Liz Ramanand, Loudwire It’s been quite a year for DevilDriver , as they began 2012 as part of the Metal Alliance tour with Arch Enemy and recently finished up a massive U.S. trek with GWAR. During DevilDriver’s stop in Brooklyn, N.Y., we caught up with frontman Dez Fafara , who dished on the band’s new album and expressed his excitement about joining Napalm Records’ roster. He also took a look back on DevilDriver’s 2011 release ‘Beast.’ How would you describe your relationship with GWAR and the rest of the roster on this tour? We’ve been friends with GWAR for a long time; we toured with them six or seven years ago it was one of the funnest tours we ever did. We know everybody, we know the Cancer Bats really well, we’ve toured with them before – it was my ideas to put the Bats on as well and it ended up happening so it’s been really killer so far. Everyone’s just hanging out and having a great time. No doubt you have toured with numerous bands but is there one band or musician you would love to tour with that you haven’t gotten a chance to tour with yet? We did some shows with Metallica but they were festivals but I would love to do a Metallica tour – every band is going to say that. Other than that, there’s a lot of artists out there that I would still love to work with of course. With all of this touring what is one thing you must bring on tour with you, no electronics? I bring my own blankets because there’s been a million musicians sleeping in those bunks and on those mattresses so I bring my own blankets, my own sheets, my own pillow, my own everything. If you tour like we do and I take the same bunk every time in different buses. Any creepy findings in one of your tour buses? Oh yeah, I got really ill about a year ago on a tour and they couldn’t figure out why was so ill. It was about two weeks into it and I was coughing up black s—t, we finally stripped my bunk down and we turned over the bunk and the whole thing – the bottom was covered in black mold. Somebody had spilled a drink in there or whatever and left it over the course of time and it was just getting me really sick. Other than that I’ve never experienced other creepy crawlies, you’ll see spiders in buses sometimes but we tend to let those guys out and let them live ‘cause they’ve already had a hard road. Congratulations on your new home of Napalm Records – what made your guys decide on this move? They have passion. I think when the whole folding of Roadrunner was happening, they were … letting a bunch of other people go – I had been there a long time, I think they decided, I decided, we all decided that it was just time to part ways. Napalm has a massive amount of passion for heavy metal, they love the band. When we met with the owner, he was like “I love the band.” He knew songs and it was like okay, “This is a guy who’s entrenched in our music so we want him behind it.” We’re also with Roadrunner still overseas in Australia and New Zealand so it’s good to be with them still over there. The United States label itself has changed and I forsee in the next year, it’s just going to fold completely in probably to Warner, I would imagine. With people in the UK that I’ve worked with forever, press people and others – when they lose their job, it’s time to go, start over and I’m not afraid of that. A lot of people are afraid of moving into a new house but it’s awesome to do and decorate it new and make it happen again, make it feel alive so that’s what’s happening with DevilDriver and Napalm right now. We’re excited for the record, they’re excited for the record – I think Napalm needs a flagship in the United States and I think we could be it for them and I think their press people and they think we could be it for them, too. We’re going to go gunnin’ with this next record and see the numbers – I’m predicting both higher sales and a higher chart position than what Roadrunner offered us. So we’ll see. What’s the progress on the next album? Songs are all written – I’m six songs in right now, written, we’ve got two covers that we’re going to be doing. We’re looking at a late fall – sometime between late August and late September, kind of hard to quote me right because we’re just looking for that release space but I believe that’s when the time is going to be. So this is the last time DevilDriver will be in the United Stated at least until September, October of next year. We’re taking a whole year away from the States to just let it marinate and then come on back on the new record. What do you think the vibe will be like for this new album? Every record is different, that being said I thought ‘Pray For Villains’ was kind of an out of the box record for us, I thought ‘Beast’ was a weird out of the box record for us – we’ve kind honed back in to where we are. This new record sounds a lot like the first three records, it’s got an intense groove to it and I’m really happy – the writing is going extremely well. That being said I think we’ve laid back on our laurels right now and be like, “We’re a groove band” the fans started calling us The Groove Machine, The California Groove Machine – everybody needs a title, we’ll take that one and we’re going to give them that on the new record for sure. It’s been well over a year since the release of ‘Beast.’ Looking back on it, what does Dez the music fan love about that album? A weird record for us, I’m not going to lie, when I sat down – the arrangements everything, it was a weird record to write. When it came out we knew it was just an out of the box, aggressive record for us and it got a lot of positive feedback. All of the accolades that it got, I didn’t know if I expected that reaction. Now looking back in hindsight, we needed that, we to just do something apart from ourselves and that’s what has led us now to where we are with the new record which is like, “Let’s really hone in on the songwriting on this one, let’s make sure the arrangements are really tight.” Everyone’s really excited. Looking back on ‘Beast’ we worked really hard, we toured really hard on it and it did what it was supposed to do for us which was put our sound out there in a unique way and make sure that we didn’t follow any kind of course of anybody else and we laid our own path, which we’ve been doing since we started. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/gwar-brooklyn-tour-stop/” title=”Check Out Photos of DevilDriver Performing in New York City” align=”center”]
Karl Walter, Getty Images Winter may be upon us, but European festival organizers are already thinking ahead to summer and with it, the region’s booming concert season. After a five-year hiatus, Iron Maiden will headline the Graspop Metal Meeting 2013, which will take place in Dessel Belgium from June 28 through June 30. Maiden bassist Steven Harris commented on the gig and offered a little insight as to what fans can expect at the show, saying , “We know how popular the history of Maiden tours are with fans of all ages and we will be bringing with us the full production we had on tour in North America earlier this year. Thanks to modern technology, we’ve been able to update and improve on the original 1988 production for Maiden England. We will be bringing with us a huge new light show, stage set, various incarnations of Eddie, plenty of pyro and all kinds of other exciting stuff for the fans.” Judging from Harris’ comments, Maiden will be pulling out all the stops and are planning a massively entertaining show for fans at Graspop Metal Meeting. Harris offered even more detail about the band’s planned set list, saying, “We’ve also had a huge amount of fun with the set list as we got to play songs we’ve not played in a very long time like ‘Seventh Son,’ ‘The Prisoner’ and ‘Afraid to Shoot Strangers,’ as well as fan favorites like ‘The Trooper,” ‘Aces High,’ ‘The Clairvoyant,’ ‘The Number of the Beast,’ ‘Wasted Years’ and ‘Run to the Hills.’” He continued, “The opening leg of the tour was so enjoyable for the whole band, we’re really looking forward to taking this whole show to our fans around Europe and we’re especially happy to be coming back to headline Graspop, as it is a real metal festival and a place we always really love to play.” All those factors combined mean it’ll be a Maiden performance to remember. More info about Graspop Metal Meeting is here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/metallica-to-headline-rock-in-rio-2013/” title=”Iron Maiden to Co-Headline Rock in Rio” align=”center”] ?
Independent Label Group Down recently visited Loudwire’s offices when they were on tour in New York City. The entire group swarmed on our little studio room to talk about their four-part series of ‘Down IV’ EPs, all the while anointing themselves the most handsome band in the history of handsome while knocking back a few beers. After releasing ‘Down IV Part 1 – The Purple EP’ in September, the band refused to put a timeline on the next EP. Frontman Philip Anselmo intimated that perhaps he might not be in the right mood to record another EP at this point, and that he may find himself inspired by flute music or technical death metal in the future. Guitarist Pepper Keenan then joked that it’ll take them 20 years to release all four EPs. Since the members of Down have so many other projects going at once, we had to ask them how they manage to hunker “Down” and and actually do Down. “We all know when it’s time to do Down, it’s time to do Down,” Anselmo said. “Down has a core audience that surpasses any of our current singular audiences.” ‘Down IV Part 1 – The Purple EP,’ featuring the single ‘Witchtripper,’ is currently available at iTunes . Down will return to the road this winter with Warbeast on ‘The Weed & Speed Tour: West Coast Throwdown in the Year of XIII.” Tickets for the tour are available here ; check out the dates below the video. Watch Down Talk EP Series, Commitment + More [Exclusive] Down The Weed & Speed Tour Dates: 1/11 – Houston, TX | Warehouse Live – Ballroom 1/12 – San Antonio, TX | Backstage Live 1/14 – Tempe, AZ | The Marquee 1/15 – Las Vegas, NV | Fremont Country Club 1/16 – West Hollywood, CA | Key Club 1/18 – Anaheim, CA | City National Grove of Anaheim 1/19 – Sacramento, CA | Ace of Spades 1/20 – San Francisco, CA | Regency Ballroom 1/22 – Seattle, WA | Showbox at the Market 1/23 – Portland, OR | Roseland Theater 1/24 – Boise, ID | Knitting Factory Concert House 1/26 – Denver, CO | The Summit Music Hall 1/28 – Minneapolis, MN | First Avenue 1/29 – Milwaukee, WI | The Rave 1/30 – Cincinnati, OH | Bogart’s 2/1 – Chattanooga, TN | Track 29 [button href=”http://loudwire.com/down-witchtripper-video/” title=”Next: Watch Down’s ‘Witchtripper’ Video” align=”center”]
Machinehead1.com Machine Head are having to exit their current tour, at least temporarily, as singer Robb Flynn undergoes emergency surgery to deal with a double inguinal hernia that has become the source of tremendous pain for the frontman. The band was out on tour in support of their ‘ Machine F—ing Head ‘ double live album, and were touring alongside Dethklok , All That Remains and Black Dahlia Murder on the run. But this evening (Nov. 13), the group informed fans that it would miss nine shows on the trek as Flynn recovers from a planned surgery on Wednesday (Nov. 14.). Machine Head released a statement via their website on the matter which read: Machine Head must exit their current North American tour with Dethklok, All That Remains and Black Dahlia Murder due to matters completely beyond their control. Frontman Robb Flynn must have emergency surgery. Flynn had planned to go under the knife in January after completing the tour as he has been playing through the pain of a double inguinal hernia since the tour started in October. He had hoped to continue the tour despite extreme discomfort, but it’s become too difficult to continue on. Flynn will undergo surgery tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 14 in Minneapolis before returning home to California to recover, rest and recuperate. Machine Head will rejoin the tour in Portland, OR. Machine Head extends its regrets to fans, the other bands, and the other crews for having to leave the tour prematurely. Flynn also offered a statement of his own on the matter: I’ve been toughing out an inguinal hernia below my waistline since June of last year, and a few months ago got a second hernia in my nuts. What basically happens is my guts drop into my nuts, and it looks like I have a third testicle (man, I can hear the jokes already!) It hasn’t been that painful, and I’ve gone to the doctor a few times to take care of it, but he said after surgery I probably couldn’t sing for a few weeks, and since that wasn’t going to happen, I scheduled it for January when I had a break. Unfortunately, after the last few shows, my guts have been very swollen and hard to push back in. Yesterday, the pain was excruciating and I went to the emergency room last night. They said that I need surgery. I will be doing my damnedest to rejoin the tour in a couple weeks. Thanks to all the fans, bands, and crew for understanding. I’m determined to see you all soon and finish what has been a great freakin tour! The tour is scheduled to run through Dec. 8 in Atlanta. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/dethklok-2012-tour-machine-head-all-that-remains-black-dahlia-murder/” title=”Next: See the Remaining Tour Dates on the Dethklok Trek” align=”center”]
Slash/Reprise Records Guitarist Jim Martin left Faith No More back in 1993 after the band’s ‘Angel Dust’ album. After a decade of silence, Martin agreed to answer 15 questions submitted by readers of a UK fan site. “Some weeks ago, the FNM fan club guy was asking about how to contact me, he wanted to talk to me about the fan page,” Martin said. “After several exchanges via email, he and I decided to do a Q&A thing for the fans. My departure from FNM in 1993 was controversial; I left while the band was still at the peak of its success. I am proud of my contributions to the success and legacy of FNM. I appreciate the time and effort it took to put these questions together. Thank you for the opportunity.” In the Q&A, Martin discusses the ‘Angel Dust’ recording sessions, his current relationship with the band, whether he would consider a reunion and many other topics. Q: What do you consider the highlight of your career? A: Performing with Bo Diddly, Klaus Mein, Metallica, Gary Rossington, Pepper Keenan Sean Kinney Jerry Cantrell John Popper Jason Newstead, singing Misfits songs with Metallica live during our tour with them and GNR. Q: You are an influence to many younger guitarists today, but who were your biggest influences and what do you remember about how those people helped to craft your sound and play style? A: My influences to a greater extent were Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and David Gilmore. Mostly Page. His method of using a pick and his fingers at the same time and his way of squeezing the humanity out of a guitar. It’s funny how influences work. My influences were influenced by old blues men. Those legendary blues men were influenced by their tribal ancestors. The tribal ancestors are the link back to the beginning; they are the keepers of the essence. Through my influences I am connected to the roots of time and the music that elevates the primordial spirit of mankind. We do not truly compose anything genuinely new, the listeners and the presentation are what is new, and it is the perspective that varies. The ability of expression and improvisation, the stuff of creation that fascinates all life. Q: It was great seeing you play again during the Metallica event…also some very great words spoken about Cliff….it was great to see ya! Weird question, Big Jim…and I only just thought of it while scrolling through the last post on FNM Blog: What was the deal with you being the only clothed FNM member in the infamous “FNM underwear poster”? Did you just think the photo idea was dumb, or did you think it’d be better/funnier with one dude dressed to the nines in jeans, leather vest, etc. while everyone else was near nekkid. Thanks for doing this Q&A, man! Excited to see the responses! A: I remember it was one of the first big photo shoots for us set up by London Records. Ross Halfin, “Famous Rock Photographer”, was pretty aggressive, barking orders and abusing band members, particularly Puffy. He ordered everyone to strip down. I said “forget it” (I thought it was dumb). The other guys did, he snapped the picture and at that moment, I understood why he was famous… Q: I’m a crazy obsessed fan and have listened to just about all the bootlegs and read all the interviews…Despite “not being into” the music on ‘Angel Dust’ (so it is written in places), you played flawlessly all of 92-93 and I even caught you banging your head enthusiastically during the Phoenix Festival. Also, while others were bad-mouthing you, you always played it off with a joke and came off as the bigger person (you were hilarious in the Maida Vale interviews!)…something doesn’t add up. Were you really that unhappy? If so, how do you keep such a cool head and stay so professional? A: Thank you for the great compliment. My publicized “not being into” ‘Angel Dust’ was all about the way the whole process went down. There was a lot of weird pressure to follow up ‘The Real Thing,’ and as a consequence, the album AD was more contrived musically than I thought was necessary. I wanted more of the record to happen in the studio and Bill wanted every last tack nailed down before we went in. I wanted to spend time with it, management and the record company wanted to rush it out the door. There were a bunch of journalists in the studio. We were paying for a bunch of sampling that we could have created. Matt Wallace was calling me on the phone complaining about Mike Patton’s performance. Management and record company were calling me complaining about Mike Patton’s performance and desire for outside projects. The record company president came in the studio and said: “I hope nobody bought houses” All the air got sucked out of the room. That was one of those great moments when reality slaps you in the face. Some of my associates (had) bought houses. The pressure was on, and everyone wanted to be in the studio with me while I recorded, endlessly tinkering and f—ing with me and f—ing with Matt, and Matt is a really f—ing wound up guy already. Prior to AD, I would work alone with Matt and his assistant engineer period. I had to kick everyone out and even though it was not a new concept it really pissed everyone off. Live performances were always very strong. From my perspective, we came across a lot heavier than the records. Over time, the chord progressions and the arrangements would morph in subtle ways that would make the set heavier than the studio version. As far as the bulls–t in the press, yeah, there was a lot of negativity, and I tried to avoid being part of it to the point of refusing interviews. Of course I was unhappy; individuals were making decisions which would prove to be damaging to FNM. However, despite these distractions, real people paid to see a show and we were able to deliver thanks to the support of a great crew and a great sound man, Greg Bess, who was used to working with the heavy bands. I actually really enjoyed those shows. Q: If you could collaborate for a single cover song with any musician, dead or alive, who would that be and what would the song be? A: I sure miss Cliff. Cliff Burton. We could do any song and twist it up horribly. I think if there were an opportunity to collaborate, we would write something new. Put Dave (Donato – Agents of Misfortune) in there on the drum kit and create something Cliff’s mother would call “Fu–ed Up Weirdos”. Q: I’ll get this one out…what is your relationship like now with the members of Faith No more? A: To be honest Matt, that is an emotional subject. There has been much negative rhetoric in the press, and it was my choice to either play their game, fight with them and let the press spin it, or leave them to play with themselves and allow you to make a decision based on the work I left behind. In an effort to avoid the negativity, I chose the latter. However, there are some points that I would like to address. I read a couple of interviews Matt Wallace did, and his simplified explanations can lead one to believe that I hate homosexuals, I did not contribute to ‘Angel Dust,’ and I did not play guitar on the record. Ouch. Something else is a little more accurate. The guitar parts are mine; that’s me playing guitar on all the tracks. I contributed much to the songwriting and arrangements. Bill added some fluff to ‘Midlife Crisis and ‘Midnite Cowboy’ and wrote everything for his song ‘Small Victory, Mike wrote everything for ‘Malpractice,’ I wrote everything and created the samples for ‘Jizzlobber;’ Bill contributed the keyboard outro. Mike wrote all of the lyrics for the album except Roddy wrote lyrics for ‘Be Aggressive.’ Matt’s commentary about Roddy seemed a little weird; we (band members) all knew Roddy was gay long before he “came out” and it was not an issue for anyone. Matt also forgot to mention that he and I spent a lot of time together on the production of TRT and AD improving the recording method and sonic profile in the studio. I insisted on the co-producer credit for FNM on those 2 records because of that work. Notice ‘The Real Thing’ and ‘Angel Dust’ are the only two FNM records co-produced by Matt Wallace and Faith No More. I saw something in Wiki where someone pulled a comment out of an old bucket: Jim Martin said “I don’t know why it’s called ‘Angel Dust,’ I had nothing to do with it” While that is true, it is not complete. The idea was Roddy’s, and nobody else had anything to do with it either. He came in with a basic concept of a bird front, meat locker back, and ‘Angel Dust’ for the title. The question was: “How do we get it (Roddy’s idea) to the record cover?” We lost control of the sleeve art on the last 2 releases. ‘The Real Thing’ and ‘Introduce Yourself’ were conceived and designed by “the record company” and we simply paid the bill. This was an opportunity of artistic expression and finally one of us had an idea everyone would go along with. I got in contact with Mark Leialoha to discuss the idea, he got Werner “Vern” Krutein involved because Werner ran a stock agency and was able to produce the necessary photographs allowing us to realize Roddy’s idea. I had the idea of the Russian army in the sleeve, inspired by The Pogues album ‘Rum Sodomy and The Lash,’ which I was really into at the time. I rode hard on that and made sure it happened the way WE wanted it to happen. There was a lot of squealing when it came time to pay the bill, but at the end of the day, we retained control of our resources, we were able to use our people, and we maintained creative control. Q: Jim! With your publicized dislike of the content/direction of ‘Angel Dust’ – are you surprised by how, 20 years on, it is widely regarded as one of the most influential ‘metal’ albums of the past 30 years? A: Thanks for the opportunity Matt. As for my like or dislike of AD I touched on that a little, so please refer to question 4 above. I am happy AD is regarded in a positive way. It is an affirmation of the legacy we all worked to create. I am aware that some of the newer bands I actually like have referred to FNM as an influence. I am also aware AD was on the Kerrang! Most influential albums list of 2003. Is it an artist’s affirmation? That’s fine. Am I surprised? I don’t think anyone can be expected to anticipate something like this. Q: What kind of music are you listening to today? Is there anything that we might not generally expect that you like to listen to? A: I’ve been listening to Machine Head, a great metal band out of Oakland, Calif. I enjoy classic jazz, reminds me of weird times as a kid. I like the “Glorious lethal euphoria” of The Mermen It’s crazy hardcore psychedelic surf music and hits the mark hard. I’ll listen to any improv, at least for a few minutes. Q: Is it true that you were offered to perform at reunion tour dates – if it is true why did you decline? Fans would have been so happy to see on stage too! A: Thanks Bubbles. For some time during 2008, I had been receiving information with increasing frequency that “we” were booking a reunion tour, festivals, Europe. I was informed that yes, the promoters were selling it as the original line up. In February 2009, Roddy called and said they were just beginning to think of putting something together, and just now feeling out everyone, and what did I think? I said yes, I was interested. I also told him I knew the tour was already booked, they were on the eve of announcing it, and it was time to sign the deals. I told him to send over the contracts so I could review them and started pressing management for details. Several days later, I was able to get management on the phone who told me they decided to use someone else…I know it’s odd, no, you didn’t miss anything. It happened just like that. In an effort to preclude any sloppy misinformation, I made the announcement that I would not be participating in the rumored reunion dates several days before they made their announcement. Q: If Faith No More tours again and if they asked would you make an appearance, kind of like when Chuck did a couple of songs? Would love to watch you perform songs like ‘Malpractice’ or ‘Jizzlobber’ would be awesome! A: Thanks Sean. I know the fans want the real thing, and I was prepared to have a real dialogue about doing a run together. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. As for a random appearance, I do not feel that would do anyone justice. Q: If you could use Bill and Ted’s phone booth to go back in time to the ‘Angel Dust’ era, would you do anything differently to make sure you and FNM were heading in the same direction? If so, what? A: Number one thing: limit journalist access and impose more control over the interviews. Almost anyone could get an interview at that time. It was a free for all, and it hurt us. Q: Have you been jamming with anyone lately, and do you have any plans to make more music? A: No, I’m not working with anyone right now but I do have plans to publish more music. I released a record some time ago called ‘Milk and Blood;’ go to rotgrub.com and email the webmaster for details. Q: What do you think of the music FNM have created post you? And how do you feel when you see other guitarists belting out you licks? A: I remember hearing some of the music a long time ago but I didn’t really study it. I remember thinking it was heavily reliant on Mike. As for other persons playing my music, I don’t really believe anyone could book a show as FNM without playing my music. Q: Being one of the best shredders of your era/generation, and having rubbed shoulders with some awesome musicians in your time, have you never considered forming your own little “supergroup” to set the music word to rights!!?? A: Most of my associates have families and projects taking up their time, and I’m very consumed with the things I am doing. I hope I can get to a place where I’ll be able to do something pretty soon. There are no specific plans at this time. Thanks for a great compliment. Q: Hey Jim, thanks a bunch for doing this. So where did you get the moniker “big sick ugly” from and did you like it?? A: It was bestowed upon me by the filthy press. I am pretty sure Geoff Barton gets the credit. Steffan “Cheese Burger” Chirazi, “Krusher Joule” and Neil “Greasy Chester” Perry helped magnify and perpetuate it and it was ‘Kerrang!’ once again, who rolled that one out there. Thanks to them for some funny times.
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com 3 Doors Down started off with a bang when their hit single ‘Kryptonite’ blew up back in 2000, creating a buzz for the band seemingly overnight. Their debut disc ‘The Better Life’ would go on to yield four hit singles and move more than 5 million copies, launching their career into an upward trajectory. Now, more than a decade later, the band is reflecting back on their musical tenure with a new ‘ Greatest Hits ’ disc due out on Nov. 19. In addition to nine chart-topping rock hits, the release also includes three brand new tracks from the band, proving that they are still going strong over a decade later. We recently caught up with 3 Doors Down frontman Brad Arnold to reflect on the band’s success, the impact their ‘The Better Life Foundation’ has had on him personally, how his songwriting has evolved throughout his career and 3DD’s upcoming tour with Daughtry. Congrats on the upcoming ‘Greatest Hits’ disc. Why did now feel like the right time for that? It’s something that we’ve wanted to do for a while. We didn’t want to put it out too soon but we didn’t want to wait another five years to put it out either. We really are moving into a new chapter in our band. We’re not changing our sound or anything but we felt like this was good look back over the last 10 to 12 years for us. We just felt like it was the appropriate time to do it. It must have been a great experience to sit back and reflect on all the music you’ve made throughout your career. Can you talk about the process of putting the disc together, was it hard to pick the songs? You know what, it was. We obviously had a few songs that we knew had to be on there but then there were others that we weren’t sure about and we weren’t able to fit them all on, it was a hard decision to make. It was interesting putting them together because we went back and we remixed and remastered them for it, and we didn’t try to make them sound different we just wanted to choose some more modern technology to have a better sound on the record. You can do so much more now than we could 10 years ago, so we went back and we made it in surround sound. Honestly, if you were to put it in your computer, you probably couldn’t tell a huge difference between the new and the old, although the new to me sounds cleaner. You can tell that we used new technology to make it better. We really at the same focused on, when we were remixing them, to not change the sound of the songs. They were successful the way they were so we didn’t want to reinvent them. I don’t really think people would like that too much, if we changed them a lot. At the same time, it’s cool to hear a modern take on them. I had been wondering if any of the songs had changed at all but it sounds like you stayed true to the original versions. We did, and that’s harder to do than you’d think because you’re using one person to mix it and then he’s going back and mixing songs that 4 or 5 other producers have mixed in the past. I know it was a massive undertaking, but he did a great job on it. ‘Kryptonite’ is the song that launched your career – when you look back at that time in the band, what do you remember most about it? I just remember how excited we were when it really started happening. We had written ‘Kryptonite’ a few years before that when we were just teenagers. We had a local radio station play it after we begged them to for like two years. We went to rerecord that song and we got going, and the song started going and it took off, and then it turned into a monster. I just remember the excitement. It was like, ‘Here we go man,’ we never dreamed that we’d get to do THIS, and here we are. Still even then, if you told me we’d be putting out a ‘Greatest Hits’ of other songs 10 years later, nowhere along the line could I have ever believed it. I know one of the three new the songs called ‘Goodbyes’ is very personal to you; can you tell me where it came from and why it was important to you to write that one? We co-wrote ‘Goodbyes’ with Marti Fredrikson, and that’s the fourth time I’ve written with Marti, and he has a good way of going about it. He’ll play on the guitar and Marti has a really cool melody going on in his head all of the time, he’ll sing along with the melody, not trying to make real words, just babbling different words, and then I start to feel an idea develop and run with it, and that’s how we’d written ‘When You’re Young,’ ‘Time of My Life’ and ‘One Light.’ Sometimes it’s hard to go in and say, let’s write a song at two o’clock on Tuesday, and make sure it’s a good one! Sometimes, they just don’t work like that. For that song, the music I just liked so much, I asked Marti if I could take it with me. I promised him it wouldn’t get stuck in a drawer and wasted, I’d write some lyrics to it, and that was in May, that we wrote the music. About a month and a half ago, I was sitting down here, and there’s a man that lives down the road from me at my camp on the river down in South Mississippi. A man that lived down there, he was a real good guy, about 65 years old, we’d always sit around the fire together, have a couple of beers and throw wood on the fire. He had a stroke and he was in a coma for about a week, and that got me thinking about how it’s hard to let someone go like that. When you have a stroke it’s unexpected, I had just seen him four days before that. It got me thinking about him and his wife, and I wrote that song, he definitely got my thought process going. I wrote the song and two days later he passed away. It was hard on everybody that lives down there because it’s a real close-knit community. As soon as I wrote it I sent it down there to one of my buddies and asked him to let everyone hear it, and he said, “How about I let them hear that in about two weeks because they might not be ready for that right now.” But yeah, it became really personal to me and you know it’s not necessarily the happiest song, but I think that song’s going to wind up being personal to a lot of people. It’s not always the happy songs that people get the most out of. It seems like ‘Here Without You’ and ‘Away from the Sun’ – songs like that, although to me I kind of look at ‘Here Without You’ as a bit of a happy song, although it seems sad, it talks about dreaming about somebody, and as long as you’re dreaming about them, you’re together, and I view that as a happy thought, but I know when I wrote ‘Away From the Sun’ I was in that place, and I’ve had so many people, with that song in particular, say that that song saved my life. What else could you do on this planet that’s any more fulfilling than knowing that you’re doing something that helps someone a lot, I know I’ve had songs in my life that have helped me. It’s almost like God sent them to you when you needed to hear them. Its like, “Man, I needed to hear that right now,” and I know that I’ve had those songs and I’m delighted to be able to possibly write just one of those songs for someone else. I’m a firm believer in musical therapy. Music is medicine for the soul! You’ve said you’re not very political but that it was a great honor to perform at the Republican National Convention this year, can you tell us about the experience? It was a cool experience, there were leaders coming from all around the country, and just the operations and productions of the RNC. It was down in Tampa and there were blocks and blocks of security. Once you got through the doors, you knew were safe, it was just amazing how much goes into it. I was talking to the guy that was our escort for the day and he was saying how he was about ready for it all to be over so he could go home and we asked him, “Well how long have you been here, a couple of weeks?” and he said “I’ve been here since May.” I was like, Holy Cow, they’ve been working on it since May, so I’m sure he was about ready to go home. You mentioned the production of the convention, it’s not that far removed from a music tour right? I’m sure looking around you saw a few good ideas. I tell ya what; they had some production going down there. We played on a side stage, but in between speakers on the main stage the floor would open up, the whole podium would go down in it, the floor would close – they definitely had it going on. I was thinking, “Can we borrow that for our drum set?” As you stated earlier, you wrote songs with Marti Fredrikson. On your last album, for the first time, you started working with some outside songwriters, what did that outside perspective bring to your writing process and do you think that’s something you’ll continue to do with future new music? Definitely, I love writing with all the guys in my band, and we’ve written a ton of songs together. When you write with the same guys all the time, it’s kind of easy to get in a rut; it’s easy to start writing things that sound like something else you’ve written in the past. I think it’s really important, I didn’t realize how important it was, but I think looking back on these last few songs that we’ve collaborated on, it’s really important to get out of your comfort zone and write with someone that you’ve never written with before because it brings in a whole new element and a new sound – just a new lick even, something that’s not so familiar to you. It stimulates your senses and makes you want to write something new. Marti is a great one to do it with, that dude is a great song writer and he’s just a fun dude to sit there and write with. We work well together, he’ll start babbling words, not even consciously forming words, and I’ll sit there and listen to him as he works on the melody. It could be one word here and one word there, and I’ll sit there with my notepad starting to piece things together and it’s just such a really cool experience to do that. Your upcoming tour with Daughtry kicks off with a very special show – the annual concert for your ‘ The Better Life Foundation ‘ – what can you tell us about the foundation and what it’s meant to the band over the course of its existence? That foundation has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. It’s hard for me honestly to look at it as giving back, because I swear to you, I’ve been given more simply by being a part of that foundation than I’ve ever done. It’s blessed me in so many ways. To be able to be the catalyst, because it all comes from our fans, I’m honored to be that catalyst. Looking at what it’s allowed it to do – whether for a special needs home or a kids camp or a children’s hospital, it’s just the best feeling in the world. I’m honored to be a part of it, there are a lot of people that work a lot harder than I do on it and I’m thankful for them. This year, this is our ninth year, and it’s going to be our biggest one by far. Over the last couple of years we’ve added a motorcycle ride . The first year was a bit of a fluke because it was cold and rainy so some people couldn’t make it but last year we had 400 riders and this year we’re expecting around 600 riders at least and I’d say more than that. That ride is so fun, Bourget’s Bike Works, they build a bike for us every year for the Foundation and they donate it, and they are awesome motorcycles. The first couple of years we auctioned it off, but then not everyone can bid on it, so the last few years we’ve raffled it off and it was a lot more successful and allowed more people to take part in it. So I’m really looking forward to that ride and the concert is going to be awesome, it’s going to be a really great start for the tour because it’s going to start us out on a light note, because there’s a lot of fun stuff going on there, but it’s also going to give a nice, firm, positive push to the tour. I really couldn’t ask for a better way to start the tour. You mentioned the band entering a new era, and I can only assume that you referring to the lineup changes that occurred over the last year. I know that you and former guitarist Matt Roberts go back a long time and were friends as kids, talk about the impact it had on the band when he left, it had to be an emotional thing? I look over there sometimes and I miss him. Matt and I have been friends since we were little kids; we use to play t-ball together. It was hard to see him go, it honestly was, and it was a little emotional. Like I said, I miss him being here sometimes. Chet [Roberts] does a great job, I look over there and he’s just got this big old grin on his face and he’s running around. You do look back, especially now for the ‘Greatest Hits’ and you have these memories of what we all done together so it was a difficult time to see him go. Chet [Roberts] seems to have has adapted to the lineup perfectly. I saw the band live shortly after he joined the band and the chemistry seemed to be pretty strong, so while it was hard, it seems like you found the right guy to fill those big shoes. We definitely did. We already had some confidence in Chet because before he was our guitar player he was Chris’ guitar tech, so he’s been around a little while and we all knew him. I knew he could fill the shoes because a couple of months prior to that we went to do an acoustic thing and Matt had something going on so just Chris and I were going to go, but Chet was going to come as our tech, and we were like, well, if you’re already coming, bring your guitar and play with us. He did so well with that show, singing backup, we didn’t ever go and look for another guitar player, we just said, ‘Get your guitar Chet, it’s time to play.’ That almost sounds like a movie, but it’s definitely got to be every guitar tech’s dream come true. The first show he played with us, right before the ZZ Top tour, we played three shows down in Brazil. Those crowds down in Brazil are amazing, so his first show was in front of an enthusiastic Brazilian crowd. Boy, I looked over there at him and I was so proud because he’s been in bands and he’s been in a few touring bands that just never took off. I just looked over there and he was smiling so big, and it was just a proud moment. Since we are talking about your ‘Greatest Hits,’ looking back throughout your career, is there a particular moment that stands out as one of your most rewarding? I think the most rewarding thing for me really, and I know I sound redundant in saying it, but the most rewarding thing for me in our career has really been ‘The Better Life’ foundation. I look back at different points in our career too, like when we first went Gold, that was huge. They always told us that the hardest thing to do was to go Gold, and after you reached that, you had your momentum and Platinum is not so hard after that. We started touring when I was 20 years old and I still lived at home with my parents. I continued to live there until I got married a couple of years later so the first place my gold record ever hung was in my bedroom at my Mom and Dad’s house. I remember I had had a picture hanging above my bed and it was a proud day to take that picture down and hang up my gold record. I brought all my friends in and we’d all sit there and look at it. So the big question is, where is it now? It’s actually hanging in my studio at my house, in my little writing spot in my mancave. You’re going from playing with rock legends like ZZ top to this new tour with rock newcomers Daughtry – it’s a good sign for the current state of rock don’t you think? I do. I really do feel like that. This tour is really going to be, honestly, it’s going to be a tour that is greater than all of its parts. There’s a lot of chemistry, Chris [Daughtry] and I are good friends, and we’ve been friends since the start of his career. We’ve done a little writing together here and there, and so, I’m really excited about this tour. Every night he and I are going to get together and sing a song together – maybe a cover or one of our own songs, and I’m really looking forward to that. He came to Nashville last year and he and I sang The Allman Brothers song ‘Whipping Post’ and that was so much fun, and that’s kind of what sparked wanting to do that collaboration every night. Chris and I have tried to make this tour happen for quite awhile, it just never worked out. So it’s 19 shows now but we haven’t even started the tour yet. It goes to December now and we’re already wanting to bring it back out and start it back up in January and stay out from January through March. We want to see how far this tour can go; I don’t have a doubt in my mind that people will walk out of the show saying ‘Man, that was a good show.’ It’s also a show that a parent can bring their kids to and not worry about hearing the F-bomb dropped onstage every few words. None of these bands on this tour cuss on the stage, you may here “hell” or “damn” but that’s about it. I like to look out there and see a Daddy standing with a son or a daughter, or even a family standing there. Many times parents drag their kids and its Mommy and Daddy enjoying it and the kids thinking its pretty lame or the opposite, but I think this will be a show that a family can come to where everyone will have a good time at. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/3-doors-down-brad-arnold-inspiration-one-light/” title=”3 Doors Down’s Brad Arnold Shares Inspiration Behind New Song ‘One Light’” align=”center”]
Matthew Simmons, Getty Images The Used will head up the 2013 Take Action Tour, and they’ll be squeezing a little extra life out of their ‘Vulnerable’ album by re-releasing it as a two-disc effort titled ‘Vulnerable II’ that coincides with the run. The Used will welcome We Came As Romans , Crown the Empire, and Mindflow for the tour, which launches Jan. 11 at the Las Vegas House of Blues. Like past Take Action treks, the tour has a charitable association. This year, proceeds from the trek will be directed to the It Gets Better Project, created to provide youths in the LGBT community with a positive outlook by showing the potential of what can happen by surviving the often difficult teen years. Ten percent of each ticket sold will be donated to It Gets Better and the annual charitable sponsor, Sub City. Tickets are on sale at the Take Action website . The Used’s Bert McCracken and Jeph Howard have created an “It Gets Better” video to help support the cause. The promo can be seen below. “It’s our privilege to work with such a lovely charity that does so much good in this confusing world,” says McCracken. “Pease check out itgetsbetter.org and we’ll see you at the Take Action Tour.” In addition, Hopeless Records will partner with Sub City to offer the ‘Take Action Compilation, Vol. 11,” which features tracks from The Used, Bad Religion, AWOLNATION, Falling in Reverse , Whitechapel and more. As with the tour, a portion of the proceeds from sale of the two-disc set will go to It Gets Better. As for The Used’s ‘Vulnerable II’ re-release, the album has now expanded to a two-disc set, with the second disc offering multiple remixes and acoustic versions of tracks from the original effort. It’s due in stores Jan. 22, and can be pre-ordered here . Watch The Used’s Bert McCracken and Jeph Howard’s “It Gets Better” Spot 2013 Take Action Tour Dates: 1/11 — Las Vegas, Nev. — House of Blues 1/12 — Salt Lake City, Utah — In The Venue 1/14 — Denver, Colo. — Summit 1/16 — Kansas City, Mo. — The Beaumont 1/17 — Minneapolis, Minn. — First Avenue 1/19 — Milwaukee, Wis. — The Rave 1/20 — Indianapolis, Ind. — Egyptian Room 1/22 — St. Louis, Mo. — The Pageant 1/23 — Chicago, Ill. — House of Blues 1/25 — Pittsburgh, Pa. — Stage AE 1/26 — Rochester, N.Y. — Water Street Music Hall 1/28 — Washington, D.C. — 9:30 Club 1/29 — Boston, Mass. — House of Blues 1/30 — Sayreville, N.J. — Starland Ballroom 2/1 — Hartford, Ct. — Webster Theatre 2/2 — Atlantic City, N.J. — House of Blues 2/4 — Atlanta, Ga. — Tabernacle 2/5 — Tampa, Fla. — Ritz Ybor 2/7 — Asheville, N.C. — Orange Peel 2/8 — Cincinnati, Ohio — Bogart’s 2/10 — Detroit, Mich. — Fillmore 2/11 — Cleveland, Ohio — House of Blues 2/13 — Tulsa, Okla. — Cain’s Ballroom 2/14 — Houston, Texas — House of Blues 2/16 — Austin, Texas — Emo’s East 2/17 — Dallas, Texas — House of Blues 2/19 — San Antonio, Texas — Backstage Live 2/20 — El Paso, Texas — Tricky Falls 2/22 — Albuquerque, N.M. — Sunshine Theatre 2/24 — Phoenix, Ariz. — Marquee Theatre 2/26 — San Francisco, Calif. — The Fillmore 2/27 — San Diego, Calif. — House of Blues 3/1 — Los Angeles, Calif. — The Wiltern The Used ‘Vulnerable II’ Track Listing Disc One 1. ‘Come Alive’ 2. ‘This Fire’ 3. ‘Hands and Faces’ 4. ‘Put Me Out’ 5. ‘Shine’ 6. ‘Now That You’re Dead’ 7. ‘Give Me Love’ 8. ‘Moving On’ 9. ‘Getting Over You’ 10. ‘Kiss It Goodbye’ / ‘Kinda Hectic’ (Interlude) 11. ‘Hurt No One’ 12. ‘Together Burning Bright’ Disc Two 1. ‘Surrender’ 2. ‘The Lonely’ 3. ‘Machine’ 4. ‘Disaster’ 5. ‘I Come Alive (Revolvr and Danny Mihai Remix) 6. ‘Hands and Faces’ (Bobby Alt Remix) 7. ‘Put Me Out’ (Kraddy Remix) 8. ‘I Come Alive’ (acoustic) 9. ‘Put Me Out’ (acoustic) 10. ‘Together Burning Bright’ (acoustic) [button href=”http://loudwire.com/the-used-discuss-new-album-vulnerable-intense-encounter-with-super-fan-more/” title=”Next: The Used Discuss ‘Vulnerable’ Album” align=”center”]