Being you and Jason are married, Lisa, you are an eyewitness of what Jason’s wee wee is like. What can you tell us?

LISA: I will say Tommy Lee ain’t got nothin’ on Jason (Laughs)

Is it more thick or long?

LISA: All of the above.

Is he circumcised or uncircumcised?

LISA: Circumcised.

And what is one secret pleasure that he enjoys having done to his wee wee?

LISA: He likes pachita kisses.

What are those?

LISA: They are kisses from lips of a different kind. (Everybody laughs)

With that information under our collective belt, Jason give us a history lesson on MAGGIEJACK.

JASON: Lisa and I met about 8 years ago. We were both in a business selling perfume. We were sales people. We met there, did some traveling and we both ended up running a business in Missouri, still selling perfume. It was going well, but we were freakin’ out ‘cuz we wanted to focus on our music.

LISA: We were working here and we met on the job. When I answered the ad in the newspaper and called, Jason answered the phone. When I showed up to the place, there was like, 30 people hanging out. I was late of course, because I’m always late (Laughs). I walked in and it was like slow motion. I looked over at Jason, he was sitting in the middle of everybody, and he was like, sitting taller than everyone else. He had a huge smile on his face. Everybody was like, in his shadow. He was just glowing. When we looked at each other, we both smiled. There was like an instant connection. So we met, and long story short, we were the best sales people. They promoted us to our own office in Missouri. We moved there together.

Were you in love at this point?

LISA: We were dating and having crazy bunny sex, like all the time.

Where’s the riskiest place you’ve had sex?

JASON: In the bathroom when our sales manager came down (to Missouri) to help us set up (Laughs) He was real into saving money, so he was like, “I’ll just sleep on the floor in your room” so he was sleeping on the floor and snoring really loudly, so Lisa and I went into the bathroom.

At what point did both of you know that you were supposed to be making music together?

LISA: When we first met, we would talk about our past bands. We were both really into rock, so we would both talk about our heavy metal scene and stuff. I wasn’t singing, I was drumming. I had a lot of songs so we felt we really needed to jam together.

JASON: We were both really into metal. I was pretty much into Metallica. I had a band. We would play parties. I would play guitar and we would play Metallica covers. We also had written some originals. I was a Suburban metal dude (Laughs)

LISA: My heavy metal background consisted of Nazareth when I was really young. I saw the drummer, his long hair flying around, beating on those drums. I thought it was the coolest shit I’d ever seen. I’ve always been into rhythm. When I was 11, I started playing drums. I played all through school. I was into early Motley Crue, Sabbath…I definitely got into Iron Maiden in High School. I got into the whole Judas Priest scene.

How did you go from being into metal to playing acoustic music?

JASON: We had the idea of playing the music we had, but incorporating it into other styles. We were going to do a band project, but that didn’t turn out, so we started writing songs together. All we had was an electric guitar. Somehow it wasn’t quite working for a duo. So I got an acoustic guitar and that kind of led to a revamping of my style. Going from distorted electric guitar to acoustic is…different (laughs)

LISA: I had this really great PEARL drum set. It was black and beautiful. I had invested, like, $4,000 into it. I pawned it for money for this (perfume) business. I got like, $800 for it. I was making payments, but I was late on one payment by like, 5 days and they sold my kit out from under me. When we came back to Denver and realized it was gone we were like, “Hey it’s the two of us.” Jason got an acoustic guitar and we started writing songs.

MAGGIEJACK almost seems anti-electric.

JASON: At first it almost was, but going into playing acoustic was like a transition. It was a big change-personality, everything. Now that change is done, we’re ready to add an electric guitar. We’re gonna be like, 50/50 from here on out.

Don’t you miss banging your head?

LISA: Yeah, I miss banging my head (Laughs) When I was playing drums I was definitely into playing Heavy Metal. I wasn’t so much into singing. It wasn’t until I met Jason and I lost my kit that I started singing. I realized when I started singing I felt somehow more connected to Spirit so much more than with drumming. The whole energy, the whole song writing style changed to more feeling and emotion. I also had several knee surgeries. That led me hand drumming and focusing more on my singing style.

How did Ryan come aboard?

JASON: Lisa was working at (natural food supermarket) Wild Oats. She worked with a girl named Melissa. We would go over to Melissa’s house and this dude Ryan was there. He seemed pretty cool. So eventually Lisa and I went over with my guitar and some shakers and percussion. Ryan was like, “Yeah, I got my stuff” so we went and played like, two or three songs. It was really cool and we were like, “All right!”

RYAN: I met Lisa walking into Wild Oats. I had been hitchhiking across the West Coast. I had met a girl on the road, so I was pretty high in love and all of that. I had my guitar strapped on my back and I walked up to see my girl who worked at Wild Oats. Lisa was there. It was about 6 months later that I had a party. Jason was there, had a guitar. We just kind of went into my back room and started playing. I was playing guitar. Originally, I think I was just going to play second guitar, but it became apparent that I would play percussion.

You also play sax don’t you?

RYAN: Yeah, I also play sax. Actually, I cut my chops with these guys. It motivated me to really study. Where I am now musically is because of these guys. They were always open to any weird instruments that I brought in.

How did you, Jon, get involved with MAGGIEJACK?

JON: I’m originally from California. I moved to Colorado about two years ago. I had been playing in a Ska band in California. We did pretty well. It was kind of cool ‘cuz we got to arrange a lot of music. I listened to a lot of jazz back then. (We would) arrange horn lines. We had a 15-piece band at one point. It was a lot of fun. We got to record an album. That was like being on top of the world. Eventually that fell apart and I decided to move to Colorado. There was nothing going on where I was from. So I met these guys through MUSIC MATES. One day I had this e-mail that said these guys were into Ani Difranco and Dave Matthews-stuff I was into. Thank God for MUSIC MATES. I came over, but I didn’t know what to expect. I’m kind of the young player of the bunch of us. It was amazing. All this percussion, these people that are like transic players. It’s like a stream of consciousness. It’s more about feel, vibe and groove. There’s this chemistry in the room. Everybody really cares about how they sound. They’re proficient on what they do. Everybody basically gives a shit about how they sound.

Have you had sex with Lisa?

JON: Uh..No, no.

Are you heterosexual?

JON: Yes.

Have you ever masturbated fantasizing about Lisa?

JON: (Laughs) No.

When you masturbate, are you one of those guys that uses lotion, or are you a dry masturbator?

JON: Well I’m into the roughness. It’s got to be dry…totally. (Laughter)

Your new drummer isn’t here. Tell me about him.

LISA: His full name is Marcus Reddick. We had our add up on MUSIC MATES for awhile, but we also placed a Westword add and he was the first guy who called. He was just great from the beginning. We had a great conversation on the phone. We connected well. When I asked him about Latin rhythms and which one’s he could play, he was naming them right and left. The first time he came over here to play, he just got on the kit and tore it up. He was definitely what we wanted. He has great energy.

JASON: Marcus rocks, totally.

JON: Marcus brings this great energy to the room. It immediately felt like someone who you’ve played with for years. He’s just an awesome, cool guy.

The best thing about drummers is that they show a bulge as they sit behind their drum kit. Did you notice if Marcus had a big bulge?

LISA: Absolutely! It was huge. That’s one of the reasons I wanted him in the band (Laughs)

Your CD, “Certified Organic” has been out for while now. How do you see it in retrospect?

JASON: Overall, the production is lower than we wanted because of ignorance on a number of people’s parts, including ours.

LISA: It was our first album, we wanted to do it independently. We were gonna sign with this guy and his production company. We had “x” amount of dollars, we ran out of “x” amount of dollars. Even though we’re not overly happy with it, it’s all we could afford at the time. We’ve almost sold out of all that we pressed. We’ve sold quite a few.

JASON: We are gonna remaster it and remake it with the original tracks. It’s gonna be really great. The music on there is really great. The feel of just acoustic guitar, percussion and vocals is really neat. People love it, but the production could be a lot better.

Don’t you also have a live EP available?

LISA: We have three live songs, recorded at The Soiled Dove on 12/30/00. It’s available on MP3.com. If you go to our site, www.maggiejack.com, you can click on the music page and there’s a link directly to our MP3.com page, You can download it right there.

JASON: We’ll also have it on CD in about a month or so.

If you were to record a new album today, how would it differ from “Certified Organic”?

LISA: Musically it would be different because now we have drums. I wouldn’t be doing as much percussion. We would have more bass involved. Definitely a lot more rocking. We would have electric guitar. Jason is gonna play electric guitar. We actually have our entire new album written. A lot of the songs are electric. Jason is writing them electric and I’m writing the lyrics. The lyrics on “Certified Organic” were written starting when I was 16 years old, all the way until I was 25. I’ve grown a lot as a woman. I’ve had more experiences. I’m writing more and more about what I’ve gone through.

The lyrics on “Certified Organic” are very spiritual. Are MAGGIEJACK a spiritual band?

LISA: I guess I feel that there is a spirit. It’s there, and we are all connected as one, together. Everyone you meet in your life is there to remind you that we are all a part of this…source, which is a positive thing. At the same time I think about holy wars and the evil in the world. Spirituality for me is about finding the balance between the good and the bad. It’s about what good I can put out into the universe through our music. I’m not always a positive person. Sometimes negativity does come in. The music helps me stay positive. It keeps me aware of what I’m here for.

JON: I really believe in balance. I really believe in Karma, hardcore. For me, I just try to do the best I can. I think whatever’s out there is gonna understand that. I basically live my life true to myself, no regrets.

I really believe that you have to be true to yourself.

JASON: On a spiritual level, it’s all about vibrations. Heavy Metal vibrates on one level and it connects with these emotions, which is really cool, ‘cuz it feels good. There’s also music that vibrates on another level with other emotions, like with love songs. With MAGGIEJACK, with all the varied backgrounds…the spiritualness of that comes through the music.

LISA: There are so many different religions and there are so many different beliefs. I think that pretty much it’s all the same thing.

RYAN: I was raised Christian, so I consider myself Christian. I pray the traditional Lakota way. Playing is definitely spiritual. There’s a lot of elements that go into a band such as the business end, but the reason you’re playing and the reason you get up on stage is about the feeling. There are those moments that everything gels and you feel that connection. It’s definitely a spiritual thing.

What is one thing that being in MAGGIEJACK has taught you about life?

LISA: I’ve learned to accept people as they are and that I can’t change everybody.

JASON: When you play in a band, for the groove to happen, everybody has to be listening to everybody else. You have to be feeling the other band members too. That’s when it kicks ass. That’s the way it is with life too. Everybody has to listen to each other and feel each other for it to really work.

If someone gave you a million dollars with the condition that you spend it only on MAGGIEJACK, how would you spend it?

JASON: We would definitely buy a tour bus. We’d also buy some property and a house, so that we had somewhere to stay, no matter what. Then we’d take the rest of the money for promotion and gas for the bus.

If you could share the stage with anyone, who would it be?

RYAN: Pharaoh Sanders. He’s my idol and absolute favorite.

LISA: I just want to be Janis Joplin’s tambourine (Laughs) Besides that wonderful woman, in this time, now, I would have to say Ani Difranco.

JON: Either Dave Matthews Band or Bella Fleck and the Flecktones.

JASON: I would have to say Carlos Santana. That would just be incredible.

Who is MAGGIEJACK’s audience?

LISA: There are so many elements in our music that I think it touches everybody. I think all the percussion kind of makes it more of a World vibe, but so many people, so many ages…we have people with a Heavy Metal background get into us. We were at SportsField Roxxx and this guy in a leather jacket comes up to us and said he wanted to buy a CD. I think he was in Cold Moon. He gave me a CD. He was into it, so I think we touch all types of people with our music.

JASON: Including when we played at Wild Oats as a three piece for their healthy happy hour on Fridays, little kids would stop walking through the store with their parents and start bopping to the rhythm.

Does MAGGIEJACK have a lesbian following?

RYAN: We love lesbians. (Laughs)

LISA: Sure. Dear Marsha has been great. We love them. Their fans are beautiful. They kind of heard and accepted MAGGIEJACK for what we were and didn’t care if we were gay, straight or whatever. We did a couple of shows with Dear Marsha. I gained some new friends in the bathroom. We kind of all compared our breasts. It was really fun. We were all comparing our nipples and I loved it. It was at Choice City Shots in Fort Collins. That was the night we played StoryTellers with Wendy and Raina unplugged. It was just Jason and I. Our lesbian following has been beautiful.

Jason, do you want to watch Lisa get it on with another girl?

JASON: I’ve always told her that if she wants a girlfriend, she has to share (Laughter)

LISA: I don’t want to share! (Laughs)

If you were to find yourself suddenly at your day job wearing women’s erotic underwear and nothing else, what would you say to your co-workers?

RYAN: I don’t think they’d be surprised so…(Laughs)

JASON: I’d say, “Oh I thought this is what we did on Tuesdays” (Laughs)

LISA: I’d be like, “You’re not Jason!” (Laughs)

JON: I think everybody would be so impressed and in awe of me that I wouldn’t have to say anything. (More laughter)

If you had your choice, what magazine would you most want MAGGIEJACK to appear in?

RYAN: I like SPIN. I’d love to be in SPIN magazine.

JON: I’ve got no comments on this one (Laughs) Maybe MAD magazine (more laughter)

LISA: Mother Earth News, no… I like SPIN magazine too. I think SOUNDBOARD magazine would be the best though! (Everybody laughs).

JASON: In addition to SOUNDBOARD, I’d say SPIN. Mostly because it seems like it has more of a roots level kind of vibe.

If there were one area of social change that you would want your music to implement, what would it be?

LISA: Definitely the environment. I would say hemp, hemp and more hemp. Stop cutting down all the trees. Hemp can be everything we need. Hemp can heal Earth’s many problems. People can heal themselves with the Earth. The Earth can heal us all. There are nutrients in the Earth that we can grow in food and heal us all. We don’t need prescriptions and Doctors and the whole HMO shit. A lot of people have trouble understanding natural healing. It all goes to the environment, definitely. We would like to help the environment in any way we can. If MAGGIEJACK music could inspire positive change, that would be it.