A true pillar of the metal and hardcore community, Jamey Jasta guested on a recent installment of the Electric Theater . Catching up with the clown, Jasta began the conversation with a run down of what he has working and and even during a pandemic, Jasta's unmatched pace and work ethic shine through.
Jasta shared that currently occupying the bulk of his time is a new record he is producing for the legendary heavy metal icon Dee Snider, the duo's second collaborative effort. Jasta also shared that he has about a hundred, no exaggeration, 100 different song ideas that are going to be fleshed out through another Jasta and another Kingdom of Sorrow record.
The renaissance man also shared that he is still feverishly working on his own The Jasta Show podcast, while simultaneously hitting his Patreon where he offers supplemental podcast content where fans go especially deep, covering everything from aliens to conspiracy theories.
Jasta shared that the change of pace has taken some getting used to given that he hasn't had more than a year off and certainly hasn't gone more than a year without playing a show. He shared that he and his daughter are currently working on a 900-square foot bungalow near where they live and the project has afforded him a unique perspective - theme that would resonate throughout the conversation.
Prior to the pandemic layoff, Jasta talked about being so focused and having such tunnel vision on all things related to the band and his work, that he missed details like the color of his front door or the make and model of his car. Those details weren't relevant to his professional pursuit, so they never creeped into his consciousness.
The forced time off, the slower pace, the change of routine has shifted Jasta's perspective and now, there is a different set of details that matter. Jasta has sound himself paying attention to things he just didn't see before.
Sharing that same sentiment, clown discussed that his creative means of passing time during the lockdown was to take up gardening. Always encouraged by his mother to get in the garden and "create life" clown would explain that his moment of clarity in noticing the details for him came in the form of a caterpillar he found in his garden.
Something about these particular caterpillars struck clown as very familiar. He remembered seeing these as a kid and when he did a little homework, he found that they were caterpillars that would eventually become monarch butterflies.
It was a detail that had always been around him, just one that he didn't have the ability to slow down and pay attention to. It was an emotional epiphany, a symbolic moment that clown connected with both from his own childhood and in linking the metamorphic miracle of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, to his departed daughter. It was a heavy, very candid portion of the conversation and one that drove home the notion of how the pandemic has altered perspective.
For Jasta, it's the textured walls, the paint on the door, the process of seeing a roof get installed, for clown, it was caterpillars in his garden - the pandemic has effected significant change in how just about everyone sees the world around them and in that reevaluation of what matters and what doesn't, everyone is finding their own moment of clarity. If there is any silver lining to the shit show that has been the last 12 months, its these small, albeit significant personal revelations.
The conversation about perspective, priorities and how they have evolved over the last year came to a particularly poignant crescendo. Both clown and Jasta traded their experiences with regards to being workaholics and how the motivation to be the very best at their craft can be a all-consuming endeavor. The endless pursuit of the perfect song, the next hit, the best tour - it requires a kind of work ethic that makes the balance of work and home difficult to maintain.
Both Jasta and clown agreed that at the core of their motivation to succeed was their family back at home. Being able to provide a quality of life for their loved ones became a motivating factor that made the long nights and road weary days worth it. But clown would go onto explain that while he worked to ensure that he could put a roof over his daughter's head, he lost his daughter. Though the roof is still there, the anguish of being without his daughter puts into perspective the things that really matter to us most - almost universally.
This extended time away from the daily grind has afforded a reassessment of life for both Jasta and the clown. The commitment to their fans and their craft continues, it's part of their DNA, but their ability to take stock of their personal priorities is an unexpected silver lining that resulted from the world having to halt unexpectedly.
Stream the complete conversation between Jamey Jasta and the clown on the latest episode of the Electric Theater below.
