Class of '94 profile:
Kevin Jones: rockin' with the band

By Nina M. Riccio

So, you wanna be a rock star? It's a pretty safe bet that the conventional route would not entail enrolling at a four-year college to major in political science while tackling classes in economics and German.

When Kevin Jones graduated from Fairfield in 1994, he chose the route so many of his fellow graduates did: a steady job with a steady paycheck. For Jones, that meant working in his uncle's Manhattan print shop, "a great learning experience with lots of opportunity," he recalls, but after a year he realized that it wasn't something he could imagine doing long term. Next step: three years at a technology company, which led to a position with an Internet start-up in 1998. "It was just like most people describe the early days of Internet start-ups," he says. "Fast pace, no rules, lots of fun." He was hired to be project manager, "which basically meant find a way to build a Web site for a company using whatever tools you can find. I can honestly say that my well-rounded Fairfield education fit very well with a job that required well-rounded skills."

Much as he enjoyed his job, however, Jones had another passion: his music. "In 1997, I took a one-week vacation to Germany. One of my friends there wanted to perform some of the songs I'd written with his band, so he arranged a gig at a local pub," Jones remembers. "It was great, and I think the audience feedback gave me the bug for performing." Jones had been writing songs for piano and guitar for years, but only after he braved the stage in Germany did he think about performing back home in Long Island.

"My friend Chris and I played acoustic guitar, and we got such a good response that I started to think about the possibilities," he says. " I talked to my friends in Germany to see if they were serious about starting a band." They were, and it turned out the group even had some connections to a German record label. "I was 27, I had no steady relationship, no debt, and nothing urgent to keep me in the States, so I decided to go for it."

And go for it he did. The band, Superjones (Jones and three German band mates), has been together since 2001. They write their own music, which Jones says is "influenced by hard rock bands such as The Who and Pearl Jam, and also by the lyrics of Billy Joel, Dave Matthews, and James Taylor. We're somewhere at the crossroads of these styles and influences." Jones writes the lyrics (in English) himself, and favors songs that state an opinion. "I try to write lyrics that have importance without being cliché," he says. One song, "Faster," condemns clever-talking politicians; another, "Saved," acknowledges the heroic efforts made to help people after the South Asian tsunami and during famines in Africa, but asks how many more thousands are in desperate need.

One of Jones' other projects is less political, but no less enjoyable. He's written (in German, this time) the anniversary theme song for the popular children's television program Lowenzahn. The show features a character "who is a cross between Mister Rogers and Mr. Wizard" and airs on one of Germany's public television stations. "It's given us some exposure we would not otherwise have received. Through it, we've been on national TV and gained a lot of contacts," says Jones. With so much going on in Germany, it's tough for Jones to predict if he, his German wife, Susanne, and their not-quite-two-year-old son, David, will ever be able to move back to the States, as they'd eventually like to do. "I can envision spending part of the year in Germany and part in New York, if we can figure it out." Jones muses.

Check out the band's website at www.superjones.com