Interview: Papa Roach

18 July 2011

Jacoby Shaddix

A few hours before their only live show in the North this year, we chatted to Papa Roach front-man Jacoby Shaddix. The singer spoke about touring, moving to an independent label, their next album and why Skype helps with life on the road.

-How was last night's London show?
I had a f****** great time. It's a great way for us to go out. Intimate, sweaty. The last couple of times we were at the arena, and Brixton, so the energy in that room got me off. Sheffield had better f****** bring it tonight!

-Were you excited to get back in the UK?
Oh yeah, shows here are always great. That's something we always look forward to. We've been here so many times it's almost like we're home, in a way.

-What was the reason behind doing these two intimate dates, rather than a full-blown tour?
I think it's just to keep that buzz on the street, you know? These gigs are important. We could've gone back and done Brixton again, but it's that intimate thing where it's like...you should've got your ticket first! That's the true, hardcore dedicated fans. This is the gig we always do in Sheffield, this is proper for us tonight.

-For the people who have missed out on these dates, do you have any plans to come back next year for a proper tour?
Yeah. We're going back to the States to do one more tour, the Rock Allegiance Tour which should be fun. Then we'll take a break for a while and make a new record. When that record's done, then we'll come back over here and do proper gigs.

-Do you feel that you need to keep the set-lists fresh for yourselves as a band?
Oh yeah. We haven't played 'Broken Home' in six months, and that's a P-Roach classic. For us, we just got tired of playing it. I think if we get tired of playing it, then the energy and the passion isn't there.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes you've just got to step away from a song for a little while. Then, you bring it back into the set and it's like...f***! This song f****** rocks!

-Time For Annihilation was a mix between a live album and studio tracks. What was the reason behind doing it like that?
We'd just moved on from a major label. We'd moved onto an independent record company called Eleven Seven. I think it was a great time in our career to put out a live album, because we were yet to do it.

We'd been wanting to do it, but the previous company never wanted to release a live album. We had a tough time even releasing our DVD Live And Murderous In Chicago.

With this new company, we told them our idea for the live album, and they were like...that's great. It's a cool way to get a bit of a retrospective, songs from our career. Not necessarily a Greatest Hits or anything, this is P-Roach live. This is where we shine the most.

We were just going to put two brand new songs on it, and then we were like...f*** it! Why don't we just do an EP, five songs? That goes back to how we used to release our music. We went to write these songs, and we wanted to write five songs that really fit the energy of the live environment.

On this tour, we've been playing all five songs every night and they just fit in so well with where we're at as a band. I really think it shows what direction we're headed in.

-You mentioned the moved to an independent label. Has that affected how you work yet, or will it kick in with the new album?
Most definitely. It's affected so many aspects of our career, in a positive way, I think. There's a synergy between the band and the record company.

We come up with a plan, like the idea for the record. The manager was like...that sounds like a great idea. We wanted to work with our own producers. We threw out a few names, they went out to see if they were interested.

On that same call, we wanted to work with Ground Control doing our website, we want certain people for the fan club and the artwork. All these decisions got made on one phone call.

There's not a lot of red tape involved with working with an independent record company. There's no middle man. I think that really makes it a better environment for a rock band.

-Was the need to cut out the middle man the main motive behind the move, or were there other issues?
The synergy wasn't there, and their focus on rock music wasn't there. Queens of the Stone Age left, Marylin Manson left. Nine Inch Nails, Weezer, Papa Roach, Puddle of Mudd. There's not one rock band on the roster.

So, it was obvious that they weren't really backing rock music. They were more into pop and hip-hop, and rightfully so. That s*** sells. Rock is a little bit different of a beast, but for us it's about commitment.

We're people that want to commit to a career. That's one of the things with us in an independent record company situation. It's more career orientated, rather than just...a one-hit-wonder scenario.

At the major labels they get a slew of bands, throw them at a wall, one of them sticks, and the rest fall to the ground. We've been very fortunate to make it through.

They kept throwing us at the wall, and we kept sticking, but we didn't want to be that one time deal. We had to get out.

-You mentioned how genres like pop and hip-hop selling well. With the way the industry is going with a decline in album sales, are Papa Roach managing to get by and not be as affected by it?
We came out in 2000. Even then, they weren't as great as they had been. By 2002, 2003, they were just f****** killing! Then downloading had an impact on the way people were getting music.

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