Tony Cummings spoke at length to Ronnie Wintertime of mainstream rockers Ruddy One-piece APPARATUS

(photo credit: Joseph Cultice)

(photograph credit: Joseph Cultice)

The Red One-piece Apparatus are a rock ring with a huge following - their debut record for Virgin went Aureate in 2006 - but they are ane who never fitted comfortably into the corporate manoeuvrings of the music multinationals. It was through social media rather than tape label hype that the band rose to prominence and it is still grassroots fan support that keeps them successfully gigging in the stadium and clubs of the globe. Now costless from the grip of the tape labels the band have taken the bold pace of making their latest record '4' available for gratuitous from their website. Such a radical move, their chameleon-like switch from pop punk the post hardcore to EMO and even pop, and the insistence of frontman Ronnie Winter to sing well-nigh his Christian faith on some Red Jumpsuit Appliance songs accept made them a "Marmite ring" - you either dear them or hate them.

Originating in Jacksonville, Florida, childhood friends Ronnie Wintertime and Duke Kitchens started the band while attending an AP music theory class in 2001. With the improver of other members the group became a v-slice with the name Red Jumpsuit Apparatus beingness chosen by the ring voting for random words they threw on a wall. In 2005 the ring released an independent six-song EP and it was through social media that news of the band'southward heady performances began to spread their escalating fanbase, somewhen attracting Jason Flom of Virgin Records. The group were signed to Virgin/EMI and started working on their kickoff album. In 2006 that project 'Don't Y'all Fake It' was released with the project going on to exceed 500,000 sales. The band did a number of headlining tours both in the U.s. and overseas and in 2009 the album 'Lonely Road' was released. In 2011 Carmine Jumpsuit Apparatus' "Am I The Enemy' was issued and in 2014 '4' was made available on the band'southward website and through iTunes. The current lineup of the band is Ronnie Winter (lead vocals, keyboards), Josh Burke (lead guitar), Randy Winter (rhythm guitar, vocals), Joey Westwood (bass) and John Espy (drums). Cross Rhythms spoke at length to RJA'due south Ronnie Winter.

Tony: Information technology's been a momentous few years for you. You've had more ups and downs that a yo-yo.

Ronnie Winter: "That is definitely one way to put it, simply that's rock and scroll: anything that can get wrong will become wrong."

Tony: Was at that place a conscious decision to be more than open up about your organized religion on this album?

Ronnie: "Yeah. It actually traces back to our album called 'Am I The Enemy', which is the first album we released later on we left Virgin Records. When nosotros first started as a ring I wanted to be considered a Christian stone band. When our album get-go came out it was under the Christian rock section in Walmart. They found out well-nigh it and they pulled it; they put information technology in the mainstream stone sections considering they didn't think it was a good idea. At that time nosotros were all very immature - between xix and 22 - and then we didn't have whatever say; we had management, lawyers, and they were all working with the characterization. We were only told what to practice, and at that fourth dimension that was practiced because nosotros didn't know what to do. Nosotros made two albums with Virgin then when the opportunity came for us to leave, we did, and one of the master reasons is because I wanted to pursue a more spiritual road. Since we left that label - 2010, 2011 - the get-go major release nosotros had was called 'Am I The Enemy', and that'due south where the Scripture started coming into identify, usa being able to voice our Christianity and our beliefs a lot bigger.

"With '4', what happened is nosotros had a huge impact on the Christian rock scene in the US and throughout the world, and a lot of Christians - not not-Christians - were similar, 'Who are these guys? Why are they trying to say they're Christians now?' They're very touchy when it comes to these things. I responded, 'If you actually read the lyrics of the first album, there'due south spiritual references from the top to the bottom'. I took that as a claiming to make it even more obvious. Our one master single from 'Am I The Enemy', which is called 'Am I The Enemy', is based off Galatians 4:16. I had to brand it more than apparent. Another one of our songs is called 'Reap', which is based off Mark 8:36 - 'What shall information technology profit a man if he should gain the whole globe and lose his own soul?' The chorus of that song is, 'If you gain the whole world and lose your soul': evidently I'm tipping my hat to the Scripture there.

"'Am I The Enemy' thrust us into the Christian realm, which is where we wanted to be - at that point we were independent, we were gratis from Virgin Records, able to brand our own decisions. For the outset 7, eight years of our career nosotros were not running the ring - we were just doing what we were told to do; from 'Am I The Enemy' forward, I've been running the band. With '4' I took it to the extreme level, which is what I like to do. In that location'due south no manner you lot can listen to 'four' and not know that I'm a Christian; in that location's no way you can listen to 'iv' and not understand that I've grasped the Gospel and my ultimate goal through my music is to share that with everybody. So the reason why some people establish it a little odd is because, quite simply, they didn't read the lyrics on the previous releases. That'south fine: that'southward actually how I go away with doing what I do. I lace the message in there, just I structure my music so it sounds like all of the other popular, current bands; and then when you first hear it you kind of sing what you want to sing. When they find out all all of a sudden they've been singing Christian songs all these years, people get angry, feel cheated. Other people feel relieved and happy; a lot of people are like, 'I'm so glad y'all're a Christian band. I already loved you, now I love you lot even more than. Now my family lets me heed to your band in the house.' You take it i way or you take it the other way."

Tony: I don't know if at that place'south any such matter, theologically, as Christian music. All nosotros have is music made by Christians.

Ronnie: "Agreed. Information technology's a scrap of a rabbit hole when you lot try to dissect it theologically, and even just in pop culture. I pray for guidance when I write lyrics, and I don't take credit for those lyrics. They make me put down they're written by Ronnie Winter because if you put down they're written by God people will think yous're a crazy person. They try to divert attention from anything simply the truth. I practise my all-time to attempt to give God the glory in every mode that I can. It wasn't always that style in the beginning, because we weren't making decisions. As soon as I was able to strength my opinions as far every bit what direction we should go in, I fabricated it very clear. Definitely a lot of people turned their backs on the ring; they said a lot of things like, 'Y'all guys disappeared off the confront of the globe. Nobody knows who you are anymore.' Actually, we had more Us radio Billboard number ones since we left the label than the entire time we were in that location. The affair is they're in the Us Christian Rock Billboard charts, and considering people don't follow those charts they choose to believe y'all don't exist. Just the proof is nosotros've had five number ones these past few years, and when we were with Virgin nosotros never had even i Billboard number one. Do the math."

Tony: Why did you decide to brand your music bachelor for gratis on your website?

Ronnie: "We had this discussion so many times, me and my brother Randy. He's a solid Christian guy as well, and a lot of times we implement Christian ideals not but in music, in our lyrics, but also in the way that we run our company. I'm not a pastor, I'thousand not a preacher - I don't pb a flock, and I don't recollect I would do well in that scenario: in my heart I'g a rock and curlicue musician - so the best style I can give back is past trying to help people through music. The first footstep is you sign a record deal because that's what everybody tells you lot to do. When you lot're young and you don't really know a lot, you practice what everybody tells you to do; if you lot don't, people see you lot as prideful, a know-it-all. When you're working with a label they have one goal: sell records. They don't intendance almost message, they don't care about skillful, bad: they're indifferent, completely middle-of-the-route. When we realised that - yous tin't realise that till y'all've really signed a deal and worked with certain people - we decided that'southward not what we really wanted. What nosotros wanted was to spread the message to the best of our ability, so we welcome downloads.

"At that place was a lot of press when nosotros appear this; people flat-out called u.s. dumb, fabricated fun of united states of america - some big news outlets in the U.s.a.. So approximate what? U2 turned around and put their album upward for free; nobody called them dumb. It says in the Scripture, 'They will hate yous because you know me'. We expected that backlash, so we took information technology to the next level. We said, 'Nosotros're non just going to put 1 album out; nosotros're going to put everything we've e'er released out.' In the The states, we're a very blessed country - I would say the Britain is as well: when information technology comes to opportunity, if there's a volition in that location's a way. But I've been to many countries where it doesn't matter how hard you lot work, the poverty is so vast; they tin can't afford to spend ten dollars on an album, because that's the money to feed their family unit for a calendar week. The longer nosotros were a band, the longer nosotros were implementing Christian ideals, the more nosotros started to have problems with charging money for our music.

"So nosotros released our songs on iTunes for the people who basically don't want to get through the effort to get to the website and download it. There's a few things you take to click on, ii little files you accept to open; and sometimes people are impatient. We put it on iTunes out of convenience for those people who only want a click buy and information technology goes right onto their phones. Nosotros don't mind charging for convenience, considering that's how the globe is; simply should anyone have to pay money for our music? We don't believe and then. I think that nosotros, to my cognition, are the kickoff ring that accept not just put a record out, nosotros've put our unabridged discography, and we volition continue as we go on as a band to put whatever we release in that same binder. If they tin't afford to buy the music we invite them to download it. We give them the high quality versions. A lot of times when kids are downloading stuff from the internet, they have your music merely it's weird-sounding - a flake crushed, or they got it from YouTube and there's some ads in there. We'd rather they had the awesome mixes that nosotros spent time on, that we had professionally mixed and mastered: if they're going to rock One-piece, we want them to rock information technology loud and clear.