Sometimes it's hard to believe you've known someone for so long. The first time I talked to Jesse Smith was on a phone call after hearing ZAO's debut album, "All Else Failed," in 1995. I think I found his number in the liner notes of the CD or something like that. I just wanted to call this dude and tell him how revolutionary their music was and find out how to carry them in.my record store.
At that time, I had never heard anyone sing in such a style and with so much intensity and passion. Musically, ZAO was amazing and took hardcore to a whole new level - further into the arena of metal. At the time, I think Jesse was still in his late teens.
Over the next few years, I would always make it a point to see ZAO and Jesse every time they came through town or nearby. I would book ZAO in Austin, TX a handful of times or travel to Dallas to take in their unbelievably powerful shows. He also came through town with his buddies Training for Utopia and stayed with me when they went out on their tour. Needless to say, Jesse and I became friendly.
I'm not claiming that we were best of friends or anything boastful like that. He was a dude I respected and admired his work and ambitions. Not to mention, he was always pushing the fashion envelope, and I really dug that. When all the hardcore kids were wearing JNCO's and sports jerseys, Jesse chose to buck that look and go glam. He showed up at Cornerstone in a skintight white shirt, tight pants, and with more eyeliner on than I think even Marilyn Manson wore at the time.
After ZAO, we stayed in touch and I worked with him on his band GODS. Honestly, most people didn't get what he was doing at the time musically. I thought the music was cool and different and needed to be heard. After that, I left the music scene for literally almost 10 or 15 years.
Fast-forward to today, and I reconnected with Jesse when I heard about his new project, Serpent Servant Slave. To many people, Serpent Servant Slave might seem like a crazy departure from what Smith is most identified with. The musical direction he is taking with this new band is exactly what I would expect from him.
As you listen to Serpent Servant Slave, artists like Depeche Mode, Marilyn Manson, and David Bowie will no doubt come to mind. Anyone who's ever asked Jesse about his musical tastes knows he's been into stuff like that for decades. What he's done with Serpent Servant Slave is just make those genres his own.
Sitting down with Jesse after some 10 to 13 years honestly felt like it does when you haven't seen or spoke with a relative for many years. We just started talking and sharing about what we had been doing. It was hard to figure out when I was interviewing him and when we were just shooting the proverbial breeze.
As you might notice, this interview with Jesse is way more edited than any I've done in the past. As we moved through our conversation, we would get sidetracked and start yammering about a personal experience or get way off-topic. Jesse gets personal here and talks about everything from his way of life now to his own tragedies and, of course, movies, music, and more.
Some of the things Jesse shares aren't going to fit into what readers believe or expect from a guy who made a name for himself and his band inside and outside of the spirit-filled hardcore scene of the Tooth and Nail / Solid State Records and Cornerstone Music Festival world. He's not asking for anyone to follow him or what he believes. He's just sharing from the place he's at right now in his own life because the questions were asked and some people want to know.
Just to give you a little insight into how in-depth we got, the original video for this was two and a half hours long. I knew no one wanted to sit through two dudes talking for that long aimlessly. What you get here is the condensed and as-organized-as-I-could-get conversation we shared.
