Q&A: Red Jumpsuit Apparatus vocalist talks addiction, charity and faith ahead of Fawkesfest19

American rock band The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is set to co-headline the 55-band festival Fawkesfest19 on Friday and Saturday in downtown Cape Girardeau. The group is best known for its hit single, "Face Down" that peaked in 2007 and remained on the Billboard Charts for 43 weeks.

Since 2003, the band has released 5 full-length albums: "Face Down" (2006), "Lonely Road" (2009), "Am I The Enemy" (2011), "4" (2014) and "The Awakening" (2018).

American country-punk rock artist Lucero will headline the festival Friday, and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus will perform Saturday, both at The Library. Fifty percent of proceeds from the festival will benefit the Safe House for Women and Honorable Young Men Club.

Ronnie Winter — vocalist and manager for The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus — talked with the Southeast Missourian about how the band has transformed since the early 2000's, the group's advocacy against domestic violence, his faith, and what's in store for the show.

Comments have been edited for length and clarity.

__Southeast Missourian:__ I've noticed and I think others have too; your style has changed a little bit through the years. How would you say the music scene has changed since the days of "Face Down," and how have you stayed relevant?

__Ronnie Winter:__ We have been a band for 16 years. I don't think you can find a band that's been alive that long that hasn't changed somewhat, which is a good thing. It's a natural evolution of a band that has survived, to change, because if you don't change, you die. As for staying relevant, we've tried really hard to not do that. And what I mean but that is, we didn't get popular by playing what was popular. You mentioned "Face Down." That song's 16 years old, but it actually came out a year before all you guys heard it. That song and that album wasn't written to try to sound cool or relevant. We broke by not being relevant, and we just stuck with that model. We've never really been in the rat race for relevancy, so I'm kind of grateful for that.

__SM:__ I was super surprised when I was talking with Justin Aden of Fawkesfest19 this weekend and he mentioned you guys as one of the headliners. How'd you get connected with the festival?

__RW:__ If you can make it this long, you're kind of looked at as a headliner type of band. We got the email about Fawkesfest, just because we are who we are, and we were available and it sounded cool. So we said yes.

__SM:__ Have you guys ever played in Cape Girardeau before?

__RW:__ I don't even remember typing [Cape Girardeau] in before, so this could be our debut. Naturally, we've played St. Louis many times and other surrounding cities, but I don't know if we've played the Cape.

__SM:__ When you were told 50% of the profits will be benefitting the Women's Safe House and Honorable Young Men Club, Justin Aden said you were "all in" when you heard that?

__RW:__ Yeah, they reached out to us. We're one of those bands where we've done lots of charity and not-for-profit work from the beginning, so it's always been a big part of our career. We don't always say yes, especially if it's a festival we haven't heard of, and especially if we're headlining, because you have to protect yourself. Because sometimes there will be a cool festival, and you're the only band, really, and then it's kind of like a birthday party. All of the charity aspects are aligning with the goals we have outside of this band, which is awesome. Most of the shows on this tour are not like that, so it's really great when we get to throw a couple of those in.

__SM:__ You guys are advocates against domestic violence, and definitely that plays in with where the profits from the festival are going. You mind to expand on that a little bit?

__RW:__ Our gimmick, if you will, has always been honesty, honesty in our lyrics. That's one thing that has set us apart. "Face Down" is about my mom. My brother Randy is in the band and play guitar. We grew up in a really abusive household, and that's something that we witnessed on a regular, almost daily basis, until they eventually split up. We were forced to leave. The state was going to split us up, but my grandparents stepped in and adopted us legally.

__SM:__ There has been some transition from 2006 to now, almost kind of subtle. I came across an interview back in September of 2018, and they referred to you guys as having a "resurgence." Would you say that?

__RW:__ We're killin'. That's what I'm being told. We're one of the only bands who have had more No. 1's after we left a major label than when we were on a label. It's very rare. And it's not just a few, we've had double. It's something we've been able to achieve just on our own and with the help of what we call Go; some people call it luck, some people call it the universe. It doesn't bother us.

__SM:__ Was it five or six years ago you said you rededicated your life to the Lord, and it shifted the whole band? Do you think your faith plays into the cause of Fawkesfest?

__RW:__ Absolutely, how can it not? One thing I'll say for sure, we've always been spiritual. I decided to change myself first, because that's what a good leader does. So I rededicated my life to the Lord; that was the first step. After I did that, I noticed I was drinking too much, so I quit drinking and got sober. After that, I just one thing at a time worked through all these little issues that were misdirecting us from our ultimate goal.

__SM:__ What's the setlist going to be like for Fawkesfest19?

__RW:__ Believe it or not, we're going to do what we haven't done, which is essentially playing most of our No. 1s. Good news is we have 10 of those, and they span our career. Pretty much if you see other bands doing something, we do the opposite.

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