Singer overcomes depression to lead band’s high-energy concerts
Jamey Jasta, Hatebreed’s frontman, says the band is bringing a new attitude to its live show as the group tours this fall.
“We have basically a new outlook on what we want to do live,” Jasta said in a recent phone interview. “All we do is rehearse and make sure we represent songs from every record and we make sure they are super tight and super close to how you hear them on the album, which is something we didn’t really do in the past. We were always sort of more fly-by-the-seat-of-our pants, punk-rock style.”
The urge for professionalism is a sign, Jasta said, of Hatebreed’s growing popularity. The band recently toured Australia with Korn, Japan with Slayer and played European summer festivals in front of crowds numbering about 70,000 — which meant holding its own alongside established headlining bands.
“They (bands such as Slipknot) really come so pro, like as far as the lights and the sound and everything,” Jasta said. “We’re trying to make sure those shows come off as brutal as possible and with the best sound and performance as possible.”
The band’s fall shows won’t be anything close to the scale of the European festivals. The tour plays theaters and large clubs. But Hatebreed is keeping a few bells and whistles that have been part of its bigger concerts.
“We have full production, smoke and lights and risers and the whole thing out on this run,” Jasta said.
The tour also gives fans a chance to sample Hatebreed’s newest music since the group released its fifth studio CD, a self-titled release, at the end of September.
Life as a whole seems to be looking up for Hatebreed — which along with Jasta includes guitarists Frank “3 Gun” Novinec and Wayne Lozinak, bassist Chris Beattie and drummer Matt Byrne — after what has been a rocky ride throughout much of the band’s career.
Formed in 1994 in Connecticut, the band had plenty of issues to overcome on its previous three CDs.
Prior to the recording of its second CD, the 2002 release “Perseverance,” the group went through a nasty split with its label, Victory Records, and signed with major label Universal Records.
Then, as “Perseverance” was being recorded, the group was dealing with guitarist Lou “Boulder” Richards’ problems. Richards committed suicide in 2006.
“Behind the scenes we knew everything was deteriorating with Lou,” Jasta said. “It was so hard to keep it together.”
With the next CD, the 2003 release “Rise Of Brutality,” the band pushed itself to get the album done quickly, and despite some label problems, made some major strides.
“We felt like we had good songs,” Jasta said. “But then of course, the label pretty much implodes. We lose 1,100 employees. We lose our publicist. We don’t get any push from the label … But the record still sold a quarter million copies. We got a Grammy nomination. We headlined the Headbanger’s Ball tour. We had tons of great moments on that record.”
But instead of things settling into a nice groove after surviving the “Rise Of Brutality” period, life in Hatebreed remained bumpy with “Supremacy.”
Obstacles overcome
Jasta was worn down and battling severe depression — an issue that began to emerge after the March 2004 death of Hatebreed’s manager, Steve Richards, who had suffered from a brain tumor. He also was indulging in alcohol.
“I was so burned out, I didn’t want to pick up my phone,” Jasta said. “So to even have ‘Supremacy’ come out was like a miracle.”
One reason the CD got made was because Jasta took control of his life, got healthier and dealt with his depression. And the band has been getting back on track ever since.
Novinec joined the group shortly after “Supremacy” was finished, returning Hatebreed to its former five-man lineup. And the band’s lineup was solidified further recently with Lozinak, who was in the band from 1994 to 1996 and served as a guitar tech for the band on the “Supremacy” tour. He replaced Sean Martin in the lineup. In addition, Hatebreed has a new record deal, having signed with E1 Music.
The self-titled album that was made by the revamped lineup, Jasta said, retains much of the feel and sound of earlier Hatebreed CDs.
“We wanted to incorporate a couple of new ingredients, but the recipe is still the same,” Jasta said. “The ingredients that have brought us to this point are still strong and prevalent in the formula. It’s just we tried to turn it up a couple more notches, tried to intensify everything that everybody loves about the band.”
In looking back, Jasta said he feels the band recycled a few musical ideas on “Supremacy.” But, that didn’t happen with the new CD.
“With this record, we just did what we wanted to do,” Jasta said. “There was no label breathing down our necks to finish (stuff). It was us organically coming up with ideas and really having a good time doing it.”
