It’s Buckcherry’s 20th Anniversary this year and we’ve already celebrated that with a new album ‘Warpaint’ – a record that clearly demonstrates that Josh Todd and co. are showing no signs of slowing down. A few months back we got Stevie D’s take on the record and now that the Australian Tour has been officially announced (Stevie gave us he exclusive news last time out) we thought it was about time to talk to Josh about all things Buckcherry and why he never looks back. We talk about everything from composing in the shower to those first steps on the road to Rock stardom.
Mark: How’s things Josh?
Josh: Everything’s good Mark, we’re in the States right now, we’re on tour, we’ve been on tour since Europe in January
Mark: Yes, we reviewed one of those US dates a couple of weeks ago, so we’ve been keeping up, and the great news of course for Australian fans is that you’re coming back to see us in October
Josh: I know, it’s great, we’re excited!
Mark: It will, Stevie actually let that slip when I spoke to him about the album a couple of months ago, he said that you were talking to a promoter. It’s a great bill too with Hardcore Superstar another great double bill. Have you played with those guys before?
Josh: We have in Europe, we got along with them really well and they put on a great live show, it’s a good package.
Mark: It is, and it’s always great to see you guys. I caught you last time and it had to be the gig of the year and over the years I’ve seen you play all over, in the US, Europe and your first ever date in Australia back in 2000 when you played Metros in Sydney just after the release of that first record.
Josh: Oh man, I can’t remember! There have been so many shows (laughs)
Mark: (laughs) And aside from the wonderful new album ‘Warpaint’ this year also mars your 20th Anniversary.
Josh: Yeah 20 years in the game, our first record was in 1999, and eight records, two EPs later I’m very pleased, you know I don’t look back too often, but I guess now’s a good time to look at the landscape of what I’ve covered, and I’m very proud of the work, honestly.
Mark: I must admit I was a little apprehensive when Keith left, but this new album just sounds like everything you want from Buckcherry record, the sound is there, the hunger, but I also love the way that you’ve brought in other sounds and influences as we’ve grown with you like the Rhythm and Blues of a song like ‘Tight Pants’ on the last album, and while there’s nothing quite like that on the new album you keep the twists coming and hit us with an epic track like ‘Radio Song’ which I think just is wonderful, and something again a little different for the band. Is that a song that’s going down well live?
Josh: Oh we play it live every night, you know, and I agree we’ve evolved a lot since out last record and that’s the whole point you know. ‘Radio Song’ is one that came to me in the shower, a lot of ideas come to me in the shower, and I came up with the melody, and I always keep my phone close when I’m in the shower for that reason. So I recorded the melody and I was like super inspired so I ran downstairs and really just wrote the whole thing very quickly. I really wanted it to be Buckcherry’s ‘Purple Rain’ you know, that’s what I had in mind. Cut to, I went to Stevie’s house the following day and I had him put up a click track, and I found a tempo that I liked and I just sang it acapella, and I said I want the music to be like ‘Purple Rain’ except in Buckcherry’s vein and he came back with some great music, the headed a bridge to it and I finished up the lyrics and melodies, and it really wrote itself very quickly. And it’s such a huge part of the set now, it’s such a moment, and live it goes off like a single, like it’s been on the radio for years and that’s a really good sign. I’m really happy with that song. But it’s kinda interesting that all the things that happened before ‘Warpaint’ were kinda reminiscent of what happened before the ‘15’ writing cycle, you know, we had line-up changes, we hadn’t put a record out in three years, so it was really reminiscent of that whole thing. And you know whenever this band goes through a lot of change it’s always for the better and we always rise to the next level. That’s how I feel. And I truly believe that ‘Warpaint’ is one of the best Buckcherry records that we’ve written and pound for pound, song for song, it’s such a great listen.
Mark: I know a lot of artists of course will say that about their latest album, but I must admit I completely agree. I mean I loved the debut, ‘15’ as stunning and ‘Warpaint’ is another great burst of creative energy. I think your voice has also got more melodic over the years too and we can hear that on the new record.
Josh: Yeah I’ve developed into a singer you know (laughs.) On that first record I was so underdeveloped I had not even had a vocal lesson! I remember I tried to get a vocal lesson when I was a kid, it was a female teacher and she wanted me to go home and learn ‘Every Breath You Take’ (The Police song) which I wish looking back I would have learned it, because I would have learned something from that, I mean it’s a great song, but I was really stubborn and headstrong and so I brought her back the ‘Back in Black’ record and I said “I want to sing like this” and she just said “Oh, we don’t teach that here” (laughs) and I just said “OK”. So I just self-taught myself all the way through the whole first record cycle and I just knew I had to grow and really learn more stuff but finally I got a vocal coach and wish I had done it a lot sooner.
Mark: Twenty years ago did you think you’d be sat here still going so strong, eight albums in and breaking new ground with every release?
Josh: You know I’m really relentless in my pursuits. I work really hard you know. I was searching for that thing, you know, that one thing that was going to be my passion. Before I got into music I wanted to be a professional surfer so I surfed every day as a kid religiously, I grew up I Southern California and it wasn’t until a fellow surfer friend of mine, he was a drummer as well, he said “Hey I want you to come down, we’re looking for a singer, we’ve got this little band.” That was in my High School, I went down to the garage and we banged it out, I don’t even know why he picked me because I wasn’t even a singer really, he just knew that I was into music. I really had a knack for writing though, I really did a lot of creative writing and I had a lot to say in that regard. And I remember at that first rehearsal I was conducting the rehearsal, I was like “Lets write an original song” I wasn’t really interested in singing cover songs I just wanted to create something original. I had a huge record collection, and that was it I got the bug and I never looked back! So yeah, I visualised a lot what I wanted it to be and I knew I wanted to be in one band and make a catalogue of music and really make my mark and so far I’ve done that.
Mark: And it’s been great to listen to it over the years too.
Josh: Thank you.
Mark: The one thing that surprised me about ‘Warpaint’ I guess was the cover song ‘Head Like a Hole’ you mentioned Prince earlier and that you wanted to get that vibe on ‘Radio Song’ and ‘Head Like a Hole’ is another song by an iconic artist as well, the sort of song that you really have to do justice to, and I love your version.
Josh: It all started really organically, we were all set up to start to record ‘Warpaint’ and do the tracking and our producer was in the control room and the cover conversation comes up on every record so I was kinda proactive, I really was a huge fan of the ‘Pretty Hate Machine’ record and I just wanted to have some fun and jam out a song to get warmed up and I said “Hey I was thinking about ‘Head Like a Hole’” When I’m approaching a cover I think it’s kinda boring when a Rock band do a Rock song, you know I like doing stuff off the beaten path and we’ve done that in the past with songs like ‘Say Fuck It’ and so I said “Let’s try this song, it’s in my wheelhouse vocally” I love the lyrics and I love Trent Reznor, I think he’s cool, he did his own thing and stuck to his guns, and I admire that, so we ripped out the song. And the challenge is always taking a song somebody else has written and trying to make it sound like you wrote it, you know. And so Mike was recording us and we didn’t know it and he threw up a rough mix of it and when we heard it we were just blown away. We played it for our manager and the record label and they loved it, and it kept hanging around we thought – “this has to be on the record, it sounds like we wrote it” and there it is.
Mark: Are you playing a lot of the new album for us when you come over?
Josh: Yeah, we’ve been playing a lot; ‘Head Like a Hole’ we open with, we’ve been playing “Bent”; “Radio Song”; “Right Now” and we’re rotating “The Alarm” and “Back Down.”
Mark: I’d love to hear “Back Down” I must admit, if I can put in a request!
Josh: Yeah, we’ll play it! (laughs)
Mark: One question that everyone has been asking us to ask you is will there be another (Josh Todd and the) ‘Conflict’ album?
Josh: I hope so, we’ll see after this tour, it’s going to be a long tour, but we’ll see where it all shakes out. I love The Conflict so it would be a lot of fun doing that (laughs) that’s kinda my roots, you know, my foundation, much heavier music so yes, possibly.
Mark: I loved it and when we talked before about Rock not being dangerous anymore I think you’re heading in the right direction with that!
Josh: For sure, yeah!
Mark: And to end on a really easy note, one question I never got to ask you over the years, what’s the meaning of life?
Josh: What’s the meaning of life (laughs) I think living I gratitude really. When you’re in gratitude everything’s amazing. That’s the challenge right there because if you get hung up on the past it makes it very hard to just cope, so I try to come from gratitude every day and when I do that everything’s amazing.
Mark: That’s amazing. We’re going to pack out that first date of the tour for you at the Rosemount Hotel in Perth, and I’m hoping to flick over to Max Watts in Melbourne on the 11th October as well to try and catch you guys over there.
Josh: I always recommend coming to multiple shows Mark! (laughs) That’s where it’s at! Cool.
Mark: I did it a few tours back and I’d recommend it to anyone! Thank you so much for your time Josh and I’ll catch you when you’re over.
Josh: Take care. Bye.
Buckcherry / Hardcore Superstar / Bad Moon Born October 2019 Tour Dates
Tuesday October 08 PERTH, Rosemount Hotel
Wednesday October 09 ADELAIDE, The Gov
Friday October 11 MELBOURNE, Max Watts
Saturday October 12 BRISBANE, Zoo
Sunday October 13 SYDNEY, Metro
TICKETS
http://silverbacktouring.com.au/buckcherry-2019/
