DROWNING POOL's First New Song With Singer RYAN MCCOMBS In 13 Years Is 'Mixed', 'Mastered' And 'Ready To Go'

In a new interview with the "Thunder Underground" podcast, founding DROWNING POOL guitarist C.J. Pierce discussed the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for the new music that he and his longtime bandmates — drummer Mike Luce and bassist Stevie Benton — have been working on with singer Ryan McCombs. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah. I got the new mix [of the first song] in two nights ago…. The plan was, yes, to try to get it out by summer and June, but us being on tour so much and not having as much time to get in the studio as we wanted to — in between shows if we have a weekend off, we'll fly in there for a couple of days — so it took a little longer to get it down and done. But it's mixed and mastered, ready to go, man. So hopefully in the next four weeks, three to four weeks, we'll have it out."

Regarding the musical direction of the new DROWNING POOL song, C.J. said: "I'm so excited, man. It just came out naturally. We never tried to write like a 'Bodies Part Two' or a 'Tear Away Part Two'. We just write what we feel at the time, and the excitement that we had and the energy we have with Ryan being back in the band, the song definitely has that vibe to it. It's in drop C [tuning], and I got a new wah pedal in the studio when I was doing the song. So I'm wah-pedaling all over just like on [DROWNING POOL's] 'Sinner' record. So it has that old-school vibe to it. The people that have heard it so far, that's what they relate it to. It's got that same type of energy. It's its own song and entity. But yeah, it's intense, man. It's a banger."

Asked if the idea is for DROWNING POOL to put out standalone singles going forward or if he and his bandmates are working on an album, C.J. said: "Well, we wanna put out some singles, and stuff that we're doing with Ryan. And yes, we wanna do a full-length record. But we have a lot of stuff coming up in the works. We just did a bunch of shows in Poland for our troops back in December and January. We did a 17-song jam and acoustic set. And I've always wanted to do that. And we kind of fell into it 'cause they asked us to do it over the holidays right before that happened. So it kind of threw us into acoustic mode, which we've never done. And I love the way that set came out. Some songs, they sound heavier, some songs sound a little different, some sound exactly the same, but acoustic style. So I wanna record that as a whole to get that out there. There's a handful of songs we're doing now with Ryan off [DROWNING POOL's] 'Desensitized' [album]. It's the 20-year anniversary. So we talked about re-recording a few songs with Ryan's voice on it since we do those now. And then we're coming up on the 25-year anniversary of the 'Sinner' record, so I've been putting a lot of stuff together with that, that we have with [original DROWNING POOL singer] Dave Williams. I have so much video and songs we did. And there's a couple of things and ideas we had with Dave I wouldn't mind doing with Ryan and making them solid as well. So there's a lot of stuff in the works, man, on top of writing new songs. So, we wanna get a couple of new things out so you can hear what we're doing with Ryan and then definitely wanna do a full-length record with him in the process of doing these other things. But the writing hasn't stopped, man. Since he's walked into my house last year, the ideas — I mean, it's been 13 years and a lot has happened to all of us in that time frame, and so there's a lot to write about, a lot to share, and it comes out through the music, dude. It's killer."

Last month, McCombs told 94 Rocks KFML's "The Dark" rock music program about the reason for the delay in releasing new DROWNING POOL music: "We've got so many different opportunities in front of us, touring-wise, and then also because of the new music, as far as how we wanna release it. We had a plan in place. We knew how we wanted to go about it. We wanna go strictly independent, but all of a sudden there's a hunger for it. So there's been all these different little things coming to the table, different outlets coming to the table, giving us different things to think about and to chew about. We're not great on making decisions to begin with, but then all of a sudden now, there's a bunch of different opportunities ahead of us and we're just trying to figure out the best way to get the music out there to everybody. Not just this time, but moving forward, because we continue. C.J. is just like a fountain over here. They all are. I mean, it's coming natural to us. We're spitting stuff out. So we're not only thinking about this song, but also the material that is yet to come and the majority that we're currently working on and everything. So it's just how to best present it. So that's what the delay has been about. It's been about the fact that we knew what we wanted to do, but then all of a sudden, there's been so many different opportunities. Now it's, like, which one's the best route to go?"

Asked if the sound of the new DROWNING POOL material harkens back to what Ryan did with the band in the past, McCombs said: "It's C.J. It's Stevie. It's Mike. It's myself. We did a couple of really — not to toot our own horn — I think we did a couple really good albums back in the day. And we pick up right where we left off.

"I think the coolest thing about DROWNING POOL is it's really easy with DROWNING POOL to separate things with the singers, as far as eras go, but there's always been the DROWNING POOL sound," Ryan continued. "There's always been a certain aspect of just the tones and everything. So it's still just like it always has been — DROWNING POOL."

In June, Pierce told Scott Penfold of Loaded Radio that he and his DROWNING POOL bandmates are once again working with producer Shawn McGhee. "He has his own studio," C.J. explained. "We did the last record with him as well. We did [2022's] 'Strike A Nerve' [with him]. And he's just a great guy to work with. He's on the same page as us and a great friend and a great musician and a killer producer and mixer. So, we love working with Shawn. He really knows how to capture what we're trying to do, man. That's the kind of producer you want. We put him in a driver's seat and somebody you can trust to have that outside ear to take what we have already and elevate it."

Asked what fans can expect from the new DROWNING POOL music, Pierce said: "It just came out naturally. We just started writing. We were all excited to be together again. And we never try to be that kind of band to [go], like, 'Okay, let's write 'Bodies Part Two' or 'Sinner Part Two'. We just write what we feel. And then this came out naturally just to have that 'Sinner' record foundation with Ryan singing on it, man. It's probably the closest thing we've had that's like that, that's a good blend of us and Ryan and stuff from the Dave Williams days. And it came naturally and organically and, dude, it's slamming."

Regarding what it has been like having Ryan step back into the band and if that familiarity was there again, C.J. said: "Yeah, it was there like that and then some, man, 'cause we're all different people. And getting to know all of us, the new us — new and improved, hopefully.

"We just did the [Welcome To] Rockville festival, and just to see friends say that, 'cause people are just now seeing us with Ryan again," he continued. "[People are telling us], 'Man, I can just tell you guys are having so much fun with it. It's awesome to see you guys'. You can tell when a band's up there doing it for real. There's no going through motions with us. And we're having fun with it."

Four months ago, Pierce told Tulsa Music Stream about the new DROWNING POOL music: "It's the first time we have new music with Ryan McCombs in 13 years. And everything's organic and natural. We just started jamming and it just came out like that. It's not trying to push anything or any agenda. We just had this great writing relationship, and it was awesome to click like that again, especially with everybody in the band. Before we finish up the lyrics and all the singing, we're all sat down at the table and bounce ideas off each other to finetune the songs. It's awesome to work with my brothers like that, to have that kind of relationship where everybody has some input and say into it. So when the song comes out, all four of us love what we do with it."

Asked if he and his bandmates usually discuss where they want their new music to go or if they just generally stick to a tried-and-tested formula, Pierce said: "It's actually none of those things at all. Sorry. The answer is none of the above. I mean, some people, they approach it like that. I know some bands have the songwriter in the band or two guys writing everything, and some people don't. I love the fact that we all just get in a room and jam. It's a feeling thing. Music's expressing what's going on at the time. So, the way ideas usually come up with us in DROWNING POOL, it's just, 'Hey, man, I have this feeling, this idea. What do you think about this or this subject matter?' If something comes up, like, 'We should write something about that.' It's different. It's not really a set formula. We need to sound like this; we need to sound like that."

He continued: "It was unfortunate that we lost Dave Williams in 2002 from cardiomyopathy, but it also allowed us to work with other singers. They all have their own style and where they fit within the music Mike, Stevie and I write, So that was also fun. I wouldn't say challenge as much as just coming up with you feel and then see how it works with the strong points of the singer that's singing to it as well. So it just comes up. Everything's, again, whatever you feel at the time; that's what we write. It's never been trying to follow the trend, which is I'm fine with bands that do that or trying to fit in here and there. We try to keep it a hundred percent original."

Pierce added: "There's a few bands out there that have that formula — like AC/DC, as an example — and that works for them and that probably works for them to stick with it. With us, we've kind of been all over the board with, obviously, singer changes and stuff. But everybody knows 'Bodies'. And that's the core sound of what we have anyway. And the excitement of Ryan coming back in the band with the new songs that we have are equal to, if not more jamming than, 'Bodies'. And not intentional, like 'we have to like write a 'Bodies Part Two'' or another song [like that]. It's we just have that fire again. So it just comes out like that."

Earlier in April, Pierce spoke to Pierre Gutiérrez of Rock Talks about how the new DROWNING POOL music compares to "Strike A Nerve", the band's first record in seven years, which came out in September 2022 via T-Boy/UMe. It marked the band's third album with singer Jasen Moreno, who joined DROWNING POOL in 2012. Asked if the material is "more balanced" than "Strike A Nerve", C.J. said: "I wouldn't say more balanced. With Jasen Moreno on the last couple of records, we just started going up a heavy thing. Plus our career, just things that were going on at that time — I write what's going on in my life at the time; it's art, it's music — and just things were getting more intense with Jasen. Not just Jasen, but the music business, everything. So the music got intense as well, as you hear. And then with Ryan back in here, we still have that same intention, but Ryan brings a different kind of aspect and the delivery to the songs. There's definitely the style that we had on the two records we did with Ryan that's there, but we still have that heaviness going on as well. So it's definitely the heaviest stuff we've done with Ryan, for sure. So it's all heavy, brother. There's definitely a few songs that may be… We had '37 Stitches' and songs like that with Ryan. We have one or two songs that are kind of more in that mellow zone with him as well that we're working on. But, yeah, the last few records, we were pretty much just slamming, just full-on super-heavy stuff, man, which I enjoy as well. So you're gonna get a mix of it. I feel like with Ryan, we can get more of a mix of styles in there as well… It's intense, man. It's intense music. That's what we write."

McCombs played his first shows back with DROWNING POOL in March 2023 at Club L.A. in Destin, Florida and at the inaugural Throwdown At The Campground festival in Fruitland Park, Florida.

The longtime SOIL frontman, who has lived in Swindon, England since 2018, originally joined DROWNING POOL in 2005 and appeared on two of the band's studio albums, "Full Circle" (2007) and "Drowning Pool" (2010),as well as a live album, 2009's "Loudest Common Denominator". He rejoined SOIL after exiting DROWNING POOL in 2011.

McCombs is continuing to front SOIL and will carry on recording and performing with both bands.

DROWNING POOL's debut album, "Sinner", was certified platinum within six weeks of its release in 2001, while the CD's first single, "Bodies", was one of the most frequently aired videos on MTV by a new band. DROWNING POOL reached out to an ever-greater audience with dynamic performances at Wrestlemania XVIII and Ozzfest during the summers of 2001 and 2002. Unfortunately, their streak of success was not to last. Shortly after rousing the crowd at Ozzfest in Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 3, 2002, vocalist Dave "Stage" Williams was found dead of natural causes on the tour bus.

Photo credit: Tricia Starr Photography (courtesy of
O'Donnell Media Group)