Alternative Addiction recently caught up with Better Than Ezra lead singer Kevin Griffin to talk about the band’s upcoming Mardi Gras event called, Krewe of Rocckus, as well as the band’s plans for releasing a new album in 2011.

Griffin said that the plans for the event actually were inspired from many of the 90’s Alt-Rock bands who’ve started their own yearly traditional festivals on Cruise Ships like Barenaked Ladies and Sister Hazel.

“Tom [Drummond] and I had an idea quite a while ago about the French Quarter in New Orleans, making that become like a cruise ship,” explained Griffin.  “We realized we had our own destination in our own back yard.  So we thought- what if we hosted an event during Mardi Gras with the City of New Orleans as our back drop, and have it hosted by Better Than Ezra.  This is our town, we are connected here, we could invite people down and really show them an insider’s guide to Mardi Gras.”

It didn’t take long for Griffin and Drummond’s plans to formulate into what would become Krewe of Rocckus.  Set to take place March 3-5th 2011 in New Orleans, Griffin says he and the band are thrilled about the event, not just to play and be a part of it, but also to dispel some of the false notions regarding Mardi Gras.

“A lot of people have a preconceived opinion about Mardi Gras based on what they see on TV, and just assume it’s a big drunk-fest,” explained Griffin.  “We kind of realized there was a big misconception, and we wanted to show people the real Mardi Gras.”

To give people the full Mardi Gras experience, Griffin set up a great itinerary for the three days, that includes not only an excellent slate of music including Better Than Ezra, Pat Green, and Big Sam’s Funky Nation, but also brunch with Award Winning Chef John Besh, cooking classes, tours of the Garden District and French Quarter, and much more.

“We set up all sorts of stuff to give people a full perspective and show that is more a cultural event than just an idiots event,” said Griffin.  “We’re really excited to show people what Mardi Gras is and build this event.”

The band hopes that the response is a strong one, and the band can make this an annual celebration just like Mardi Gras.  To drum up interest in the event, the band has played a number of shows through November and December promoting the event.

“The response to the shows has been really great,” said Griffin.  “It’s been one of our better attended tours.  We’ve had sellouts in Boston, DC, New York, it’s been really great.”

Griffin said one of the reasons for the strong crowds could be due to the large amount of new material the band has been playing on the tour, much of which will be on the band’s next album, due out in 2011.

“We are writing, and we’ll have a new album out in late summer,” said Griffin.  “The writing is going really well.  I have been doing it over the past year.”

Rather than co-writing songs with other artists for the new album like he did on the band’s last release, Paper Empire, Griffin said he’s decided to write all the songs for the new album by himself.

“There were only two songs on Paper Empire that I wrote by myself, “The Loveless” and “I Just Knew,” and a lot of people not knowing, said [one of those two] were their favorite song,” explained Griffin.  “So I kind of thought, ‘Hmm, Better Than Ezra has done pretty well over time, and I wrote a lot of songs [by myself] before collaborating a lot [on this past record,] maybe there is something to that.’”

The album will also likely mark the band’s return to a major label, as Griffin hinted that the band is close to signing a deal with another label, making the upcoming release the band’s first on a major label for the band since 1998’s How Does Your Garden Grow, which was released on Elektra Records.

Listen To Alternative Addiction’s Interview with Better Than Ezra

Find out more on Krewe Of Rucckus at www.kreweofrocckus.com