Jaye Thomas (June 2022) Singer/Songwriter Conniption

Conniption "Perfect" LP released by Stryker Records in 2000 will be re-released more than 20 years later to digital platforms

Jaye Thomas in his current band "Rogue Sattellites" (photo by Brian Rozman)

Conniption band photo summer 1999 Bob Bernard, Eric Oliver, Jaye Thomas, Dave Gearte

Stryker Records , Ingrooves (UMG)

Conniption's 4th Full Length Album "Perfect" Was Released in October 2000

nothing has ever matched the exhilaration of connecting with so many people in such a cool way as I got to with Conniption”

— Jaye Thomas

DETROIT, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES, July 10, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Conniption is explained as “a fit of rage or hysterics.” Conniption would also become the name of a well-known Detroit rock band that was formed in 1993 by Singer/Songwriter, Jaye Thomas.

Jaye Thomas was a broken kid from a broken home, yet lucky all the same. Lucky, because his grandparents adopted him and his siblings and gave them a better home when Jaye was 14 years old. However, the damage was done from past events in Jaye’s early life that led him there. “I would spend countless hours alone in my room listening to punk, metal, and alternative music. It was rage-rock escapism and I loved it.”

After seeing some friends cover “born to be wild” at a high school talent show, he had his mind set on forming a band of his own. His dad bought him a cheap guitar for his birthday, so he taught himself how to play and formed a short-lived band with a few friends in high school. “I had wanted to call it Conniption, but my band mates weren’t having it.”

That name, ‘Conniption’, still resonated with Jaye and the idea of being “in fits” seemed to match his personality. After high school, he formed another band with friends, Jerame Arnold (drums) and Dave Williams (bass). They called it ‘Conniption’.

Their sound wasn’t exactly what Jaye intended. Initially he was going for more of a “standard rock” sound, but what they ended up with had more of a post-grunge vibe, and nevertheless, people loved it.

They were playing shows all the time to bigger and bigger crowds. “For my part, I was a song writing machine and people really seemed to respond to my lyrics,” Jaye exclaimed. “The words were all angst and bad relationships…and modeled after ad slogans that had wormed their way into his head through the years. This is my conniption. Come on, have one.”

Conniption’s homebase was a little rock club called Scalici‘s. They played many shows there and were treated like kings. Ultimately, this would be where they met their future soundman and recording engineer Pete Bankert in 1996.

Pete was a believer and ultimately a true friend of the band. He offered to record ‘The Jade Fountain’ for nothing up front and in return, he would recoup what he could from their pay at the Scalici‘s gigs. This helped the band make huge strides in the music business as they now had two albums recorded. This also brought on Harry Taylor, a friend of Jaye, to help with sleeve design and web development. They felt they were unstoppable!

“Sadly, my band mates and I were all a little broken.” There were power struggles throughout the band, among other things. This would undoubtedly lead to the original lineup slowly dissolving throughout the band’s first three independent album releases. Conniption’s first three albums were: The Stoning (1996), The Jade Fountain (1997), and Tame (1998).

Dave was first to go in 1997, he was replaced by bassist, Eric Oliver. Eric played bass on Tame which was also recorded and engineered by Pete Bankert.

Eric decided to reach out to Chris Dobry who was just getting his label ‘Stryker Records’ off the ground. In 1998, the band met Chris in a hotel in Southfield Michigan and signed a recording contract. After this, they were eager to get back into the studio and record a new album with the help of their new label. It was during this time when they added a fourth member to Conniption, in rhythm guitarist, Dave Gaerte, to fill out their sound.

“I was working on a loose lyrical concept centered around the idea of achieving a perfect niche in society by becoming ‘simple and small like everybody else’. Essentially, perfection by way of imperfection,” Thomas said in describing the new album. The album would be called ‘Perfect’. They spent more time on this project than they had on any of the previous. When they were done, with the help of Pete Bankert, they had a great album they loved, and the support of a record label and a following of fans to be admired.

After this project it was decided that Eric Oliver was no longer the best fit for the band, which was heading in a new creative direction and being influenced by some of the nu metal bands that were emerging at the time. While Eric is credited with playing bass on the album in the liner notes, he is not listed as a member of the band. He was replaced by Adam Pesola in 2000. Eric and Jaye are still good friends today.

Chris Dobry, the owner of Stryker Records worked hard to get Conniption’s name out and the buzz around the band kept growing.

The Detroit alternative station, 89X used to host a yearly music-festival style ‘birthday bash’. It would feature several big-name acts as well as some up-and-comers. In 2000, they hosted a battle of the bands. The prize was to be a performance slot at that years’ ‘Birthday Bash”.

Conniption’s music was selected along with four other bands from over 500 entries. They played tracks from each of the selected bands on air. “That was the first time I got to hear my music on commercial radio,” Thomas mentions.

The battle of the bands was held at one of the premier theater venues in the Detroit area, the Magic Bag. “People really came out for us and while every band was great, when it was all done, it was obvious there were only two choices. The theater was divided by people chanting Conniption and others chanting the name of a Toledo band, Mad Mordigan. In the end Mad Mordigan won and was awarded a performance slot for the festival,” Thomas adds.

“That didn’t stop our fans from going nuts and practically starting a riot at the venue.” People were constantly calling the radio station and complaining about the results until DJ Kelly Brown went on air and gave a heart to heart to the fans. She explained that Conniption had come in second place out of over 500 bands and that that was nothing to scoff at. She said it was only the beginning, and that 89x was far from finished with Conniption.

All in all, it still felt like a win for the band. “I didn’t hear much about Mad Mordigan much after that, but we continued to play sold out shows at the Magic Bag and other venues around the area including the legendary St Andrew’s Hall where I had watched several of my favorite bands play as a kid.”. This was a very humbling experience for Jaye.

Chris Dobry was from Wisconsin and had many connections there. He was setting up shows for the band in Wisconsin with mixed success. With the mixed success out of state, some of the members in the band eventually refused to go on the road to play for smaller crowds than what they were getting in the Detroit area. Unfortunately, this would lead to Conniption leaving Stryker Records. “It seemed like things were at a breaking point and I had to choose between my band mates and our relationship with Stryker Records. I sided with my band mates,” says Thomas.

“I didn’t know it then, but losing Stryker records was the last nail in my first real band’s coffin,” Thomas explains. It took years for our popularity to wane but without Chris there to push our name, it finally did.” As things were fizzling out, the band decided to go on indefinite hiatus. The final line up being Jaye on guitar and vocal, Dan Slaven on bass and Bob Bernard on drums. “The world was changing. Music was changing. I thought, f* music, I’m going to be a painter and I was.” he adds.

As the years have gone by, Jaye has been a lot of things and eventually found his way back to music. His band Rogue Satellites has had great success with their psychedelic and experimental pop sound. He also has an electronic group ‘Rottinghouse’ which dabbles in the industrial rock influence he had wanted to draw from all those years ago. “Things are great, but nothing has ever matched the exhilaration of connecting with so many people in such a cool way as I got to with Conniption,” Jaye states.

The original release of Conniption’s ‘Perfect’ album was 22 years ago, and a lot has changed since then. “Dave Williams had passed away, exemplifying the self-destruction my lyrics often alluded to. The last time I saw him, he didn’t look healthy but he seemed happy. Jerame Arnold went on to front some really cool heavy rock bands. Chris Dobry has had great success with Stryker Records with some of his bands charting very well”, Jaye continues.

Pete Bankert sold the recording console Conniption recorded the albums ‘The Jade Fountain and ‘Tame’ on to Jack White (a well-known musician and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan) but Pete and Jaye still get together for a drink or to record music on the new console.

“I got to meet Jack White, by the way. We were hanging out when Rogue Satellites played an event at his Detroit record shop. We talked about two-piece bands and baseball. I built a studio in my basement and I’m getting pretty good at recording myself. Life is strange. It always seems like you end up back where you started,” says Jaye. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately about banging out some new Conniption songs. Why not?”

Christopher Dobry
Stryker Records
Cdobry@strykerrecords.com
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