BUCKCHERRY Vocalist On Group's New Members: 'This Is The Best Lineup Of Musicians We've Ever Had'

BUCKCHERRY vocalist Josh Todd recently spoke with Australia's Heavy magazine. The full conversation can be streamed below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On how the band's new lineup is gelling:

Josh: "We're all getting along really well. This is the best lineup of musicians we've had ever had, so the shows have been really great. I couldn't ask for more... I've actually known Kevin [Roentgen, guitars], and so has Stevie [D., guitars] — I met him when I was 20. He was a local musician, and we were local musicians, Stevie and I. Stevie and I were roommates back then, and that's when we met Kevin. He's a really great singer as well, so he's a well-rounded musician. To come together later on in life like this is really cool for us... Everybody's been on their A-game. It's just stepped it up. The backup vocals now are amazing live. Kevin sings, and Stevie's a really great singer as well, so for me, it gives me a lot more confidence walking on stage."

On picking a setlist:

Josh: "It's so hard. There's over 100 BUCKCHERRY songs out there, so it makes it really difficult for me, because I make the set list every night. I pretty much work off of how I feel vocally every day. All the usual suspects [have] got to be in there — 'Crazy Bitch' and 'Lit Up' and 'Sorry', those songs have to be in there. It's really rotating five or six songs every night, but it makes it fun and challenging and exciting for us, because it's a little different every day."

On touring internationally:

Josh: "It's amazing for us any time we fly for hours and hours and hours, and we're on a different continent. That's what you dream about. We feel that from the stage. You can feel it — you can feel the difference in audience. In the States, it's radio-driven markets. Americans are pretty spoiled, and when you go outside the United States, you can really feel that it's an event for people to go out to a rock show. They really celebrate it. They sing all the songs, not just singles. For a band who created all these songs from nothing in their dirty, dark rehearsal room, it's super-exciting. It's really the dream coming true."

On his lifelong passion for surfing:

Josh: "I learned [in] Newport Beach, California. I would take a bus there as a kid. There was a bus that dropped off at 32nd Street in Newport, so I would surf there as a kid. It would take me about an hour to get there on the bus, because I lived more inland. I was really dedicated. Before I got into music, I really wanted to be a professional surfer, so I went as often as I could, and then I got the music bug and that was it."

On his other hobbies:

Josh: "The animal kingdom is so interesting to me. You can put me in front of [the BBC and Discovery channel program] 'Planet Earth', those episodes, or whatever on TV, and I'll just [be] stuck and glued to the television, because it's just so fascinating how everything serves a purpose."

"Warpaint" was released on March 8 via Century Media/RED Music. The 12-song disc was produced by Mike Plotnikoff, whose last collaboration with the band was the platinum-certified album "15". The album art was created by Aaron Marsh.