The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
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.
"RJSA" redirects here. For other uses, see Aomori Airport.
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Middleburg, Florida, U.S.[1]
2003–present
- Ronnie Winter
- Joey Westwood
- Randy Winter
- Josh Burke
- John Espy
- Nadeem Salam
- Dan Wagler
- Thomas Wurth
- Thomas Amason
- Elias Reidy
- Duke Kitchens
- Jon Wilkes
- Matt Carter
- John Hartman
- Daniel Resnick
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[edit]
2003–2004: early years[edit]
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[edit]
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 February 2007, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus headlined the US Take Action Tour organized for the prevention of youth suicide, along with bands such as My Chemical Romance and Rise Against.[5][6]
Their song "In Fate's Hands" is featured in the video game Madden NFL 07; their song "Face Down" is featured in the video games Saints Row 2 and MX vs. ATV: Untamed; and their song "False Pretense" is featured in the movie Never Back Down.
From 2006 to 2008, the band performed several headliner and supporting shows with bands like Thirty Seconds to Mars,[6] Madina Lake, The Audition, Saosin,[7] Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Taking Back Sunday, Lorene Drive, The Used, Monty Are I,[8] Amber Pacific,[9] Boys Like Girls, Halifax, Emery, A Static Lullaby,[10] and So They Say.[6]
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Don't You Fake It Deluxe Edition (CD/DVD) was released on February 23, 2007. The CD features the album and two exclusive songs, an acoustic version of "Face Down", and a never released out of Australia bonus track, "Disconnected".
On May 3, 2007, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus performed at Fort Rucker, Alabama, to help benefit the rebuilding of Enterprise High School after it was destroyed by a tornado on March 1, 2007.[11]
In May 2007, the single "Face Down" was featured in the movie Georgia Rule. The song was also used in Madden NFL 07 as well as the 2007 EVER OSL Starleague (Ongamenet). Additional songs used during that OSL season were "Waiting" and "Atrophy".
In a 2007 interview with the Florida Entertainment Scene, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus teamed up with Virgin Records to raise funds for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. They also headlined the Take Action! Tour, which sponsors awareness against teen suicide, animal cruelty, and domestic violence.
The band appeared in Episode 8, Season 3 of the Hills "For Better or Worse", where they undertook a photoshoot for Teen Vogue.
Photograph copyright dispute[edit]
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]