JOURNALS 2002

The Jerry Jones Journals...

Monday, 12/30/02

Well, I guess this will be my last Journal entry for the year, and what a year it's been...

I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for everything you've done for us this year. I really feel that 2003 is going to be a great year for The Fiendz. We have some big plans in works for the new year---we'll be bringing The Redemption Tour all over the U.S., Canada & even Europe! We're also going to start recording the next Fiendz record next summer (unless Warped Tour calls--haha) but, I won't hold my breath. We want to get our next record out as soon as possible. I also have tons of unfinished and unreleased Fiendz material that I hope to find the time to put together. We'll continue to keep building up the web site. (www.TheFiendz.com)...it's going to be awesome when it's done---Thanks so much to my wife Colleen for helping us to take on the extra work load of this new record, and also, thanks to Tim Gilles for continuing to believe in us and inspire us, for The Fiendz would not still be here today if it wasn't for Tim. He's the greatest!

Please keep all of the e-mails coming in, we really appreciate it.

Have A Happy & Healthy New Year!

See Ya Next Year,

Jerry & The Fiendz

Listening to: Jets to Brazil "Four Cornered Night"

Tuesday, 12/24/02

I feel compelled to write something about Joe Strummer passing away. The Clash were such a huge influence on The Fiendz from the very early days. In fact, the riff for "Runaway with Me" was directly stolen from The Clash song "Remote Control". Ironically, just a couple of days prior to Joe Strummer's passing, I sat in awe when MTV2 aired the new Clash documentary. What an amazing career they had!! It's such a great loss...I have the same feelings I did when Joey Ramone died...to this day I still can't believe Joey and Dee Dee are gone. (I just recently got out some of my old Clash albums)....

Listening to: The Clash (Self titled)

Monday, 12/23/02

I saw 120 minutes last night and the featured band of the night was Jimmy Gnecco & Ours. I am really happy for those guys. I love their new song "Leaves", it's amazing! No, it's not a cover of our song "Leaves" but I'm sure Jimmy remembers us, he used to be a big fan of the Fiendz in the early 90's. They also played a cool video from the band Jellyfish, who I love...they're killer...

Listening to: Jellyfish "Spilt Milk"

Saturday, 12/21/02

Last night's show at Club Culture was one of the most diverse bills we have ever played on, and of course, I was loving it. All of the bands were great, especially The Friendly Bears from NYC, who were awesome!--they were definitely one of the most interesting bands we have ever played with (they reminded me a lot of Henry Cow and somewhat of King Crimson) and I would love to try and get together another cool show like that around here in Jersey.

Listening to: The Jam "Greatest Hits"

Thursday, 12/19/02

Maxwell's was a lot of fun. The LawnDarts were great! and so were The High School Sweethearts (my new favorite local band)...We had a blast. Special thanks to my friend Dan who brought me a copy of the test pressing of the original vinyl version of Wact which he bought on eBay--very cool. (There's currently a copy of Cole for sale if any one is interested.) (click here) And thanks to Scenemaster (Joe Castrianni) for providing me with a copy of "The Big Takeover" who gave Redemption an awesome review. Check it out here: Redemption Reviews

Listening to: The High School Sweethearts "Passing Notes"

Tuesday, 12/17/02

Connections was really cool the other night. I admit, we definitely play there too much, but we don't care, it's always a good time. Thanks to everyone who came out to the show and to all the bands that played. We will be returning there next month (surprise, surprise) to open for Dave Smalley. (Frontman for Dag Nasty, ALL, Down By Law)

We haven't played a gig with Dave since the first Down By Law record which was at the Outhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. So, as you can imagine, I'm really psyched. (Dave is a great guy, not to mention a genius!!)

Listening to: Face To Face (Self Titled)

Tuesday, 12/02/02

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

We have just begun planning our "Next Tour"---if anyone can help us out in any way, please e-mail us. We'll eventually be taking an online poll where everyone will get to vote for their favorite Fiendz song, so this way we can put together the best live show possible.

I've been receiving so much great feedback on our new album Redemption. I truly can't believe how many people have been reaching out to me with such awesome e-mails. Maybe it's because it's so much easier nowadays for our fans to reach out to us (via the web).

Here are a few of those e-mails I've received about the new CD:

(I swear, I could literally cry over this shit...)

Hello Jerry,

I just wanted to e-mail you to let you know that I bought the new Fiendz album today!!! It's going to be my favorite album this year--it truly blew me away!!! You know how you hear some music and it gives you the chills?? That's Redemption...You guys have been one of my all time favorite bands since '91. I love all of your albums--especially Wact--but I must say, I think I might like this one more!!! I didn't expect it to sound so damn rockin! It's great to know you are still together-and I hope to see you on tour and hang out again! I've told all my friends about your new album-I think a lot of people are going to freak on your CD! I just wanted you to know how much brighter your new music made my day-You put a huge smile on my face Thanks!

Jerry,

What can I say about Redemption?...I'm speechless...You know I have always loved your band and your music...your songs are timeless to me...but this new album just kicks my ass.... "Tonight, I will take to bed, every word you said, and then I'll lie awake" ...I can't stop singing that song (Dis-Org) all day. Your new album reminds me of the "old days" driving around on tour listening to Wact. I really love it! I also love, How Ridiculous and Tell Me Something, too many to mention tho, I cant wait to hear you play these new songs live...See Ya Next Tour!

Your Fiend.

and here is one I just got this morning....

HIya Jerry,

I've been a fan of The Fiendz for about 10 years now, and I just wanted to let you know that I think you're one of the most influential melodic punk bands ever. You guys are the best! Never stop playing. Or we'll hunt you down and kick your asses. :) Stay Great!

And those are just a few of many along the same lines...I think that this album is getting this type of response because I wrote it from the heart when I was going through the worst time of my life. This type of response from everyone has already allowed me to achieve one of my goals for this album, which was to turn something so devastating into something positive...That is my Redemption! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know what our music means to you. Honestly, words cannot express what that means to me!

Listening to: The Ramones "Pleasant Dreams"

11/23/02 The Loop Lounge - Passaic Park, NJ

Last night's Loop Lounge show was truly amazing! It just seemed to be one of those nights, if ya know what I mean. We all had a really great time. The Loop is actually one of my favorite places to play in Jersey. In fact, I think it was one of the first real "clubs" that we ever played. My Brother's band, Destroy The Plot, started off the night.--They sounded great. Next up was The LawnDarts who are one of my favorite local bands. (We're looking forward to playing the "X-Mas Show" at Maxwell's with them next month) We then played for almost an hour...playing mostly Redemption stuff with a lot of the old-school standards...and for the encore we played that brand new song "Last Week" that I've been talking about. Then, our original drummer, Joey Darone, came up and sang lead vocals on I Don't Love You. The old-school Fiendz fans were really into it. Thanks Zeckle! And thanks to everyone who came down to support us, we really do appreciate it! Oh Yeah, I saw that Punk Planet gave Redemption a really good review. To check out the new reviews on Redemption: (click here)

Listening to: Jawbreaker "Dear You"

11/08/02 Snugg's Harbor - New Paltz, NY

Snugg's was cool. We had an absolute blast in New Paltz with our friends "Joey's Throwin' Elbows" and "The Butcher Boys". In fact we were having such a good time that we pulled out some oddities that we never usually play, like Ska Lea (for Joe's brother Michael) and I Don't Love You (which we haven't played in a while). We also pulled out that new song called "Last Week"--it sounded amazing. We've been playing up in this area quite a lot and we plan to keep it up...This whole week was really fun!

Listening to: Smoking Popes "Born To Quit"

11/07/02 WFMU-The Pat Duncan Show...Joisey City, NJ

As always Pat's show was great!...

Here is the set we played:

Intro

We're The Fiendz

I Promise

I Don't Wanna Go Outside

Don't Blame Me

Boring Story

The Deals

How Do You Sleep?

Take Off & Go

Listen To Me

I'm Walkin' Out

Scum Bum

Chubby (my wife finally sang her part live!) Yeah, Baby! (done in the Austin Powers Voice)

Never Far Away

What We Believe

If you missed the show, you can listen to it at: http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/PD

....Off to New Paltz, NY...Later On!

Listening to: Neil Young with Crazy Horse "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere"

11/06/02 The Whiskey Bar...Slowboken, NJ

We've been adding some new, as well as old songs, to the set list. Alan wanted to do "Wact" so we've been working on that one. I also have a new one called "Last Week" that's been sounding really good, so I might try and pull it out this week…we'll see. My wife & I have been working really hard to get as much stuff up on our website as possible.--There's more to come. On another note, I really like that new Foo Fighters Song called "All My Life". I heard them on the Howard Stern Show last week...it was really funny...Dave is Awesome!

We're really excited about returning to The Pat Duncan Show this week!!!...(LIVE Thursday Nov.7th @11PM 91.1 FM) We'll be playing most of our new "Redemption" album (& I'm sure Pat will be requesting some oldies but goodies as always) www.WFMU.org

Listening to: Utopia "Deface the Music" (if you love the Beatles like I do, then you should check out this album…Todd and the boys do a spoof on the whole Beatles catalog from start to finish. I always think about doing the same type of record based on Todd's career!)

Happy Halloween! Hmmm..I guess I'm left to eat the 5 lbs. of leftover candy by myself?! A friend of mine gave me a copy of a local band in Jersey called Mazeffect. They do a cover of The Fiendz song "Dead End"....it's pretty cool!. They also do a GG Allin cover. I still cannot believe we played a show with GG down in Memphis, Tennessee (in 1991). We actually saw him earlier that day at Graceland, and he watched our whole set from the side of the stage. His set was a little too much for me though (as you can imagine). When he first came out onto the stage, he was totally naked and drinking a beer. I was all the way in the back of club behind the merch stand and I was thinking to myself that the people up front by him are nuts!--Just as I started to think that I actually had one of the safest seats in the house, GG finishes his beer and then launches the bottle into the back of the bar where it explodes about 10 feet from my head! So I packed up the rest of our merch and ran for the door…While GG did his thing…(literally….he took a crap & threw it at the crowd)…I never ran so fast in my life (LOL!).

Lately, I just can't stop listening to early James Taylor. What a major talent...His first few albums are unbelievable! I actually caught him on Jay Leno the other night and his new song was cool too...

We've been working in our new guitar player, Joe Hurley (I just can't seem to get rid of these damn Joe's). He's an old friend of ours from High School (not to mention a long-time Fiendz fan). So please come to one of our shows to give him a warm welcome to the band. (Joe's debut: The Whiskey Bar, Nov. 6th) We've also been adding a bunch of new & old songs to the set...

There have been several reviews of Redemption coming out. I saw that Shredding Paper and Maximum Rock & Roll each gave us a good review. (I can remember back when Maximum refused to review Dreams because it wasn't punk enough, now that was cool!...)

I recently finished producing a few songs for my brother's band called "Destroy The Plot". This 3 song demo sounds amazing. They're playing a few shows with us in November. For more info. on them, check out: www.destroytheplot.com (Hey, a big shot from Atlantic Records likes it!...maybe you will to...)

I was totally sick at the show last night for some reason (Connections). It was painful to get thru the set--I felt like I was gonna pass out. I'm glad we played first at least. Unfortunately I had to cut the set short a few songs. I feel so bad because I totally missed Joey's Throwin' Elbows and I heard they were saying some really nice things about us. But (lucky me) I was in the van feeling like I was now gonna throw up (#!?*&%$!) Luckily, by the time the LawnDarts came on, I was feeling good enough to come back in and see the rest of the show...what a night...

I went to go see The Who last night at PNC Bank Arts Center. It was honestly one of the best concerts I've ever seen. They Rocked!!! I have seen so many great shows this year (mostly this summer) such as Elvis Costello, The Rolling Stones and Ozz Fest (with System of a Down and a zillion others bands)--Believe it or not, Ozzy actually played and sounded better than ever! He had Puff on drums (X-Faith No More). Other great concerts this summer were Tomahawk & Tool, The B52's & Blondie (Clem Burke is the man!). Warped Tour was also awesome this year with: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, MxPx, Thursday, Alkaline Trio, Bad Religion, No Use For A Name, NOFX and Lagwagon...get the idea?....

We had a great time at The Chance in Poughkeepsie, NY with our friends The Butcher Boys, Joey's Throwin' Elbows and Graves. I loved playing at that club--it's actually a theatre and the sound was amazing....it rules. (Special Thanks to Brian Fitzpatrick for taking my Todd Rundgren tickets for this night. I heard I missed a good show:(--anyway, we all know Todd is God!!!)

Our "Redemption Record Release Party" was amazing! Thanks to Connections, Destroy The Plot, Subcommittee, Flatus, & all of our friends and family that came out to help make it such a success...we really appreciate it!