Ken Jay

Jay was born in Vermilion County, Illinois. Jay began playing drums early on and had played drums in a couple of metal bands early in his career in central Illinois before heading north to Chicago. Jay was the drummer in Deep Blue Dream, a band that also included Wayne Static and had auditioned at one point for Smashing Pumpkins but was told by Billy Corgan he was "too metal" to be in the band.[citation needed] He co-founded Static-X with Wayne Static in 1994. Jay played drums on the band's first two albums, Wisconsin Death Trip and Machine, but before Static-X could begin recording their third album, Shadow Zone, he left the band because of musical and political differences.[citation needed] However, Jay still contributed additional keyboards to the album. Shortly after his departure, he joined Godhead as a replacement drummer for a brief time.[citation needed] He had kept out of the media limelight for several years. In 2010, Jay stepped back into music to produce the debut album for Texas-based band, Blood Red Summer. He connected with the band through their guitar player, Erik Fincher, who had worked with Jay at a Virgin Records store in Los Angeles, California, and later became Static-X's long time guitar tech.