Jason Devore
Photo: Jim Louvau
When did you decide that a career in music was for you?
Jason: Almost immediately. The first time I played with my band I knew my life had changed forever.
Who are your musical inspirations and why?
Jason: I draw inspiration from all music. Legitimately every style. There’s always something within each that I draw from.
Can you tell me 3 things about yourself that people might not already know?
Jason: I’ve fully snapped my achilles tendon performing live on stage, Have cancelled only two shows in my entire career due to profound sickness, and third, Ice cream is my addiction.
What song of yours best describes you and why?
Jason: I’d say Courage. It’s been a long road in the music biz and you need grips of that to want to continue on and keep having the thirst to thrive throughout it all.
What has been the best gig you have done to date and why?
Jason: I’d say one of the best was Athens Greece. There was a revolution between the Anarchists and the opposing forces and you could feel it in the air and words being sung back to us from the audience that they truly meant in in dire need of change. Honest passion and fear was in the air.
If you could perform a gig at any venue where would it be and why?
Jason: I’ll say South America since i’ve yet to be there!
What has been your best achievement to date and what would you like to achieve in the future?
Jason: My band Authority Zero’s 30 Year Anniversary is this year, so that would be one for sure. It’s literally been a whole lifetime of efforts, fun, and commitment.
Tell me a story from backstage or after a gig?
Jason: One time Chris from Less Than Jake and I were on tour together in Japan and he told be he was training to be a chiropractor and i let him crack my neck. It was awesome, but could have ended very badly. Lol
What do you like best about being a musician and why?
Jason: Being free, expressing myself and releasing all my energy nightly. Any angst i have gets released and is recharged with joy and light by nights end in complete exhaustion.
If you were not in the job you are now what would you be doing?
Jason: Probably working on trying to make sure this was my job still while working a side hustle. I’ve always loved the arts in one form or another and acting has always been another passion so I may have gone that direction.
What has been the best gig you have been too as a fan and can you tell us about it?
Jason: The Joykiller in the basement of the DV8 in Salt Lake City 1993/94. Jack Grisham (singer of TSOL) is also the Joykiller singer and at that show changed my life forever. At the end of the show he brought me out five stickers, signed one, and the show was in my minds eye just epic. It was intense, he was kind, and also made me want to be that kind of front man to my fans if ever I were to be in a band.
What would your ideal festival line up be and why?
Jason: Oh man that’s tough. Basically take the Vans Warped Tour give or take a few bands, add a bunch of my friends bands i’ve toured with to get everyone in front of people, and then to top it off, Minor Threat would close it out headlining.
What would you say is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
Jason: If you’re going to do this music thing, you need to take it seriously. My dad Doc DeVore when I was 13-14.
What things make you happy and what things annoy you?
Jason: My health, My family, my wife, my dogs and cats, my band, my fans, snowboarding and skateboarding all make me happy. Life really as a whole even with the ups and downs as they either way become a learning experience and ai also love that. Not much annoys me other than close minded individuals. That can get annoying especially when carrying a seemingly one sided conversation.
What things do you like to do when you are away from music?
Jason: Home, my little family, working on my skateboard company Earth Skateboards, and working on my art.
Do you think social media and the internet are a good thing in the music industry?
Jason: I very much do these days. To promote yourself at very least. I actually think it can also distract people with the fast paced-ness of people scrolling and losing interest very quickly. I think it frightened people in the beginning (myself included) because of the unknown and sites like Napster etc, but that has kind of just become the norm and you either adapt or get left behind.
How important do you think your look and image is when it comes to being in the music industry?
Jason: I don’t think it should matter. It’s the music industry, not the fashion industry. But of course to each their own. I like to create and turn some heads of course, but more for the artistic side to complement to music and message itself.
Can you tell us about any tattoos you have and the significance of them to you?
Jason: I have around 18 at this point. All of my tattoos stem from survival, strength, and prosperity through life’s hardships looking toward a brighter future.
If you run the country for a day what would you change about it and why?
Jason: Clean house and start with a clean state in the government. It’s gotten to the point to where you don’t know where to point the finger anymore so that could probably help a lot of the current state of situations. A fresh clean slate if you will. Out with the old and i’m with the new.
What would your ideal day consist of?
Jason: Wake up, exercise, get to work on my daily projects to keep them on track, be done by 5, regroup and play a show in the evening. Close it out with a nice shell of Kava to wind down.
If you could say one thing to your fans what would it be and why?
Jason: I love you. I mean it. Thank you for allowing me to constantly not only follow but to live my dreams.
How would you answer the question Who are Jason Devore and what are the differences between you as a music artist and you away from music ?
Jason: I am one in the same, and the exact opposite of what people may perceive. There are many roads, avenues, and aspirations to me mentally and subconsciously. At the end of the day they all lead the that same beating place in my chest.
What was the first record or song you purchased and why?
Jason: I believe it was Guns and Roses Appetite for Destruction. The raw energy and angst really hit me in my early youth.
What would say to someone thinking about becoming a musician and getting into the music industry?
Jason: Do it because you love it, believe in yourself wholeheartedly, play what you want to play, do it for you, keep it honest, be patient, be wary of snakes, always look out for yourself and your band mates because in the end you’re all you’ve got.
If you could have written one song from history which would it have been and why?
Jason: Roxanne by the Police. Not only a staple track, but I would have created what would become one hell of a drinking game.
What things make you uncomfortable?
Jason: Tension between friends and family. I’m usually the first to try and break that up and work things out.
If you wrote a book about yourself what would it have in it?
Jason: A whole hell of a lot. You’ll have to wait til it comes out to find out!