Its a rainy night outside the Wiltern Theater in Hollywood as I stealthily crisscross through sidewalks littered with ticket scalpers and kids dressed in their finest fetish gear. I peer ahead, up at a marquee that reads Marilyn Manson and below it, Ours. To my left is a group of Westboro Baptist Church crusaders holding signs greased with slogans that condemn the nights concertgoers. I dont know what theyre singing but it sure aint Kumbaya. One devout woman tucks a sign under her arm and tells me that I am going to Hell. I think to myself, nice night for a walk...
Hours later, the rain has stopped, the Westboro Baptist Church has given up, and the fans are going home. The carnival is over. The weary musicians find familiar sanctuary in perhaps the only place they can, tucked into the back booth of their tour bus. There I caught up with Ours frontman Jimmy Gnecco -- only moments after he stepped off stage -- to chat about what its like, night after night, finding intimacy, albeit a different kind of intimacy, in an environment that is anything but. The band -- completed by Pit, Race, Locke, and Static has just wrapped a national tour in support of Marilyn Manson, a pairing that proved eye opening and even dangerous at times.
Ours began in the early '90s, though it wasn't until 2001 when Distorted Lullabies hit shelves that mainstream audiences fell in love with the bands sound: a remarkable mix of dark and romantic soulful rock, chock-full of sexy swaggering undertones, riptide themes of love and pain, and lyrics that never shy from exposing the underbelly of the human condition. The New Jersey-based band followed with Precious in 2002 but without proper label support, soon retreated from the spotlight. After making the rounds solely as a live band for the past several years, Ours has finally wrapped its long awaited new album, Mercy Dancing for the Death of an Imaginary Enemy, due April 15th on Rick Rubin's American Recordings and Columbia Records. I've heard it and let me tell you, it's gorgeous.
SuicideGirls sat down with Jimmy Gnecco to get the full story
Erin Broadley: How have things been going on tour with Marilyn Manson?
Jimmy Gnecco: Good.
EB: Last time we saw each other was when you played with Circa Survive at the Mayan Theater.
JG: Yeah, this is a lot worse in certain aspects there was a handful of people just heckling and throwing shit. Theres a lot of anger in the audience on this tour.
EB: Is it a tough situation for you guys to be in?
JG: Yeah, the [Manson fans] throw quarters, any sort of change they throw at us, water bottles and all that. If you get through it, you show them youre not cowering.
EB: How have things been going with the new songs for the upcoming record?
JG: Good. Its been a long time but certainly we werent in a rush to put out anything bad. Weve done that already [laughs].
EB: [Laughs] How was working with Rick Rubin on this album? Originally you were supposed to sign with him 10 years ago. Things changed.
JG: Yeah, in the summer of 97 I was going to sign with him. I really wanted to sign with him. If he were at Dreamworks I would have signed specifically to him because I wanted to make a record with him. We just hit it off. I really liked him from the start and had an honest connection with him. I genuinely liked him, you know. I ended up signing and doing business with Dreamworks but felt like Rick was someone that was actually going to become my friend. I just didnt want to sign to Columbia back then with the people who were running it. I was a little terrified to do it back then with the people that were running it. Luckily, 11 years later, Im still able to sing [smiles]. Ive been doing it 20 years now but luckily it lined up and we got a chance to [work with Rick] so it feels like were home. Its been a long dark period. It was always a battle. This time around, its good that we got a chance to concentrate on the things that actually mattered. That was the most rewarding thing for me with this record. If we needed to redo a song, the drums, whatever it was, Rick was just all about the music. Other people say, Were all about the music, were all about the music, but they dont even know what the fuck that means.
The first record was basically demos and theyre like, Well I hope you can learn to live with it because were putting it out. I was like, If you just give me 3,000 dollars more I can finish it and I can be really happy and you can be happy. Theyre like, No. Theyre like, Were gonna take you out to lunch and spend seven grand and tell you how much we love you but we wont give you three grand to finish your record.
EB: And make your peace with it.
JG: Yeah. So thats always what weve dealt with in the past. It was amazing to have the luxury of time to say, Oh we dont have to get it right away. Well work on it a few weeks and not be under the gun. Just have that understanding was amazing. Theres a certain amount of structure, like with anything. Like, Okay, we have to finish this in three months, this is our schedule, this is when its coming out but thinking there is no end in sight. Thats somewhat terrifying.
EB: Its both liberating and terrifying at the same time.
JG: Thats what I needed. It was good for me in that aspect. We took a year just to mix one song. We had finished the record but there was just this one song that was just not there, and he kept letting me try.
EB: Thats amazing.
JG: It was very important because, to me, it was the most important song on the record. It was the heart of the record.
EB: Youve said before, when it comes to choosing tracks to include on an album, something can be a standout song but if it doesnt fit in with the others then its not going to be on the record.
JG: Yeah, we were recording the record around that song.
EB: Which song was it?
JG: Ran Away to Tell the World. It was the reason we wanted to make another record. I had that song and felt like, as long as we have that song well build a record around it, one song at a time, until everything feels as good and has as much purpose as that song.
EB: Its one of those things if youve been through the ringer and youve been through some really hard years with labels, you can afford to be that particular about something and to wait. Its like, if youve waited this long already, why not wait another year for a song and feel complete?
JG: Yeah! Thats the whole thing. We were scheduled to come out in March and were working on the artwork and it just wasnt the exact shade of red that we were looking for. Theyre like, Its going to hold your record up a month. I was like, And? [Laughs] They were great about it. Columbia has been amazing about it. It might not be so rock and roll of me [laughs] to not have any complaints
EB: [Laughs] If being rock and roll is complaining all the time then screw it.
JG: Yeah, I personally dont feel that we need conflict to do something worthwhile. Some people do. That was the belief in the past; thats why we struggled for many years with the old label.
EB: But I think that becomes a trap and I think it undoes a lot of people, creatively. You have a lifetime to write your first record, you have three months to write the second. A lot of people get attached to struggle and it completely tears them apart.
JG: Yeah, yeah. I learned a lot on Precious when I had a short period of time to do it because it was like, I have to get this tonight. I have to get this song because were recording it tomorrow. I have to. Oddly enough, the first record took four years and we went back and change it a lot when we play it live. The second record, I listen to it and go, Well, we pretty much got that one. It is what it is.
EB: Last time you and I talked about Precious before it came out, we talked mostly about you and your creative process. But since then youve spoken openly about your frustrations with Precious because it deviated from a certain spirit that you wanted, that Ours was to you in general, and that this new record is getting back to that spirit.
JG: Right. Weve been playing for a long time and I was very influenced by U2 at a young age, and the Doors and then a lot of Motown -- thats the stuff I was really drawn to and felt close to. We played and played and played and never felt like we had to get out from underneath that U2 influence kind of rock, it just felt like, even though we love them a lot, were different. But as the years went on, something else started to happen bands like Radiohead popped up, who are amazing. Theyre the greatest band in the world for what they do. Jeff [Buckley] came up. As more things came up I was like, Man thats what were trying to do. Thats exactly what were trying to do. Its just like anything: if youre an artist and you have this idea for a painting and somebody else does it, what are you going to do? Put out the same painting? It forces you to look further inside yourself. So I had to really look far inside myself for the first record and say, Okay well Ive got to make sure that this doesnt sound like U2 or Jeff or Radiohead, even though thats naturally what I would have done. We have the same instincts. We were all influenced by a lot of the same things.
The first record, we let a lot of that go. It was like, You know that? This is who we are. It doesnt matter. The second record, what happened was [sighs] you know every interview I was in, everybody had to talk to me about Jeff. So it was important for me to do something completely different than I would have wanted to do. Just because Im capable of doing this raw-rock thing, it doesnt get me. Straight up hard rock, if it doesnt have some sort of sexuality to me the Doors I loved, INXS I loved because it had a certain type of swagger to it. The reason Im saying all this is because the new record is just going back to saying, You know what? This is who I am. This is what I really want to do. This is what my instinct tells me I want to do. Just do it. Dont worry if it sounds like anything else. Just wait, be honest with it, and when its all said and done, whatever it sounds like, it sounds like. Dont get too far inside of your own head about it. So thats what we did on Mercy. Like, this feels right to us so let's just do it.
EB: It can also do you a disservice as an artist to be overly cautious about sounding like another band and change the music you would naturally make accordingly.
JG: Yeah, and it has here and there. But it has forced us to look really deep inside ourselves to make sure, if were going to do this
EB: That youre putting it out for the right reasons.
JG: Yeah, and we found a really good balance on this record where we did exactly what we wanted to do but feel like its unique. Ive personally never heard a song like Murder.
EB: Releasing an album of music that many fans have already heard when you played in their town or via bootlegs, does it concern you that some of the songs wont necessarily be new to people or is it a non-issue because its all about creating a music community with listeners?
JG: Its not something that concerns me. Theyve had this stuff for years its a tricky thing when you take that long to make a record but you really love to play [smiles]. We cant stop playing, so we had to play a lot of new songs. Weve been playing some of them for five years now. And some of them are even way older. Like the title track, Mercy, I wrote in 1991. So weve been playing it for a while but it doesnt feel that way. Going through the process that I go through with writing a song, a lot of them feel like [theyre new]. One of the main things in my head as a writer was just to make sure that we werent ever doing anything that was gimmicky or based off of something that was the latest trend. It just needs to be a timeless song from the jump or else I dont want to even bother with it. And thats the key. Ive had that mentality the whole time Ive been writing, for years. Thats why I can go back and play something from 1990 and it still feels honest.
EB: How do you differentiate between a timeless song and a timely song?
JG: I would say singing about Hanson, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson, is probably not going to be timeless. Its an actual song that came out.
EB: Really?
JG: It was a huge hit.
EB: What are you talking about?
JG: It was that band New Radicals or something.
EB: They sang about Hanson, Marilyn Manson and Courtney Love all in the same song?
JG: Mm-hmm. The band was just talking shit on Manson and Mansons all, Well he challenged me so Im gonna knock his fucking head off his shoulders. [Laughs]
EB: What was Hanson and Courtney Loves response?
JG: I dont know. Im not interested in even knowing. And thats the thing; we just try to have timeless lyrics and subject matter.
EB: Youve also said recently that this record for you is really cinematic in nature, very visual. How so?
JG: Well the sounds underneath the songs, all the layers going on underneath the actual song itself, thats hidden in the sound, thats how we did that. A lot of layers, a lot of sounds, really.
EB: A lot of colors.
JG: Yeah. We really went for it on this one.
EB: With the past decade being as hard as its been, how do you keep from getting completely discouraged or disillusioned? Its a real feat to not just kick rocks and throw your hand up in the air.
JG: Well, thats a tough one. That can be a long conversation. Theres a certain part of me that often wants to stop because I feel like if were just doing this because we need attention or to make ourselves popular for whatever reason, I dont want to do it. I dont need everybody patting me on the shoulder. I have a good family, good friends, two children that I love and I love being their dad, so I dont need that kind of approval. But you constantly look at it like, Why do we keep doing this then? What is it? That challenges me to keep making sure that Im doing something thats actually helping people in some way. Not to be any sort of hero or anything, but music helps me and if I can do that for anyone else, then I want to do it. As soon as it feels like nobodys interested in really hearing it, then Ill go away and play it for myself in my room. But I dont like quitters, first of all. It really pisses me off. People make excuses about things and quit. I just dont like it. First and foremost, Ive got to like a song that Im writing. But then at the same time, if people arent feeling good from hearing it, then shut the fuck up. Its a weird thing. I play a lot of music for other people because it makes them feel good. I made it for me, but I play it for other people.
EB: It all ties together when you get to meet your fans and you get to hear their stories and it makes you feel good in return.
JG: Yeah, thats helped me a lot over the last bunch of years, kind words from people. Theres a lot of amazing letters from people, piles and piles that I just sit and read. They make me cry, a lot of them. It just kills you to know one person feels this way about this song that I sat in my room torturing myself over for six months. Then you put it out and one person can write you this letter and tell you that it means that much to them. Its your bandmates too. I hadnt said that but thats part of it. I dragged these guys into this [laughs], and now I have a band of people who are equally as enthusiastic as I am. So now on days when I feel like Im just tired of this shit, I think about them and well, they need me. [Laughs] So that helps.
EB: About this record, youve said that it was nice to work with people where you could bring a song to the table and theyd actually make it better. How was that different than on previous records?
JG: On this one we found the right group to the point of where they lifted the songs. Both Static and Locke just really lifted my spirit and helped the songs out. The sound of Statics guitar, most of the time, is not hurting my ears [laughs], its really inspiring the big sound.
EB: Where did you meet Static and Locke? Youve been playing with them for quite some time now.
JG: Theyre both local Jersey guys. I would play with Static, in 1999 or 2000 before Distorted Lullabies came out. So on this album, Mercy, we pulled everything back and said, Lets find the right people and spend time building a sound. That was my initial goal.
EB: I know for a fact a lot of your fans from the first record on have really hung in there with you, going to shows regardless of what was going on with you or the band or whether you had a label or not. How has your relationship been with those fans, growing together?
JG: Its been amazing. It did exactly what I had hoped it would. A lot of other people around didnt have the desire to even give a shit if it lasted a year or two or three years. I always felt like weve got to make the right decisions to make sure that we put out music that our audience can grow with. Like Manson, whats he going to do? Whats he going to do next? Maybe hell figure it out; hes a smart guy.
EB: He is a smart guy. Hes a well-spoken guy. He has a lot of things to say but perhaps not a lot of things to share. If youre making music and connecting with people based on emotions like anger or angst, youre not necessarily going to have an audience grow with you because kids grow out of that.
JG: Yeah, watching his audience, a lot of his original fans [have moved on], maybe theyre in jail?
EB: [Laughs]
JG: Or they resolved the anger.
EB: Thats what I mean, there is always going to be the potential for new fans but to actually bring people along, from one album to the next, for the journey, that loyalty is a rare find... To have people become seekers of music again.
JG: The girl from Paramour told me like, Oh my God, I got your record when I was eight. It meant everything to me. Shes so cute, so sweet. But it was weird. Her voice is killer. Our audience has been great; Ive seen a lot of them grow up. To clarify, Distorted Lullabies came out in 2001 and a lot of these people have been coming since 88. So its amazing. It shows, mainly on the East Coast, a lot of those older fans. Its amazing to be at a New York show and look out and see somebody like, Hey, we were 13 together. Thats been really awesome. Hopefully we have at least another good 10 years in us Maybe 15, maybe 20. I dont know if I can keep screaming for much longer, to tell you the truth, personally. I just dont feel that way anymore.
EB: How is it having your brother [drummer Pit] in the band?
JG: Its amazing. [Laughs] We have a different type of relationship than I have with the other guys. [Laughs] Hes my younger brother. As much as I get aggravated with him, it was always my responsibility to look out for him. Often our mom wasnt around when we were growing up so I really raised him and look out for him a lot.
EB: No headlocks on stage? [Laughs]
JG: It can be frustrating sometimes when its my responsibility to look out for him but hes killing us [laughs]. Killing us
EB: [Laughs]
JG: But no headlocks. No fistfights. I walked though his kit once with an Absinthe bottle in my hand. I got so pissed off and I grabbed the Absinthe bottle but the bottle was empty so thats why I was walking through his kit [laughs]. It's good having him out with us.
EB: [Laughs] With the other guys in the band, after going through numerous lineup changes in the past, are you at a point where this group is pretty solid?
JG: This has been the band now for years. This is the longest band that Ive had and it makes sense. Its the first time where I actually felt like this is the band. We actually have another member that doesnt tour with us. Its weird; there are a couple people that Ill see as always being a part of the band because they still help out.
EB: Race has been in the band since I fist saw you guys with Distorted Lullabies.
JG: And Anthony the keyboard player, hes still with us. He worked on this record with us. Just not everybody can tour like this. Weve had drummers that have played with us that are still great friends and I still see them as part of the band. Any night you want to play with us? Come and play. We do it all the time. It's cool, we have a core group of the five of us but it really extends out.
EB: Youve never struck me as someone that would ever limit himself to a standard, traditional band format.
JG: Thats the whole thing, we did none of that on this record. We had the same core people working on it but we didnt limit ourselves to just that, the traditional format.
EB: Somewhere along the line it's like someone set forth this imaginary set of rules about what roles people are supposed to play in a band and if you deviate from those rules then youre beholden to someone, or someone feels threatened. Its like that in romantic relationships as well.
JG: Yeah! All relationships. Through this record and my own personal life, its like, I dont go out of my way to hurt anybody. Ever. I never, ever have ever sat around thinking, Oh how can I fuck with this person? Ever! But for some reason, [laughs] all my relationships with women are fucked up!
EB: [Laughs]
JG: And I feel like I did everything I could to make this work. But really, I did everything I could I thought to make them happy. And then it just hit me, like, You know what? Im just going to be completely honest about everything, who I am, whatever it is. Im a pervert, can you deal with that?
EB: [Laughs]
JG: I get bored easily. Im a pervert. So keep things exciting or Im gone. You can deal with that? Were going to get along great. Im not going to go anywhere then. As soon as I learned that, its the same thing with the band, no limitations.
EB: So what are your plans for the rest of 2008?
JG: Get the record out and a lot of touring. Id love to see a lot of my sons baseball games. I hope to be able to catch as many as I can. My daughter, she just wants to come on the road and stay out. Shes awesome. But its not a conducive environment.
EB: Is she singing yet?
JG: She sang on this record. She finishes the record. The song is called Get Up and theres just something about a child telling you to get up, dust yourself off, pull yourself together. So a lot of touring and hopefully finding ways to not miss too much of my childrens lives because I dont like that. As much as I like touring, I dont like not being there everyday to put them to sleep or take them to school. I dont like not being there. Weve already been touring this record for two years. Last year, I drove 70, 000 miles, driving the van, touring. [Laughs] Thats a lot. And thats just warming up
EB: Well thanks for your time, man.
JG: Word.
EB: Word to you mother.
Look for Ours on tour this spring. For more information go to http://www.ours.net/ and http://www.myspace.com/oursmusic
Hours later, the rain has stopped, the Westboro Baptist Church has given up, and the fans are going home. The carnival is over. The weary musicians find familiar sanctuary in perhaps the only place they can, tucked into the back booth of their tour bus. There I caught up with Ours frontman Jimmy Gnecco -- only moments after he stepped off stage -- to chat about what its like, night after night, finding intimacy, albeit a different kind of intimacy, in an environment that is anything but. The band -- completed by Pit, Race, Locke, and Static has just wrapped a national tour in support of Marilyn Manson, a pairing that proved eye opening and even dangerous at times.
Ours began in the early '90s, though it wasn't until 2001 when Distorted Lullabies hit shelves that mainstream audiences fell in love with the bands sound: a remarkable mix of dark and romantic soulful rock, chock-full of sexy swaggering undertones, riptide themes of love and pain, and lyrics that never shy from exposing the underbelly of the human condition. The New Jersey-based band followed with Precious in 2002 but without proper label support, soon retreated from the spotlight. After making the rounds solely as a live band for the past several years, Ours has finally wrapped its long awaited new album, Mercy Dancing for the Death of an Imaginary Enemy, due April 15th on Rick Rubin's American Recordings and Columbia Records. I've heard it and let me tell you, it's gorgeous.
SuicideGirls sat down with Jimmy Gnecco to get the full story
Erin Broadley: How have things been going on tour with Marilyn Manson?
Jimmy Gnecco: Good.
EB: Last time we saw each other was when you played with Circa Survive at the Mayan Theater.
JG: Yeah, this is a lot worse in certain aspects there was a handful of people just heckling and throwing shit. Theres a lot of anger in the audience on this tour.
EB: Is it a tough situation for you guys to be in?
JG: Yeah, the [Manson fans] throw quarters, any sort of change they throw at us, water bottles and all that. If you get through it, you show them youre not cowering.
EB: How have things been going with the new songs for the upcoming record?
JG: Good. Its been a long time but certainly we werent in a rush to put out anything bad. Weve done that already [laughs].
EB: [Laughs] How was working with Rick Rubin on this album? Originally you were supposed to sign with him 10 years ago. Things changed.
JG: Yeah, in the summer of 97 I was going to sign with him. I really wanted to sign with him. If he were at Dreamworks I would have signed specifically to him because I wanted to make a record with him. We just hit it off. I really liked him from the start and had an honest connection with him. I genuinely liked him, you know. I ended up signing and doing business with Dreamworks but felt like Rick was someone that was actually going to become my friend. I just didnt want to sign to Columbia back then with the people who were running it. I was a little terrified to do it back then with the people that were running it. Luckily, 11 years later, Im still able to sing [smiles]. Ive been doing it 20 years now but luckily it lined up and we got a chance to [work with Rick] so it feels like were home. Its been a long dark period. It was always a battle. This time around, its good that we got a chance to concentrate on the things that actually mattered. That was the most rewarding thing for me with this record. If we needed to redo a song, the drums, whatever it was, Rick was just all about the music. Other people say, Were all about the music, were all about the music, but they dont even know what the fuck that means.
The first record was basically demos and theyre like, Well I hope you can learn to live with it because were putting it out. I was like, If you just give me 3,000 dollars more I can finish it and I can be really happy and you can be happy. Theyre like, No. Theyre like, Were gonna take you out to lunch and spend seven grand and tell you how much we love you but we wont give you three grand to finish your record.
EB: And make your peace with it.
JG: Yeah. So thats always what weve dealt with in the past. It was amazing to have the luxury of time to say, Oh we dont have to get it right away. Well work on it a few weeks and not be under the gun. Just have that understanding was amazing. Theres a certain amount of structure, like with anything. Like, Okay, we have to finish this in three months, this is our schedule, this is when its coming out but thinking there is no end in sight. Thats somewhat terrifying.
EB: Its both liberating and terrifying at the same time.
JG: Thats what I needed. It was good for me in that aspect. We took a year just to mix one song. We had finished the record but there was just this one song that was just not there, and he kept letting me try.
EB: Thats amazing.
JG: It was very important because, to me, it was the most important song on the record. It was the heart of the record.
EB: Youve said before, when it comes to choosing tracks to include on an album, something can be a standout song but if it doesnt fit in with the others then its not going to be on the record.
JG: Yeah, we were recording the record around that song.
EB: Which song was it?
JG: Ran Away to Tell the World. It was the reason we wanted to make another record. I had that song and felt like, as long as we have that song well build a record around it, one song at a time, until everything feels as good and has as much purpose as that song.
EB: Its one of those things if youve been through the ringer and youve been through some really hard years with labels, you can afford to be that particular about something and to wait. Its like, if youve waited this long already, why not wait another year for a song and feel complete?
JG: Yeah! Thats the whole thing. We were scheduled to come out in March and were working on the artwork and it just wasnt the exact shade of red that we were looking for. Theyre like, Its going to hold your record up a month. I was like, And? [Laughs] They were great about it. Columbia has been amazing about it. It might not be so rock and roll of me [laughs] to not have any complaints
EB: [Laughs] If being rock and roll is complaining all the time then screw it.
JG: Yeah, I personally dont feel that we need conflict to do something worthwhile. Some people do. That was the belief in the past; thats why we struggled for many years with the old label.
EB: But I think that becomes a trap and I think it undoes a lot of people, creatively. You have a lifetime to write your first record, you have three months to write the second. A lot of people get attached to struggle and it completely tears them apart.
JG: Yeah, yeah. I learned a lot on Precious when I had a short period of time to do it because it was like, I have to get this tonight. I have to get this song because were recording it tomorrow. I have to. Oddly enough, the first record took four years and we went back and change it a lot when we play it live. The second record, I listen to it and go, Well, we pretty much got that one. It is what it is.
EB: Last time you and I talked about Precious before it came out, we talked mostly about you and your creative process. But since then youve spoken openly about your frustrations with Precious because it deviated from a certain spirit that you wanted, that Ours was to you in general, and that this new record is getting back to that spirit.
JG: Right. Weve been playing for a long time and I was very influenced by U2 at a young age, and the Doors and then a lot of Motown -- thats the stuff I was really drawn to and felt close to. We played and played and played and never felt like we had to get out from underneath that U2 influence kind of rock, it just felt like, even though we love them a lot, were different. But as the years went on, something else started to happen bands like Radiohead popped up, who are amazing. Theyre the greatest band in the world for what they do. Jeff [Buckley] came up. As more things came up I was like, Man thats what were trying to do. Thats exactly what were trying to do. Its just like anything: if youre an artist and you have this idea for a painting and somebody else does it, what are you going to do? Put out the same painting? It forces you to look further inside yourself. So I had to really look far inside myself for the first record and say, Okay well Ive got to make sure that this doesnt sound like U2 or Jeff or Radiohead, even though thats naturally what I would have done. We have the same instincts. We were all influenced by a lot of the same things.
The first record, we let a lot of that go. It was like, You know that? This is who we are. It doesnt matter. The second record, what happened was [sighs] you know every interview I was in, everybody had to talk to me about Jeff. So it was important for me to do something completely different than I would have wanted to do. Just because Im capable of doing this raw-rock thing, it doesnt get me. Straight up hard rock, if it doesnt have some sort of sexuality to me the Doors I loved, INXS I loved because it had a certain type of swagger to it. The reason Im saying all this is because the new record is just going back to saying, You know what? This is who I am. This is what I really want to do. This is what my instinct tells me I want to do. Just do it. Dont worry if it sounds like anything else. Just wait, be honest with it, and when its all said and done, whatever it sounds like, it sounds like. Dont get too far inside of your own head about it. So thats what we did on Mercy. Like, this feels right to us so let's just do it.
EB: It can also do you a disservice as an artist to be overly cautious about sounding like another band and change the music you would naturally make accordingly.
JG: Yeah, and it has here and there. But it has forced us to look really deep inside ourselves to make sure, if were going to do this
EB: That youre putting it out for the right reasons.
JG: Yeah, and we found a really good balance on this record where we did exactly what we wanted to do but feel like its unique. Ive personally never heard a song like Murder.
EB: Releasing an album of music that many fans have already heard when you played in their town or via bootlegs, does it concern you that some of the songs wont necessarily be new to people or is it a non-issue because its all about creating a music community with listeners?
JG: Its not something that concerns me. Theyve had this stuff for years its a tricky thing when you take that long to make a record but you really love to play [smiles]. We cant stop playing, so we had to play a lot of new songs. Weve been playing some of them for five years now. And some of them are even way older. Like the title track, Mercy, I wrote in 1991. So weve been playing it for a while but it doesnt feel that way. Going through the process that I go through with writing a song, a lot of them feel like [theyre new]. One of the main things in my head as a writer was just to make sure that we werent ever doing anything that was gimmicky or based off of something that was the latest trend. It just needs to be a timeless song from the jump or else I dont want to even bother with it. And thats the key. Ive had that mentality the whole time Ive been writing, for years. Thats why I can go back and play something from 1990 and it still feels honest.
EB: How do you differentiate between a timeless song and a timely song?
JG: I would say singing about Hanson, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson, is probably not going to be timeless. Its an actual song that came out.
EB: Really?
JG: It was a huge hit.
EB: What are you talking about?
JG: It was that band New Radicals or something.
EB: They sang about Hanson, Marilyn Manson and Courtney Love all in the same song?
JG: Mm-hmm. The band was just talking shit on Manson and Mansons all, Well he challenged me so Im gonna knock his fucking head off his shoulders. [Laughs]
EB: What was Hanson and Courtney Loves response?
JG: I dont know. Im not interested in even knowing. And thats the thing; we just try to have timeless lyrics and subject matter.
EB: Youve also said recently that this record for you is really cinematic in nature, very visual. How so?
JG: Well the sounds underneath the songs, all the layers going on underneath the actual song itself, thats hidden in the sound, thats how we did that. A lot of layers, a lot of sounds, really.
EB: A lot of colors.
JG: Yeah. We really went for it on this one.
EB: With the past decade being as hard as its been, how do you keep from getting completely discouraged or disillusioned? Its a real feat to not just kick rocks and throw your hand up in the air.
JG: Well, thats a tough one. That can be a long conversation. Theres a certain part of me that often wants to stop because I feel like if were just doing this because we need attention or to make ourselves popular for whatever reason, I dont want to do it. I dont need everybody patting me on the shoulder. I have a good family, good friends, two children that I love and I love being their dad, so I dont need that kind of approval. But you constantly look at it like, Why do we keep doing this then? What is it? That challenges me to keep making sure that Im doing something thats actually helping people in some way. Not to be any sort of hero or anything, but music helps me and if I can do that for anyone else, then I want to do it. As soon as it feels like nobodys interested in really hearing it, then Ill go away and play it for myself in my room. But I dont like quitters, first of all. It really pisses me off. People make excuses about things and quit. I just dont like it. First and foremost, Ive got to like a song that Im writing. But then at the same time, if people arent feeling good from hearing it, then shut the fuck up. Its a weird thing. I play a lot of music for other people because it makes them feel good. I made it for me, but I play it for other people.
EB: It all ties together when you get to meet your fans and you get to hear their stories and it makes you feel good in return.
JG: Yeah, thats helped me a lot over the last bunch of years, kind words from people. Theres a lot of amazing letters from people, piles and piles that I just sit and read. They make me cry, a lot of them. It just kills you to know one person feels this way about this song that I sat in my room torturing myself over for six months. Then you put it out and one person can write you this letter and tell you that it means that much to them. Its your bandmates too. I hadnt said that but thats part of it. I dragged these guys into this [laughs], and now I have a band of people who are equally as enthusiastic as I am. So now on days when I feel like Im just tired of this shit, I think about them and well, they need me. [Laughs] So that helps.
EB: About this record, youve said that it was nice to work with people where you could bring a song to the table and theyd actually make it better. How was that different than on previous records?
JG: On this one we found the right group to the point of where they lifted the songs. Both Static and Locke just really lifted my spirit and helped the songs out. The sound of Statics guitar, most of the time, is not hurting my ears [laughs], its really inspiring the big sound.
EB: Where did you meet Static and Locke? Youve been playing with them for quite some time now.
JG: Theyre both local Jersey guys. I would play with Static, in 1999 or 2000 before Distorted Lullabies came out. So on this album, Mercy, we pulled everything back and said, Lets find the right people and spend time building a sound. That was my initial goal.
EB: I know for a fact a lot of your fans from the first record on have really hung in there with you, going to shows regardless of what was going on with you or the band or whether you had a label or not. How has your relationship been with those fans, growing together?
JG: Its been amazing. It did exactly what I had hoped it would. A lot of other people around didnt have the desire to even give a shit if it lasted a year or two or three years. I always felt like weve got to make the right decisions to make sure that we put out music that our audience can grow with. Like Manson, whats he going to do? Whats he going to do next? Maybe hell figure it out; hes a smart guy.
EB: He is a smart guy. Hes a well-spoken guy. He has a lot of things to say but perhaps not a lot of things to share. If youre making music and connecting with people based on emotions like anger or angst, youre not necessarily going to have an audience grow with you because kids grow out of that.
JG: Yeah, watching his audience, a lot of his original fans [have moved on], maybe theyre in jail?
EB: [Laughs]
JG: Or they resolved the anger.
EB: Thats what I mean, there is always going to be the potential for new fans but to actually bring people along, from one album to the next, for the journey, that loyalty is a rare find... To have people become seekers of music again.
JG: The girl from Paramour told me like, Oh my God, I got your record when I was eight. It meant everything to me. Shes so cute, so sweet. But it was weird. Her voice is killer. Our audience has been great; Ive seen a lot of them grow up. To clarify, Distorted Lullabies came out in 2001 and a lot of these people have been coming since 88. So its amazing. It shows, mainly on the East Coast, a lot of those older fans. Its amazing to be at a New York show and look out and see somebody like, Hey, we were 13 together. Thats been really awesome. Hopefully we have at least another good 10 years in us Maybe 15, maybe 20. I dont know if I can keep screaming for much longer, to tell you the truth, personally. I just dont feel that way anymore.
EB: How is it having your brother [drummer Pit] in the band?
JG: Its amazing. [Laughs] We have a different type of relationship than I have with the other guys. [Laughs] Hes my younger brother. As much as I get aggravated with him, it was always my responsibility to look out for him. Often our mom wasnt around when we were growing up so I really raised him and look out for him a lot.
EB: No headlocks on stage? [Laughs]
JG: It can be frustrating sometimes when its my responsibility to look out for him but hes killing us [laughs]. Killing us
EB: [Laughs]
JG: But no headlocks. No fistfights. I walked though his kit once with an Absinthe bottle in my hand. I got so pissed off and I grabbed the Absinthe bottle but the bottle was empty so thats why I was walking through his kit [laughs]. It's good having him out with us.
EB: [Laughs] With the other guys in the band, after going through numerous lineup changes in the past, are you at a point where this group is pretty solid?
JG: This has been the band now for years. This is the longest band that Ive had and it makes sense. Its the first time where I actually felt like this is the band. We actually have another member that doesnt tour with us. Its weird; there are a couple people that Ill see as always being a part of the band because they still help out.
EB: Race has been in the band since I fist saw you guys with Distorted Lullabies.
JG: And Anthony the keyboard player, hes still with us. He worked on this record with us. Just not everybody can tour like this. Weve had drummers that have played with us that are still great friends and I still see them as part of the band. Any night you want to play with us? Come and play. We do it all the time. It's cool, we have a core group of the five of us but it really extends out.
EB: Youve never struck me as someone that would ever limit himself to a standard, traditional band format.
JG: Thats the whole thing, we did none of that on this record. We had the same core people working on it but we didnt limit ourselves to just that, the traditional format.
EB: Somewhere along the line it's like someone set forth this imaginary set of rules about what roles people are supposed to play in a band and if you deviate from those rules then youre beholden to someone, or someone feels threatened. Its like that in romantic relationships as well.
JG: Yeah! All relationships. Through this record and my own personal life, its like, I dont go out of my way to hurt anybody. Ever. I never, ever have ever sat around thinking, Oh how can I fuck with this person? Ever! But for some reason, [laughs] all my relationships with women are fucked up!
EB: [Laughs]
JG: And I feel like I did everything I could to make this work. But really, I did everything I could I thought to make them happy. And then it just hit me, like, You know what? Im just going to be completely honest about everything, who I am, whatever it is. Im a pervert, can you deal with that?
EB: [Laughs]
JG: I get bored easily. Im a pervert. So keep things exciting or Im gone. You can deal with that? Were going to get along great. Im not going to go anywhere then. As soon as I learned that, its the same thing with the band, no limitations.
EB: So what are your plans for the rest of 2008?
JG: Get the record out and a lot of touring. Id love to see a lot of my sons baseball games. I hope to be able to catch as many as I can. My daughter, she just wants to come on the road and stay out. Shes awesome. But its not a conducive environment.
EB: Is she singing yet?
JG: She sang on this record. She finishes the record. The song is called Get Up and theres just something about a child telling you to get up, dust yourself off, pull yourself together. So a lot of touring and hopefully finding ways to not miss too much of my childrens lives because I dont like that. As much as I like touring, I dont like not being there everyday to put them to sleep or take them to school. I dont like not being there. Weve already been touring this record for two years. Last year, I drove 70, 000 miles, driving the van, touring. [Laughs] Thats a lot. And thats just warming up
EB: Well thanks for your time, man.
JG: Word.
EB: Word to you mother.
Look for Ours on tour this spring. For more information go to http://www.ours.net/ and http://www.myspace.com/oursmusic
VIEW 8 of 8 COMMENTS
masseffection:
God, I love this band, haha. I've been promoting the hell out of Mercy. I just wish I could see them live.. Oh, sigh! 
mydogfarted:
This is surreal to me. I hung out with Jimmy occasionally when I was younger. We lived in the same town and used to race BMX together. The mere mention of his name makes me flash back to the little blonde kid with a ridiculously long mullet, who was one of the fastest racers in his age bracket on the east coast. The next time I saw him, he was in high school fronting a hair metal band in the late 80's. I had no idea it was the same person on stage when I saw them open for Manson.