{"id":24294,"date":"2015-02-07T00:00:38","date_gmt":"2015-02-07T00:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=24294"},"modified":"2015-02-23T21:30:31","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T21:30:31","slug":"feature-papa-roach-02-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-papa-roach-02-15\/","title":{"rendered":"PAPA ROACH – Facing Everything (February 2015) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

PAPA ROACH – Facing Everything<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nFebruary 2015<\/span><\/p>\n

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Papa Roach (l-r): Tobin Esperance, Jacoby Shaddix, Tony Palermo and Jerry
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Entering a recording studio to cut a prospective full-length, Vacaville, California-based rock outfit Papa Roach usually lays down a handful of demos beforehand, vocalist Jacoby Shaddix having penned several sets of lyrics and choruses in addition. This wasn\u2019t the case with January 2015 full-length F.E.A.R.<\/em> \u2013 the band\u2019s seventh overall, and second to be issued through Eleven Seven Music.<\/p>\n

\u201cWriting songs for this new record was very challenging for me, in the beginning,\u201d Jacoby admits. \u201cI went in this time with nothing… Well, not nothing. I had one chorus written for a song called \u2018Broken As Me\u2019, so that was kind of like \u2018Well, alright. If you\u2019ve got one chorus, then let\u2019s start there and write a song, and just finish it from beginning to end.\u2019 Once we got through that first track, the floodgate just opened. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t really into the idea of going to Vegas and making a record there, period. I wasn\u2019t into the idea of not getting together for a month before, and just jamming as a band, and coming up with a bunch of ideas, but everybody else in the band was like \u2018Dude, we\u2019ll just show up. We\u2019ll just throw it at a wall, get after it, and see what happens.\u2019 In hindsight, it was exactly… It was awesome. I was very fearful of it to be honest, like \u2018Alright, I\u2019ll just show up, but what if I\u2019ve got writer\u2019s block?\u2019 It was… I don\u2019t know, man. The experience was exactly the opposite of what I made up in my head of how it was gonna be. We killed it, dude. The band was on fire from the beginning of the sessions all the way until the end. It was probably some of the most inspired, convicted sessions that we\u2019ve been a part of and that I\u2019ve been a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Papa Roach frontman was fearful of convening in Las Vegas for recording sessions, to be more precise. \u201cYou can just lose yourself in it,\u201d he explains. \u201cAll the temptations and all this, it\u2019s a dark city. You can fall into all those old… Me, I don\u2019t drink no more, and that\u2019s been kind of a battle for me over the last ten years. I\u2019ll be on the road and stuff, and then you come to Vegas, and that\u2019s what everybody does. It\u2019s gonna be shitty, and I\u2019ll fucking do shit that I\u2019ll regret (laughs). I just didn\u2019t really care for being in that city at this point in time, but the producer wasn\u2019t willing to come to Sacramento. I really wanted to work with these guys, so I went there against my better judgement, but through the whole process ultimately became a stronger person, and became more confident as a songwriter. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe relationships within the band became stronger, because we really relied on each other. It was about the music. Honestly, in the city where you could lose focus the quickest, we were the most focused that we\u2019ve ever been making a record, and I\u2019d love to do it again. When we first came up with the idea though, I was like \u2018Fuck that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u2018guys\u2019 in question Jacoby really wished to work with happen to be Kevin and Kane Churko, a father and son production team. \u201cWe heard about the team\u201d he reveals. \u201cThere was a record called Blood<\/em> (August 2012) by a band named In This Moment that came out a few years ago, and I just loved the sonic textures in the record. I loved the drums \u2013 it was just very in-your-face. They\u2019re pretty progressive with some of their production techniques, and I just thought that it would be cool to hear Papa Roach through their filter in essence. After we had a few meetings with them, we really liked them, man. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was just an air of confidence about them and their process that was intriguing to me, because it was very different. The way that their process in making records is totally the opposite of how we\u2019ve made records before. We usually go in, jam songs out, and come up with ideas, bash them out in a room, record the drums, then record the guitars, then record the bass, and then record the vocals. It was come into the studio, programme out some crazy beats, come up with some wild ass ideas, find something that\u2019s inspiring, write a chorus, if the chorus is great then move on, and then build the song some more. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe drums were actually the last thing that was recorded, and so that was an interesting process for us. Our drummer (Tony Palermo) had a great time in the studio too though, because we were programming stuff in the beginning for the songs. It was a very different approach, but I think we were just kind of ready to shake things up. We\u2019ve been making records and playing together as a band for years, and years, and years, so I think it\u2019s healthy to do things like that at times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having heard In This Moment\u2019s 2012 opus, Papa Roach invited frontwoman Maria Brink to lend guest vocals to the number \u2018Gravity\u2019. \u201c\u2018Gravity\u2019 is one of those tracks,\u201d the singer enthuses. \u201cIn the course of making a record, there\u2019s always a track that just stands out. That\u2019s just very different, but it\u2019s just undeniable. That song, I wanted to rap on it, but the band was like \u2018Ahh… I\u2019m not sure about that.\u2019 I was like \u2018Well, let me just go and lay something down.\u2019 They were like \u2018If you don\u2019t put something down that just moves us in a major way, we\u2019re gonna go back to the drawing board on it.\u2019 I went away and wrote this very revealing story of myself and my relationship with my wife, and my failures as a husband. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt that having a female voice as a counterpart on the track, and having Maria come in and just lace the track with her fire… She just came in and killed it, and really helped take the song to the next level. That\u2019s always what we\u2019re looking for, is how to create something that\u2019s inspiring for us as musicians. We feel like that\u2019s our responsibility as a band, is to kind of push the envelope for what we do as a band and take our fans on a ride. \u2018Gravity\u2019 is definitely one of those songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As a whole, F.E.A.R.<\/em> lyrically delves into Jacoby\u2019s personal struggles. \u201cThe general theme of this record is in the face of everything that arises, the core,\u201d he details. \u201cIt\u2019s about taking a step back from yourself, and so I really took a long, hard look at my life, and my actions, and my behaviours, and my failures as a man. I looked at my part in those things, and owned my shit. I said \u2018This is where I fucked up, and this is where I have failed, and this is my brokenness.\u2019 This record is about the hunt for a better version of myself. Tracks like \u2018Falling Apart\u2019 talk about that, \u2018Broken As Me\u2019, \u2018Skeletons\u2019. \u2018Skeletons\u2019 just talks about the way that sometimes when I get in that dark place, I just build up walls around myself and isolate myself, and shut out the people who love me the most. I\u2019m just learning from those mistakes in my life; I\u2019m putting them into songs and making them part of my growth, instead of my demise.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mainman\u2019s hunt for a better version of himself is \u2018a daily battle\u2019. \u201cI believe that sometimes the progression is just very slow \u2013 minute \u2013 but when you\u2019re headed in the right direction slowly for a few years, you turn around and look back,\u201d he observes. \u201cI look at where my life was three years ago, and how I saw myself, and how I just… I don\u2019t know, man. I was really into just pushing the self-destruct button. That\u2019s not my outlook any more. I value this life that I have, and I value my relationships, and I value the people in my life who love me. I just used to kind of walk on those relationships, and just not really honour them. I definitely feel like there\u2019s some growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Detroit, Michigan-based rapper Royce da 5\u20199″ \u2013 one-half of rapper duo Bad Meets Evil with Eminem \u2013 is F.E.A.R.<\/em>\u2019s second guest vocalist, appearing on swansong composition \u2018Warriors\u2019. \u201cHe\u2019s one of my favourite emcees, from Detroit,\u201d Jacoby compliments. \u201cMe and my friend, we were talking about rappers. I was like \u2018Dude, it\u2019d be so sick to get Royce on a track. I just don\u2019t know how to get a hold of him.\u2019 He was like \u2018If I figure out how to get his phone number, you\u2019ve gotta fucking call him up and see if he\u2019s down.\u2019 So long goes by, then my friend is like \u2018I\u2019ve got his number.\u2019 I\u2019m like \u2018Are you fucking kidding me?\u2019 I shot him a text. I was like \u2018Yo dude…\u2019 \u2013 totally random, out of the blue \u2013 \u2018… This is Jacoby from Papa Roach. I\u2019m a huge fan. Just wanted to see if you had any interest in collaborating on a track.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cHe just hit me back instantly. He was like \u2018Dude, I would love to. I love you guys.\u2019 He knew about us, because we used to do some tours with Eminem back in the day \u2013 he knew about our band. So yeah, that\u2019s how that collaboration came about, dude. Just a great emcee, a great person in general. We identify with each other on a lot of real life shit; we battle some of the same demons, so I think that common bond really just brought us together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inaugurating F.E.A.R.<\/em>, meanwhile, is its title track. \u201cI wanted to name a song on the record \u2018Face Everything And Rise\u2019,\u201d the lyricist divulges. \u201cI had a friend that had a tattoo on her neck \u2013 \u2018F.E.A.R.\u2019 I was like \u2018What\u2019s that mean?\u2019 She said \u2018Face everything and rise.\u2019 I was like \u2018That is epic,\u2019 and it\u2019s trippy. After I heard that, I started to see all these memes come up on social media, Instagram \u2013 \u2018Face Everything And Rise\u2019. I started to see it places, and I was like \u2018That\u2019s the message, man.\u2019 I connect with that. That\u2019s where I\u2019m at in my life, and so I wanted to write the anthem of that. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe song, it really paints a picture. I wanted to paint a picture of this brokenness in the world that I see through metaphor, and how it goes in line with myself. Kind of in the bridge, there\u2019s the lyrics \u2018Just throw me in the fire, and I\u2019ll never be the same. I\u2019ll come alive when I\u2019m burning in the flames.\u2019 It\u2019s essentially just being baptised by fire; admitting all my faults and burning them up, and in that bringing new life. That\u2019s been a great experience for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

F.E.A.R.<\/em> incorporates elements of both older and newer Papa Roach material. \u201cI think this record has some flavour of some old school Papa Roach in there with the big rocking riffs, and some of the heavy groove elements that we dabbled in early in our career,\u201d Jacoby critiques. \u201cI think it ties into a record like Infest<\/em> (April 2000) or Lovehatetragedy<\/em> (June 2002) in the brutal honesty, and just the really heartfelt message I feel. It definitely has a modern approach to the way that we\u2019re writing our music though, with some of the effects in the music, some keyboards, and some loop samples and stuff like that. I think it\u2019s kind of like the best of old and new mashed into one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debut proper Infest<\/em> celebrates its 15th anniversary in April 2015. \u201cThat\u2019s a solid fucking record, man,\u201d the frontman submits. \u201cThat record is a snapshot of who we were as young men, and I feel that there was a huge purpose in that record. That record took us on a wild ride across the world, and we sold a shit ton of records. It put a stake in the ground: \u2018P. Roach is here\u2019. I look back on that record, and I\u2019m very proud of it. We\u2019ve been actually going in, and rehearsing some songs that we haven\u2019t played in years from that record. It\u2019s just interesting to get in the headspace again of some of those songs. We were just hard, and I guess that as I\u2019ve grown as a writer, I\u2019ve just become a lot more open emotionally and I guess a bit more vulnerable. But yeah man, that first record. It\u2019s fire, dude.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Papa Roach (l-r): Tobin Esperance, Tony Palermo, Jacoby Shaddix and Jerry
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Through the years, Jacoby\u2019s vocal approach has evolved. \u201cI would say that early on when I first started out as a singer, there were no melodies,\u201d he muses. \u201cIt was just screaming and rapping, and just scatterbrain spastic-style vocals. As we were writing Infest<\/em>, I started to kind of find my voice a bit. There\u2019s a lot of melody on that first record, Infest<\/em>, even though it\u2019s mixed in with some of the rapping. It was kind of telling the direction of where we were headed, because before Infest<\/em>, we didn\u2019t sound like that either. There was an evolution before people even knew who we were, and so it\u2019s been a very natural progression for me. I really kind of just fell out of love with hip-hop for a while in my career, and wanted to prove myself as a valid rock singer. That\u2019s when over the course of the years, touring and playing shows every night really just helped me find my voice as a rock singer. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I have a pretty large range as a vocalist singer… As a vocalist, sorry. A vocalist singer? That\u2019s totally redundant… As a vocalist, and it\u2019s just come from I guess getting out there. Practice makes a little bit better (laughs). For me now, anything goes, because I believe that in my mind. I\u2019ve proved what I wanted to prove as a rock singer, and now I\u2019m not afraid to go back in and dabble in some of those old school tactics \u2013 rapping on tracks. That\u2019s what music is for me. It\u2019s a path of self-discovery; sometimes you turn over old stones, and discover some old things that you\u2019re passionate about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Papa Roach embarks on a tour of the United Kingdom during March 2015. Beginning on the 8th at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, the jaunt concludes on the 21st at The Limelight in Belfast, Northern Ireland. \u201cThe next tour that we\u2019re doing in the UK is gonna be fuckin\u2019 bangin\u2019,\u201d the singer raves. \u201cIt\u2019s selling really well, which we\u2019re very excited about. We\u2019ve got a little something special planned for one of the UK dates that\u2019s gonna blow old school Papa Roach fans away. I can\u2019t really let the cat out of the bag, but it\u2019s gonna be a great tour and we\u2019re very excited. We\u2019re playing the classics from Infest<\/em> mixed in with a bunch of stuff from all of the records in-between, and new cuts. I think right now \u2013 just live \u2013 we\u2019re more on fire than we\u2019ve ever been, and I think that that just comes from being away from the road for a little while. Plus, we just have something special going on with our fans in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n

F.E.A.R.<\/em> was released on January 26th, 2015 in United Kingdom and subsequently on the 27th in North America, all via Eleven Seven Music.<\/p>\n

Interview published in February 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PAPA ROACH – Facing Everything Anthony Morgan February 2015 Papa Roach (l-r): Tobin Esperance, Jacoby Shaddix, Tony Palermo and Jerry Horton Entering a recording studio to cut a prospective full-length, Vacaville, California-based rock outfit Papa Roach usually lays down a handful of demos beforehand, vocalist Jacoby Shaddix having penned several sets of lyrics and choruses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,1647],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-papa-roach"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24294"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36499,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24294\/revisions\/36499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}