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Forward e-Newsletter |
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Can
You See Me Now?
Jaded Era's transformation from
invisible indie to hit songwriters
by Andre Calilhanna |
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Jaded Era must be getting
used to attention. Just last year, Cleveland Scene Magazine voted
the group “Cleveland’s Best Rock Band” for the third
year in a row, they opened for Bon Jovi (to add to their list of notable
stage shares), and they performed as a finalist in Disc Makers’
Midwest IMWS showcase in Chicago. Now their song “Invisible,”
written and released by the band in 2002, is chart-topper Ashlee Simpson’s
current single.
Simpson, who has co-written all of her material to date, isn’t
just covering the song. Geffen Records is using “Invisible”
as the vehicle with which to re-release Simpson’s sophomore
album. I Am Me went platinum two months after its October 2005 release,
but Geffen is hoping to approach the triple platinum success of Simpson’s
debut, Autobiography.
“It was a tough decision to make at first,” explains Kira
Leyden, Jaded Era’s vocalist and co-writer of the song. “Ron
Fair (Chairman of Geffen A&M Records) had come asking for the
song for other artists in the past. Then we get word that Ron wants
to fly us out and have a sit-down conversation and clear the air and
talk about the song for Ashlee Simpson. The fact that he would do
that and that he wanted the song so much meant a lot, and it changed
our perspective.
“It’s always been a huge compliment that he liked the
song, but I was always thinking ‘Why can’t we do it ourselves?’
But it totally changed when we talked to Ron. This was such a different
level from any previous situation because they wanted to use it as
the single and make it the driving force for re-releasing the album.
That made a big difference.”
Fair, whose credentials include production and A&R for Christina
Aguilera, Black Eyed Peas, Mary J Blige, and Counting Crows, discovered
the song three years ago and has been trying to place it ever since.
On a video clip on Geffen’s web site, Fair explains that he
told Simpson “I have this magnificent song that I’ve always
loved and I think it’s a perfect fit.”
Considering Simpson’s fall from pop grace after the lip-synching
affair on Saturday Night Live in 2004, the song’s teary yet
defiant message fits Simpson’s situation on many levels. For
Jaded Era, it’s another stop along a path to success that has
never been a straight line.
“It goes to show that the best thing a band can do is play and
play and do everything you can to get yourself out there,” says
guitarist Jeff Andrea, who co-wrote the song. “We played this
gig in Akron one night – we almost didn’t – and
it turned out there was guy in the crowd who used to work for Arista.
He came to us after the show and said, ’Hey I really liked that
one song you guys played, can I have a CD?’ We figured we would
never hear from him again.
“He gives us a call a couple of weeks later and says, ‘I’ve
got some people I’d like to show this to. Then it lands on Ron
Fair’s desk and a week later we’re being flown out to
showcase. Originally, it was a record deal for the band on the table,
but that went cold. We learned a lot from that situation. I’m
glad it turned out this way. We’re in a much better place.”
Once Leyden and Andrea gave the green light for the song, Simpson’s
team wasted no time getting it recorded and released. The meeting
with Fair occurred in late February, and the song and video were released
in June. As a testament to the original composition, Simpson’s
version doesn’t deviate from Jaded Era’s. “I don’t
think they changed a note,” asserts Andrea.
All of this has had a rather immediate impact on Jaded Era. Suddenly,
the band isn’t quite so anonymous, and Leyden and Andrea recognize
this window of opportunity needs to be taken advantage of. Indeed,
such potential opportunities were a major factor in their agreeing
to the song’s use.
As Andrea puts it, “People are looking at us in a whole different
light. You can tell there’s a different level of respect. They’re
listening to us.”
“How many times do you get to sit face to face with the head
of a major label?” Leyden chimes in. “And not only that,
if we call him, he calls us back. It’s a different place. It
doesn’t happen often for an unknown band, but we’re doing
this so that we will be known.”
At the moment, Jaded Era are in the closing stages of signing a contract
with a producer they’ve met through their new connections. The
band’s plans are to go into the studio to cut four songs and
pitch them back to Fair and company.
“We’re really happy we stuck to our guns and didn’t
just sell the song to some unknown artist,” Andrea asserts.
“The most important thing to us was ‘What’s the
best opportunity for this song to get heard?’ That’s what
sealed the deal. When Ron told us just how much exposure this song
would get, we felt it deserved that chance, even it if wasn’t
for us. To get out there, on this level – we’ll never
get this sort of chance again. Especially being an independent artist.
Something like this can help us so much.”
“It’s awesome to see it out there on TV every day,”
adds Leyden. “I was skeptical about how I’d feel to see
someone on TV doing one of our songs. But when I see it, I’m
like “That’s my song!” It feels so cool. I never
thought I’d feel like that, but I’m completely happy about
it.”
IMWS Finalists Jaded Era hail from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and have
just released a DVD/CD combo featuring two new videos. The band’s
independent CD releases include Invisible in 2002 and Study of The
Human Race in 2004. Learn more at www.jadedera.com and www.myspace.com/jadedera. |
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