User:Honustart/JRuss

JRuss (born January 16, 1982 as Jeremy David Russell), is an American musician and artist an American songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the rock band ME. His stage name is a nickname that was picked from his friends in The Army.

Early life
JRuss was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to parents Vickie and Terry Russell. He has one older brother, Shawn, who lives in Lafayette, Tennessee. JRuss attended Raymond Park Middle School and Warren Central High School and graduated in 2001.

From the time Russell was about 7, he was involved in Baseball and Football. Russell was always one of the best players on the team. Nearly every season resulted in championships. Russell's interest in sports declined when he broke his had in football when he was 13. He was also very involved in Boy Scouts. Russell made it to Life Scout. By the age of 14, he stated to lose interest for Scouts as well.

In fall of 1995, Russell learned to play bass guitar after making a deal with a friend in middle school to start a band if he bought a guitar, but this deal fell through because the friend never bought a guitar. After taking lessons for about two months, Russell started teaching himself to play bass. He was learning more on his own that his teacher could teach him.

In spring of 1997, JRuss saved up enough money to buy a knock off Stratocaster. Remembering his mistake from before, he decided not to take lessons. So he began to teach himself by looking up tabs of songs he liked on the internet. These were songs from bands like Nirvana, Marilyn Manson, and so on.

The Birth of ME
Soon after Russell got his guitar, he began to write his own songs. He bought a cheap mixing board from Radio Shack, hooked up a keyboard he got from his 8th birthday, used the preprogrammed drum beats and played bass to them. He would record that to one tape, then replay it while he played guitar and sang (he would sing from here on) and record to another tape. JRuss would pass these rough demo tapes around to his friends. When they would ask him what the name of his band was, he would say, “It's just me.” At that point, it would just stick, ME. JRuss would just refer to that when he recorded and played on his own after being told "it's as catchy as the name The Who."

The summer of 1997 came. School was out and JRuss was feeling confident about his guitar playing, and played it all the time. He saved up some money, and with some help from his parents, he bought his first 100 watt Marshall guitar amplifier. JRuss felt on top of the world. He thought it would take him to a new level. It did, but only in volume. A friend named Nick Myers, who played bass, and JRuss start jamming together, playing mostly Marilyn Manson.

Papa Smurf
In fall of 1997, Russell started high school. It was a whole new ball game. He met more people like himself. Myers and Russell were ready to form a band. They talked one of Myers' friends, Chris Charles, on guitar and his friend Jason Adamowicz on drums, into starting a band. They later became known as Papa Smurf. Papa Smurf wrote some of their own songs as well as played some covers. The covers included; Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Marilyn Manson "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" and Filter's "Hey Man, Nice Shot." Papa Smurf played a couple of parties and eventually fell apart in summer of 1998. Myers and Russell would stay together a few more months before Myers got kicked out of school and Russell lost contact with him.

Russell went back to writing and recording his own music again. This time he had bought a Tascam 4-track recorder and started programing his own drum beats in a midi program. Russell did his own takes on covers like Neil Young's "Keep On Rocking In The Free World" and The Beatles "Please Please Me." With these new records came a large amount of buzz. ME was becoming known.

Jealousy
In the spring of 1999, Russell met Andrew Rosenfeld. They both took their guitars and played masses of Nirvana and The Beatles. They shared songs they had written and wrote more together. Sometimes Rosenfeld sang, sometimes Russell would. They soon got tired of it being just the two of them. After jam sessions at parties and getting together with a few different people, they got a drummer named Ben Taylor and a bass player, Ryan Riggs, in the summer of 1999. They practiced, wrote, and became Jealousy.

Fall comes in 1999. Russell was 17, and he was a junior in high school. He and Jealousy started to really get notoriety. Jealousy had been practicing for months and playing parties and underage clubs. After playing in town a few months, Jealousy then were ready to take it out of town and spread out regionally. Russell had got a hold of promoters and sent out Jealousy's demo. They were picked up, but with some hesitation from being a smaller and younger band. They were slotted as an opener for a Halloween show put on by independent record labels. A band had canceled so Jealousy had been bumped up to middle of the set because of the buzz created from the demo the promoters put out. After the show, the promoters were impressed by the crowd's reaction and Jealousy's stage performance.

Jealousy played a few more shows in town and did pop up surprises. After a few months of playing underage clubs around the area, Russell received a call. The promoters were putting a show together out of town and wanted Jealousy to open up for the headliners. From all the hype of the Halloween show, Jealousy had started gathering a following. They had fans follow them out of town to see “the big show.”

Shortly after, Jealousy disbanded due to changing influences. Russell had already entered Jealousy in a Battle of the Bands for April of 2000. With the other band members approval, Russell took a band that Chris Charles (from Papa Smurf) was in named Everything Ex (other members were Brian Schmidt and Elias) and tried to play the songs from Jealousy. Russell and Everything Ex couldn't get things down in time and had to drop out anyway.

Recording School
Russell was on his own again. Summer of 2000 came and he decided to learn some recording engineering at the Recording Workshop in Chillicothe, Ohio. While he was there, he met Matt Billingsly (drums), and Tony Brock (bass), who had just graduated college with masters in music. Russell got some studio time from the school to record a song he had written while at the school (which at the time had no name but came to be known as “Billie & the Boys,” from Matts last name).

The Revolution of ME
Fall came, Russell was 18 and a senior in high school. He had gotten inspired by what he had learned at the Recording Workshop and bought a computer recording program. He started writing new songs influenced by Tom Petty, Beck, Ravi Shankar, The Beatles, and so on. Russell started recording his first full solo album. He started using a drum machine instead of midi. Russell finished recording it and called it I am ME. The album was released in December of 2000 and it was a instant hit. For a release party, Everything Ex was the backup band. The album sold faster than they could be pressed. At times, Russell would play shows solo with just an acoustic guitar. Some shows were played as ME & The Mysterious 3. The Mysterious 3 were just prerecorded music Russell would play along with. He was nervous that this would back flop, but with his stage presence it drew a crowd.

Brother Love
At about the same time, Russell decided to buy a drum set. He took a couple of months to learn. After getting a good feel for the drums, a friend named Justin Tucker wanted to put out an album going by the name Brother Love (from Neil Diamond). Tucker was inspired by the album Russell had put out and wanted him to play drums on it. Tucker wrote a bunch of songs and threw them on the album as fast as he could.

In 2001, spring came. Russell worked with Tucker and he decided to put together a full band with Russell still on drums. Keeping with his idea of Neil Diamond and Brother Love, the band was called The Traveling Salvation Show. After a few practices the other members saw how hard Tucker was to work with and they quit. Russell and Tucker stayed together and planed a show. It was a farewell show for a club that was closing. It would have three bands. With The Traveling Salvation Show playing second and ME (with The Familie) headlining.

The show was a sell out and the place was packed. The Familie included Justin Tucker on keys, Chris Couperus on bass, Joe Fall on guitar, and Jason Watson on drums. After a few months together and playing some shows, Fall stole some equipment from the band and tried to pawn it. The band fell apart from there.

Ongaku
In the winter of 2002, Russell found a bass player named Adam Phoenix. Russell taught Phoenix some of the old songs and some new ones he had been writing. They got some interest from a talent agency called E-Insider. It turned out that the agency folded up and went out of business, so it didn't go anywhere. Russell and Phoenix went through a few drummers and couldn't find a golden one. They had people with problems with alcohol, that didn't show up half the time, and some that didn't show at all.

Not wanting to give up, Russell moved back on drums. In spring of 2003, Russell started talking to a guitar player named Anthoney Scroggins. Russell, Scroggins, and Phoenix formed the band Ongaku. They tried out a few singers, most of which couldn't sing. So Scroggins started singing. Shortly after, Phoenix lost interest and quit the band and they began to search for a new bass player. Scroggins started bringing a friend named Brandon Rucker and then started looking for singers again. Like before, they couldn't find the one. After almost a year of constant lineup changing, Russell got tired of it not taking any direction and quit.

Exile
After going through rough times with his wife Amber, Russell would write and record Still ME in winter of 2004. This would be the last full original work from Russell for a few years. Various covers would be released but a case of writers block would keep him from putting out any original work. While in the Army at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he would meet up with an old friend from high school, Ryan Napier. Russell would teach Napier how to play bases with intentions on starting something together. Those plans failed when Russell received orders for Fort Drum, New York where he would have to start over with contacts.

PostexilE
Russell met Donn Vine while at Fort Drum. Russell and Vine have been working on a new, PostexilE, and a release date is pending. When Russell, Vine, and Napier return from Iraq, plans are being made to go into the recording studio to release this material. Versions of “The Comfort of Hell” and “Patron Saint” have been released as a teaser.

The Army
Russell enlisted into the U.S. Army on January 27, 2005. He had taken a test over simple tasks and got a friend to enlist with him so he went in as a Private First Class. Russell's contract was originally for the 18X program. A program that the Special Forces had set up so that brand new soldiers could have the chance to be on a Special Forces team. That night he showed up to Fort Benning, Georgia. There he conducted 14 weeks of Infantry basic training. After graduating basic in May, he was sent to and graduated Airborne School.

The next day after graduating Airborne School in June, Russell showed up to Fort Bragg, North Carolina where he would start the Special Forces training in August. Most of the way through the course, Russell developed a knee injury and was dropped from the course. He would stay at Fort Bragg doing various work for the unit that ran Special Forces training. In October, Russell received orders to Fort Drum, NY for the 10th Mountain Infantry Division.

After taking leave, Russell reported to Fort Drum in early November. He quickly realized how cold it would get there, there was snow on the ground waiting for him. Russell was assigned to C Company 4th Battalion 31st Infantry Regiment as a Designated Marksman.

In April 2006, Russell and his unit deployed to Fort Irwin, California for 30 days for a training exercise at NTC. While there, they would sit in the mountains and over watch roads watching for traffic and people smuggling weapons. When Russell returned to Fort Drum, he was sent to a long range shooting school in June.

In August 2006, after showing potential Russell promoted to Specialist. In this month, he deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom for 15 months. While on this deployment, he would conduct mounted and dismounted patrols, raids and ambushes, and FOB security. During this deployment, he would earn the Combat Infantry Badge and an Army Commendation Medal

In March 2007, Russell took control of a fireteam. After his first mission as a fireteam leader, his potential was noticed yet again and was sent to the promotion board in July. In September 2007, Russell was promoted to Sergeant. Before the deployment was over, Russell experienced the loss of two close comrades.

At the end of October 2007, Russell redeployed back to Fort Drum. After taking 30 days of leave in December and January 2008, he returned to start going to schools. Russell attended Warrior Leader Course in January, graduating in the to 20% of his class, and MLARM in February/March. In April, he tried to give Special Forces another try. After making it all the way through Selection, he was told he was not selected because of peer reviews.

After returning back to his unit, Russell took control of an infantry squad. In May, his unit went to West Point, New York to train cadets at the United States Military Academy. Here, Russell taught Close Quarters Combat and Assault/Raid Operations. In October, Russell and his unit went to Fort Polk, Louisiana for a training exercise at JRTC. During the winter of 2008/2009, Russell competed and won Battalion and Brigade Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) boards against 5-6 other NCOs each board. After his unit noticed his performance in the last few months, Russell was sent to the promotion board again and made his Staff Sergeant in February 2009.

In June, Russell attended Basic Non-Commissioned Officer's Course (BNCOC) at Fort Benning, Georgia. Russell is currently deployed to Iraq since October 2009.

Decorations
Army Commendation Medal

Army Achievement Medal (2)

Army Good Conduct Medal

National Defense Service Medal

Iraq Campaign Medal (with campaign star)

Global War on Terrorism Service Medal

NCO Professional Development Ribbon (2)

Army Service Ribbon

Overseas Service Ribbon

Additional Awards

Army Valorous Unit Award

Combat Infantry Badge

Expert Infantry Badge

Marriage
From the time Russell started working with Tucker, he started dating Amber Spencer. Most of his time and attention was being put towards the relationship so the music was slowing down. On August 24, 2002, Jeremy and Amber married. Putting the relationship first, Russell kept the music as a solo/recording project. In October 2003 after complications and differences, Jeremy and Amber separated. Although they are still married, they live separately.

Offroading
When Russell returned from his first deployment to Iraq, he bought a 2008 Hummer H3 with the base package. Shortly after a four inch lift and 35 inch tires were added. A rear locker and winch were added soon after. He started getting involved with Club Hummer Offroad, a forum website for Hummer enthusiasts. Russell usually does trips to Rausch Creek Offroad Park in Tremont, Pennsylvania.

Firearms
Russell is an avid collector in firearms and is a member of the National Rifle Association. He frequently goes to shooting ranges to practice shooting in long range and close quarters. His collection ranges from traditional hunting rifles to assault rifles and pistols.