BUCKCHERRY's JOSH TODD On Today's Sunset Strip: 'There's No Scene There Now'

BUCKCHERRY vocalist Josh Todd recently spoke with Jesse Bruce of the Grand Rapids, Michigan radio station 93.1 WMPA. The three-part conversation can be streamed below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):

On new album "Warpaint":

Josh: "It's been a labor of love. We started the songwriting process back toward the end of 2017. To have it finally hit the street is really amazing for us. It's probably one of our best. We worked really hard on it."

On the band's fanbase:

Josh: "Our demographic is crazy — it's anywhere from 15 to, like, 60. We have a lot of people that are with us from the beginning. This marks twenty years in the game for us. We've been doing it a long time, and it's become a family affair. We had young people into us when we started; then they got older and had children; and then their children became teenagers, so they bring them to shows. It's pretty crazy that we've been doing it this long. It's hard to have longevity in the rock game, and I'm really grateful."

On the band's mentality when they open for other artists:

Josh: "I'm a very competitive guy. I think every band wants to be the best of the day. That's part of the game. We want to be great. We want everybody to focus on us, of course. I want to give people their money's worth. That's what I think about. I don't think about anybody else but the audience and that they've planned their whole month around this event, and they've scheduled babysitters or whatever, and they got off work and they did everything they could to come down and make the show, and they drove for miles and miles and miles. All that really means a lot to us, so I just want to put on a show that they can remember, and that it's something they're going to come back and do it again."

On his first concert:

Josh: "I went to the RAMONES at Fender's Ballroom in Long Beach, California. It was insane. I had never been in a slam-pit. I was in the middle of the crowd. I just wanted to get as close as I could, and I had no idea that it was going to become, basically, a swarm of people running into each other. That was really crazy and exciting, and the band was just so powerful from the get-go, and they looked so cool. I was just blown away by the performance and everything that was going on around me... It was something that I wanted to be a part of. I wanted to be the band that was doing that."

On moving from Orange County, California to Hollywood as a teenager:

Josh: "I still had one year left of the [Sunset] Strip being crazy. I'm so glad I got to experience that. It was nuts. I had a band called SLAMHOUND at the time. I was actually in that band for five years... They had a local mag there called Rock City News, and our goal was to be on the cover. We were on the cover of that magazine six months after me coming to Hollywood. That was, like, our big accomplishment. Then we got a small independent record deal and it all kind of fizzled out, because the band was pretty reckless and crazy. Those times, I'll never forget. You would basically go on the Strip, and it was like a quarter-mile of just nothing but rock fans and bands promoting. There were so many fliers for shows that you couldn't even see the sidewalk — you'd just be walking on fliers all over the place. It was crazy, and every club was packed — The Roxy, The Whisky, Gazzarri's at the time. There's no scene there now."

On the current "underground" nature of rock n' roll:

Josh: "It's kind of been that way since we started. We were always not mainstream when we started because we were a traditional rock band. When we first came out, it was all, like, rap-rock bands and what I call nerd-rock or shoegazing bands — all those WEEZER-type bands wearing Buddy Holly glasses. We came out, and we were nothing like any of that, and we had success. Literally, every decade has been the same thing for us. It's weird — I would have never thought that would be the case — but I'm just grateful that we've maintained this great fan base over the years, and people really appreciate what we're doing."

On his initial goals for BUCKCHERRY:

Josh: "I wanted to be in a band and make a catalog of music and really make my mark. That's what I've done, and that's what I've dreamed about. I wanted to make sure that it was an honest representation of what was going [on] inside of me, and that has worked for me and sometimes against me, because it's hard to keep your integrity and do the dance, [which is] what I like to call it, as far as pleasing all the other people that get into business with you. You really have to be passionate about what you do and know who you are, because people will try to mold you into something you're not if you're not careful."

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