The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is an American rock band formed in Middleburg, Florida, in 2003.[1] The band's current members include Ronnie Winter (lead vocals), Joey Westwood (bass), Josh Burke (lead guitar), Randy Winter (rhythm guitar), and John Espy (drums). They have released five studio albums to date.
The band is best known for their 2006 major-label debut Don't You Fake It. Its lead single "Face Down" became their biggest success, and "False Pretense" and "Your Guardian Angel" were successful follow-up hits. Don't You Fake It is the band's only RIAA-certified album (Platinum), and all of its singles have also received awards from various institutions.
History
2003–2004: early years
Originating in Florida, childhood friends Ronnie Winter and Duke Kitchens started the band while attending an AP Music Theory class in 2001.[2] The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus was officially formed in 2003 after the addition of other members who were then in other bands. The band name was chosen by the band voting for random words they threw on a wall.[3]
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus worked with Vision Sound studios in Orange Park, Florida, which released a "6 song EP CD that was spread throughout different countries to promote the band in 2005".[2] The band began to become more popular as they used certain social media, namely Myspace, to advertise their music.[2] While popular in their local scene, the band found it difficult to secure label support. This is why the band took 18 months to write songs before going into the live scene.[2] They built a fan base with continued live shows, which attracted the attention of Jason Flom of Virgin Records in 2005, after which they began work on their first album.[2]
2005–2007: Don't You Fake It
In 2006, they released their first LP, Don't You Fake It, with the singles "Face Down," "False Pretense", "Your Guardian Angel", and "Damn Regret". The album was certified gold on November 27, 2006, by the RIAA for sales shipments exceeding 500,000 copies.[4]
In October 2008, Matt Carter replaced former guitarist Elias Reidy. Carter had worked as a tech for the band previously and had jammed with them. Now, Carter was asked to take Reidy's spot, and he agreed to play with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. In an interview with a Jacksonville newspaper, Ronnie was asked whether Carter was officially in the band, to which he responded, "I don't know. I guess he's in the band. We're taking it slow." Carter played with the band from then on.[14]
In support of this album, the band went on many tours in the winter of 2008 and the spring of 2009 with bands such as Shinedown, Framing Hanley, and Tickle Me Pink.
On March 20, 2009, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus released an EP titled Shock Session, featuring acoustic versions of "Pen & Paper", "You Better Pray", and "Face Down".
At the end of May 2009, they announced along with Hollywood Undead, Mest, and The Sleeping that they would be doing a summer tour for the months of June and July, playing mostly club and small venue shows. They rejoined Monty Are I for an August 2009 tour throughout Canada and California.
2010–2012: The Hell or High Water EP and Am I the Enemy
The band in 2012
On January 29, 2010, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus announced via their Twitter page that they would have a new EP out in late July/August.
In February 2010, the band parted ways with their label Virgin Records, citing the poor promotion of Lonely Road. They decided to release music independently. According to lead singer Ronnie Winter, "At this point we want to stay completely 100% independent for as long as possible."[15] The first such song was "Valentine," which was released for free on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2010.
On June 22, 2010, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus announced via Myspace blog that their upcoming EP release would be titled The Hell or High Water, and that the first song from it, "Choke", would be released on June 28, 2010, as a free download. The EP was recorded in the band's studio in Middleburg, Florida, and was mixed and mastered by Paul Lapinski.[16] This was their first release following their departure from Virgin Records, and was released on August 24, 2010. The full-length album following the EP was scheduled to be out in early 2011.[17][18]
In November 2010, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus entered the studio to record their third full-length album, Am I the Enemy, finishing in December 2010 with producer John Feldmann.[19] The album's first single, "Reap", was released via YouTube on March 24, although the song itself was not released to iTunes until April 26.[20] The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus later released two other songs from their new album on their YouTube channel, "Salvation" and "Fall from Grace". A June 7 announcement on the band's Facebook page said the new album, Am I the Enemy, would be released on August 30, 2011. It was to contain twelve songs.[21]
On July 11, 2011, lead singer Ronnie Winter announced that guitarists Duke Kitchens and Matt Carter had left the band "to focus on their personal lives", and longtime Red Jumpsuit Apparatus fan Josh Burke joined as lead guitarist.[22] This was followed by a YouTube video on July 17 welcoming Burke as the official lead guitarist of the band, replacing Carter.[23] Ronnie's brother, Randy Winter, was later added as the second guitarist, filling in for Duke Kitchens.
2013–present: Et Tu, Brute? EP, 4, The Awakening and The Emergency EP
On March 15, 2013, the band released an EP titled Et Tu, Brute?. The EP was produced by David Bendeth (producer of Don't You Fake It). Prior to its release, the band released two of the songs on their page.[24]
On October 11, 2013, the band revealed their fourth studio album, titled 4, was 'coming soon' via their Facebook page. They also revealed that David Bendeth would be producing the LP. Three days later, again through Facebook, the band announced Matt Carter was returning to the band and would be playing lead guitar for 4.[25] On January 1, 2014, the band announced that 4, as well as the rest of their discography, would be released July 4, 2014.
This band planned to perform their first rock show in India at the 2016 edition of Saarang, the cultural fest of IIT Madras, on January 9, 2016. In a November 27 post on their official Instagram page, RJA announced their anniversary tour dates. They were one of the first official bands announced for 2017's Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio.
In an April 2017 interview, Winter said that after their anniversary tour, the band would head to the studio in southern California to record The Awakening. It would be co-produced by him and his wife, and was to be released in the same year.[26] However, according to coverage by Alternative Press of a post and comments on the band's Facebook page in July 2017, the new record would be released in 2018, along with a new single and tour in the fall of 2017.[27] It was released on March 30, 2018.[28]
On August 28, 2020, the band released The Emergency EP.[citation needed]
Controversy
In April 2014, a photograph of Matt Carter playing with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus at a live show was posted to the band's Facebook page. The photo had been altered and cropped out the watermark of the Australian photographer, Rohan Anderson. Rohan contacted the band, explaining that the photo was being used without permission, and requesting the photo be removed or a licensing fee be paid. A member of the band responded, refusing to remove or pay for the photo, and through further exchanges went on to ridicule Rohan and threaten him with legal action.[29][30][31]
On April 21, the band then posted a link to the message exchange with Rohan on their Twitter account, asking fans to retweet the post using the hashtag "rohanisatool". This was received negatively on Twitter, with fans of the band expressing their disappointment at The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus infringing on the work of another artist, and using the hashtag in support of Rohan. Three hours later, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus removed their previous tweet, posting a new one claiming that the issue was due to a misunderstanding by them, and had been resolved with the band agreeing to pay a licensing fee for Rohan's picture, and apologising.[29][30][31]
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