I know I already printed a version of this with my interview with Shelby Cinca, Frodus’s guitarist and singer, but I think it most accurately describes my primary memory of Jason.

When I was a freshman in college I traveled out to Pennsylvania from Indiana with a friend to see some hardcore shows including one with Frodus, Zao and a bunch of other shitty bands. After the show, some of my younger, high school friends who we met up with were screwing around and fake fighting while the bands were hauling stuff out of the student union at Grove City College, where the show was being held. I approached Jason Hamacher, the drummer for Frodus, as he was hauling out a floor tom and jokingly said to him, “Oh, you want a piece of this?” at which point he put down his drum, threw me over his shoulder, spun me around a number of times, threw me down on the ground on my back, straddled me across my stomach and proceeded to buck me like a bronco. After this series of improbable events, which I swear I am not making up, I went up to Shelby and said, “You’ve got one crazy drummer!” at which he slapped me on the shoulder and with a smile exclaimed, “Well they don’t call him Chip Hamchee for nothin’!”

Where do you currently live?

In the Mount Pleasant Neighborhood of Washington D.C.

What do you do to pay the bills?

I’ve been a massage therapist for the last nine years and also run a production company that focuses on Cultural Preservation, Lost Origin Productions. www.lostorigins.com

Are you still involved with music in any way (work for a label, play in a band, do press for a band, book shows, etc.) or any of the other arts (performing, visual, literary)?

Frodus decided to play some shows in 2009 and ended up recording a new 7” in the process. Shelby and I have decided to continue writing and recording music under the moniker Frodus Sound Laboratories. Frodus Sound Laboratories will be a series of experimental recordings with other musicians. The first Sound Lab experiment was with Liam Wilson from Dillinger Escape Plan on bass. We wrote three songs but ended up recording two which are available on 7” record and digitally. http://lovitt.bandcamp.com/album/soundlab-1

The next Sound Lab experiment will be with Justin Moyer (Super System, Antelope, E.D. Sedgwick) on bass and Mike Schliebaum (Darkest Hour) on 2nd guitar.

I’m also playing in a new hardcore band called Regents. The band is Drew Ringo (Sleepytime Trio, Maximilian Colby) on guitar, David Nesmith (Sleepytime Trio, Maximilian Colby, Mens Recovery Project, Rah Bras, Bats and Mice) on guitar, Dan Evans (The Exploder, Sick Weapons) on bass, and I’m playing drums. We have a 7” coming out in the next month on Lovitt Records.

I’ve been working in Syria for the past five years preserving the world’s oldest Christian music. Smithsonian Folkways is planning to release a CD of the chant later this year. The chant melodies date back to the late 190’s and are sung in Syriac Aramaic, the language of Jesus.

I’ve also been commissioned by the Syrian Ambassador to the United States to publish a book of my Syrian photography. I’ve tentatively titled the book, “Aleppo, Syria: Witness to an Ancient Legacy.” The book is currently in edit and I hope to have it out sometime later this year.

This whole Syria project has led me down some wild paths. I did some film work for Yale’s Institute for Sacred Music and also work for a new museum in NYC as their photographer/explorer for the Middle East.

At what point did you decide to “give up” the touring and band life and why? Was there a sudden realization that you wanted to live in the “real world” or was it gradual?

I feel that I’ve never fully submitted to the “real world”. My career choices and passions for music, photography, and culture keep me traveling, exploring, and meeting people all over the world.

To be honest, I never wanted to give up the touring life. The year 1999 was horrible for Frodus. My girlfriend was diagnosed with a very rare terminal cancer, three days later Shelby’s father had a stroke and went ½ paralyzed, Nate had gone to Scotland for the summer, to play in the band Ganger, and found out his lady was with someone else. All of this happened while we were writing “And We Washed Our Weapons in the Sea.” Life got too heavy and the band broke up Dec. 28, 1999.

Do you still speak with the other members of the band (Frodus)?

Shelby and I stay in frequent contact but I haven’t spoken to Nate in awhile.

Are you content with not living the “rock and roll” lifestyle of your past or do you miss it? (Please note: I use the phrase “rock and roll lifestyle” loosely.)

Being in a touring band is a very insular existence. You live day to day inside of a van or bus surrounded by a select few. The whole life is based around waiting. Waiting for load-in, waiting for sound check, waiting to eat, waiting for the doors to open, waiting for the show start, waiting to get your gear onstage, waiting to finally play. Then gear comes off stage, waiting for load out, waiting to get paid, waiting to leave, waiting to sleep. Repeat. Meanwhile your trying to entertain, educate and enlighten yourselves to keep sane. Don’t get me wrong, I loved touring, but after you’ve played the same clubs across the US and Europe a couple of times, the sense of adventure gets lost and life can become monotonous.

I definitely miss the punk life every now and then. Seeing friends on stage or listening to their records can make me a little homesick but I love where I am now. I have an amazing wife and daughter, great house, travel all over the world with my photography, and still play music.

Do you feel as though you can still relate to the person you were when you were in a band and touring? Why or why not?

The Jason Hamacher of Frodus was loud, adventurous, life of the party, controlling, competitive and somewhat un-empathetic. Jason Hamacher the husband, father, business and homeowner is similar but definitely a different person. After the death of my girlfriend my perception on life changed dramatically and my ability to empathize with people was magnified exponentially. I feel that Jason Hamacher 2011 is a more emotional and responsible version of the Jason Hamacher of Frodus.