Born: 3/11/77, in Madison, Wisconsin.
Right now the majority of this information was personally obtained by me from the occassions when I've hung out with the man himself (and experienced his driving skills firsthand...but more about that some other time) or when I got the chance to interview Jamie and the rest of The Kickovers for this very webpage...so what follows will probably be a bunch of my lame questions and Jamie's awesome answers...hey, he was psyched with the questions I asked so I must've done something right! I do have good intentions though and therefore this bio will grow...in time...hopefully! What I've learnt about Jamie so far is that he is a true gentlemen, very generous, considerate and totally sweet(hey, he was kind enough to give me his very own Pills CDs...what a sweetie?) and he's an excellent hugger; the sign of a good man...yeah, like i'd know? Sooooooo anyways, getting back on topic here, other information has been lovingly "borrowed" from various sources online too...so enjoy!
Anyways...for our interview I asked Jamie to introduce himself, here is what he said; "Hello, I'm Jamie." Inspired...!
Here is The Pills biography for your reading pleasure; "The Pills are a brash, young band from Boston that are turning heads with their over-the-top power-pop. They execute their manic live shows with the poise of seasoned pros and the un-restrained energy of the most hyper-active garage combo."
The Pills started life when guitarist/singer David Thompson met Bassist/singer Corin Ashley outside a Boston record store waiting in a line for tickets to see the Replacements open for Elvis Costello. They recognized each other from the local club scene and struck up a conversation. Both were dissatisfied with the current state of rock in1995, being the tail end of the grunge revolution. They wanted to do something exactly the opposite of standing around in your street clothes, staring at your shoes and everybody just playing an open G chord while some lead singer moaned."
"Conveniently, David and Corin's bands broke up not long after they met and they had a chance to put this plan into action. The danger of the nascent Pills being just another Boston pop band was thwarted by the discovery of one Clyde O'Scope. A chance guitarist by vocation, Mr. O'Scope was discovered outside the Legendary Boston Rock club "The Rat" after being escorted from the premises. Clyde was the X-factor that the boys needed to create their unique sound. Add the absolute shellacking that Jamie Vavra gives to any drumset he's associated with, and you get the band that Boston's leading local music publication says is "poised to become America's greatest band." Already the press and radio have begun to notice. In addition to the countless snippets of praise from local and international press, the Pills 1997 vinyl single Scooter Gurl received substantial amounts of air-play throughout the Boston area, and was a favorite at local rock clubs and mod flavored dance clubs. WFNX named the B-side in it's top 10 local songs of 1997 and WBCN asked the Pills to be the only local band to play in their 1998 X-Mas Rave festival. Jim Beam Bourban sponsored a national talent search that named the Pills as the best unsigned band in America which eventually led to the band being signed. The Pills are most at home in rock clubs. They regularly perform throughout New England and have recently completed their first national tour playing with such artists as Reverend Horton Heat, Jimmy Cliff, Julianna Hatfield, The Smithereens, The B-52s and The Village People (true!). The wide variety of audiences all reacted positively to the high energy that the Pills bring to the stage. Sharp shards of guitar mix with lush vocal harmonies and an uncompromising sense of volume to leave the audience pleasantly stunned. This is music for fast driving that guarantees to make your toe shoot up in your shoe."
Luckily for all of Jamie's loyal fans he is still very much a part of both the The Pills and The Kickovers. Rejoice! Contrary to popular rumours (oh, don't rumours just suck? Especially the popular ones?) Jamie is still in the band and they're currently recording a smashing, bashing new album...at least thats what Corin told me so I'm inclined to believe that wholeheartedly!
What the others have to say about Mr Vavra; JOHNNY; "Jamie is a great drummer as well. A gifted rock drummer...we're really lucky to have him." MIKEY; (talking about what everyone brings to the band...amongst other things) "soccer balls, vast knowlege of insects and hand jive." NATE; "Jamie is pretty bad at driving directions. Sometimes we end up in Pennsylvania when we're supposed to be in Jersey." I'm sorry Jamie, but I know Nate is kinda telling the truth there...so sorry!
Corin from The Pills added this in another interview; "You take any other 21 year old drummer and put him in a room with a bunch of old geezers telling him what records he should listen to, it won't work. Jamie saw how important Keith Moon is to me and did me the honor of actually checking it out. I really respect him for being open-minded that way. You try telling some other young drummer that it's cooler to play like Bun E. Carlos than that guy from Soundgarden and see how far you get."
More snippets from my interview with Jamie...
Which is best; concentrating on one project or having your fingers in a few pies? "I think it's great to play with other musicians. You learn so much about yourself and it keeps you on your toes. Recently I've been lucky to be able to play shows with The Kickovers and The Pills. I also just recorded some tracks for a good friend of mine, Bleu. He has a tune on the spiderman soundtrack now and will be releasing a record on Columbia. At the same time, it's important not to bite off more than you can chew."
Who would you say are your greatest musical influences? "Both drummers in Sloan (Andrew and Chris) I saw them a few years ago and was totally floored by there drumming. Stewart Copeland from The Police is huge. Karen Carpenter. Dr. Dre. Tommy Lee. Alex Van Halen."
Who are your favourite bands? "The Clash, Supergrass, Stones, The Figgs, Sloan, The Pixies, Abba (thanks to local H)."
Random stuff; I will just add at this point that Jamie is actually a rather good driver...it's not his fault that we got a little lost on the way to Rhode Island!!! What else; he's a total sweetheart...once he came over to give me a hug and apologised in advance for his sweatiness...well, he had just played a show...bless him!
More from Corin; "I'd love you to see Vavs in his natural habitat. As you may have noticed on the CDs, we Pills always leave big spots for Vavra madness in our songs. I'm quite glad to hear that you now have a copy of your theme song "Nicola". Please feel free to incorporate it into your daily life as much as possible. You could have someone walk through doors before you and play the chorus as you enter. Maybe it could be your cell phone ring? I really do think that's one of Jamie's best performances, so feel free to post it on your site if you'd like (you can even rename it Nicola's theme song if you like). All superheros need a theme, right?" I'm lucky that I managed to get hold of some copies of The Pills' CDs...again, thanks to Jamie!