by Jessica Del Curto
Daily Lobo
They call it extreme gigging.
In the past six months, the Jason Eaves Band has gained more media attention from publicity stunts than from talent.
But singer Jason Eaves said he doesn't care.
"We are having a blast," he said.
The band, made up of Eaves, drummer Kenny Foster and bassist Jeff Jones, has crashed the "American Idol" tryouts, created a rap dissing Eminem and performed outside the courthouse of the Michael Jackson trial.
He said the rap song about Eminem started as a joke but ended up on a local radio station.
"He got rich off of dogging other people," Eaves said. "I would be curious to know how he would handle other people dogging him. But I really have no personal beef."
The media are beginning to take notice of the groups stunts.
"Not only was I in national magazines like Gig, but I also did radio interviews in the Netherlands and South Africa and several in Canada," Eaves, 33, said.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
When band members crashed the "American Idol" auditions in San Francisco, they managed it by stealing Fox T-shirts and posing as network affiliates. They got into a restricted area and set up there.
He said they fooled Fox Network for quite some time.
"We just continued to jam," Eaves said. "We probably did 10 or 15 songs."
Eventually, when the real Fox staff caught on, they were told to leave or they would be arrested.
"It was well worth it," Eaves said. "We got to perform in front of 10 to 15 thousand 'American Idol' auditioners. We gained a lot of publicity off of that."
He said he is confident that if people take the time to listen to his music, they will like it.
Eaves is a father of five who lives in Iowa with the rest of his band. When he is not rehearsing or planning the next media stunt, he works as a food service coordinator at the Iowa State Penitentiary.
Several years ago, he set a record for the fastest tour. He managed to play in three states in less than 21 minutes.
He toured through Iowa, Missouri and Illinois in a limousine, playing one song at each gig. Local newscasters documented the event.
"The stages were already set up when I got there, so there was no equipment transfer," he said. "We did it in 20 minutes and 46 seconds."
Last week the group successfully crashed the Jackson trial in Santa Maria, Calif. This was the most costly stunt, he said.
It took band members 55 hours to get to California from Iowa. Once there, they scouted the courthouse with stealth-like maneuvers. Leaving their van in a spot that allowed them easy access to the entrance, they walked to the courthouse the next morning.
Eaves dressed up as Michael Jackson.
"This was comical, because I am 6 foot-3 and 200 pounds," he said.
Not to mention a redhead.
"My band members wore diapers and bibs, and one of the guys had 'Thriller' written on his crotch with an arrow pointing down," he said.
Ignoring a police officer's warning, the band played on and was eventually cited for performing without a noise permit. Eaves will probably have to pay a fine and appear in court.
He said he took on Jackson because the trial is the biggest thing in the media.
"It looks like a media circus," he said. "It was kind of a joke. We were just thinking how funny it would be to go out and perform in diapers."
Eaves respects Jackson as an artist, though he said the King of Pop has issues.
The Jason Eaves Band is looking to sign to a label, but he said he wouldn't compromise his stunts, even for a reputable label.
Eaves said there is talk of doing something at a major sporting event for the next stunt.
"Any live television event is always a plus," he said.
