Bands had to just get smarter than the business. Yeah, the money isn't falling from the sky, but I've got a career. I've got a chance to do this for the rest of my life. That's what I hold onto.

For us, it's about being on tour and our online presence and communicating with our fans. Really, just setting ourselves up to have a career instead of a flash in the pan. I want to be a f****** roaring fire.

-You mentioned earlier the Rock Allegiance Tour. Are you excited for that?
It's going to be a great way for us to go out in the United States. We've got really good backing on the tour. We're sharing the stage with a lot of bands that are still out there.

Let's break it down for this tour. Papa Roach, Puddle of Mudd, Buckcherry, POD. Of all those bands, not one of them is on a major label.

The independent labels are starting to make waves out there for rock bands.

I think that's very important for rock, for kids to know that there's still opportunities for rock bands. It's not just playing in your garage, you can go out and f****** do this.

-Your music has been described in a lot of ways, and has constantly evolved. How would you describe it at the moment?
It's a hard rock band with a lot of sides to us. A progressive hard rock band, I guess, because we're always evolving. We have elements of hip-hop music in our sound, elements of metal, punk-rock, pop-rock.

It's very broad and diverse, but melody is the key. Melody and a good beat, a good riff. That's the P-Roach one-two punch.

-Moving to your new album, what stage are you at with it?
There's one song finished, it's called 'You're Not That Beautiful'. It's a ripper, it's a f****** barn-burner. It's got this hardcore breakdown but with a rap over it.

It's a rock song, with hard-edged, Foo Fighter-ish chords to it. It's P-Roach, it sounds like us. It's an exciting song.

I really think that it was a good way to kick-start us in our new studio back home. This will be the first time we've written and recorded an album in Sacramento since before Infest.

It's going to be cool to get back in our hometown scene. There's a new club called the Ace of Spades that all the national acts are touring.

We're going to be in the studio writing new music, but we're also going to be watching live bands regularly. I think that will have an influence on what's going on with our band.

As far as who we're going to work with, it's very up in the air. We're having a bit of a break before we go in and tackle that. This one has got to be a f****** epic record.

-With your writing, is it more of a cycle of touring, break, then writing, rather than on the road?
My iPhone is full of melodies and ideas. If I get a melody, I'll just record it right there. A lot of it comes to me spur of the moment, so I try to write it in that moment.

Some of it comes from when we're jamming in a room together. Our bass player Tobin is always writing. The stuff he writes is so diverse. There's songs from two years ago that I'm like...this song is f****** amazing, but P-Roach fans aren't ready for it.

Then I'll go back and listen to it and like...see, now's the time for a song like this. There's material that's already written that I'm excited about because the fans are ready for this sound.

Instead of going to some studio in New York or Los Angeles or whatever and paying s***-tonnes of money every day, it's our studio. We can take a little more time. We can experiment a bit more.

Another goal for me personally for this record is the fact that being a father really has affected me. It's re-ignited my frustration and anger with this crazy-ass world that I've brought my kids into. I just feel a responsibility to tell them what I know.

The beauty, but also the horror of this world. I want to push more towards a sonically diverse sounding record. It won’t lack the P-Roach bite, just more adventurous.

-You just mentioned being a father. Is that making it harder being on the road?
Yeah. I mean, Skype is great. I'll be on there for 20, 25 minutes and it starts to feel like more of a connection.

I'm just watching them do my thing while I'm eating my dinner. That's cool, plus…I get to see the wife's tits occasionally!

-What kind of message would you give to your fans reading this?
Be prepared. You have been warned! I feel like there's something bubbling inside this band that is kick-ass.

The fans have inspired us to stick with it, so thanks to them to.

In the great wise words of Jack Black..."the road is f****** hard, the road is f****** tough. The road is a mother-f****** b-i-atch my friends, but it's the only road I know".

Female First - Alistair McGeorge

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