JASON BROWNING.
I remember having a really crappy day and somehow found myself at the Dive Bar to see Righteous Fool a year or so ago, maybe more. It was sort of a big deal for me to see Reed Mullin and Mike Dean playing together again. And they were good. Also, there were a lot of people I saw that night that I hadn?t seen in awhile like Ricky Hicks and the Weathermans. So all and all it was a really fun night and it cheered me right up.
But this was before Mike and Reed?s other band..uh..you know who..started up again with Woody Weatherman. That was still far off I think. And the guitar player of the band was a rather tall fellow named Jason Browning. He looked a little bit like Fleetwood Mac?s Peter Green and wore a Shudder To Think t-shirt. He played real good too. So those were all pretty positive things in my book. And he seemed like a very nice guy. Where did this guy come from anyways?
As you can imagine, the COC reunion was sort of a big deal to me. After all, I had relocated out here a billion years ago because of the three of them and it is nice to know that the trio has worked out very well..so far, so good. But Righteous Fool are still continuing and plan on recording an album in the future, possibly in Los Angeles at Dave Grohl?s studio, which I would imagine is going to be pretty nice to be able to do. The band does the definite version of ?Green Manalishi? and most of the original material is really good.
So since Jason Browning has been thrown into the COC axis so to speak in a satellite band that can more than hold their own I thought I would see if he wouldn?t mind answering a few questions. Here are the results.
I would like a little bit of personal background. Where are you from? for whatever reason I assumed it was the DC area, I guess because of whom you played with. Is that true?
Jason: I'm from Reston, VA, a suburb of DC. Reston was one of the first planned communities. It was a surreal place to grow up - though I didn't know it at the time. During the late 80?s it had a surprisingly good hardcore scene, for a few years anyway.
Obviously you have been playing guitar for awhile. Who were the people and bands that influenced you to pick up the six string? Were you a punk rocker at all?
Jason: I became really interested in music at the age of 13, after being introduced to a few punk and hardcore bands by some friends. Probably the first band that I really got into was the Germs. Pat Smear is still one of my favorite guitarists. But the music that most shaped me at that time was Bad Brains and Rich Kids on LSD (particularly the Rock n Roll Nightmare album). But I wouldn?t say I was a punk rocker. I skated and listened to hardcore and punk, and hung out with that crowd?but I never identified myself that way.
Name some of the bands that you had played with before the HR band.
Jason: I started playing in bands in 1989, when I was 15 and had been playing for 2 years. For the first 10 years or so I played in a bunch of low key hardcore bands with friends. We had no ambition to take music far - we just wanted to have fun and be creative. Some of my friends were good players, and we challenged each other artistically, but never figured to make a big thing out of it. Eventually, around 2000, I got tired of screwing around and decided to stop playing with friends and just find talented people and try to build something ? regardless of style or genre ? almost just to see what I could do. After a few years of cycling through different musicians, we finally had a good lineup and started making good music. It was 2003 and the band was called Evenout, and it was more or less a rock band with a really good singer ? a guy by the name of Maurice Mangum, a Raleigh native who had transplanted to Northern VA. By that time I opened my mind a bit and was into bands like Shudder to Think and Sunny Day Real Estate. A lot of Evenout, stylistically, was me trying to inject that feel into a more conventional rock format.
I first had heard of you from playing with the Bad Brain;s singer HR. I have heard so many things about that man over the years, ranging from gifted visionary to insane madman. What is the truth? And what is the best story you have from that experience? Will you ever play with him again?
Jason: I think with HR, the spiritual aspect of his lyrics and personality has led people to treat him differently than a typical punk rock legend. The priest meets punk dynamic is so incongruous and unique?plus he can be aloof, so there can be a strange social interaction, especially with fans. And of course, with his status, people try to use him sometimes. He?s been in the thick of it for over 30 years ? I can?t imagine being totally grounded after all he?s seen and done. But he?s not an ?insane madman?, to answer the question. He?s pretty damn placid, most of the time. But he?s definitely a gifted visionary, and his style permeates everything he does.
As for ever playing with him again...I have no idea if that will happen, but it was a great experience.
You are a Raleigh resident now. I am guessing because of your freindship with Reed Mullin. How did you meet him, and what convinced you to move down here? Was it the idea of playing with him?
Jason: I met Reed through a mutual friend of his and Maurice from Evenout, named Bobby. Maurice and Bobby were going to jam with Reed, and Maurice called me and asked me to come down and play some guitar. I drove down and wrote some riffs that Reed liked, and we decided to keep jamming. So I?d drive down every couple of weeks for that. After a month or so, Maurice moved to Florida and Bobby was busy working, so it was just me and Reed.
Meanwhile, I was sick of Reston and DC so I was going to move anyway, possibly to Austin since it?s such a great music city. But I got to liking Raleigh, just hanging out on Reed?s porch playing acoustic guitar all day. Once we got Mike Dean in on the project and started working really hard and writing a lot, that?s what got me to move to Raleigh.
How did you end up joining up with the rest of the felows who backed Reed and Karl in thier COC Blind tribute band? Was it fun? How many shows did you play, and do you think that you will be doing that again?
Jason: COC Blind was fun. Karl is a great singer/performer and just a really good guy. We played about 8 shows. I then dodged out so I could maintain focus on Righteous Fool. They replaced me and played another half dozen or so shows, before wrapping it up when Woody came back to COC proper. I always considered it to be a fun short term project, but I couldn?t imagine doing it again in any serious way because, obviously, it?s not my music.
Now for the big question. How did you and Reed convince Mike Dean to jam with you? I always thought that Mike sort of missed playing with Reed, and I imagine it was the same way for him. Was it a big deal to start Righteous Fool with Mike and Reed?
Jason: Reed brought a couple songs we wrote and recorded over to Mike?s house. Mike liked them and came over to jam. That was pretty much it. It was a big deal for me, as I was getting to work with one of my favorite rhythm sections in rock.
Who wrote the hardcore song with the Alice In Chains breakdown in it? you sing it..was it you?
Jason: Yes, I wrote that song, ?Tipping Point?, though the 3 of us arranged and made a lot of changes to it after the initial riffs were presented. It?s a very collaborative writing environment, which I like.
Not too long ago, COC reformed as the trio, and despite all of that, Mike and Reed are still continuing with you in RF, which I think is sort of a cool thing. I am guessing even with the pedigree that COC has, those other two have a chemistry with you and it seems like you guys could maybe do a little bit more, plus you will be recording an album alongside COC soon. is this an exciting proposition? Where are you going to record the record?
Jason: I?m definitely excited to record a full length record with Righteous Fool. We have only released 2 songs so far, so I?m looking forward to getting the rest of the material documented and put out there.
Finally, you like Shudder To Think, a favorite band of mine for years. What is your personal favorite period of the band? If Craig asked you to jam with them, would you do it? And to the point: could you out pose thier guitarist?
Jason: Probably Pony Express Record, followed by Funeral at the Movies. The level of execution on Pony Express is just insane, and the deeply buried monster hooks are such a great payoff. Of course I?d jam with Craig...though he?s into some unusual stuff these days, if you check out Baby and Lapland. Not sure about the posing?I?d need to practice.
Source: http://introvertedloudmouth.blogspot.com/2011/01/jason-browning-more-than-fan-of-shudder.html
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