Tell us a little about yourself.
Jess: Well, I’m Jess and I’m a nineteen year old who comes from the state of New Hampshire.
How did you get started?
Jess: Growing up in a little town in New Hampshire there wasn’t much to do. I wasn’t one of the sporty kids and I wasn’t into being outside much either. Music, was the only thing where I could feel happy when ever I was around it. Then when Good Charlotte came around, they helped me go to from the pop singers off the radio to actual bands and that opened up the whole music scene for me. Once MySpace came around, I was super excited because I could find bands from all over the place. In addition, while I was growing up I helped my dad with his karaoke business. With helping him, it sparked my interest in audio production. So, yeah, I’m a pretty big music kid, I even played clarinet in middle school and I would still be playing it if someone in my band class hadn’t ruined it for me.
First show
Jess: My first show was Panic! At The Disco’s Nothing Rhymes With Circus Tour with the Plain White T’s and Jack’s Mannequin back in 2006.
Favorite show
Jess: I’d have to say my favorite big venue show would be Bambooze 2009 hands down. I’ve never seen or met so many bands in the course of three days, it was pretty mind blowing. My favorite local show would have to be the one that I attended on Friday, December 18th with The Sophomore Beat, The Blue Pages, Love Via Dance Machine and And Then There Were None.
First record you ever purchased?
Jess: It would probably be Britney Spears or Enya.
How’d you get invited to be on the Shred staff? How do you know the other staff members?
Jess: Craig and I went to school together since middle school, which is kind of funny because he hated me back in 7th grade. Then in 10th grade, we both had high school psychical science (HSPS) together. One day I came into class because I had Fall Out Boy’s CD Infinity On High which was new at the time and then long story short FOB was pretty much the reason how we became friends. Then Craig and I got tickets to a Cute Is What We Aim for show at The Middle East and we had meet and greet because I was a part of The Social Scene. While waiting in line we met Kayley and after that, Craig kept in touch with her. After Craig was part for Shred for a while, he asked me if I wanted to do the trial run for Shred and I, of course said yes and then I e-mailed Kayley and it went from there.
Favorite part of your job?
Jess: My favorite part would definitely have to be interviewing the local bands around the New England area get their name out there. There’s tons of talent out there that not many people know about and it’s a shame because people should know about these bands.
What’s the most recent interview you’ve done?
Jess: It was with Love Via Dance Machine at The Sad Café and I have to say that it was really great because it was my fist in person interview. I’m glad that LVDM was the first band because they’re amazing guys.
Do you have a favorite interview?
Jess: I think it’s a tie with my phone interview with Eric Halvorsen from A Rocket To The Moon and my interview with Love Via Dance Machine.
Is it tough doing press in certain places? (Big venues, small venues, big tours, etc)
Jess: Well, right now I’ve done mostly e-mail interviews and two phone interviews. The one in person interview I’ve done was at a pretty small venue but it wasn’t that crowded and it was pretty easy. I hope that in the future I can give a better answer than this one haha.
Do you have a favorite venue to do press at?
Jess: I mean, like I said I’ve done one interview at a venue so I wouldn’t really know until I’ve actually done more press at shows. So for the time being, I’d say The Sad Café.
Where do you see Shred a year from now?
Jess: I’m hoping Shred will be bigger than it is now, maybe start appearing at shows, and maybe even Warped Tour.
Most embarrassing song on your iPod?
Jess: I’m not really embarrassed by anything on my iPod, even though I probably should be but to give an answer for this I guess I would say Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus.
Most embarrassing moment?
Jess: I have tie between to events. One, I’m not even going to mention cause its just way to embarrassing for me to mention on the internet. So, here’s the other story. When I was little, my parents were going to go to the convenient store in town and since I was really impatient I went out to the car earlier than my parents. When we got to the store, I realized I wasn’t even wearing pants because I had on a really long shirt. I was unhappy because I was so excited to go in the store but couldn’t because I was lacking pants.
Who is one musician, dead or alive, that you’d most like to meet?
Jess: One musician that I most like to meet right now would be Tyson Ritter from The All American Rejects. He’s one crazy character and I don’t know, he seems the most fun to meet.
Give us a random interesting fact about yourself
Jess: I collect My Little Ponies.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Jess: Yes, thank you if you read my articles, interviews or just if you read Shred in general. I hope you enjoy them. 
Mon, Dec 28, 2009
Featured, Interviews