Wow. We’ve got a new record out.

Yes. What have you guys been doing since One Diamond?

Well, we’ve played a lot of shows. We ended up getting a new bass player and a new drummer and doing another record, self-titled Judge Jackson. Then we played another 150 shows and we’re getting ready to go back in the studio to do another record, the follow-up to that one.

Wow, you guys are busy as hell.

That’s basically what’s been going on in a nutshell.

Well, what led to the lineup change and how did you choose the guys that you chose?

Well, the lineup change that just happened was the original rhythm section, the bass player and the drummer. It just ran its course. It wasn’t working anymore so we ended up getting the rhythm section of another band that had dissolved around the same time. They’d been buddies of ours from the inception of Judge Jackson back in ‘95. One thing led to another but the bass player and the drummer spots were both open and the transition was made and we don’t look back. We’re happier now with this new lineup than ever before as far as that goes. It’s pretty stoking. We finally realized we’ve got that chemistry right. We did three records up to One Diamond. That was the third record. We’ve done one since then. We’re on the verge of doing our next one. It just seems all the writing has come to a mature level and we’ve found a real identity as far as our little piece of the pie in the world of the music industry.

I noticed that one of those guys was in two bands whose CDs I’ve reviewed before. Stone and The Rocking Scoundrels.

Yeah, that’s Chewy. That’s the bass player. Yeah, Brian.

I was like wow, that’s a small world.

Him and the drummer, J.J. They were both in Stone together.

Yeah, I reviewed that CD and did an interview with Brad Wilson.

Right, yeah. He was the third guy, the singer and guitar player of that band.

That’s really remarkable that you picked up those guys.

Oh, I know. Like I said, we’ve known them for a while. It when down with our drummer first and then J.J. came on board. Then we actually did that record and then after the record our bass player just up and quit basically. We were doing a lot of traveling and a lot of biker shows. I think the traveling away from home and the intensity of some of the shows, it really just did get to him. He said he was fed up, bowing out, and he’d had enough. His rock and roll dreams had been fulfilled and this was as far as it goes for him. At that time we got a hold of Chewy and Brian was in that new band, Rocking Scoundrels or whatever it was, but it wasn’t his cup of tea completely so when we called and said we were looking for a bass player and with J.J. on board for the last couple of years, it was just a real natural thing. We’re good now. We’re getting ready to go to Laughlin tomorrow and do three shows up there at the Edgewater Casino. Then next week we do our first international show. We’re flying to Canada to do a show in Toronto. We’re stoked about that. We’ll come back in and do serious pre-production for a new record and we’ll go in in October and record it.

What led to this record being a self-titled record instead of having a title from a titled track?

Good question because our very first record was self-titled and then we had a second record called 8068 and then we had One Diamond and then we had this self-titled record again. I wasn’t necessarily into it because with me, we’d already done that. So when J.J. came on board, he was the one that lobbied for a self-titled record saying basically that it was a new beginning with this band. That the first three records were a chapter. This is a new chapter so for marketing purposes and shopping purposes, why don’t we just do a self-titled and make it real simple. Judge Jackson Judge Jackson. These were some of the things that he had in mind as far as why we should name it self-titled and I guess at the time that was the least of my concerns and I just said whatever. I said that’s fine, let’s just do it like that. It starts off the new chapter so that’s what led to that.

I guess I understand that. It’s a new beginning. That almost sounds like a Friday The 13th movie. A new beginning.

I know it sounds corny or whatever is the case but I guess it seemed right at the time and it was like okay, let’s just start this fresh again. Lee and I are primarily the songwriters but we’ve been through this from the get go but the rhythm section has revolved over the years. But like I said, with Chewy a.k.a. Brian and J.J., it finally feels right. The four of us are all on the same page and it’s a pleasure doing shows with these guys.

You still have that enthusiasm that you had the last time.

Yeah, I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t. I still look at myself in the mirror and go “do you still got it? Do you still want it? Do you still enjoy that much?” Yeah, even more so today than yesterday. Making this record will be the fifth one we’ve made and I so enjoy it. I tell you what, as long as I make this record I can die upon my final vocal track but damn it, we’re going to make this record. That’s how passionate you get towards it. Looking at the songs and thinking “is this the best we can do? Is this better than anything we’ve done on the first four records? Yes, it is.” Until it’s totally yes, yes, yes, you‘ve got to go back to the drawing board and write more of it. I feel we’re in it for the right reasons. We’re in it because we’re songwriters and we enjoy that process. We’re not in it to be rock stars. We don’t care about that. We’ve got a good presentation and we can deliver what we record just as good as we record it. We’re in it because we like writing songs and some of our songs have been getting licensed over the last couple of records. That’s exciting to start making money through those avenues. I don’t have a day job anymore. I am a paid musician. This is what I do. Judge Jackson is my only gig and I make money to live off of by that. I’m living a dream. I couldn’t ask for anything more. We get one of these songs to break on any one of our records, well that just goes to another level and that’s great. But as it is, we’re playing enough shows and generating enough revenue through our shows, through merchandise, through the licensing, and we’re making a living doing it. What I honestly feel is why we’re still doing it is because we’re songwriters. This is what we do. We’re not trying to be rock stars. You come out to one of our shows and you’ll be thinking “these guys are the real deal.” In the back of my mind this is all secondary because sure we have fun with it and it’s genuine. There’s no faking it. It’s real as it is. But it’s all about the songwriting process and the next record and the next batch of songs as far as I’m concerned. That’s the most exciting thing to me if you’re asking me.

The last time I talked to you, you guys were really ramped up and you were talking about how you wanted to get to the next level. It seems to me like you guys finally succeeded in that.

We’re a working band. We’re always looking for that big break like any artist or any band is. At the same time we’re getting all sorts of breaks. It’s all a matter of perception I guess. For us, we’ve got a song on NASCAR. They’re still playing that. You’ve got that song off of One Diamond for My Name Is Earl. You start getting the residuals for that and then all of a sudden it’s a new record and rock and roll. They’re getting played on every sports show. Popping up on here and popping up on there. A lot of the songs are getting picked up on radio stations and getting played regularly on some reputable stations. That’s exciting as well. There are a lot of songs in the pipeline for licensing. Some big movies haven’t come quite through but at the same time our songs are coming right down to the second last selections or whatnot. We’re proud of that fact. I truly feel like the licensing side of things is where it’s at for songwriters. If you can do the presentation and if you don’t mind putting in the miles and all that, that’s just a bonus in your situation. We don’t mind. We love it. This is not a normal job, Angela. You know that. You live it or you did it or you don’t. It’s as simple as that. It’s not a normal nine to five gig. Either you’re into it or you’re not. You can’t fake it. You can’t fake it for so many years either. You can fake it for a record or two. I like to think if you’re going on your fifth record, you’re not faking it. Obviously you’re doing something in the right direction.

I think people can tell by the enthusiasm you have whenever you do interviews with people. It’s infectious.

It doesn’t even matter if I’m talking to you or any interviewer or my friends or just a stranger in a coffee shop, this is the way I would talk about it. The same excitement. It’s so much fun. It’s exciting going into the new record process. I’m beginning to really enjoy that. It’s exciting to do shows that are exciting. Some of these bigger shows we’ve done, this last year we opened for Buckcherry at Arizona Stadium where the Cardinals play in Phoenix. That was a total blast. It was a complete thrill. We’re doing some good biker events. We played the 60th anniversary for the Hells Angels. We were cordially invited into their house. The place where it all started in San Berdu in their clubhouse and we played a gig in front of 3,000 of these guys back in March. That was a thrill. At gigs like that, you can’t fake that kind of shit the way I see it. The fact is, we keep getting invited back by certain groups of guys and I take a lot of pride in that. We’re delivering the goods. It’s an honest band. That’s what a lot of those biker situations like. We just came out of Sturgis doing six or seven shows up there as well. That’s the third year we’ve been up there. We seem to be generating a lot around these biker events. I don’t know why but it seems to work. Some of these events that you’ve probably heard of are incredible to be a part of. Especially from the perspective of us. Looking at it and shaking your head and going “this is awesome. Now let’s get up in there and rock these sons of bitches.”

I think it’s cool that you have a song on NASCAR. I’m am avid NASCAR fan.

If you’re not you should be. We’re stoked about all that. That’s huge for us. When we got that song picked up by NASCAR, Angela, here’s the whole story. You probably already know it but a whole bunch of the reps from FOX came out and saw one of our gigs. They all got wasted and a couple of them talked to me afterwards and said “you should write a song for football. We’re looking for a new song for football. You’ve got this song for NASCAR.” Well, I love football. Lee the guitar player is from Dallas and he’s a big Cowboys fan. We’re all big football fans so we wrote a song called “Hail Mary”. It’s a ripping tune. We submitted it. We wrote it, recorded it, and submitted it. They picked it up. I did some lyrical changes just like I did in “King” for the NASCAR version which is actually called “I Am The Man”. Same kind of deal for “Hail Mary” which turned into “Get Busy” for the college. They shot a video a couple of weeks ago and it’s coming out in a campaign starting next week as far as for FOX college Division 1 football. The theme song is the song we wrote called “Get Busy”. Stuff like that happens and that’s just exciting to be a part of it. A part of the business.

Yeah, you get your stuff out there and that’s what brings in the money and then you can get more of your stuff out there.

You get lucky with your songs and you get a little break and it just takes things to a different level. That’s all. There’s just more money to be made and the shows just get a little bit more bigger. It’s rock and roll. It makes you feel good. It makes you feel rad or whatever you’re looking for at that time the way I look at it.

How do you feel that this new record differs from the last one and how do you feel it might be similar?

I think it’s a progression from the Judge Jackson one, the fourth one. This is the one we’re about to make. I just think pound for pound all 10 songs are just better. I think we’ve really discovered who we are as a band and as songwriters. I think we totally capture that in every song that’s coming up in this new record. I think there’s going to be more calories with this new record. A little more faster tunes with a pulse. I really realize as a lyric writer, it’s not what you say. It’s how you say it. The melody line has got to be so important. We really took the time to implement great melody lines with great riffs that we would come up with this time. To be a little bit more disciplined and not just jump at the first hook. Jump at the first line. Really work it through different variations and come up with the best one. We wrote 30 songs for this record and this will be the first time we actually went through that grueling process of picking down to 10.

How do you do that?

We’re songwriters. That’s what we do.

That has to be difficult. How do you say “okay, 20 of these are just going to have to go.”

I hate that. That’s the worst part about it and rarely can I do that. It has to be done for me. I’m learning to be not so personal towards the songs. That’s one thing I’ve just learned recently. You write a song and it becomes very personal. It’s like a kid. Your kid. When people say it’s no good or whatnot, you take that personally. It’s like how dare you. I’m learning not to take them personal. To write them and then disassociate myself with them in a way. I just move on to the next one. Once we get the batch figured out and concentrate a little bit more on those 10 songs until they’re done, recorded, and then begin the process all over again. Right now it’s just all about fine tuning the songs. The 10 that we’ve picked. I’m really excited because I know they’re that good. I feel that confident in saying that. Whether they’re that good, that’s to be determined but I know that they’re the best we can write and the best we have written. Damn it, I’m proud of it. I’ll let the record speak for itself. That’s all I can say about that.

You talk about how you’re working on the next one. Do you find yourself going through that process again of just writing a lot of songs or do you think that some of the songs that didn’t make it on this record could be on the next one?

I think they’re always good enough to be on the next one but then again, I’m so personal to them. I think since we did the last one, we started writing a whole new batch of songs and as songwriters we’ve grown. So I don’t know. All the material is fresh. There’s nothing wrong with some of the songs that didn’t make those records. We’ve got demos of them and there’s nothing wrong with them. I think we just feel like we’ve written even better material just because we’ve become better at our craft. I think it’s as pure as that. Somewhere along the line we said this is what we do so let’s pay attention. Let’s learn as much as we can from other songwriters and apply it to our own craft and really be conscious of that for the next record. But yet still be ourselves. Be completely Judge Jackson. Just straight up honest songs about life. It’s basically what they are. We’re not trying to fool anybody Angela. I always tell people we’re not going to fool them with smoke and mirrors or tattoos. It’s straight up. You either get it or you don’t. That’s about all I can do to describe Judge Jackson. Honest. Either you get it or you don’t. If you don’t get it bugger off and if you do get it, come on in.

I have to admit I have become a huge fan since I got that first record.

I’m delighted to hear that. Thank you.

It’s always a pleasure to talk to you because you’re so excited and enthusiastic.

Thank you, Angela. It’s always a pleasure to talk to anybody even if they ask questions about the judge. I always enjoy that. Thank you. The pleasure is all mine.

What do you feel the two new guys have brought to the table?

Stability for me and Lee. They’re easier to work with. They’re team players. There’s a chemistry involved and they understand what it takes to make it. Whatever your perception of making it is. They understand it. A lot of it is the perception of the music industry and being in a rock and roll band. It’s completely fantasy. The reality is it’s a tough industry to crack and there’s a lot of lonely miles out there if you really want to do it. If you think it’s autographs and flashes all the time, you have no idea what the reality is. If that’s why you’re doing it, you’re going to be in for a real awakening. If you realize the reality of it, I think you can take it all in stride. It’s what it is but it’s always about creating that great record you can play over and over and be proud of it. We all share that same goal so we all cover our bases in a way. What we bring to the table is our instruments and we’re all very conscious of what we can add to that. Lee and I again do the bulk of the writing and the other two guys are aware of that and only contribute to that in a positive way and reinforce it unlike the other guys we used to have. That’s the difference these guys make. They’re more mature. They’re more road worthy. They’re realistic. They understand the industry. J.J. worked at this magazine. He used to be a fucking rep for Polygram Records for Christ’s sake back in the 90’s. He understands the industry as well as anybody in the industry because he is the industry. With that knowledge, he basically manages the band. All the bookings and whatnot, they all go through him right now. A lot of that is understanding the business and running this band like a business. That’s made a big difference and we’re just not flailing around anymore like we were when we put out One Diamond. We were like okay, let’s put out a record and hopefully something will happen. Something happened. We realized that you can’t just put out a record and think that it’s just going to happen. You have to work it however with whatever you’ve got to work it with. Again, if you’re in it for the right reasons, you’ll put up with a lot of shit but you don’t really care because it’s doing what you want to do. If we’re playing music, we’re playing music with our brothers and we’re writing our own songs and that’s something we take a lot of pride in.

When you put that record out, you were extremely enthusiastic. You were very energetic about it. I think that did take you somewhere.

Oh, it totally took us somewhere. I’m just talking about how we thought we’d sign a couple million dollar deal and we’ll sell 10,000,000 records and when we fly around in our jet it’ll be all good by the end of the year. None of that happened. All sorts of great things happened because of One Diamond. We would not have made another record if it weren’t for One Diamond. In a way we almost looked at One Diamond as our first record and the Judge Jackson that you’ve got as well as our second record which is really our third and fourth record. Things really started with One Diamond. The first two records we can almost write off as glorified demos. Yeah, they’re CDs. We made those CDs. I don’t know if you have a copy of those records. There’s one record with 11 songs on it and another one with seven songs on it. I’m excited about this new one. I’m as excited as any artist should be going through that process. These are great songs and we’re really happy about this batch. I’ll sit back and listen to these songs unaware that we wrote them. Just listening to them as a consumer thinking these are great songs. You catch yourself doing that and that’s always a good thing. Again we’ll see how good they are really when they come out but we are certainly very proud and confident of this batch going into it. I’ll put down my last dime to make this record happen.

That’s awesome. You have so many great things happening for you and that trip to Canada. Do you foresee more international shows in the future?

Oh, totally. Who wouldn’t want to think to say that. Yeah, I think this is just the first of many trips we’ll take to Canada and elsewhere. Obviously we want to get over to Europe and we want to do Japan. We want to do those countries. It’s just a matter of those things having the channels to happen but again, the channel to Canada. It’s finally happening. We’re actually going to another country to play. This is great. I’m stoked. We’re getting some great press up there and some great radio play as well already in regards to the record. I’m really stoked about that. Everything’s cool. We’re traveling. I guess you have to like it in a way. If you don’t like leaving home you’re not going to like this job. You have to embrace that in a way. I think we do. All four of us are from different places that have all met in Los Angeles. I think we all understand what it is to get up and roll. The four of us being on that same page. Lee has been completely sober now for four years. After One Diamond, he hasn’t had a drop. Completed A.A. and things like that I attribute to the stuff happening with us too. We’re not just floundering and being stupid and getting drunk and stoned. We’re growing up now I guess if that’s what you want to call it.

Sometimes there are certain things you have to cut out.

Sometimes you just have to wake up and smell the coffee. I think we did that over the last three or four years. We really enjoyed doing this. Let’s do it for a little bit longer. Let’s cut some of this shit from our lives. Things we just cut right out of our diet all together. That sort of approach is such a healthier approach but all of a sudden we’re getting things done too and it’s just a reflection of everything that’s going on and the work too. Let’s do that in the next record and it’ll be really happening as far as where our heads are now.

When do you foresee the next record coming out?

This one will be recorded in October and it will probably come out in early ’09. I would like to have it in hand by Christmas time. It will be coming soon. Early, early ’09 is what I would actually say at this point. I’m the most excited. That’s all I want for Christmas is the record in my hand. We’re working with the producer now. We’re going down to where we’re not doing gigs. We’re tidying it up and we’re ready to go. We’re picking and reviewing studios at this point. It’s going down and we’re stoked about it. I’m as happy as a pig in shit.

Are you using the same producer that you used for the self-titled one?

Yes, we are. The same guy. This is the second record we do with John Hiler. We developed a really cool chemistry with that one and we want to feel like we can expand on it and our thoughts and his thoughts toward the next record are all in the same department. We want it to be a huge step up. We want it to be a little bit more ear candy like popping off to be able to compete with the big boys. You have to sound like you can throw it on there track for track on the radio and it’s going to come out with great songs. If we don’t deliver that then we missed the mark. That’s the way we look at it.

Your songs are nice and melodic and hook driven. They’re really pleasant, positive songs that are fun and we need more of that out there.

I hear you. They’re just songs about life but they’re certainly not discouraging songs. There are no messages in them but there’s definitely a positive thread of something in that. Feel good. Whatever that’s supposed to mean. I like to listen to a song that feels good even if I feel sad. It’s like watching a good movie. When it’s ended and the first credit rolls, I want to be standing up and feeling good. Feel satisfied.

I think people can definitely look forward to that with you guys.

I’m looking forward to the next record. You get to a point too where with our fifth record, I don’t even care if anybody else likes it. I know how much I’m going to like it. To a certain degree we’re just that proud. If you like it too, great. If you don’t we’re not going to stop making records. That’s the way I look at it. If we can turn on a lot of people to our stuff, great. If we can’t, we’re still not going to stop. We just love doing it. This is what we do. We bleed that.

I remember Paul Stanley from KISS saying that when they were putting out records in the early 70’s, “you don’t like that one? How about this one?”

If you’re a good songwriter and prolific like that, it should be like that. We’ll just spit out the songs and go “what do you want? What do you need?” If you want a song about football, here’s a song about football. If you want a song about nothing, here’s a song about nothing. We had a song called “Nothing At All”. When we’d introduce it, here’s a song about nothing. The chorus was “nothing at all.” It ended up not making One Diamond but it was still a good song.

What sort of future plans do you guys have?

Just getting these shows on the calendar said and done. Get in the studio in October and get the record in the can. Finish up the year with whatever shows are still going to be on the calendar. Get this new record out and just really push it. We’re going to do a showcase at the Key Club in November. I know that. We’re going to bring down a couple of music supervisors that like our songs and hopefully we can push some of those songs in the right direction and get that break. Take it to the next level even though the level we’re at is certainly having a good time. I can’t really give you a direct answer because I don’t know other than we’re going to get this next record out the best we can and get it heard by as many ears as we possibly can with the help of people like yourself. That’s how that’s going to happen. That’s all I know we’re going to do as far as the plan. Get it out there. Promote it the best we can. Hopefully maybe we get a lucky break here and there and that’ll just add to that snowball that’s rolling down that hill.

It seems to be picking up momentum.

It is looking a little better. Maybe when we get it down there we can start making a real snowman.

Any other thoughts or comments?