The name Jager Henry might not ring any bells, but mention his last name – Bonham – and the ears of every rock drummer perk right up. The son of powerhouse drummer Jason Bonham, (Black Country Communion, Sammy Hagar and the Circle), and grandson of legendary drummer John Bonham, (Led Zeppelin), Jager is forging his own path as a vocalist and songwriter of the eponymous Jager Henry, (he decided against using his last name because, in his own words; “I was always talked about due to my last name, so I thought why not switch it up a little and just basically took my last name and replaced it with my middle name and it had a nice ring to it”).
Mixing modern rock, metal and alternative, his recently-released 8-song debut EP, Heart of Thorns, has been receiving widespread critical acclaim; while EP singles “Bite Down” and the title track “Heart of Thorns” are receiving regular airplay on SiriusXM and rock radio, as well as racking up numbers on all streaming sites. And with performances at both Louder Than Life and Aftershock festivals this year, Jager Henry has proven he is far more than just a famous last name.
Jager Henry is set to kick off a short tour with Chicago’s Letdown., (yes, the period is part of the band name), right here in Louisville at Zanzabar on November 6th before a short run of dates opening for his father’s band JBLZE (Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening) to close out the year.
lose out the year.
LEO was supposed to meet up with Jager Henry at Louder Than Life, but conflicting schedules and obviously the weather ruined those opportunities. So we were thrilled when we were recently given the opportunity to chat with Jager over Zoom a few days prior to his set at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, CA. Here’s what the 28-year old rocker had to say.
LEO: Your set at Louder Than Life on Friday got cancelled due to weather conditions, but you ended up playing in Louisville that night anyway, right?
Jager Henry: We played a free show at The Fox Den and it was sick. Then we ended up getting the call to play Louder Than Life Saturday in the [Kroger Big Bourbon Bar] tent, which was unreal. It was the best show I think we’ve ever played! That was insane. I put up a picture on my Instagram. That tent was filled.
What are some of your other favorite shows you played so far?
Touring with Beauty School Dropout for one of my first tours. They might not have been my best shows, but definitely the most memorable. And playing at the Fort Lauderdale Hard Rock [Hotel and Casino] last year because I used to be a security guard there, working every single day from 10:00 PM till 10:00 AM. It was crazy. So to go back there and perform at the venue I used to be a security guard at, it was kind of breathtaking. Full circle moment for sure.
Was there a lot of pressure to follow in your father and grandfather’s footsteps and play drums?
I don’t think it was ever pressured. It was definitely something that was always around the house. There was a kit and it was something I enjoyed doing, but it was never something for me. I’ll steal the cool line I said in my last interview: I looked in front of me and I saw my dad’s shoes and my granddad’s shoes, and a lot of people decide to fill them or try to when it comes to their parents, and I kind of stepped over them, kept walking and I saw a pair of shoes with my name on them and I knew that was the path I was supposed to take. So it’s not that I didn’t want to, and it’s not that I don’t enjoy playing the drums, it’s just wasn’t what I truly loved.
Do you think that having the name Bonham carries a stigma that you’re going to be playing bluesy 70’s rock?
Yeah, that’s the thing about it; I have this name and I kind of hide it, but not entirely. And the beauty of it is what my granddad did, what my dad did, that was cool. That was history. That was a moment in time. And I think that’s where people who get stuck in time don’t realize it’s a whole different generation. And I grew up with it. Did it influence some of my music? 100%. But I love the experimentation. Back then, you couldn’t just go on a computer and take a bunch of samples and record since back then it was probably like a couple hundred grand to record some reels. So I think that’s the fun of it. As much as I’m still part of that path, my music is not that. Let that be what it was. Let that be that history and understand that I’m trying to create my own thing.
How did you discover your passion for singing?
Constantly singing Ozzy Osbourne as a kid. [Laughs] Yeah, I have so many videos of me singing. It wasn’t very good, but yeah, just something I always enjoyed. And I always loved writing lyrics and telling stories of my own life and stuff like that with the music. There was a time I went through rapping, trying to rhyme, and I think it played a big role in how I write music today. I feel like I write a little quicker because of that influence of hip hop in my head, where it’s like always having to think of the next word so quickly.
How do you go about writing songs?
I like to work with a producer who’s fun and understands that I get distracted and we basically sit down, throw some riffs down and just kind of start writing all that loops. And while I’m writing, he kind of builds out drums and ideas of how it can sound and sample ideas.
Lyrically, the 8 songs on the EP are pretty deep and introspective. Do you ever worry that maybe you’ve put too much of yourself out there?
There was definitely a time where I kind of thought I was getting a little too deep and personal, but then I also saw the beauty in that some of those songs have such a deep meaning. But it’s also kind of hard for people to see that meaning and they kind of have their own perspective of it. Like “Breaking Down” has one of the deepest meanings, and it’s a story that I’ll never tell. And it’s a secret message in there, but people hear it and they write their own story to it, and that’s what music is. We connect on it in different ways. So yeah, there are times I get a little bit personal and I try not to push back, but make it so you understand it, but you don’t see the full vision because you never want to give away too much of yourself. Some people enjoy a little bit of privacy. But sometimes I’m like no; I want to be 100% me. And if you catch on, you catch on. Good for you. You really paid attention.
I noticed the songs on the EP all kind of flow together without space between them. What was the idea behind that?
I made sure I was listening to every song and constantly changing the order of it, and the beauty of it was how it constantly flowed. I wanted to make sure that songs ended how other songs started because I wanted someone to listen to it front to back and feel like they were reading a story or listening to a documentary rather than just a record.
Are there any plans to record a full length album at any point?
For sure, that’s already kind of being worked on. But when the time is right, it will be ready.
The song I really want to ask you about is the closing track, “Mortal Sacrifice”. That is probably the heaviest song on the EP, both musically and in subject matter. Can you tell me a little bit about that track?
“Mortal Sacrifice” I wrote with the aggression of all my friends passing in this world. I felt like I was a sacrifice that was mortal, you know, still living, and I was sacrificed down to earth to watch everything else around crumble, and how those times I didn’t feel alive because nobody else was, and I was scared of being next.
That’s rough, man. I’m sorry about that.
It’s alright. It’s why music’s there, man. The weight that I felt come off my shoulders after recording that song was intense. It was crazy to really see the beauty behind music.
Ok, change of pace; I know you were born in the UK, but you don’t have an accent at all. Is that something you worked to lose?
I moved here when I was about 9 or 10 years old, so I kind of lost it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t cool when I moved here. Harry Styles hadn’t made it cool yet, [laughs].
I read that you went to college and majored in finance. Why not be accountant instead of a musician?
I think I went to college because when I moved to America, it seemed like what everyone was doing. And I did it. It was cool. I definitely learned a lot and made some forever friends while I was there, and it was cool to be the first Bonham to ever graduate college. I even beat my sister and she’s older than me, [laughs], and she hates me for it, but it’s OK. But no, it ended up helping me out because I’m self-funded with no label yet. And because I see so many sides; I know how to make a spreadsheet, I know how to break down the numbers and costs and revenue, and I’m like where did I learn this? So it’s definitely helping my career. So it’s cool, it was fun, you know, good experience in life.
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But what made you decide to become a musician?
I’ve been making music since I was about 13 years old. I had an interface in my room and I was always recording, writing and stuff like that. I took a little bit of a break because I was like; I don’t want to just do this because I think it’s what I have to do. And during that break, I experimented in sports and the gym and different things here and there and it just seemed like no matter what, I always ended up going back home to record something. And that’s what I was supposed to do. Finding your shoes and finding your path, I will say, is the most beautiful and addictive high that you’ll never get back because it’s just breathtaking. You sit down and you realize what you’re supposed to do, and you’re on your journey and you’re creating your craft and you find your motion and your style. It just gives me chills every time I talk about it. It’s such a moment in time, but you literally will never get that back.
Given who your grandfather was, have you ever thought about reworking a Zeppelin song and giving it your own spin?
It’s like you had a secret lead, [laughs]. We have thought about it. It’s been something we’ve dabbled with. But the one song I do want to take and do a cover of is one of my dad’s old songs when he played in his band called Bonham, the song “Wait for You”, that’s what I want to do. I want to remake that with a Jager Henry twist.
Jager Henry plays Zanzabar on Wednesday, November 6 with Letdown. and Alyeska. Show is 18 and over and starts at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance and can be purchased through Zanzabar’s website at zanzabarlouisville.com. For more on Jager Henry, visit jagerhenry.com.
This article appears in LEO Weekly presents Readers’ Choice 2024.