Background Information
Birth Name: Jason White
Birth Date: November 11, 1973
Hometown: Little Rock, Arkansas (USA)
Marital Status: Recently married to Janna in February 2005
Instruments: Guitar and Bass
Biography
Of all of Green Day’s back-up vocalists, guitarists, saxophone players, keyboardists and harmonica players, many would credit Jason White as being the most significant person in Green Day’s crew. His friendship and support have been a vital part of Green Day since long before he began touring with them, and his contributions have helped them develop into the amazing band they are today.
Jason White was born on November 11th, 1973 into the beautiful town of Little Rock, Arkansas. His musical career blossomed in the summer of 1992, when he filled in at the last minute for the Bay Area punk band Monsula. After the performance, he was recruited as a permanent guitarist, and eventually moved with them to the Bay Area after the break-up of his previous band, Chino Horde, in 1993. It was there that he first met and befriended Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool.
In 1994, Jason White appeared with his girlfriend in Green Day’s third video ‘When I Come Around.’ In 1995, he joined Billie Joe’s side project Pinhead Gunpowder, replacing guitarist Mike Kirsch. He wrote the song ‘Cabot Gal’ on the album Shoot the Moon, but it wasn’t until The Influents were formed that he really began expressing himself through music.
Soon after, Bill Schneider and Jason White decided form a new group to work with alongside Pinhead Gunpowder, one they could focus on and work towards. They recruited Bill’s brother Greg Schneider on guitar, and Willie Samuels from The Receivers on drums. Jason and Greg shared song writing and vocal duties, and after playing for just over a year in various small clubs, they recorded their first album; ‘Check Please’. The critics loved it, and the album became a ‘Top Five Artist Pick’ in Rolling Stone magazine and a ‘Top 10 Best Seller’ at local chain Rasputin’s.
Soon after the release of their debut album, Bill left the group to devote more time to his drum shop, and he was eventually replaced by Johnnie Wentz. After touring with their second album ‘Some of the Young’, the band broke up in 2003 due to problems with the direction of the band.
In 1997, Jason joined The Big Cats after the death of one of the members. In the same year, Billie Joe founded the record label Adeline Records along with his wife and skateboarder Jim Thiebaud. When asked about the label, Jason replied: “It’s owned by my friends. They needed some help and I needed a job. I do many things for Adeline: wash the dishes, love on the bands, build things occasionally, the promo thang, package objects, proofread like a motherfucker, count T. shirts, buttons, records, CDs, patches… And spend way too much time staring at computer screens.”
After the release of Warning, Green Day asked Jason to assist them on their tour as a second guitarist to add a richer sound to their performances. He was then recruited again as a second guitarist on the Pop Disaster and American Idiot tour, and went on to appear in the world-renowned music video for Wake Me Up When September Ends. When asked about Jason appearing on the Warning album, Billie Joe replied, “Well, there are different layers on some of the songs that we needed. It’s hard to be a three-piece sometimes. You have limitations. This way, Jason can play acoustic sometimes or electric when we need him.” “He’ll be playing with us for this tour, but we’re not going to a four-member band from now on.”
Current Projects
The Big Cats debut album, On Tomorrow was released in 2007, and in 2006 Jason recorded a cover of The Replacements ‘Torture’ for the Replacements Cover compilation entitled “We’ll Inherit the Earth”. Jason is also rumoured to be a member of The Network under the name Balducci.
- Paige
