Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com You wouldn’t know it by looking at him today, but there was a period not too long ago that Shinedown singer Brent Smith was struggling with both drug and alcohol addiction, as well as weight issues. Part of the reason Smith is built as well as he is these days is due to his newfound commitment to his health, and he discussed his transformation with the Los Angeles Times . Smith says, “The weight came on about four years ago. I’ve toured for over 12 years and for the first two records I was doing tons of shows all the time. And for those two records I was addicted to cocaine, OxyContin and alcohol. The coke and Oxy kept my weight down, but for the third album I quit opiates and started to crave sugar. I was still drinking a lot of alcohol and started to pack on the pounds.” The singer says one of the big wake-up calls was when he made an appearance on the ‘Today’ show in 2009 and Kathie Lee Gifford stated that she mistook him for Meat Loaf . The vocalist says, “It really stung. I’m a fan of Meat Loaf, but she wasn’t talking about a musical comparison. It was national television and my heart kind of fell on the ground. I’m not trying to be disrespectful to Meat Loaf at all because I’m a fan, but here I am barely 30 years old and that’s the one thing that she says. It was like the performance didn’t even matter.” In the time since, Smith has found a trainer and made a commitment to live healthier for his family. He explained, “I have a four-year-old boy, and he was a huge motivation, and so were the fans. I had an epiphany working out with my trainer … and I haven’t had a drink since.” Since he began his workout regimen, the singer has dropped almost 70 pounds. To read more about Smith’s weight loss journey, check out his Los Angeles Times interview here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-shinedown-album-readers-poll/” title=”Next: Vote for Shinedown’s Best Album” align=”center”]
Ethan Miller, Getty Images Hollywood Undead have just unleashed their new album, ‘ Notes From the Underground ,’ and one of the band’s vocalists, Johnny 3 Tears, recently took some time out to speak about the creation of their latest effort with Loudwire. The rhyme-slinger also shares his thoughts on songwriting, shooting a music video with Slipknot ‘s Shawn Crahan , the importance of getting to know the fans, what makes their live shows special and the evolution of their famous masks. Check out the interview below: Loudwire had a chance to preview the first webisode for the ‘Notes From the Underground’ sessions and it looks like you’re just having a really ‘good time’ in the studio. Did it seem more laid back this time around for you? That was all an act. [laughs] But yeah, you know, sometimes you get too comfortable and the more you’re in a band the more complacent you can get, so I think our focus was really on keeping it interesting and not getting too comfortable, but we try to keep it exciting which is where liquor and such comes in, you know. You never know what’s gonna happen, buddy! With such a large group of guys and people contributing, is it difficult to pick and choose what’s going to make it to a record and does having such a wealth of talent in the band lead to an excess of material? It’s a little more systematic than that. There’s typically just a few of us writing songs and the other guys bring in their thing and stuff like that, but if you saw us writing songs you’d think it was just a couple of schmoes that just sit with an acoustic and write and then we kind of build from there. At the core, I think we start a song just like anybody else, but I think we just build more around it as opposed to a more strict mentality that some guys have. But we do write a lot more than we typically need, but in this day and age, it’s tough. There’s so many places you have to put songs to get your CD out. It’s not like you just make a record with 14 songs, stick it out, and that’s that. There’s iTunes and bonus tracks and foreign releases and EPs, so the songs always end up somewhere in other words. The single ‘We Are’ is an anthemic track with a strong message. Tell us a bit about the genesis of that song. I actually wrote that chorus before anything else and it was on standstill for a while. I wrote that chorus when we were on tour last year and at the time, I mean, I don’t know, I guess especially when you’re out on the road, you talk to a lot of kids. A large majority of our fanbase are 16- and 17-year-old kids and they get up in their 20s and stuff, and the vast majority of them I make it a point to speak [to] and get to know as many of them as I can. And I suppose I hear a lot about their difficulties in this day and age. It’s depressing. I’m older now and kind of out of touch with some of the things that present themselves. And I kind of got the idea from talking to kids as much as I could. They go through what they go through and I always find that inspiring. I think it’s one of the more difficult times in anyone’s life and that was what I wrote the chorus about and we kind of filled in the gaps from there. I kind of got a smile out of the ‘We Are’ line, ‘You can see God when I take my mask off.’ Obviously, it’s fun for you and you take pride in writing some clever lyrics, but do you have a favorite lyric off this album? There’s one song in particular, it’s called ‘Outside’ and it’s the last song on the record, and I think more so than any other song, that one, and it’s not just one lyric but the whole thing and the message, but to me it’s the best Hollywood Undead song that we’ve ever written. That’s my personal viewpoint, but it was one of the songs that we sort of wrote on accident. We’re not one of those bands, not a radio band that’s ever going to get the artistic credit, not that we even deserve it. I’m not saying that, don’t get me wrong, but I think that was one of those artistic moments where we went, ‘Oh, we’re actually really good at this sometimes.’ Sometimes, we’re not, but like George Harrison said, ‘Sometimes you just write a stinkeridoo or a bad song,’ but that was the complete opposite moment where I went, ‘Sometimes we can do this well,’ and I think that whole song was that moment for me. We’ve all had a chance to see the ‘We Are’ video , which is pretty awesome. What was it like getting a chance to work with Slipknot’s Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan, who directed the video? Oh, it was gnarly. You know, one cool thing about it, it was really unexpected. There’s a group of guys who do music videos very consistently and we’ve worked with some of them, and they’re all very good, don’t get me wrong, but we wanted to do something different. And one of the guys had heard that Shawn had actually done some videos and that he might have an interest, so we just took a shot in the dark. We didn’t actually expect that to happen. And not only was he interested, he was excited. So that was pretty mind-blowing from the beginning. The coolest thing to me was that he’s been in a band a lot longer than he’s been a video director, so to him, I think he understands the other side of it. You get a real feeling of comfort and he really listens to you. You can really tell, but he really gave us some artistic freedom too. On most videos, it’s kind of a cattle call and you do what they tell you to do and you leave. But this was much more of a discussion and he was very welcoming to our ideas. It was quite a thrill and the dude is certainly a very creative force. I’m very interested to see where his career goes as a director because he’s got a world of talent. I heard that you shot that video at the abandoned Linda Vista Hospital. How spooky was that? [Laughs] Yeah man, it’s just a weird, weird spot. It’s really really creepy and I know it has a really funky history. I know it was on ‘Ghost Hunters’ and I know those shows are garbage, but still. But, you know, there was like 60 people there so I wasn’t by myself. I don’t think you could pay me a lot of money to go inside alone cause I’m a chickens—. But when you’re there with a lot of people, it was fun. There were incubators lying around and spinal tap machines and a morgue where you could open the freezer doors. It really gave me the heebee jeebees, but it was definitely good for the music video. Your fanbase is growing year-by-year. What are some of your favorite moments of interacting with the fans and getting that positive feedback? When you’re in a band, there’s so many steps or little goals that you shoot for as time goes on and stuff. I remember when saving up to buy a guitar amp was one thing and I think at that point it seemed pretty unrealistic that you would actually get to have a relationship like this. But there are enough kids out there that are interested in what you have to say, and that’s the most gratifying part. To think that there are people out there who are identifying with what you are saying, I think that was kind of an unrealistic goal before it happened, so that fact that it has and that we’re in this position, to be able to do what we gotta do … You know sometimes, I’ll forget and it’ll just hit me and blow me away that I can write music and do what I always want to do, but there’s people out there who understand it and that’s one of the coolest parts. Just hanging out with kids after a show and hearing what they have to say. Man, I do that most every night we’re on tour cause I like ‘em a lot more than my fellow bandmates. Getting into the album a little further, ‘Dead Bite’ leads off this disc and it’s got that sick opening that sounds like a demented kid’s tale. Where did that song come from? ‘Dead Bite,’ I think that’s actually the only song on the record where we wrote the verses and then applied a chorus to it. Almost all of these, I think it would be safe to say we write a chorus and then work from there. You know, there’s a lot of ups and downs as far as being in a band and it’s not always as fun as some people might thing, and it was a really good opportunity for the band to get stuff off their chest. So, straight up, it’s one of those songs that’s supposed to make the white kids roll around in their cars and be tough for a while type thing. It was a fun thing to make with the aggression, but not just screaming at the top of your lungs. Once we put words to it, it was a fun song to write. Funny Man stated that he just directed a lyric video for ‘Up in Smoke.’ I was wondering, when you’re writing the music, do you take in all aspects of a song, like how it will translate live or what a video might look like? I don’t. I’m always thinking about the songs and the record and that’s enough stress. But with [lyric videos], it’s like you just give Funny a joint and a cell phone camera and you’ll usually end up with something okay. I usually don’t have to worry about it too much. I’m hearing some buzz that ‘Another Way Out’ may be a key track for you down the road a bit. Can you tell me a little bit about that song? I think it’ll definitely be a single down the road. That’s a straight-up rock two-and-a-half minutes of go-time type of song. It’s really clever and really catchy and that song, in particular, we didn’t want to make it hard to understand. It’s one of those Andrew W.K. super-melodic moments where we just wanted to make a catchy song that people can just rock out to. Sometimes music doesn’t have to be complicated and that was definitely one of those moments. But it’s a fun song where simplicity is kind of bliss. What new songs are you working into your new tour ? I know we’re going to add ‘Dead Bite’ and ‘We Are’ to the immediate run that’s in January. We start right when the record comes out. But we don’t want to do too much. I used to hate that when I was a kid and I’d go see a band and they would just play their whole new record that I hadn’t heard yet. That used to be a real bum-out. So we do it bits and pieces. We’ll do ‘Dead Bite’ and ‘We Are’ to kick things off. It’s a quick run. Then we’ll go back and rehearse and we’ll learn some more songs and add ‘em as we go, so that way you never assault the senses of our audience, you know? God forbid they hear something they haven’t heard before. I figure at three albums in, you’ve also got to be pretty loose and confident in the live show as well. Can you take me up onstage and tell me a little of the feeling you get performing with these guys night-in, night-out? It’s a cool blessing to be able to rock out every day. We try to keep it as fun as possible, even in the darker moments. I think one of the cool things about our band, and what makes it different, is that we play different things during the set. We’re all multi-instrumental, so you’ll see one guy play bass the guitar the piano and whatever. We circulate a lot and I think that kind of keeps the show going and intriguing to the audience. But we certainly want people to come in and have a good time and feel like they got their money’s worth and that’s our number one goal. With each disc, you update the masks a little bit. Can you tell us about the evolution of the masks as we head into the ‘Notes From the Underground’ album? Every time we try and change them and keep them interesting artistically. That was always the focus of the masks was to have some sort of visual representation outside of a bunch of dudes with tattoos standing around. That was never something we wanted to buy into, so that’s why they were created. We want them to evolve, but they eventually might evolve to us not wearing them at all. I don’t really know. We just kind of take it with time. But each time we try to step it up and make ‘em cooler. We’ve got a guy, this guy named Jerry Constantine, who we work with and he’s a real genius. He helps ‘em along and we make sure we don’t change them so much that their not familiar, but change them enough to where we’re stoked on ‘em and kids could stay interested. So it’s one of those things. We take it as it goes and as long as it’s something that captivates us, we’ll keep doing it. ‘Notes From the Underground’ is now available via iTunes . The band is currently in the midst of a U.S. winter tour. See the remaining dates here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/hollywood-undead-behind-the-scenes-we-are-video-directed-by-slipknot-clown/” title=”Next: Watch Making of Hollywood Undead’s ‘We Are’ Video” align=”center”]
Jo Hale, Getty Images / Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com (2) Bullet for My Valentine will headline the 2013 HardDrive Live tour, which is set to kick off in the coming months. Joining BFMV on the run will be Halestorm as main support and special guests Young Guns . The timing is of the tour is perfect for the Welsh rockers, who will release their fourth studio album, ‘ Temper Temper ,’ on Feb. 12. The disc has already spawned the title track and their latest single ‘ Riot ,’ which should give the band plenty of momentum by the time they arrive stateside. Halestorm are riding high off a hot 2012, and may reach further heights when they find out on Feb. 10 whether or not they’ve won their first Grammy Award. The group’s latest album, ‘ The Strange Case Of… ,’ has kept them on the road over the past year and the disc’s lead single, ‘ Love Bites (So Do I) ,’ is the track that has them in Grammy contention for the Best Hard Rock / Metal Performance . Young Guns have spent the last year beginning to prove themselves outside of their native U.K. The group, who also has North American shows booked with 10 Years , has been promoting their ‘Bones’ album and seeing their star rise thanks to the album’s title track. Dates for the HardDrive Live Tour are expected to be revealed next week at the tour’s website . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/bullet-for-my-valentine-riot-video/” title=”Next: Bullet for My Valentine Debut ‘Riot’ Video” align=”center”]
Epitaph Bring Me the Horizon have parted ways with guitarist Jona Weinhofen. The guitarist is also a founding member of Australian metalcore band I Killed the Prom Queen, and although the media has just noticed the news, a year-old Tumblr post from Weinhofen points to the possibility that the musician had left Bring Me the Horizon a while ago. Today, (Jan. 14) many metal news outlets have announced Weinhofen’s departure from the group, citing an official comment from Bring Me the Horizon just released. The British band reportedly broke the news very recently with a short post. Offering absolutely no explanation as to why Weinhofen was no longer a member of the band, Bring Me the Horizon writes: Bring Me The Horizon are Oliver Sykes, Lee Malia, Matthew Kean, Matthew Nicholls and Jordan Fish. Jona Weinhofen is no longer in the band. According to a Tweet by new BMTH member Jordan Fish, he has not replaced Weinhofen on guitar, taking the position of the band’s keyboardist. The missing pieces of Jona Weinhofen’s departure of the band may possibly be filled by a year-old post on the guitarist’s Tumblr page: After a lot of time and thought ive decided to leave my current position as guitarist with Bring Me The Horizon. things in the band have been very tense with a lot of disagreements between myself and certain members who i wont name. im thankful for my time with BMTH and i have met many good friends and been able to travel the world more. Im planning on moving back to Australia to pursue other musical ventures. thanks Jona No new rhythm guitarist has been announced by Bring Me the Horizon, but stay tuned for a potential update on the band’s lineup. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/bring-me-the-horizon-new-single-shadow-moses/” title=”Bring Me the Horizon Premiere New Track ‘Shadow Moses'” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire One month ago, Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe was handed the reality of a court date in the Czech Republic. Facing manslaughter charges in an incredibly controversial case stemming from a 2010 concert incident, Blythe’s legal proceedings are set to begin on Feb. 4 . With the proverbial hourglass drawing closer to an empty top, Blythe recently posted a poetic and introspective piece of writing on his Instagram account detailing his thoughts. Although Randy Blythe could conceivably remain in the United States to avoid his trial, the vocalist has chosen to face the Prague 8 District Court and fight the charges brought against him. Blythe, who spent five weeks in a Czech prison over the summer while awaiting his bail to be approves, had given his situation a great deal of thought over the past few months. Upon discovering an old suitcase while out and about in his hometown of Richmond, Va., Blythe was inspired to write about his upcoming trial in the Czech Republic: The last 2 or 3 days I have been getting ready mentally to leave my home & return to Prague to do this whole trial thing in early February. It’s not something I particularly WANT to do; but inside, my gut & heart tells me it is the RIGHT thing to do. I cannot turn my back [on] the right thing. As I’ve been thinking, I’ve [been] shooting [pictures] a lot around my hometown. I love this place. A couple of days ago I went to my mechanic to get my truck worked on- the garage is over near the CSX train yard here in Richmond. I dropped off my truck & went creeping under the over pass that runs above the tracks. As usual, there was a lot of sleeping gear, trash, old mattresses & stuff that homeless people keep there. In my younger days, I used to ride freight trains across our country. I have spent many nights under bridges just like this one in freight yards across the USA. I have always loved to travel, & have been across the USA three times without a dime in my pocket most of the time, learning the survival skills of the hobos & street people of our country. You can get by with almost nothing if you know what you are doing. This old suit case sitting up on this ledge really captured my attention. I wonder what it once held? Safe travels to whoever owns it… As mentioned, Randy Blythe’s trial is scheduled to commence on Feb. 4. In addition to the aforementioned suitcase, the Lamb of God frontman has posted a number of his photos on his Instagram account recently, including recent images of his Virginia hometown and his travels in New York City, as well as vintage pictures of him posing with the late Dimebag Darrell. Check them out here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/2013-grammy-awards-best-hard-rock-metal-performance-nominees-anthrax-halestorm-iron-maiden-lamb-of-god-marilyn-manson-megadeth/” title=”Lamb of God Nominated for 2013 Grammy Award” align=”center”]
Frazer Harrison / Allen Berezovsky, Getty Images Marilyn Manson has had enough and TMZ reports the rocker has reached out via his lawyer to Seraphim Ward demanding a public apology for the false stories she’s spread about him, including one last year that was widely circulated about the couple being engaged . Shortly after the engagement story came out last year, Manson denied it and has maintained that he has “no romantic or other association” with Ward. At the time, Manson’s publicist issued a statement that read: “Marilyn Manson is not engaged as reported erroneously by Life & Style. Manson has never met Seraphim Ward and does not know who she is.” But that didn’t stop the stories or commentary from Ward hitting media outlets, with her claims of his alleged racism and Nazi sympathy making for tabloid fodder. In an attempt to stop Ward’s publicity-seeking ways, Manson’s lawyer has fired off a letter demanding an apology and threatening legal action should she continue to talk publicly about their supposed relationship. With the legalities being taken care of, Manson is back to focusing on his career. The vocalist returns to the road Jan. 18 in Milwaukee, supporting his ‘Born Villain’ album. You can currently enter a Loudwire contest (which ends Jan. 13 at 11:59PM ET) to win a pair of tickets for his upcoming tour here . Manson also is set to make a guest appearance on the upcoming season of Showtime’s ‘Californication’ and contribute his cover of Depeche Mode ‘s ‘Personal Jesus’ to the soundtrack. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-marilyn-manson-songs/” title=”Next: 10 Best Marilyn Manson Songs” align=”center”]
Dark Horse Comics So far, music fans have been indulging in ‘ House of Gold & Bones, Pt. 1 ,’ the first of a two-part musical installment from Stone Sour . But those who’ve been following Corey Taylor ‘s exploits know that the music is only a portion of the ambitious scope the singer has for his latest artistic output. Coinciding with the second album release this April, fans will get to check out a corresponding comic book series . Taylor told Comic Book Resources , “The last 10 years of my life have been the most formative. I realized I was on the threshold of the rest of my life — I had an idea of who I wanted to be as a man and I realized who I was at the time didn’t exactly jibe with what that idea was. So I started the process of changing for the better … ‘House of Gold & Bones’ is loaded with that journey, but it also has a lot of pieces from my friends’ lives — some are a lot more ahead of the curve than others, but we all are trying to do the same thing: trying to figure it all out. That’s why I wanted to tell the story in the first place — to put it all in perspective and find my place in it all.” The singer says the comic series story spills out like a contemporary fable, with the hero waking up in a world he doesn’t understand and learning more about himself than he could have ever imagined. While the two albums tell part of the story, Taylor says it’s been enjoyable to translate the tale and expand on some of the ideas with the comic series. He’s also found that his two artistic loves balance each other out. “Both genres are fathomless when it comes to possibilities,” says Taylor. “But in music, you only really get the emotion of the singer or the music, which makes it hard if you’re trying to convey the emotion of the scene. With comics, you get that snapshot of emotion: the looks on the faces, the color of the sky, the veins in people’s necks, but you don’t get the fluid feel of being in the moment, like film or music. I hope between the two, we’ll be able to put these pieces together perfectly.” The first issue of the “House of Gold & Bones’ comic series arrives April 17. Artist Richard P. Clark’s variant cover for issue No. 1 is shown above. For more on Taylor’s discussion about comic books and more exclusive images, check out Comic Book Resources’ full interview here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/corey-taylor-stone-sour-elaborate-touring-plans-latest-on-slipknots-next-album/” title=”Next: Corey Taylor on Stone Sour Tour + Film Plans” align=”center”]