| In today’s ever-expanding metal scene
there always seems to be bands replicating what has already been done
many times over. Jacknife take a different approach than the norm
on their new album “Moment Of Reckoning.” I would like
to congratulate the band on not doing the same thing as everyone else
and to thank Jacknife for answering a selection of questions from
us at MetalFanatix.com… and to welcome them as well! 1. First off, how did you guys come up with your sound? Are there any specific influences? Joe Ortiz: First off, I mean, we just play what we like. We’ve always been into old school type music. Iron Maiden, Pantera, Old School Metallica. When we first started playing we were one of the first to play leads and harmonies. Everyone was still playing that nu-metal rap stuff. Once we started playing out we started getting more attention because we were one of the first bands to do it in Dallas. At first they didn’t like it but after a while it started catching people’s ears. 2. I don’t know if you classify your sound as anything, or even believe in labeling bands as a certain genres, however, in my opinion, your music seems like metalcore. But it’s not typical metalcore. Everything on your album seems to have more balls and better direction than the typical metalcore band. Is there something you did to give your music that extra edge or did it come naturally? Do you think that there is an over saturation of any styles in metal? Joe Ortiz: We just kind of play what we like. I’m kind of the same way. I know we are labeled metalcore but I just see us as a metal band. Everyone tells us we are a metalcore band fronted by a hardcore kid but I just consider us a metal band. Maybe it’s because of my lyrics. Today metalcore is what nu-metal was a few years back. Then anything that was heavier they called nu-metal, now anything with a breakdown and leads they call metalcore. 3. Obviously, when a band writes a song and puts it on a record, they think it’s good material and want to share what they have created. What are your favorite tracks on the disc? Were there any tracks that were liked by the band that just didn’t make it to the CD? Joe Ortiz: My favorite tracks are “End of Man,” “A Glimpse of Hell,” “Moment of Reckoning,” and “Surrender Never.” I like the shorter faster stuff. I’m the heavier guy in the band. We liked everything we wrote. Of course the guitar player like the more guitar oriented songs. As a whole everyone in the band like every song we wrote on the record. 4. Many musicians swear by the equipment they use and for various rationales. What brand of instruments do you prefer to use, and is there any particular reason? Do you have any endorsements? Joe Ortiz: For drums he uses Tama. He’s always liked that. We’re working on an Evans heads endorsement. They like using ESP and we’re working on that endorsement too. We’ve always used ESP and Jackson when we recorded. Our new bassist uses Ernie Ball and our old one used Warwick. We’ve been playing for a while so we like what we use. We have an endorsement with D’Adario strings. 5. By looking into someone’s music collection you can find things out about that person. If we were to look at you music collection what would we find? What are your favorites? Joe Ortiz: Me personally I like a wide range of stuff. On the Metal side I like Glass Casket, Himsa, Red Chord, Black Dahlia Murder. I like really heavy stuff when it comes to metal. Of course some of the old school Metallica. My favorite is And Justice for All that’s one of the heaviest albums in my opinion. Some Iron Maiden some Anthrax. 6. With “Moments of Reckoning” coming out in a few weeks, do you have any future touring plans? How has the live experience been for the band so far? Joe Ortiz: We’re still trying to get on some tours right now. It’s hard when you don’t have an album out. Once we get on another tour we plan to stay on tour for a while. We are going out with Losa on the East Coast. It’s the only way you’re going to survive because there’s so many bands out there competing. We’ll be going out on our own for a little, but other than that we are waiting for a few tours to come our way so we can jump on. 7. Sharing the stage with a favorite band can be a very memorable experience. If Jacknife could tour with any band past or present, who would it be? Who has been the most memorable as of today? Joe Ortiz: I would say it was when we got to be direct support for Lamb of God in Texas. As high up as they are in the metal chain right now they were so cool to us and they talked to us. We hung out with them for a little, they watched our set, and then we had a couple of beers with them. We played in front of their crowd and they liked us. We sold out of everything we had that night. That’s probably one of my best shows. 8. When a band has strong support behind them they generally go far in the industry. How has it been to work with the same manager as Damage Plan and Drowning Pool? Is there anyone else that has helped out Jacknife tremendously? Joe Ortiz: It’s good being with Paul. He’s our label president. He’s giving us a very big break by signing us and putting out our record. Really before that it was everyone we played for. We have pretty good followings in a few states because people kept bringing us back. Paul is great for signing us, but before that it was the clubs because we had to book ourselves. 9. Well thanks for taking sometime away from your busy schedule to answer some questions for the metal fans of the world. I have one last question for you…is there anything you would like to say to the metal world? Joe Ortiz: I’ve always said that I just want people to have an open mind. I’ve seen plenty of opening bands and we’ll be one and you always go in thinking what are they going to sound like? We don’t have any gimmicks, we don’t have any make up, we just get out there and play. Just keep an open mind when you’re watching us. |
