Jay-Jay Winter

Jay-Jay Winter started Asomvel in the early nineties with long-time friends, Lenny Robinson (guitar) and Mark Ramsey Wharton (drums). The chemistry, attitude, integrity, and honesty shone through the music. Many line-up changes later (with the constant of Jay-Jay and Lenny), Rich Walker's (Solstice) Miskatonic label put out a 10" vinyl edition of their Full Moon Dog demo, to rave reviews. Hot on the heels of that, Asomvel recorded an album, Kamikaze for Miskatonic - again, this garnered more excellent reviews. Asomvel had just returned from well-received gigs in Portugal and Ireland when Jay-Jay was involved in a fatal car accident on October 18th 2010. The world would never be the same. A posthumous release, Stare at Death & Spit, featured Jay-Jay's last recordings. Jay-Jay Winter was unique. His charisma, generosity of spirit, amazing intelligence, sharp wit, and attitude made him a force of nature. He was for everyone, and everyone was for him. He was a rocker, but had friends from every walk of life. That is testament to his ability to communicate to people's basic instincts. He lived by simple rules: Speak the truth. Never compromise your integrity. Go out of your way for those who need help. Live life like you mean it. And those who knew Jay-Jay are better people for it. Without doubt, his name will shimmer down the years...