Leah Kirby - Vocals
Chris Hill - Guitar, Vocals
Nick Campbell - Drums
Matt Frederick - Bass, Vocals
Greg Putnam - Chapman Stick, 6-String Bass, Vocals
"So here it is, the undefinable..." begins the first verse of the first song on Jam Pain Society's Black Light Messiah, released on Locomotive Records July 18, 2008 in Europe and August 12, 2008 in the US. It's a fitting lyric for a band that sounds like everything and nothing you've ever heard before. Aggressive at times, melodic at others, a combination of the two extremes most often, North Carolina-based Jam Pain Society is about heavy guitar riffs, huge hooks, and soulful, impassioned vocals.
Produced by Jam Pain Society guitarist and songwriter Chris Hill, Black Light Messiah is the result of a machine-like dedication to staying focused on the prize. The prize in question? An album to be proud of. With Black Light Messiah, 12 songs―including one with Ace Frehley on lead guitar―that are straight from the gut, screaming truth, rage, and hope at once, Jam Pain Society wins. And it's no wonder. This prize has been in the making since they were kids.
Soon after an older cousin turned a young Chris Hill on to early rock legends KISS and Led Zeppelin, his uncle gave him a guitar. At that point, Chris locked himself in his room with that guitar, a drum machine, and a 4-track recorder, hammering through his angst-filled formative years, developing a taste for what would become a life-long hunger and planting the seeds for what would become Jam Pain Society.
Chris can pinpoint the moment he came into his own musically―a moment that coincides with the birth of Jam Pain Society's sound. It happened when he discovered the beauty of his Eddie Van Halen/Ace Frehley/Dimebag Darrell-inspired style of metal guitar screaming through an amp over a Parliament song. He never looked back.
Given Chris's early KISS obsession, it's quite fitting that when a mutual friend turned Ace Frehley on to Jam Pain Society and suggested he play on a song, Ace agreed. “It was cool that he liked our stuff. Then, when he was into playing on a song―what a huge honor," says Chris. Working with Ace on "The Ride" was a blast and a bit surreal, according to Chris. "Suddenly, the guy who made me want to pick up a guitar in the first place is asking me if that last take 'sounded okay'. Are you kidding me?" More than that, it was exciting, inspirational, and hugely fulfilling. Ace was pleased as well, sending a "Sounds great!" note to Chris after hearing his final mix.
Chris shares his don't-try-to-label-it-just-make-it-good philosophy with Leah Kirby, a singer he met in a local band competition. Leah, who grew up under the influence of an older brother addicted to AC/DC, Black Sabbath, and Judas Priest, was also heavily influenced by old Motown records and pop radio. Not your typical rock chick (more Janet Jackson or Christina Aguilera than Amy Lee), Leah pours fiery emotional energy into a song, blending the soul of Aretha Franklin with the command and growl of Ronnie James Dio and working a lyric until it says what she wants it to say the way she wants it said.
Perfectly counter to that raw energy is Nick Campbell, a technically gifted drummer who combines the intricacy of Rush's Neil Peart with the power of Tool's Danny Carey. Nick's years of regimented training, his monstrous kit, and his passion to get it right mean he not only can hold a standard 4/4 beat like a machine, but he also can find a way to nail any drum-machine-inspired loop or percussive trick that Chris deems even remotely possible by a four-limbed body.
Vocals, guitar, drums... bass. Wait, make that basses. Born from a desire to fill the space between the bass and guitar in different ways depending on the song, and after a bit of a fluke and lots of experimentation, Jam Pain Society has established a very unique two-bass-player lineup. Specifically, Matt Frederick, a former member of Drill 187 who Chris had produced, holds down the bottom with a solid precision and tone, locking into Nick's drums to create the foundation of the rhythm section. All the while, six-string bassist and Chapman Stick player Greg Putnam covers that big space between Matt's bass and the guitar. The fluke is that Greg, then a new guy in town with progressive and shred metal roots in Eleventh Hour and a Dream Theater cover band, Images and Words, stumbled into Jam Pain Society on the hunch of a long-time fan and friend of the band. Once through the door, Greg's Chapman Stick arrangement for "You Made Me" sealed the deal.
What began as an experiment to convey the Black Light Messiah set live has become the lineup the group feels was always meant to be. In an interesting cause-and-affect twist, that lineup shaped Black Light Messiah as well. Chris was wrapping up mixing the Black Light Messiah tracks just as the new lineup was taking shape. It only took a few rehearsals before it was obvious: Great things were happening in the room that needed to be captured on the album. The realization prompted Chris to re-open the Black Light Messiah files to exploit the lineup, complete the album, and, of course, grab that prize.
Fair enough.
