"Ten Questions (and Fourteen Answers) with Jason Ringenberg and Warner Hodges
"It was a dark, dark journey into gigantically failed expectations...it hurts too much to talk about it".
Nashville Business In Review. November, 1996

Copyright 1996-2001 Nashville Business In Review

Just about everything that you've ever heard about Jason and the Scorchers is true. Yes, they bolted out of the gates in the early eighties with a wealth of critical acclaim for their EP Fervor, only to have record labels sign them and then neglect them because they couldn't figure out how to market their hybrid country/heavy metal sound. A few members of the band did indeed wallow in drugs and alcohol, though they have cleaned up and are very forthcoming about this situation. And yes the Scorchers did break up, only to get back together a few years ago and reclaim the promise they once had.
With a renewed enthusiasm and a clear focus, Jason and the Scorchers have thundered back into town and reclaimed their rightful title as Nashville's best rock n' roll band. Their new record Clear Impetuous Morning is an excellent companion piece to their brilliant 1985 release Lost and Found. NBIR spoke with vocalist Jason Ringenberg and guitarist Warner Hodges about the ups and downs that they have endured, Jason's brief solo career while the band was broken up, and their outstanding new release.

NBIR: What's the general mood among the band right now? Are you as excited or more excited than when you first got back together a few years ago?
Ringenberg: Well, I think it's been a gradual process. A linear path going up and up in terms of how we feel about the band. When we first got back together it was like "Let's do a few shows, have some fun, make some money." Then it got better and better when we started writing songs and recording. It's definitely peaking now. I think we feel better about what's going on with us than we've probably ever felt.
Hodges: I don't know about Jason, but I took some convincing up front. I wasn't sure. I thought "We'll go have some fun, play some shows and get a little bit better feeling about the Scorchers than when it just sort of fell apart." But it has gotten better and we are very excited about the new record.

NBIR: Compare making the new record with 1995's "A Blazing Grace."
Hodges: Making A Blazing Grace, there wasn't a lot of pre-production. Jozef Nuyens from the Castle [recording studio] and Mike Janis got involved. It was just the six of us, and when we had some material we cut it. We just kind of put the record together, and to me it was a good record. We got the train back on the tracks. We didn't break a whole lot of new ground. With Clear Impetuous Morning we went in to expand the envelope. We know we can make music. Now can we make serious, valid music again that is going to excite us and other people.

NBIR: This time around, do you have any particular goals or standards for success that you have set for the band?
Ringenberg: I think we accomplished the main goals that we had when we started out, which was to creatively rejuvenate the band. We've accomplished that unquestionably. Past that, I don't think we dwell on those things as much because we've been there and back. I mean, I hope we do some more business and get the touring thing going strong again. But primarily, we've already been successful.

NBIR: What's the most valuable lesson that you learned about the industry before the band broke up?
Ringenberg: The first time was such a dark trip. It was a dark, dark journey into gigantically failed expectations. For that period, the lessons were almost all negative. Don't do this, don't do that. Where as now I think we're learning lessons that are positive, things that we should do. So I don't think I could point out a few lessons. There would be so many it would be a long, dark trip anyway. And it hurts too much to talk about it, actually.

NBIR: The first Nashville show after you got back together (1995 NEA Extravaganza at the Exit/In) was incredible. What was it like on stage for you guys that night?
Ringenberg: For me there was no effort involved. There was so much energy in the room. It was like walking on air. It felt wonderful from beginning to end. Interestingly enough, I don't think we played all that great that night, there was just this magic in the air.
Hodges: For me, it was emotionally super-charged. I just had never pictured Jason, Perry, Jeff and me on a Nashville stage ever again. Every time I looked over at the guys that night there was this overwhelming happiness. I wanted to savor every moment, but we were so charged up that it seemed like it lasted two-and-a-half minutes.

NBIR: A lot has changed in Nashville since the days when you guys first broke onto the music scene. Do you enjoy life here as much as you did when the band was first starting out?
Ringenberg: Yeah, I think so. In fact even more. It's become home to me. It's different than it used to be in almost every respect.
Hodges: It's a completely different animal for me. Nashville was party town. I knew everybody and was out every night in all the clubs. Now I live outside the city. But I love Nashville and I love what life has become for me here. I've lived in New York and I've lived in L.A. But I can't imagine being anywhere else but here.

NBIR: A few of your alternative music contemporaries from the 1980s have found commercial radio success in the 1990s. Do you think the climate in music these days offers the Scorchers a little bit better chance at radio?
Ringenberg: A somewhat better chance, but the Scorchers by nature just are not a radio act. It's kind of the way my voice sounds on the radio and stuff. So I don't think it's ever going to be easy for us to be on the radio. It's always going to be hit and miss, very spotty.

NBIR: Jason, what things stand out in your mind at this time about the solo project that you did for Liberty Records?
Ringenberg: I met a lot of really neat people that I've stayed friends with. It's interesting because it was completely a sideline. Everything else I've ever done in music has always been sort of, on the same highway, where this was completely to the side. Those songs will probably never be played again, unless I do an occasional solo thing. That record is the only thing I've ever been a part of that is completely dead. It will never come out again, so it's funny in that respect.

NBIR: As an artist who was signed to one of the most powerful country labels in town, what are your thoughts on the state of the country music industry these days?
Ringenberg: Ninety percent of it these days is unlistenable for me. I hate to say that, but it's the truth. When I was doing my record, I thought there was some really cool stuff happening. I liked Garth's first record and I loved Clint Black's record Killin' Time. The tragedy of it is that once that stuff started selling, the powers that be in Nashville began to attribute that success to the wrong things. They were talking about demographics, as opposed to what really made those acts huge, and that was making really great records. Really different records.

NBIR: The Scorchers have the reputation of being a great live band. Who are some of your favorite acts to see live.
Hodges: My deal is all entertainment-based. I want to see a show. I don't want to see five cardboard figures on stage. I love the Stones. AC/DC is my favorite band. They are five guys who can play their record. I want two hours where I'm a 15-year-old kid again, and everything else goes away. I definitely want to see the new Kiss tour [laughs].
Ringenberg: Jerry Lee Lewis has been a huge, huge influence on me. In fact, when I came to town I had only seen videotapes of him. Luckily, I've gotten to see him twice in the last 10 years here. I always dug Dylan live for the same reasons. He was just transfixing to watch. I don't think he's nearly as good as he used to be. The times I saw him in the '70s were just beautiful experiences. Aside from that, I like going out and seeing club acts and being surprised.

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