Jacknife Interview

Blasting onto the metal scene with a powerful dose of "Texas style brutality", the revamped Jacknife returns with a much more aggressive sound and a new hunger for annihilating concertgoers across the nation. Having recently completed the Killith Fair tour with Crisis and Method Of Destruction, Jacknife are road hardened as they unleash their Zero Sum debut "Moment Of Reckoning." The Gauntlet speaks with the band's out of control frontman Joe Oritz about breaking into the world of metal.

The Gauntlet: How does it feel for you to be the first signing to a promising label such as Zero Sum?
Joe Ortiz: Personally, I feel more comfortable w/ Zero-Sum because we are the first band to sign w/ them. Paul and Chris can do just as much for us w/ Zero-Sum as any of the other labels can that have been out for a while. The difference between Zero-Sum and the others, which works in our favor, is that we get all of there close and personal attention instead of just being another band on a label that already has a bigger number of bands to their roster. Zero-Sum wants us to succeed just as much as we want to be heard.

The Gauntlet: Texas is home to so many great venues for metal music. Do you feel that you had an advantage by having so many great opportunities to perform?
Joe Ortiz: No, I wouldn't say that we have an advantage because, getting into those venues was just as hard for us as they are to anyone else. When we started, we had to submit demos and make endless calls to the venue and basically beg to play. There are still many venues that we have yet to play and now it will be a little easier that we are signed and are no longer unsolicited. Now, in Dallas it was easier to get a show because I was always out no matter what night it was and supporting the local scene and making friends in other bands that were already playing the "good" clubs and even making good with the club bookers and management so that if they ever needed a band to open a big show or any show, they would think of us first.

The Gauntlet: When did the band get its start?
Joe Ortiz: The band actually formed in 1999; two years before I was in the band, and they were a rap metal band just like everyone else was at that time. Well anyway, a couple of years later, my best friend told me to go try out for Jacknife, because they didn't have a vocalist. So I met up with the guys and listened to their stuff and told them that I couldn't rap and that I was more of a metal vocalist but I would try out anyway. They decided to let me stay, so we started writing. The music that was still bouncy, but every time they would warm up, they would just shred and play older 80's metal and thrash. They would play Megadeth, Slayer, Overkill Anthrax S.O.D and old Metallica songs and I told asked them why they didn't write stuff like that if they could play it. So, when we started to write new songs that didn't sound like everything that was out at the time, we got some attention and started to get booked a lot more than we did.

The Gauntlet: Jacknife has had the opportunity to play with many well revered metal acts in the past. What has been the most inspirational performance for you thus far?
Joe Ortiz: I would say when we opened up for Lamb Of God in Odessa, TX. First of all, they were amazing live. And second, every one of the guys in LOG were so nice and very cool to us. They are a very successful metal band and as much as they have a right to be rock stars, in my opinion, they didn't have that attitude whatsoever. I was inspired by the way they didn't seem to let their status consume them. To top it off we played in front of a great crowd and they loved it, we sold out of everything we had that night. It couldn't have been a better night.
The Gauntlet: "Moment Of Reckoning" is such a solid album. Each song leaps right out at the listener as a really great track. How long did it take for the group to put together the songs on the record?

Joe Ortiz: It was different for each song. Some songs were written and finished in a couple of days and others took a couple of weeks or months. I usually write the lyrics last and just like the music, sometimes there is something on my mind and I'll put it down and some songs require a little deeper thinking to make sure I get the point across.

The Gauntlet: Please tell us about the inspiration behind the song "Tears Fall Endless."
Joe Ortiz: That song was written in December 04, I lost both my parents when I was 10, so when there is a holiday coming around I get depressed. The guys had written the music and brought it practice. The mood that the song had, seemed to fit what I was thinking. I took the music home and while I played it over and over I couldn't stop thinking of how much their passing stays with me and every year on every holiday it hasn't ever gotten any easier to cope with, and as much as I want the pain to heal, at the same time I don't want the memories to fade. Even though that song means something specific to me, I hope that it doesn't get blown off by people listening to the record just because it isn't as upbeat as the others. I really like to think that people listening will relate to the purpose behind the song.

The Gauntlet: What was the atmosphere in the studio while making this record?
Joe Ortiz: We definitely wanted everything to be perfect, but who doesn't. This is our debut album, you know, this is how we are going to be presented to the music world and everyone that is a part of it. Other than that being on our minds, we just treated it like any other time we were in the studio. We goofed off, made fun of the takes we destroyed and drank.

The Gauntlet: What is the thing you most enjoyed about being in the studio during the making of "Moment Of Reckoning?"
Joe Ortiz: The most fun for me was doing the gang vocals. That was fun because it was the last thing we did on the record. We had some of our closest friends come in and help to lay the tracks down. Everybody was just in a good mood; it was just a feeling of accomplishment.

The Gauntlet: Obviously as the band hails from Dallas, Pantera must have been a large influence in regard to the metal nature of your songwriting. Your biography also mentions a great deal of other classic metal ensembles as influences. Conversely, what are some of the groups that most influence the hardcore side of the band?
Joe Ortiz: I will be honest with you, I am the only guy in the band that listens to hardcore and I don't really listen to that much of it. I would say Hatebreed would have to be the main. We've been told that we were a metal band with a hardcore kid as a front man. I guess that just comes from the fact that I hang out with a lot of hardcore kids and go to a lot of the shows, but I'm not a hardcore kid. We get that because of my lyrics but if you think about it, every genre of music talks about the same things to point, they just do it in different ways. To me, Hardcore is a lifestyle. I respect the hardcore scene and am glad that that we can play to both sides of metal and hardcore.

The Gauntlet: What type of an experience was it for the group to embark on your first national tour?
Joe Ortiz: We had a blast. We got along with the other bands (M.O.D and Crisis) very well and from what we heard, that doesn't always happen, so we are grateful that we got to go out with such a cool group of bands. Since this was our first big tour, each night we had to prove ourselves to the crowd that M.O.D and Crisis already had locked. Each night basically started out with the crowd towards the back and by the time we were done with our set, they had thrown each other around, applauded and had moved up to the stage. All in all, we had a great experience.

The Gauntlet: The Killith Fair bill was actually quite diverse. What types of reactions did you receive from the audiences on the tour?
Joe Ortiz: M.O.D and Crisis have had their own following for some time now, we were the new guys, which I like, because I've been in the crowd when I haven't seen a band before and thought about what they were going to sound like, so I know what they are thinking. The only thing I am thinking about is, doing what we do and that they are either going to like it or not. I am glad to say that we had a great response every night even from the other bands. I do like how this tour had different music because there was something for everyone and we got the chance to play to a different crowd than we are used to playing for.

The Gauntlet: What is it that you believe to be most important in order for an extreme band to reach a large fan base in this day and age?
Joe Ortiz: Touring, plain and simple. You have to keep showing your face around so people don't forget about you. Music is a fast paced and very busy industry. There are bands coming thru towns daily, if you get a good reaction from some place you need to go back and hit up a new place on the way. Staying on tour and promotion help from your label is the only way I can see to reach a large and solid fan base.

The Gauntlet: Do you think that "Moment Of Reckoning" is definitive of where you want the band to be or are you constantly striving to bring your work to a new level?
Joe Ortiz: It would be stupid for us to keep writing the same record, we definitely plan to keep growing and pushing ourselves to new limits, but at the same time staying in the type of music we love, metal.

The Gauntlet: In the past five years or so, the band has gone through a few lineup changes. When did you realize that the lineup of Jacknife was finally complete?
Joe Ortiz: It's funny you asked that because when we got home from our tour, our bassist quit, so I can't really answer that yet.

The Gauntlet: What is it that most intrigues you about playing this aggressive style of music?
Joe Ortiz: I love the energy it puts out and the energy you get back from the people that enjoy it. It's adrenaline in the form of notes, beats and words.

The Gauntlet: Of all of the groups that are playing this style of music in 2005, Jacknife is certainly one of the more refined acts, judging from the album. In what other ways do you plan to distinguish yourselves from the pack?
Joe Ortiz: By being appreciative to the people who give us the chance to do this every night, the fans. We love meeting people and we want them to know that we want to talk to them before and after the shows. We don't want it be a "take your money and run" type deal. Also staying on tour and pushing ourselves to the limit each night.

The Gauntlet: How long can fans expect that you will be touring in support of the new record?
Joe Ortiz: We want to put an album out each year, so as many times as we can get on a tour in a year even if we have to go out alone.

The Gauntlet: What kind of feeling does it give you to go up there on stage and crank out a solid set, then have a brand new fan approach you and display a lot of excitement about the band? Do you tend to feed off from that type of excitement?
Joe Ortiz: It makes us feel like the music we created is worth a little more than just it means to us, we want people to dig what we are doing but at the same time we don't care if they don't because you can't please everyone. We do feed off of it and it feels great, but you can't go into the next show expecting what you had last night.

The Gauntlet: What is the one thing that you most want to achieve with this group?
Joe Ortiz: I want me and my guys to be able to be comfortable making a living doing what we love to do, play music.