LiveDaily.com recently conducted an interview with Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach. A few excerpts from the chat follow:
LiveDaily: You started gravitating toward more of a rock sound on your last album, and this record continues that evolution.
Jacoby Shaddix: Yeah, most definitely. When we wrote "Getting Away with Murder," we were trying to find who we were as a band. There was a level of confidence there, but after playing it live, touring, getting a solid fan base and getting our success back--not on the strength of hype, but on good songs and a good show--we went back into the studio and the writing of this record with a new sense of confidence. That was one of the key elements in writing this record, because we weren't scared of doing anything. We always wanted to live in a house together, because we're all Red Hot Chili Peppers fans, and watching "Funky Monks," the making of "Blood Sugar Sex Magik," when I was like 16-17, I was like, "That's a rock 'n' roll dream to be lived."
What were your expectations heading into The Paramour?
We went into that house knowing that we were going in to live a dream. It was kind of a rediscovery of who we are as a band, who we are as people, who we are as musicians... We wanted to write a real hard-edged, straight-ahead, four-to-the-floor, savage rock 'n' roll record. Then, when we started to jam, we had jam sessions that would last, like, seven, eight hours, and we tapped into something besides what we expected to come out of us. We wrote songs like "Forever," "What Do You Do," "Reckless," songs that are so far removed from anything we've ever done as a band. Stuff that's got a big-rock feel to it. There were moments where we were like, "F---, dude, what are our fans going to think of this?" but then the reality hit and we realized that we were doing something that feels right, and we couldn't not explore that side of our band because we feel we're going to disappoint somebody. We owe it to ourselves to explore, and that's the freedom of music. That's why I'm in this band. The way I look at it, the artists and the musicians that I look up to the most are the artists and the musicians that take the greatest risks to evolve, like Red Hot Chili Peppers when they released "Under the Bridge."
How has your approach to writing changed with your evolving sound?
First and foremost, I want to write songs, lyrically and melodically, that you could sing along with. Going in with that intention and being able to execute that on this record was really f---ing cool. We weren't just writing heavy s--- for the sake of having heavy s---; it was heavy s--- because we wanted to write it. And good stuff, that you can sing along with, but with also a pop sensibility. We look at ourselves as the band that tries to walk that line between metal, hardcore, punk rock and pop music, you know what I'm saying? We do our best at trying to make it tasteful.
How has fatherhood affected your approach to the band?
My oldest is four, and my youngest turned two the day after the record came out. Those are my little sidekicks! Being a father is my rock. Being a father has taught me unconditional love, and that's extended to how I feel about the people in my band. I love them like they were my kids, in a way, you know what I'm saying? It doesn't matter what you do, I'm always going to love you. P-Roach, we put each other through the f---ing ringer. Go ahead and go off the deep end, and I'll still be here for you. And that's exactly what's happened lately. We have to look out for each other, and to that end, being a father has taught me a lot about being compassionate and understanding of people.
You're opening for Guns N' Roses now. How's that going?
It's going cool, man. We just jumped on and have done three shows so far. It's been a while since we've been on an arena stage, so it took, like, two shows to really become comfortable on that stage again. The first two shows were good, but the third show was magic, we f----ing ripped it up, the crowd was great, and the response was awesome.... In the beginning, we didn't know how we'd approach it, because we'd been in theaters for a while, but once we got the rhythm going, we slayed. To get back in that environment, it's like the carrot in front of the rabbit--I want to get here again!
You were supposed to tour with H.I.M., but they canceled the tour at the eleventh hour. What happened?
They won't tell us... We got the news just as we were getting on the plane to go to Europe, and we were like, "What gives!" [Laughing] We still haven't gotten an answer--it would have been a good opportunity, but we've just got to roll with the punches.
What does your headlining tour hold in store?
We're taking out a band called Bullets & Octane, and Hed P.E. is our main support. It's cool; it's a diverse show. We're excited about this run, because we haven't done a headlining run in the States in a while now, and the ticket sales are going good. We're playing, like, an hour-fifteen; eight new songs off "Paramour Sessions," and pretty much three or four songs off each record. The new songs keep it fresh, then we flip it up a bit. Like, we give "Dead Cell" a more punk-rock feel. There's a good ebb and flow to the set. We just rip it up every night.
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