Ayron Jones and The Way: Heavy & Original

Industrial rock group Ayron Jones and The Way have continued to evolve their sound and expand their fanbase since forming several years ago. The band, which consists of Ayron Jones (guitar/vocals), Kai Van De Pitte (drums), and DeAndre Enrico (bass), began playing in ballrooms all around Seattle in 2010. In 2011 and again in 2012, the group participated in a “Hard Rock Ris­ing Competition,” where they were recognized by famous rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot, who offered to pro­duce their debut album. Ayron Jones and The Way’s debut album Dream was released in October 2013 and since then their music has been hitting hard.

The group’s sound includes a variety of influ­ences, including blues, soul, pop, grunge, and rock. Although Enrico and Jones both were heavily influenced by soul music, Enrico prefers hip hop while Jones is more into blues, soul, rock, and grunge. The group’s new drummer brought a metal background to the group, giving the band the nasty edge they were craving.

“Kai comes from a punk and metal background, so he brought this kind of heavy sound with him to the group, which ultimately brought out this kind of heavy rock tone that we were looking for,” Jones said.

According to Jones, their influences created this raw energy of punk infused with the inner-city attitude of hip-hop. Once the group honed their sound, they started playing bigger shows.

According to their biography, Ayron Jones and The Way are being recognized as the reincarnation of the iconic Seattle sound. Jones thinks that the Seattle sound is going to continue to evolve and that rock music is becoming more and more eclec­tic.

“If you think about the root and the base of what the Seattle sound was, it was just modern­izing rock and roll that they were influenced by,” Jones said. “Let’s take Kurt Cobain, for instance, heavily influenced on John Lennon but his music is actually an interpretation of Lennon and the Beatles, elements of punk, and hard rock.”

Jones writes all of the songs on Dream and each song has a different sound. The song “When Will I Learn” has a soulful tone, while “Bounce Your Head” and “Feedin’ From the Devil’s Hands” are raw and powerful.

“My Love Remains” is a very special song to Jones. “It is about heartache and heartbreak. What it is like to have love for someone and being in love with someone but not having the capacity to be with them,” Jones said. “Even though, you rec­ognize that there is this break between you two that has nothing to do with how you feel about the person.”

Ayron Jones and The Way are a quarter of the way done with their second album. The album is being recorded with Barrett Martin as producer. Martin has worked with Mad Season and Scream­ing Trees. Also involved is Jack Endino, who as a mixer has worked with Nirvana.

Transitioning from a hip hop producer to a grunge/punk producer changed the overall tone. Jones says, “It is louder, it is more in your face. I think it represents exactly what we are trying to be. Bringing these elements makes you want to bounce your head and get into the music.”

Ayron Jones and The Way will perform all over the Pacific Northwest. On May 8, the group played Tacoma music venue JazzBones and this summer they will be playing some big festivals in the Pa­cific Northwest such as Pain in the Grass, Bum­bershoot, and Sasquatch.