The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Are All Grown Up

Ronnie Winter, frontman and co-founding member of American Christian-influenced heavy rock act The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, has observed the profound philosophical and attitudinal changes that he, his band and its fans have gone through across the course of the band’s 15-year existence. He now stands justifiably proud of the band’s career as he looks back across the last decade and a half.

“We definitely could have walked away at any time, a lot of bands don’t survive, that’s just the truth,” he states with meaning. “We’re definitely a group of guys that have grown together, we’re older now, we’re married with kids. In the early days, it was all about partying, drinking and having a good time, hanging out with the fellas. Now, it’s about family, God, doing the right thing and being a responsible person.

“At the same time, we’re still rockin’,” he emphasises. “We’re just growing up. And a lot of our fans are growing up with us.”

Having released their fifth album The Awakening earlier this year to universal fan and critical acclaim, and on the eve of the band’s sixth tour of Australia, Winter believes that The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus are in just about the best place they’ve been in their entire career, in a creative, personal and motivational sense.

“I’m having the best time right now, at this stage in our career,” he enthuses. “I really can’t see anything stopping it right now. I am a spiritual guy, so I try to do what I believe is being told to me, and right now everything is just working out. The songs are sounding good, the shows are packing out, and I believe that we’ve just got to keep going.

“When it’s obvious to me that my time has come and gone when that happens I hope I accept it gracefully. Most likely I’ll be 80 years old and they’ll have to wheel me off the stage!” he laughs.

"In the early days, it was all about partying, drinking and having a good time."

Things are so good for the band right now that they recently experienced their greatest ever chart success. Their current single On Becoming Willing completed a record ten weeks at number one on the US Billboard Christian Rock chart. Winter is proud but humble about this latest achievement.

“It just makes me believe even more in what we’re doing,” he says. “We’re old, I’m 35, so I’m no spring chicken. We’ve been to the top of the mountain, and the bottom of the gutter, and everywhere in between as a band. We made this album in-house, I co-produced it with my wife and my brother. There are a lot of old-school throwbacks on the record, and people seem to be really digging it.”

The spiritual side of things plays a major part in Winter’s life, however, its influence on and presence in his band’s music, and in the way they present themselves to the world, is a touch more subtle. He says they prefer to lead by example more than by words. “We never try to come off as too preachy, we’re not trying to tell people how they should live,” he says. “We just live the way we live, and we tell other people about how we roll, and if they’re interested, that’s great.

“In the meantime, we just try to have a good time, that’s really the bottom line.”

Many, many bands tell their Australian fans (and indeed that of other nations) that they love them and how much they mean to them. This band, however, prove it through their actions. “We’ve only done one international show before this Australian show,” he reveals, “and even that one was a surprise. It’s always been our intention to come to Australia first because it’s always a big deal for us. The shows are always killer.”

It may not be the last time we get to see them on this current album cycle either. “We’re actually even going to try to come back and get on a couple of those festivals if we can. Don’t count on it at this stage, but we’re optimistic about it at this stage.”