RIVAL SONS Guitarist On ‘More Focused’ New Album ‘Feral Roots’: ‘I Think It’s Our Best Effort To Date’
RIVAL SONS guitarist Scott Holiday recently spoke with United Rock Nations. The full conversation can be streamed below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).
On the group’s producer, Dave Cobb:
Scott: “I don’t consider him a member of the band… He’s our longtime producer and my good friend and an invaluable resource to us making these records. Close, though — close to a bandmember.”
On whether the band thinks they’ll work with other producers in the future:
Scott: “That may happen in the future. I think at this point, we’ve been capable of changing to a degree that we wanted to, and I think things work nicely. We’ve been able to grow inside this confine, but you never know what the future holds. This would have been a bad area for us to switch, I think, given the direction that we wanted to go, and just where we are all as people and where Dave is in his career. This is a wonderful time to collaborate more than move on.”
On the group’s writing process:
Scott: “This whole record was written with me and Jay [Buchanan, vocals] getting together at the beginning of the sessions. We went to a place called Howenwald, Tennessee. It was this remote writing cabin between these two little lakes, and that’s how we began writing, just the two of us, starting with a bunch of songs that we had been working on and stuff that we came up with while we were there. From there, we went home and traded stuff back and forth… Then we got together in the studio with everybody else after we’d agreed on the group of songs that we wanted to work on. It was a lot more focused and also less collaborative with the rest of the group — it was more myself and Jay just working the whole time — but between the two of us, [it was] very focused. It really worked out much more than the previous albums… I think it’s our best effort to date.”
On the cover art of the group’s new album, “Feral Roots”:
Scott: “I’d like to leave some ambiguity to it, but I think if you look up ‘feral’ and think about roots, it’s pretty within the title, and I think the cover tells a story that seems pretty obvious. How it relates to the music, I would prefer to leave it ambiguous so people can kind of read into it and enjoy it for themselves.”
On new song “Back In The Woods”:
Scott: “This was a song I mostly wrote from my bedroom musically… I wasn’t sure if this would be a song that would be even on the record until I brought it to the guys, into the band room. It took a little longer to get what needed to get done rhythmically with the drums, but I think it became a standout track. I think Jay wrote a really wonderful hook over it. It’s a really fun song. As far as the album goes, that’s a much… for the mood of the record, I think a much lighter, kind of straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll track. I think emotionally, it’s probably one of the lightest, if not the lightest, on the record.”
After releasing four albums through Earache Records, RIVAL SONS signed with Low Country Sound, a Warner Music Group imprint run by Cobb, a Nashville-based country and Americana producer, last year.
“Feral Bones”, the group’s debut release for Low Country Sound, will be released on January 25. A video for the album’s first single, “Do Your Worst”, can be seen below.
Here’s What The Girl From GODSMACK’s Debut Album Cover Is Up To Now
Kerrang! recently checked in on what the girl from Deftones‘ Around The Fur coverand the kid from Rage Against The Machine‘s Evil Empire, and now they’re on to Godsmack‘s 1998 self-titled debut record. The cover featured Toni Tiller, who was not a model at the time, “but I was a known club kid in the downtown scene at the time, so it wasn’t uncommon for people to want to put the look to use.”
Tiller explains to Kerrang! how she got chosen for the record’s cover.
How did you become the model for this album?
I was living in NYC and deeply involved in the club kid scene and so I had an interesting look going. I met a photographer in Brooklyn and we were trying a few things out for a project if his and we snapped that image. A few years later he was working with the band and they saw that in his book and liked it, so they purchased it for use. The next ting I know, my face everywhere. It was pretty strange, but I love weird stuff like that.
Was the image in any way altered or embellished?
The image is a photograph from 1994, I just happened to look like a cartoon.
Tiller says she’s met the band a few times and they’re pretty cool. As for what she’s up to now, “I live in the woods, I’m bald, usually barefoot, and into a variety of stuff. Meditation, strange objects, cooking, esoteric studies, cacti, dollhouses, rugs, and artsy crap. In my spare time I have a reform school for rude kittens.”
Related: 19 Albums Celebrating their 20th Anniversary in 2018
Godsmack just announced a North American tour for 2019 with Volbeat. View Godsmack tour dates here.
SEBASTIAN BACH To SKID ROW: ‘You’ve Had Seven F**king Singers — Maybe YOU’RE Hard To Work With’
Ex-SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach has once again accused his former bandmates of not acknowledging their legacy.
“My band are too self-absorbed to even think about our 30th anniversary or re-releasing the old records on vinyl or putting out [SKID ROW‘s 1990 home video] ‘Oh Say Can You Scream’ on Blu-ray, like, obvious shit just doesn’t fuckin’ happen for SKID ROW fans,” he told Ultimate Classic Rock in a new interview.
Bach fronted SKID ROW until 1996, when he was fired. Instead of throwing in the towel, the remaining members took a hiatus and went on to play briefly in a band called OZONE MONDAY.
In 1999, SKID ROW reformed and, after a bit of shuffling over the years, featured a lineup consisting of original bassist Rachel Bolan and guitarists Dave “Snake” Sabo and Scotti Hill, alongside drummer Rob Hammersmith and singer Johnny Solinger.
SKID ROW fired Solinger over the phone in April 2015, a few hours before announcing ex-TNTvocalist Tony Harnell as his replacement. Eight months later, Harnell exited the band and was replaced by South African-born, British-based singer ZP Theart, who previously fronted DRAGONFORCE, TANK and I AM I.
“God bless ’em, starting your ‘new’ band in your fuckin’ late 50s — way to go,” Sebastian told Ultimate Classic Rock. “You’re starting your new band in your late 50s. Most musicians, in their late 50s, are fucking playing to the fans that put them there, giving the people what they want. I didn’t invent that phrase.
“The reason I get pissed off is because we still get the royalty checks and I get a tremendous sense of guilt when I get these checks because I know the fans want a fuckin’ deluxe edition, just like GUNS N’ ROSES,” Bach said. “I can’t even complete a group text with these guys. I don’t understand it, because we don’t even have to like each other to put out an old record. I don’t get it. It’s like banging your head against the wall.”
Bach went on to say that he was once “very, very close” with his SKID ROW bandmates and he took issue with the widespread belief that he is hard to work with. “You’ve had seven fucking singers — maybe you’re hard to work with,” the singer said. “My [solo] band’s been the same for 10 years or 15 years; same band. No problem in four Broadway shows and a cast of 70 people, ‘Gilmore Girls’… they don’t think I’m hard to work with. Netflix loves working with me. ‘Trailer Park Boys’, fucking eight seasons — they don’t think I’m hard to work with. Maybe those guys are fucking hard to work with.”
Bach added: “It’s just a shame because our fans would like it, and there’s no reason why not to.”
Bach joined SKID ROW in 1988 as the replacement for the band’s original lead singer Matt Fallon, who sang on demo versions of songs that were eventually re-recorded for SKID ROW‘s first LP.
SKID ROW‘s 1989 multi-platinum, self-titled effort featured the Top 10 hits “18 And Life” and “I Remember You” and was supported by a six-month tour with BON JOVI.
Following his departure from SKID ROW, Bach started performing in Broadway shows like “Jekyll & Hyde” and “The Rocky Horror Show”, and appeared on television shows, including “Gilmore Girls” and VH1 reality show “SuperGroup”. He also pursued a solo musical career, most recently releasing the 2014 album “Give ‘Em Hell”.
In an interview with Tigman of the Albany, New York radio station Q103, Sabo said that it was “frustrating” to be constantly asked about a reunion with Bach when it’s been “over 20 years already” since the singer was dismissed from SKID ROW.
“People get married and people get divorced,” he said. “Some people — very few — but some people end up going back with their ex-wives. I’ve got no desire to go back with my ex-wife. I’m very happy with my current relationship.
“Look, I understand it — I do,” he continued. “And from a fan perspective, I get it. For me personally, for a myriad of reasons that are private, this is where I wanna be… this is where we all wanna be right here, right now.
“I don’t do this for money; money was never the issue with us. And so, yeah, if it was for a moneygrab, whatever — someone else could do it. Not that I’m allergic to money, I’m really, really happy where I’m at. And it’s no disrespect to anybody — I wish everybody all the best. But for right now in my life, this works best for all of us.
“People are wanting what once was — I do understand it; of course I do. But it’s not going to happen. And we’ve been saying that for a pretty long time.”
Mike Shinoda Finally Reacts To Linkin Park Conspiracy Theory
Linkin Park singer/guitarist Mike Shinoda was recently interviewed by Alt 92.3, and he was asked to single out “the craziest thing you heard about yourself online.” Shinoda addressed the crazy conspiracy theory that he is part of the Illuminati (transcribed by Ultimate-Guitar).
“I heard so many things. Well, the Illuminati thing was the thing for one moment. There was one moment when somebody said that, and I was like, first I had to look it up.
“When I was like in junior high, and maybe early high-school – when we talked about Illuminati, ‘Oh yeah, secret societies that run the planet.’ And we forgot about that, but somebody brought it up again.
“Somebody was like, ‘Linkin Park is the Illuminati.’ And then I looked it up: ‘Is Illuminati the same thing it was back then?’. And the answer is, ‘Yes, it is.’
“I was like, ‘Dude, if I was Illuminati, I would be balling right now. Why would I be a musician running around doing shows?’”
What would you do if you were Illuminati?
“Um, Facebook? I would like, own Facebook or something way bigger than Linkin Park. I would be Jeff Bezos, I would own Virgin or something. Why would I be in Linkin Park? That would be a stupid thing.”
You know what I love? I don’t know if this is intentional but at your shows, there’s so many emotional moments when the crowd sings back to you and sings Chester’s parts. Was this a surprise for you or did you kind of expect it?
“I expected that. I mean, I started the process of my solo record – ‘Post Traumatic’ came out earlier this year, and in the process of making that record and deciding to start, I had to make a lot of decisions. I had to really think about the next steps and steps after those.
“So in other words ‘So, okay, I put out a bunch of songs. Should I put out an album? If I put out an album, people are going to ask me what the songs mean. If I do that, I probably should go on tour. I will see fans who will cry, I will see fans who will tell me really, you know, their personal stories and probably bring up stuff that makes me uncomfortable, but also tell me stories about their own lives that are hard to listen to. Can I listen to lots of those every single night?’
“I did a few signings, I did a few little things, and I realized, ‘I’m okay with this.’ I was out there to thank the fans for their support, to thank them for the way they were celebrating Chester.
“It’s the way that I would want them to, and also go out there and kind of guide that, let people know, ‘I want to see people remembering how great his voice was, the wonderful things he did.’”
Watch From Ashes To New Pay Homage to Linkin Park’s Late Chester Bennington with Tribute on Tour
From Ashes To New have been paying homage to Linkin Park’s late frontman Chester Bennington throughout 2018 while touring in support of their latest record, The Future, and the tribute is beyond breathtaking. The band mashing up Linkin Park’s “Heavy” and “Papercut” making for a perfect rendition of two Linkin Park songs that fans adore and that really highlights both Danny Case and Matt Brandyberry vocals live as they cover the songs perfectly. We got the chance to check out the bands set in Atlantic City, NJ while they were supporting Breaking Benjamin on their final show of 2018 and we loved every second of the tearjerking tribute.
The band even released a professionally recorded tribute to Linkin Park’s late frontman Chester Bennington, like they performed live on the road throughout 2018, and that can be seen HERE.
