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Still Getting Away With Murder
An Interview with Papa Roach by Mike Newdeck

In order to stay alive in the music industry a band has to evolve, move with the times and adapt their style to suit current popular trends, as well as finding their own comfort zone.

U2, who might not be everybody’s cup of tea, have managed to do this ad infinitum, morphing successfully into the popular mainstream as the mainstream constantly changes itself. Papa Roach is no stranger to this phenomenon, changing over the course of three albums from a “Nu” metal act into the fully-fledged hard rock outfit that we see today.

Reflected in the title of their current album ‘Metamorphosis’, Papa Roach has re-discovered its enthusiasm for making rock albums and touring hard to support them.

Mike Newdeck caught up with vocalist and founding member Jacoby Shaddix at the recent Brixton Academy gig to found out what happened, what’s happening and what’s going to happen with Papa Roach.

Papa Roach are in town and it’s no surprise that the music press is at the venue in droves. After the usual logistical delays caused by overrunning sound-checks, overrunning interviews (yes! I’m as guilty as the next man) and the lack of available rooms to carry out an interview I finally get to meet Papa Roach front man Jacoby Shaddix.

Shaddix cuts a far slimmer figure than I remember, muscular and lean rather than the slightly rotund character who most would remember from the bands ‘Infest’ era.

Dark eye make up, tattoos and backcombed hair are evidence of a man who now prefers rock to rap. Relaxing in a leather tub chair, which seems to have been backstage at the venue for decades, Shaddix cuts a figure still enthralled and excited by a live gig and all it’s pre-gig arrangements.
Three albums ago things started to change with the style of music that the band was playing, Shaddix explains.

“Well it was due to the kind of music we were all listening to at the time” is offers “ I’m a singer in a rock and roll band, but on the early albums I’d do all the rapping stuff you know and try and break new ground. As we went on I started to look back through the history of rock and roll and get back into the classic rock stuff, like Queen, The Who, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC. It wasn’t like we were looking to rip off those bands but rather study the great songs that they wrote and get some inspiration from them.”
Shaddix thinks that Howard Benson had a profound effect on him.

“Howard really inspired me” he explains “he made me realize that I could become more accomplished as a singer and that it was ok to just sing in a band without trying to break new territory. We wanted to take things forward with a rock and roll style and with this new album I think we’ve hit the nail on the head, I’m very proud of it. We settled in to who we really are.”

Shaddix reveals that the album name ‘Metamorphosis’ reflects that change.
“That’s how we wanted to put it across” he explains “everything is in there, getting a new drummer, the style, the sound and even the band image all contributed to that feeling of change.”

Record labels usually don’t like big changes to a band’s sound, especially if the previous one resulted in millions of album sales. Shaddix agrees.
“Yeah, I know that can happen” he sympathizes “but we’ve been really fortunate throughout our career where the record label hasn’t really dug too deep into what their vision was for our music, so we just got on with it. We didn’t have anyone telling us to redo this, edit that, it was down to us, which is really awesome. I know other bands who have the label really defile their art.”

The vocalist never really felt the temptation to put one or two songs on the album that explored the band’s past.

“No not really” he continues “we did try some different stuff but it just felt forced and didn’t do anything for us. The trouble is that if you try and be a try hard retard and do that kind of stuff you end up parodying yourself and that ain’t attractive. You could go full circle, but to be honest I’m really not into hip-hop music right now. In the nineties yeah I was really inspired by it the grooves really did it for me but now I listen to it and I think…..uhhh.”
Shaddix is well aware that a band can alienate fans if it takes a sudden change in direction.

“Sometimes you just have to change like we did,” he recalls “ even before the nu metal thing we were an experimental funked up punk band with an experimental edge, so moving on wasn’t new to us. Every time we move on, it seems like a natural progression. We could have stood still and continued with our earlier material, but we would never have sold the millions of records that we sold by standing still; moving into Nu metal let us do that.” A calculated effort perhaps to capitalize on what’s popular at the time?

“No not at all” he shouts “we’re really not that calculated, we just want to write songs that are a true reflection of us as artists and musicians right now. Sure we’ve lost fans, no doubt, but we’ve also picked up fans where we’re appealing to younger audiences because we’re touring with some younger bands and where our music fits. It might be kids seeing us live or hearing ‘Hollywood Whore’ or ‘Scars’ and so I see a great future there for us.”

That great future seems dependent on a concerted push by the band to once again gain popularity in the UK. Two tours so far there in 2009 bears this out.

“The first tour we did in early 2009 was awesome, and we sold it out” Shaddix barks excitedly “and we thought, hey! People like us again. We then rocked the shit out of the Download Festival and it became evident that the UK wanted us back, so here we are again. We never really gave up on Britain we just kept on doing our thing and now there’s a bit of an upswing in live bands and live music we’re back.”

The vocalist thinks that the Internet has helped.

“Hollywood Whore was released as a video on the internet before it was released as a single” he recalls “and there was a real buzz about it, kids were talking about the video, sharing it online it was real grass roots stuff.”
No doubt this “grass roots” approach was aided by the nature of the song and video.

“The song got banned from loads of radio stations” he reveals, “The video got banned because it featured a Paris Hilton look-alike doing naughty things, TV stations wouldn’t play it because of its lyrical content word spread that this song was banned and had a racy video and hey! Everyone wanted to hear and see it. In the end it got to our fans one way or another although perhaps airplay and TV would have given it more.”
Record sales are on the decline and Shaddix appreciates that sales are never going to get back up to where they were in the past.

“I never really joined a band to rack up lots of sales” he admits “playing live is what it’s about to be, taking it to the people. I mean you can’t download that concert experience; it’s almost tribal when people come together, I fucking love touring, it’s what gets me out of bed in the morning, apart from my two boys (ten and seven) and even then if we’re on tour I don’t see them for ten days at a time. Those kids changed my life no doubt about it and we’re going for another.

Jacoby Shaddix sounds like a stage name and I wonder if Shaddixs’ name is really John Smith.

“Hell no” he barks in disagreement “I’ve got my mum and dad to thank for giving me a cool name, they came up with it all by themselves and the Shaddix bit was a bonus. People still don’t believe that it’s my proper name.”

The evolution of the band took a turn for the worse-although Shaddix now recognizes it as being an important step in the right direction for Papa Roach. The vocalist takes up the story regarding the drummer Dave Buckner.

“To be honest,” he explains, “if Dave wants to make a statement about why he left the band then you’d better ask him. I mean I lived and breathed the air with him for fifteen years; we formed the band for Christ’s sake. What I’d say about it all was that the road is a hard place to heal, it’s tough on the road and it isn’t the place to try and put your life back together. He had to pull out of it and put himself back together. He’s now got a band with one of the guitarists from P.O.D called Dividing Daylight, we’re cool now after he was given a bit of space but it’s like any relationship that breaks down.”

Lawsuits followed from Buckner claiming that he was owed unpaid royalties by the band.

“Hell we paid up” Shaddix continues “we just wanted it sorted out and out of the way, it was a really difficult period for us all at the time, it was awkward having the conversation with Dave that we had to go our separate ways but he understood. As for the lawsuit thing we settled out of court to make a clean break and get on with our lives.”

Replacement drummer Tony Palermo initially filled in while Buckner took time off but has since become a fully paid up member of the group.

“He’s awesome” Shaddix exclaims, “he’s a father and he’s a great drummer. He can play fast slow progressive, he’s really versatile and has added a new dimension to the band. That’s part of the reason that this new record feels different and feels right, it wasn’t four musicians going into a room with their individual parts and working around each other, it was four guys together on everything. It was strange to start with as Tony had a little bit of a different swing and groove but now he fits like a hand in a glove. We play hard rock so his style adds depth and it just works.”
Shaddix dismisses comparison to other bands that Papa Roach has toured with in the modern era.

“We don’t even think about that at all” he snaps “It feels right what we’re doing and it feels good on tour so we’re going to keep on doing what we feel comfortable with, yeah we might sound similar to other bands sometimes but that’s bound to happen when this music is around you.”
There is no doubt that Shaddix has improved as a vocalist over his career especially over the last three albums. The vocalist agrees.

“I’d put that down to the fact that the writing has improved” he says “and we have progressively written more and more rock orientated songs. My voice is comfortable with that style of music and also belting the songs out night after night on tour helps you improve your craft. The rehearsals, the headlining gigs, singing every night have all helped get me where I am, and in particular the making of the last album The Paramour sessions all helped me improve vocally. Howard Benson really pushed me to my limit and there were times when I could have kicked his ass and there were times when I had to tell him to shut the fuck up, but he pushed me and I could see it really was for the good”

Jay Baumgardner replaced Benson for ‘Metamorphosis’ and Shaddix felt more comfortable with his own voice, knowing what he could achieve.
“It felt right for a change” he remembers “we did Paramour in the mansion and it was cool, but after a while you just feel cooped up and you’re just another member of the house and we just needed a change of environment. We used Jay on our first record and for the new one we wanted different tones; Jay gets great tones for drums, guitar, bass, vocals, the lot really.”

Does Benson over-process the sound then?

“Well in a way yeah” the vocalist continues “there’s a place for loads of keyboards and layered harmony vocals, but sometimes you just want to cut through it all and do something grittier. Jay gives us a more organic sound on this record and I’m really proud of it. Some of the songs have a classic rock groove to them, like I Almost Told You That I Loved You it’s way rootsier than what we’ve done before. There’s something sexual about that kind of song and lets face it rock and roll is all about sexual expression.”

Papa Roach seem to have done all right in their career and selling millions of albums has surely boosted the bank account over the years? Or has it?
“We’re comfortable” Shaddix admits “But in our early career we just grew up broke and then when we got our first sniff of money we blew it big time. We’d never had any and didn’t know what to do with it other than blow it. Our accountants advised us to sort ourselves out, so I mean I had to get a house didn’t i……which leaves you broke again….you can’t win! I’m a bit more settled now, we do alright and I have to make sure the family is ok but we ain’t multi millionaires or anything like that.”

A questionable statement if you had seen Shaddix’s house on MTV’s ‘Cribs’.

“I sold that house for a lot of money” he continues “but we’ve matured both as artists and as people. There’s a balance between the rock and roll lifestyle and doing the right thing and if the wheels start to come off then it’s time to slow the train down.

At the end of the Nickelback tour in the States we raged and we were all fried and crispy. We partied hard and at the end of the tour ended up in Vegas for a week it was madness. After that we had to re-group and get our shit together.”

Somehow Nickelback don’t really strike me as party animals, Shaddix disagrees.

“Man that boy Chad can party” he reveals, “that mother-fucker he rages I don’t know how he does that every night.”

Apparently though Hinder are on a different level when it comes to partying.

“Oh my fucking God” he remembers in disbelief “ they’re unbelievable, I’ve never seen anything like it they’re almost retarded.”

It’s nice to know that hard partying is still present in the modern era of rock.

‘Metamorphosis’ is available now from all good retailers.
 

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