Jay Yuenger

Template:Infobox musical artist 2 Jay Noel Yuenger (also known simply as "J.") is a rock guitarist who was born December 26th, 1966 in Chicago, Illinois. He is best known for his guitar work with the Grammy nominated Groove Metal/Alternative Metal band White Zombie.

Music career

Through his mother, a classical soprano and voice teacher, he was exposed to music early, played piano and sang in children's choirs. Growing up in the diverse Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's south side ( one of the only truly integrated neighborhoods in the city, rich in culture and history and home to the University Of Chicago ), he heard soul, jazz, folk, and of course, the electric blues. His father, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, was posted as bureau chief in several cities and J. lived in Washington DC, Moscow, and London before he was 12 years old. As a teenager, his interests quickly progressed from pop to hard rock to hardcore punk. He started playing guitar and played a small part in the early 80s Chicago hardcore scene by forming the teen punk band Rights Of The Accused in 1982. They released a 7" EP ( " Innocence" ) in 1983 and opened for several noteworthy groups including Minor Threat, MDC, the Big Boys, Flipper, and Discharge. He left the band ( who would go on to release several albums ) in 1985, tried college, and by 1987 had moved to New York City. After several abortive tries at forming groups in New York and New Jersey, he met the members of White Zombie in early 1989 and auditioned successfully to join the group as guitar player. The band released the previously recorded "Make Them Die Slowly" on Caroline Records, toured the US and Europe and recorded the " God Of Thunder " 12" EP ( also issued on Caroline ). In 1990 the group signed to Geffen records and recorded their major label debut '"La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1", which eventually went on to sell over 2 million copies. During the next 5 years the band was almost constantly on tour, pausing only to record the triple platinum-selling " Astro-Creep: 2000 " . They also contributed songs to various movie sountracks and compilation albums and ended up selling over 6 million records worldwide. Since the official disbandment of White Zombie in 1997, J. has lived in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York and has worked as a recording engineer and record producer. He currently lives in New Orleans and is building a recording studio that will open in 2007.