Interview with Modern Day Renaissance Man… JINXX of Black Veil Brides

For years, the Baroque period of music has influenced many rock musicians as they brought out intense emotions through their music. During the ’80s, several rock acts also brought forth their ability to play classical music into their own style.  From Richie Blackmore to Yngwie Malmsteen they brought a new life to rock.  Some heavy metal musicians would take inspiration of the loud, dramatic tones that would come from Bach, Vivaldi, Beethoven and Paganini.

Today you even have sub genres of music that completely encompass these sounds, ranging from symphonic rock, baroque pop, rock opera, etc.  What I truly enjoy is when a rock/metal band infuses their own sound with these classical influences without overpowering or completely altering their sound. For me, one of the most successful bands that has achieved this today is Black Veil Brides. Not only do they deliver incredible music that is filled with emotionally driven lyrics, but has classical compositions interwoven through their songs.  Their most recent album, Wretched and Divine, The Story of the Wild Ones captures this essence with their striking melodies and clean textures. Not only is it an excellent concept album but also a movie, Legion of the Black.

When you take a listen, you can’t help but be amazed at the work by Jinxx, who not only plays guitar but provides the most harmonious and mellifluous violin work.  We had a chance to talk with Jinxx more about his classical influences and we are pleased to bring you that interview:

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Music Junkie Press: I want to thank you for the taking the time out talk with us here at Music Junkie Press. We love  your work in Black Veil Brides and also your affinity for successfully bringing classical music into the rock and metal genre.

First, we would love to know how old were you when you first started playing music and what instrument did you start with?

Jinxx: I began with guitar. Both my parents were in bands, and my brother played, and I started picking at it at 4 years old. When I turned 6, my brother gave me his guitar. I guess he thought I was getting better at it than him! (haha) His forte and passion were more with percussion anyway. I was really into Randy Rhoads, and then Metallica. From those influences, I got into Baroque and Classical music, and decided I wanted to also play violin, about the age of 7 or 8.

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Music Junkie Press: You really did start at a young age! Can you recall what is the first song that you learned in its entirety?

Jinxx: The “Star-Spangeld Banner.” I would sit in front of the TV watching videos of Jimi Hendrix doing it and I was mesmerized until I had learned it all. I suppose after that it was “Crazy Train” by Randy Rhoads. When I was given a double vinyl record of Metallica’s “…And Justice For All,” I learned every song on that record from start to finish, note for note. I was obsessed.

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Music Junkie Press: I love how you truly were self taught. It seems that most of finest musicians start from teaching themselves and it just escalates their interest into the arts. With your classical musical roots, what can you say is your favorite composition of Bach or Beethoven?

Jinxx: Oh my. Now that is almost like asking someone who their favorite child is haha. But, let’s see… I suppose it really depends on my mood. With Bach, sometimes I prefer the haunting simplicity of the Aria from the Goldberg Variations.Other times, I nerd out to the advanced development of a single melodic line in “The Art of Fugue”. And if I feel I’m getting rusty on the viols, I like to run through all the Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin. As for Beethoven, same situation. But I am always quite partial to the “Pathetique.” So much passion in that one. And the 5^th Symphony is just plain Heavy Metal for its day. When I like to show off to a girl, I’ll shred her heartstrings with “Romance No. 2 in G” 😉

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Music Junkie Press: Those are all incredible. I will tell you that I can listen to “Sonata Pathetique” and just bleed emotion. Also “Romance No. 2 in G” can truly melt anyone’s heart, good choice! In today’s world, with rampant stories of bullying for a variety of reasons, were you ever a victim of bullying due to your interest in classical music?

Jinxx: Absolutely. And constantly. “Silly faggot, violins are for chicks.” That was a common one. “Dorkestra faggot.” Kids at my school really desired using the unintelligent verbiage of “Fagot.” Which is actually a bundle of sticks. I would usually hide out in the private practice rooms of the choir room or band room with all the broken pianos and organs, teaching myself “Toccata and Fugue in D minor” and “Moonlight Sonata” and whatnot during study hall and gym, and long after school let out to avoid getting beat up or rocks thrown at me on my way home.

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Music Junkie Press: It is such a shame to hear about that. It seems that some people find satisfaction in making others feel that they don’t belong. I will share below a video that was created by Rockin Ryan for the BVB song, ‘We Don’t Belong”. But you know what, you stuck through it and today are an amazing musician! If you can take any classical composition and turn it into a rock/metal style, which would it be and why?

Jinxx: I’ve been wanting to do something with this Domenico Scarlatti harpsichord sonata that would be some super fast shredding on the guitar and a complex drum arrangement. I’ve actually already worked it out and can play it proficiently (on the guitar). Just need to record it properly when I get home from tour. And I’ve always thought Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D minor” would always be a cool one to cover as well, if done right. I have that one worked out on guitar as well. And Rimsky-Korsikov “Flight of the Bumblebee” is always a fun way to show off 🙂

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Music Junkie Press: I think those would be incredible!  I can completely see “Toccata and Fugue in D minor” fitting into a Black Veil Brides set! You seem to have conquered so many instruments; piano, guitar, violin, is there anything that you would like to learn?

Jinxx: I’ve also tried flute and trumpet, and understand enough about the ranges and action of most orchestral instruments for the purpose of scoring. Perhaps learn how to sing better? Haha 😉

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Music Junkie Press: Wow, you definitely are the Modern Day Renaissance man! What is your rig rundown for your live performances?

Jinxx: My live rig has become quite advanced these days. We have adopted using Kemper profiling amplifiers live, where we have captured the exact guitar tones and signal chain we use in the studio to record our records. It is quite remarkable technology, to be honest. Fans get the experience of hearing album quality sound, but played live. Also it
eliminates the need to mic cabinets on stage creating unnecessary and unwanted stage volume that detracts from mixing for both front of house and in ear monitor mixing. They plug direct into our PA and the sound translates more efficiently. As for violin live, I have an electric fiddle going direct into the PA as well, with an added Boss reverb pedal and chromatic tuner. Pretty simple, actually.

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Music Junkie Press: With Wretched and Divine, was it your  influence in bringing the great classical vibe and feel to it? It absolutely takes you back in time into a whole other world with the classical additions?

Jinxx: Well, I have always wanted to incorporate more orchestral and cinematic qualities to our music, from day 1. I always say, use everything available to you to make your sound bigger, more impressive, and reach more sensitive ears. When the idea that this record would be a concept record came up, and eventually a movie, I was all about filling in the duties of string arranger and composer, for what was to be my first great endeavor in film scoring. Composing the interludes (“FEAR Transmissions”) to spoken word and tying each song track together was especially fun and challenging. I got to experiment with fugue and counterpoint that I had never done before. I think it is an element that made this album, and us as a band, definitely more unique than anything else out there right now.

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Music Junkie Press: You truly did an amazing job. I think the first time I played it was on vinyl so it just had the most incredible sound quality and literally gave us chills when listening to it. Beautiful work! In the future will we be seeing more of your classical influences in the music of Black Veil Brides?

Jinxx: Absolutely. Although if one truly listens, you will hear a classical influence in all of our music. Even our first record “We Stitch These Wounds,” I borrow from Bach quite a bit. Like, for example, the breakdown in “Beautiful Remains” dual lead guitars inspired by “Prelude #2” from “Well-Tempered Clavier”, or bridge from “Perfect Weapon”, “Invention in A minor”. And “Heaven’s Calling”… well, Bach’s spirit is all over that record, as that was all I was listening to at the time. Classical music doesn’t just mean violins and cellos. The same thing can be played on a guitar and it then becomes ‘Metal.’ I love that I have inadvertently been teaching kids classical music appreciation without them even knowing it!

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Music Junkie Press: That is quite impressive, now I am going to have to pull out all of my BVB CDs. Now on another note, We understand you are currently on the Warped Tour, how is that going so far? What is the craziest thing that has happened for you on tour?

Jinxx: As for Warped Tour, it has been nothing but amazing for us, save for the exhausting summer heat. As for craziest thing to happen on tour, man, I never know how to answer this question appropriately haha (blushes). But there was one amusing incident that happened recently, where a hack music reporter got a photo from backstage of some of our staging that is made to look like a wall of speaker cabinets displaying our logo, showing that there aren’t any actual speakers in them. They made a huge hubbub about how we have ‘fake amps’ on stage and don’t actually play our instruments live, apparently completely ignorant of one of the oldest tricks in Rock n Roll imagery, that of the massive ‘wall of speakers’ on stage, which are in fact what they call ‘dummy cabs’, props to make the stage set look impressive and the band ‘look’ louder. Like I said previously, our amps are actually off stage and plugged directly into the PA for proper mixing. Well, the next day, we had our techs set up the stage with the dummy cabs turned around showing our entire audience and anyone filming or photographing, that yes, there are no speakers in them, as they are STAGE PROPS! Then we shredded some improv guitar solos and proved that we were, indeed, playing our instruments. Looks like this ‘reputed music journalist’ who hasn’t a clue about one of the oldest and most well-known antics in Rock and Roll history just lost their credibility! Dummy.

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Music Junkie Press: I totally heard about that! Ridiculous, even my 6 year old son knows what dummy cabs are? You guys played it out well by showing what dummy cabs are.  It just seems some people will always look for something to talk about, even when it is something they know nothing about!

If we could push shuffle on your Ipod/Playlist, what would be the next 3 songs that come up?

Jinxx: Most likely my own song ideas or compositions I have demoed recently, that no one in the world but me has heard yet 😉

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Music Junkie Press: If you are ever interested in giving us a sample of your ideas or compositions, we would love it! What advice can you give to teens who are struggling in today’s music industry by finding committed band member? How would they go out finding dedicated band members?

Jinxx: As for me, I had a really hard time finding people where I lived (Des Moines, Iowa) who would give up everything to pursue music. No one believed in themselves enough that they could ever become those idols they worshipped on MTV (back when they played music videos) or on the radio, and always settled for whatever easiest office job they could get. That just wasn’t good enough for me, so I moved to LA, where I found amazing musicians literally living on the street because they believed in making their music that much. It was almost pick and choose at that point. But so it happened that I was picked myself. I think nowadays though, if you are really just good at networking on social media, you can find what you are looking for. Maybe not necessarily in your own area, but there is a lot to be said about cyber-collaborating, sharing files and writing music and putting projects together via email. But no matter what, you have to put your all into it, 24/7, and work your butt off if you expect to accomplish anything.

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Music Junkie Press: That is great advice. Lastly, is there anything else that you want to share with our audience?

Jinxx: Be more open-minded. All of you. That goes for the haters, as well as fans of our music, even ourselves. Don’t be so quick to judge something until you have given it a good, honest listen. You have no idea the heart and work someone put into something, unless you do it yourself, or can be intelligent or open enough to understand and appreciate it for what it is. Lastly, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and tastes, respect others’ and yourself. Rock and Roll has been thriving for centuries, it wouldn’t be going through such a Dark Age right now if people would just be more open-minded and quit arguing over genres and sub-genres and cores and things I don’t even pretend to understand. It’s all just Rock and Roll. From Beethoven to the Beatles, Mozart to Morrison, Symphonies to Slayer, Operas to Ozzy… wherever there is passion, it is Rock and Roll, and it is here to stay.

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That is truly well said and absolutely something we should all share with everyone. I think we need to put that on a T-shirt!

“From Beethoven to the Beatles, Mozart to Morrison,

Symphonies to Slayer, Operas to Ozzy…

wherever there is passion,

it is Rock and Roll, and it is here to stay.”  –  Jinxx

 So, make sure to check out Jinxx  as Black Veil Brides plays on the Warped Tour which will be going on until August 4th. After that you can catch Black Veil Brides on the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour with Bullet for My Valentine. All tour dates are listed below. We will be seeing them next at Club Nokia and hope to bring you a video interview with the band and more bad ass photos by Rockin Ryan.

~ Marisol

Information & Links:

Jinxx on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JinxxBVB

Jinxx on Facebook: www.facebook.com/officialjinxx

Black Veil Brides Website: www.blackveilbrides.net

Black Veil Brides on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Blackveilbrides

Upcoming Tour Dates: 

Warped Tour

• Jul 12 Camden, NJ  Susquehanna Bank Center
• Jul 13 New York, NY  Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
• Jul 14 Hartford, CT  The Comcast Theatre
• Jul 16 Scranton, PA  Toyota Pavilion
• Jul 17 Pittsburgh, PA  First Niagara Pavilion
• Jul 18 Cleveland, OH  Blossom Music Center
• Jul 19 Detroit, MI  The Palace of Auburn Hills
• Jul 20 Chicago, IL  First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
• Jul 21 Minneapolis, MN  Canterbury Park.
• Jul 23 Kansas City, KS  Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
• Jul 24 St. Louis, MO  Verizon Wireless Amphitheater – St. Louis
• Jul 25 Atlanta, GA  Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
•  Jul 26 Tampa, FL  Vinoy Park
• Jul 27 W. Palm Beach, FL  Cruzan Amphitheatre
• Jul 28 Orlando, FL  Central Florida Fairgrounds
• Jul 29 Charlotte, NC  Charlotte Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
• Jul 30 Cincinnati, OH  Riverbend Music Center
• Jul 31 Milwaukee, WI  Marcus Amphitheatre
• Aug 2 Dallas, TX  Gexa Energy Pavilion
• Aug 3 San Antonio,TX  AT&T Center
• Aug 4 Houston,TX  Reliant Center Parking Lot

Monster Energy Outbreak Tour

• 9/28     Los Angeles, CA   Club Nokia
• 10/1      Portland, OR    Roseland Theatre
• 10/2     Seattle, WA    Showbox Sodo
• 10/3     Spokane, WA   Knitting Factory
• 10/8     Fargo, ND   The Venue
• 10/10   Madison, WI   Orpheum
• 10/15   Columbus, OH   LC Pavilion
• 10/20  Poughkeepsie, NY   Mid Hudson Civic Center
• 10/24   Myrtle Beach, SC   House of Blues
• 11/2       Montreal, QUE   Metropolis
• 11/3      Portland, ME    State Theater
• More dates to be announced soon.

Some videos for you to enjoy and a photo slideshow.  We have a video that was created by my son, Rockin Ryan. This was made after we were covering the Revolver Golden Gods and were able watch first hand how BVB was treated by the audience.  Next up is a video of  “In the End” that was filmed at the Ace of Spades in Sacramento in 2012 on their “Church of the Wild Ones Tour”.