VAINS of JENNA formed in the small town of Falkenberg, SWEDEN in January 2005. Lead Vocalist/Guitarist Lizzy DeVine and bassist JP White had talked the previous summer about putting together a new band. Both had played in a group before and eyed a young teenage guitarist named Nicki Kin as the final piece to the line-up along with his classmate, drummer Jacki Stone. Kin and Stone graduated high school in 2005 and played in a band together since they were 12 years old.
During the summer of 2005, VAINS of JENNA was offered a chance to play the world-famous “Whisky-A-Go-Go” in Hollywood and after clearing it with their parents, decided to spend thousands of dollars to fly to California for the gig. They were offered the first slot out of 10 bands and performed at 4:00pm on Saturday July 30. They jumped at the chance and stunned the crowd with their raw energy, young bravado, and sleazy throwback appeal. Before dinner even started for most, their 10,000-plus mile journey to the land of the stars was over in a flash with a short 30-minute set. Or was it?
Four days later, the band was cutting tracks with Gilby Clarke (ex-Guns N’ Roses guitarist) at his Redrum Studios in North Hollywood. VAINS of JENNA returned to Sweden with more determination than ever, as their short six-month career had now taken a swift turn in the right direction. They spent the winter with rehearsals; writing sessions, live gigs and more recording time in the studio. The band supported most have Sweden’s hot up and coming rock bands like Crash Diet, Hardcore Superstar and Gemini 5.
In the Spring of ‘06 VOJ toured Southern Europe and spent one month in the U.K. winning over critics and fans by night while playing gigs and sleeping in their van in an alley by day. In a review of their live show, the popular U.K. site Caught In The Crossfire noted, “…they’re unbelievably ace, spinning through a short but ludicrously high-energy set that combines all of the best elements of trashy rock ‘n’ roll like Aerosmith, Hanoi Rocks and of course, Guns N’ Roses played with complete conviction and not a hint of irony. Soon to be legends, mark my words!”
VAINS OF JENNA attracted the attention of skateboarding legend Bam Margera (also of MTV’s Viva La Bam and Jackass fame) who signed the band on the spot after seeing their bombastic live show. The band subsequently put the finishing touches on their self-produced debut full-length Lit Up / Let Down. Due out October 24 2006, Lit Up / Let Down will be the first release ever on Bam’s brand new label Filthy Note. Look for VAINS OF JENNA to bring their surly, thrilling blatant guitar rock bravado to the U.S. this fall and beyond.
You guys are from Sweden; tell me, what’s the rock scene like over there and how did you all get together?
Well, the rock scene back home is pretty good; we have a lot of really good rock n roll bands. We’re all from the same small town called Falkenberg, me and JP, the bass player had a band like 4 years ago, which he was in for like a month then moved to Norway, his younger brother is Jackie, our drummer and his best friend is Nikki, the guitar player and Jackie and Nikki have been playing together since they were 9 years old, so we started last year, in January, because JP moved home again, we saw them on the street and he thought that I looked cool and he was the only one that looked cool too, so we decided to start a band, so he took his younger brother and Nikki along and it all clicked, and it was perfect. It the best part was, that everyone could play great so we have a lot of fun together.
Where did the name “Vains of Jenna” come from, or did you guys just throw ideas into a hat and that was the name chosen?
ALMOST!! Well JP, the bass player was drunk one night and we had like 10 different names, and woke up the morning after and saw the piece of paper and he showed it to us and we all thought the “Vains of Jenna” name was the best one, but we didn’t realize it was misspelled and then people started pointing that out, sending us emails with outtakes from dictionaries, telling us we were so wrong and stuff, but we kept it because it looks so much better with an A instead of an E, that’s what I think...
What was it like, to have your first gig at the world famous Whiskey, during Cruefest Hollywood?
Yeah, it was, it was a great experience because that was a dream of mine since I was very young to play at the Whiskey. It was so weird, the Cruefest staff contacted us, to see if we wanted to play, we couldn’t believe it at first, because how many bands from Sweden does that happen to, like after a month, they ask you to play? After a while, we knew it was for real, so we went over, and played at like 4 in the afternoon in front of 25 people, but Stevie, our manager, Stevie Rachelle, he saw us, and then everything started happening, thanks to him. I mean why sit around and wait for something to happen, it was great!!
Tell me, what was it like to work with Gilby Clarke and how did that all come about, you guys must’ve been kind of stoked about that one...
Yes, I mean we we’re all GnR fans, so that was great, he was a really cool guy, really down to earth, more than like a big celebrity, giving us advice on what we could do to improve our songs and what not to do in the industry and stuff, it was really cool getting to meet him and it was all thanks to Stevie again, he loved the band when he saw us at Crue fest, so he took our demo CD and some pictures to Gilby’s place and Gilby wanted to record some songs with us, so, the day before we were going home to Sweden we went to his studio and recorded like 3 or 4 songs, it was a great experience, I loved it.
How did you get hooked up with Stevie Rachelle?
It was weird, when we played at 4 o’clock in the afternoon at the Whiskey, he was playing there later that same evening, he was dropping off his merchandise and saw us play, he liked us from the beginning and he believed in us from the start so he decided to manage us.
Who does most of the writing in the band, or is it a team effort?
We all work together as a team, that’s what makes this band so good, because we all have different influences, so that’s how we write the songs, because every band I was in before this, I did most of the shit, and the songs all sounded the same, and it was quite boring to be the guy that did everything so now we’re a great team and we do everything together. Usually it starts with two of us coming up with the foundation and then everyone adds their part, it’s the same thing with they lyrics, we all help out. That’s what I love about this band. We all want the same thing, have the same dreams, we have different influences, but everyone puts in the music.
Someone seeing you for the first time, what can they expect?
We give it 100% when we’re onstage, take shit from no one, we do our shit, if people like it, perfect if they hate it, well there’s the door. A lot of people say we sound better live than on the CD so, that makes me happy that’s the way I want it, because I hate listening to a bands CD and it’s great, but when you see them, it’s so boring. We are old school rock n roll, and really love what we do.
Lets talk gear here, who makes you guys sound great? What gear do you use and do you have any endorsements?
Yes B.C. Rich guitars, and Carvin Amps endorse us. Jackie plays on Yamaha drums with regal tip sticks. Being endorsed by B.C. Rich and Carvin is great! I have a mockingbird guitar and I love it. But the CD was recorded with Gibson and Fender; we recorded before we got endorsed, back in Sweden. We wanted something to show people, so we put this CD that’s out now, on our own label called Rawdogs records. Then Bam loved it so he decided to put it out on his label.
Ok, so on average, how many times a week does your drummer get mistaken for Steven Adler, you KNEW that question was coming?
He does look like him, his hair is similar but he does look like him. A lot of people, when they see pictures of us, they label us an 80's retro band. If you have the hair, you have to show it. So guess as long as we have the hair, well keep it up it looks cool.
If you could tour with any band, who would it be?
Aerosmith... without a doubt, we love that band. I’ve never seen Aerosmith live, but that would be the ultimate band to open up for.
You guys are pretty young, have your parents been supportive of your music career?
They’ve always been supportive; they’re the ones that got me into music from the start. We were all really broke and they put out the money when they needed to, they love what we do. My parents paid for my education, they didn’t care that I just quit my job and wanted to follow my dreams. A lot of bands complain about their childhood but we all had great childhoods, we love our parents and they love us. We’re really lucky!
Which song of your new album “Lit up / Let down”, is your favorite to play live?
“Hard to be Vain” is always cool, we love that song it’s great. “Don’t give a Damn” is always fun to play as well, but “Hard to be Vain” is the favorite one, people seem to like that one the most. It’s always good to hear the audience sing along to the songs, and that one especially they sing along to a lot, it’s very cool.
Vains of Jenna got popular rather quickly, how are you adjusting to it?
I don’t think we’ve changed that much, I think it’s fun especially here in L.A. when you walk down the strip on Sunset Blvd. people come up to you and say, ”Oh I love your band” and stuff like that it feels good. I had a dream to be in all the magazines and stuff and now I’m starting to appear and see my picture in Metal Edge and stuff like that, it feels really good! We take it day by day and know that things can change and people can hate us any day, but so far things are working out.
The people that knew you before your success the people from back home; do they treat you any differently now?
No, not at all, the younger girls, like 13, 14 are all excited when they see us. It’s good, I don’t want those people to treat me any differently it’s all the same.
Was “No One’s Gonna Do It For You” your first time making a video?
Yes, it was the first time. We had so much fun it was crazy, we shot it in Westchester at Bam’s place. We started partying the night before and partied all night. Then started shooting in the morning and continued to party all day long. We had a blast and it was amazing. The best thing about it was, we played a show in New York on a Thursday, and shoots a video on Saturday. Working with Bam is very impulsive. I think the video fits the song, our style. It’s raw, it’s having fun, like we always do. It’s my favorite video of all time...Because I’m in it!!
So tell me, what’s on the horizon for “Veins of Janna”, will you be at NAMM?
No, we’re going to be out on tour as much as possible, tomorrow we’re heading up to the Seattle area to do some shows with “Alien Ant Farm” and one show with L.A. Guns. In Jan. we’re going out on a 25 date tour with “Wednesday 13", that’s going to be great! Just mostly going out on tour and gaining new fans everywhere. The more we play, the happier we are!
AAM congratulates you on your success, and thanks you for taking the time to do the interview with us.
Your welcome!
For more information on “Vains of Jenna” www.vainsofjenna.com, or myspace page at www.myspace.com/vainsofjenna.
