Absolutely Perfect (2001 - 2010)

In 2001, Jay found a unique musical connection with Tim Day, a friend from High School who was heavily influenced by Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to play the bass. Jay and Tim decided to form a band called “Absolutely Perfect” which was a tribute to the late great pro wrestler “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig and promoting the idea that everyone in their own right was in fact, perfect. They recruited Jason Yunker and later Guy Tiberio to play guitar and found mutual friend Randy Assell to round out the group on vocals. The band played numerous shows from the years 2003 until their end in 2010 including shows at the Double Door in Chicago and even playing The Taste of Chicago event two Summers in a row for thousands of people.​

Jay’s time in AP garnered more experience recording music and learning even more about how to handle the behind the scenes aspects of being a professional musician. Perhaps the most important lesson came from “jamming” with Tim. The drum and bass combo taught Jay how to improvise on the spot and express himself in the moment. This “jamming” would prove crucial to the yoga drum style that would later evolve.

Through out his youth playing in bands, Jay spent ten years working at the Rush Copley Healthplex in Aurora, IL mastering numerous jobs from Kid’s Club Counselor to Evening manager. Jay even found himself obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Education during this time as there wasn’t much encouragement from the community to become a professional musician. Instead, Jay was met with the attitude that while playing an instrument was a great skill, it was not something that could be turned into a career to pay the bills.

3crease (1997 - 2001)

Jay on the Drums, born Jason Michael Schwertfeger, grew up outside of Chicago, IL in a small town called Oswego. He spent his teenage years as a big fan of professional wrestling and didn’t consider playing the drums until his friend Justin Schmedeke asked him to do so. At the time, the two friends were huge fans of the band 311 and it was at this time that Justin learned to play the guitar at local music store “Hix Bros Music.”

As Justin began to learn his instrument, he realized he would need a drummer to fulfill his dream of forming a rock band - and what better person than his friend. Jay’s first drum lesson was on November 12th, 1997 at Hix Bros with teacher David Jennings. David’s aim was to teach Jay how to teach himself and focused hard on drumming rudiments as well as learning popular songs. As the music lessons progressed, Justin and Jay found mutual friend Mike Rodriguez (Cheech) to learn the bass guitar and round out their first rock band. 

The band started out under the name of “Low Life” but was quickly renamed to “3Crease”.  The band had a diverse collection of influences ranging from Korn to Sublime, and Aerosmith to Limp Bizkit. From 1997 until 2001 the band 3crease became their hometown’s favorite local band and Jay learned a lot about recording, playing live and the business aspect of being a musician.