We’re starting something new on TMB, a new editorial on the state of modern music every Sunday night.  This is our first of many to come, we hope you enjoy it. 

The Case For Jonny
Written By - Randall 

I always tend to catch a lot of flack for being a Jonny Craig fan.  People bring up the macbooks, the drugs, the fact that he has the worst hair of any human being on the planet - but never can they say anything negative about his voice.  That voice, that soulful, smoky, powerful, timber that rocks the fabric of the universe; there’s nothing that the haters can say about it.  That’s what keeps me coming back time and time again, the pull of Jonny’s voice, the pain of his tortured soul transposed into his howls of despair.  That’s why despite his faults, despite his more than checkered past his former band, Emarosa, needs to take him back.  

That’s right, the band he betrayed, let down, took advantage of, and beguiled needs to bring back the man who made them more than relevant.  The Lexington rock band Emarosa, the act responsible for two of the best albums of the last decade. Let’s look at Emarosa before Jonny showed up: A good band for sure, a band with skill that’s for certain - but nothing incredible or out of the ordinary.  Pre-Jonny, this was a forgettable screamo band, sorry to break it to you folks but that was all they were, plain and simple.  Yes they had some major chops but in the old Chris Roberts and Chris Roetter days (who?) they made metalcore that has been done and outdone in the years since by every major post-hardcore band on the scene.  

Just listen to blessthefall, Broadway, Pierce The Veil, Asking Alexandria, or Sleeping With Sirens; they all do this genre better than Emarosa used to. What separated them from the fray was Jonny and his cosmic railings against the the established conceptions of modern music.  

I realize that there are a whole bevy of reasons that this could never happen but let me address the major ones right here.  Trust me, it’s not that bad - stranger things have occurred. It’s happened before, it can happen again. 

Reason 1: Jonny was drunk or on drugs all the time. Emarosa wanted to steer away from that image.

This is true, I won’t defend him on that, rocking hard, kicking ass and taking names is what Jonny is known for.  Is it the best lifestyle to have?  Maybe not for health reasons but if you’re talking about morality let’s get real people; this is a gross example of the pot calling the kettle black.

Are we seriously going to talk about morals in a realm of living fast and loving life? This is freaking sex, drugs, and rock and roll people, this is what happens, would Emarosa take a holier than thou stand when they themselves enjoy being apart of the scene?  

Also, there’s the fact that - and Jonny fans know this - the man just sounds better when he’s wasted.  It’s a little sad but The Beatles were stoned out of their mind when they recorded Sgt. Pepper, in his heyday Gerard Way was always on some sort of hallucinogen when he rocked it out with My Chem, this is something the comes with the territory. Some guys just know how to bring it better when they’re not sober. You’ve got to know how to deal with this if you’re going to make contemporary music. 

Reason 2:  Jonny turned Emarosa into a rock/soul band, now they can go back to their hardcore roots

Wrong, Emarosa picked up Jonny because they thought he would give them a necessary change from their old sound, a more refined unique feel.  They knew what they were getting and they basically let him retool the band to fit his needs.  They moved from metalcore to post-hardcore as a band. they all agreed on this decision. You can hear it a little bit in Relativity (i.e. Pretend. Release. The Close and I Still Feel Her Pt. 1) and throughout every fiber of Emarosa, this wasn’t a solo project, they gave him carte blanche to run wild with them in support.  It’s like this, they took his skills and profited from them until they got tired of him like a girl dumping her boyfriend because she wants to see other people.  

I keep hearing about this “return to the old Emarosa” that people are talking about.  It sounds nice but honestly, who really wants that?  They had one good song, “Utah, I’m Taller” and even that was a juvenile rager that’s all but played out by now. Go back and listen to the old Emarosa tunage, it’s basically a spin on Underoath with a twang of clean vocals; we’ve heard that all before.  They took Jonny in knowing about his Dance Gavin Dance shenanigans (more on that later) because the man has a voice like no other.

His voice isn’t built for hardcore and they knew that. They turned into a post-hardcore/rock band to work with Jonny! Think about that, they changed their flipping genre! That’s like Paramore bringing in Slash and deciding to make metal, it just doesn’t happen without massive retooling and cohesive cooperation by the band, the label, and the producers behind the scene.

Then there are those odd people who hated the Jonny-era music (the hearing impaired more than likely). To them I will say simply this, either you must have been born to hate incredible things or your mom just dropped you a dozen-too-many times when you were an infant. Kindly go back to listening to your Slayer tracks and leave us the heck alone because you obviously have no idea what truly incredible music is. 

Reason 3: Jonny had too much baggage and brought too many distractions

Again, I’ll give you that he has issues but don’t we all? What’s the problem with having a few skeletons? We all have them, don’t pretend like you’re such a saint. Maybe you didn’t pretend to sell you belongings to exploit fans out of money but you’ve blended your own share of crapshakes. Every one in Emarosa has done the same thing, instead of hating on Jonny why didn’t they help him? What does kicking him to the curb do? They should have either kept him around or found a way to make it through the storm. That’s what loyalty is all about and whether they like it or not Jonny made this team relevant and made them spectacular; they owed him more than a single failed attempt at rehibilitation. 

Reason 4: The Dance Gavin Dance factor

DGD was the first band that kicked him out of their treehouse. He ran amok with his atheist beliefs, drug-filled partying and the Will Swan band just got sick of it.  But was he so terrible?  They also kicked out Jon Mess, they brought in Kurt Travis and he didn’t stay around for more than an album and a half, it was just one of those fluky things that happens to young bands when they start out. We just know about it because it’s Dance freaking Gavin flipping Dance. So disregard anyone who brings that up, Jonny was the one who began reconciliation after all.  

But what of his reunion with DGD while still being with Emarosa? There’s no way he could adequately commit himself to both bands right? To that I retort with two words: Craig Owens. Yes Craigery, he of the innumerable side projects, he’s a man known for making a career out of working on anything and everything.  In fact there are a vast plethora of bands and artists who have members that have side gigs on the side. How many of you knew that Jonny toured with A Skylit Drive in the pre-Jag days?  It happens, it’s not so out of the ordinary, so you can spare me the griping about conflicted interests.

Reason 5: Emarosa just doesn’t want to reunite

This reason is what we call pure insanity.  It’s clear and simple, Jonny sells, his fanbase is rabid and loves to follow him wherever he goes.  He’s almost singlehandedly created fanbases for Woe, Is Me, Hands Like Houses, Broadway, Mod Sun, and even Isles & Glaciers just by being there doing vocals. Emarosa brought him in and his built-in fanbase and that fellowship follows him wherever he goes.  It’s just good business to have him on board. 

If they kicked him out it wasn’t financial though, they knew how much money they were making off of him. If it’s personal reasons then I go back to the drug thing, he has had a laundry-list of drug problems and we all know what drugs can do to a person, they can turn a perfectly wonderful human being into a douche. They threw him to the dirt when he was fresh out of rehab and finding his way with his new DGD responsibilities.  Now he’s getting clean, on hiatus, facing possible jailtime and could be on the verge of escaping the hold of addictive narcotics.  Drugs will mess you up but if you can come back from it, the results can be awe-inspiring,  How could they not want to be a part of that kind of story? 

…

Rarely have we seen a singer as brilliant as Jonny Craig. As polarizing a figure as we’ve ever seen, this is a man who can sing anything and make it sound badass.  Don’t tell me it’s not possible, we’ve seen crazy things happen and this could be one of them.  I’m just a fan hoping for a miracle, I love both Jonny and Emarosa’s music, this is something we fans don’t just want; this is something we truly need.

Dance Gavin Dance reunited and they were bigger than ever, why can’t Emarosa do the same? A revival of their unique melding of soul-crushing, wall-smashing, head-banging, rock is necessary in the scene today. It may take some time but I know this is possible, there’s still great music to be made by that great band from Lexington, Kentucky and Johnathan Monroe Craig. 

What do you think?