplish what you set out to!
Gong: It was kind of a blur. I guess the most rewarding
part of it was being able to be like, "Fuck you. I told you I could do
this!"
Rocket: I need to say that I personally felt that
Desensitized was through and through the best metal album released in
2004. Your vocal range goes from the gutteral Philip Anselmo-growl to
the spiritual cry of Layne Staley. My favorite song off the album is
Cast Me Aside. I just love the lyrics and how you speak to the
hanger-ons and people who weren't there for you before your sudden fame
and now they wanted a piece of it and you're like, 'Kiss my damn ass!"
I love that about you, bro. What the hell was it like those first few
months when all hell broke loose for you and the new incarnation of DP?
Gong: You get a rash of calls from people you haven't
heard from in 10-12 years who are suddenly wanting to kick it again. I
was like "Where the fuck were you?" You know... that whole shit of
everyone loves you when you're on top kinda thing.
Rocket: Oh, totally. Okay, turning the page, you are
obviously now in the new band, AM Conspiracy, based out of Florida.
After you split from DP I was thinking, "Oh, man... this cannot be it
for Gong Jones. He's coming back to the metal scene one way or
another." How did you go about getting into this new band so quickly?
Gong: I was already recording with this band before I
quit DP. This is what I want to do. After Dime passed I really thought
about what I was doin. It was no secret that I didn't get along with
the DP guys. Life is too short to not be happy, so I started my own
fuckin band with people I actually like and can trust playin the kind
of music I wanna play.
Rocket: That's a full metal attitude right there. Ha!
Gong says it like he means it. Love it! I have been following all the
demo tracks AM Conspiracy has released on MySpace music. What is the
song Absence all about?
Gong: It's really a deep one. It was the first song I
wrote with the band. I don't really want to say what its about ,
because I feel it would cheapen its meaning.
Rocket: Cool. Damn, that's some heavy shit in and of
itself. Ha! You're right, not everyone needs to know what's going on in
your head. Some of it needs to remain private. I respect that, bro.
Okay, well let's get more upbeat. I love getting laughs in my
interviews and keeping it real. What is the most hilarious 'moment gone
wrong' on stage for you ever?
Gong: Dude, I have busted my ass so many times it just seems normal.
I would say the most bizarre moment was lookin down and realizing some
chick had thrown a used trampon on stage. I made some comment about how
it looks like her cycle is almost over and after the show she came up
and handed me a wrapped tampon with her phone number on it, sayin her
cycle was over and to call her.
Rocket: Haha... no, scratch the last one. That was
the most heavy metal thing I've ever heard. Haha. Dude, you are the
man. So who are the metal bands that have made the biggest impression
on you?
Gong: Sabbath, Pantera, Deftones, Tool, Clutch... just to name a few .
Rocket: AM Conspiracy is still un-signed at this
point. I have to think that with your status that you are being looked
at closely my the key majors and the top indie labels. Have you guys
got a full album of material ready to record?
Gong: We're recording our own record right now.
Rocket: Now it's been over a year since Dimebag was
murdered on stage. Can you share some of your feelings on the
situation. Do you recall when you heard the news?
Gong: I was in Colorado. We were supposed to play a
show with them. Two days after, I got a call from one of our techs
tellin me that it happened about 5 minutes after it did and I told him
to fuck off cause I thought he was full of shit, much to my dismay he
wasn't. Dime was the coolest rock star I ever met... period. It was an
honor to have known him. It's not too often you get to meet one of your
idols, much less hang with them on a regular basis.
Rocket: AM Conspiracy has a ton of fans already in a
very short period on MySpace, so I know you guys are gonna make it big,
bro. You're too damn talented to let anyone or anything hold you back
from climbing the ladder again. Why don't you leave us with some words
of thanks for all of your fans and supporters.
Gong: We are a real band, playin real fuckin music. If you like it ,great , we appreciate it. If not, eat a dick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Visit AM Conspiracy on the web:
www.myspace.com/amconspiracy
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