DROWNING POOL's RYAN MCCOMBS Clarifies His Comments About Social Media: 'I Hate The Effect That It's Had On Society'

In a new interview with The Underground Australia, DROWNING POOL and SOIL vocalist Ryan McCombs clarified his recent comments about the benefits and drawbacks of social media, including interacting with loved ones, business networking and the way it has made people less civil in how they talk to each other. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I appreciate social media because of the fact that it is a medium that allows bands in our situation, allows bands to stay in contact with the people out there that the support the music and everything that allow us to do what we do. And without them, we'd be selling shoes or something… Yeah, we wouldn't be allowed to do this. So I appreciate social media because it allows us to stay in contact with the people that allow us to be us. But I hate social media because of what it does as far as the big picture society-wise.'

He continued: "I hate that the world is full of just generations of zombies that walk around with their [phones in their hands]. And I'm guilty too — I hate it, but I'm guilty too. I sit around with that stupid phone in my hand all the time. I mean, most of the time I'm dealing with e-mails and text messages and stuff as far as stuff like Australian tours and everything. But social media is such a crap thing in another way because people are so concentrated on how many likes they're getting and all this shit, and it's such a false world. And I hate that.

"There's that saying, if you could go back in time, [you'd] go back and kill baby Hitler. But no — I wouldn't. I'd go back and step in the way of anybody who had anything to do with creating social media, because, man, I hate the effect that it's had on society," he added.

Ryan made his original comments about social media last month in an interview with The DJ Force X podcast. He said at the time: "Social media sucks. Social media is cool because it has given us all a way to stay in contact. That's pretty much where the coolness of it stops. There's so much negativity. I mean, people criticizing TV shows and movies — all anybody's got to say about anything anymore is negative shit. It's just, like, man. You jump on social media nowadays and it's a bummer. And then you've got people with the politics. They think they're making a difference by posting some stupid meme on fricking social media instead of actually doing something about the issue. And then if you get over here in the [United] States, if they actually do choose to do something physical, [it's] some stupid rioting or some horseshit like that.

"Man, if I could go back in time and… There's that, 'What would you do if you could go back in time?' … my thing would be I would do whatever I could to make sure that social media never existed so that you would walk into a restaurant and you wouldn't see a family sitting at a table with everybody with their faces in their phones, and families would actually be communicating again and people would be communicating again and not so quick to be tough and talk shit on the social media."

Ryan added: "It's a very cool thing if used in a business sense, like to communicate, whether it's to spread the word about podcasts, whether it's to spread the word about tours, shows, to use it to advertise something that you're doing or not advertise, but to at least let people know that it exists. It's invaluable in that sense. The fact that you have a new record coming out, whatever the case may be, it is a way to allow people that wanna know to know. But at the same time, it's also such a disgusting, ugly fricking creation on a social level. I'd go back in time and take care of that. [Laughs]"

DROWNING POOL's latest single, "Revolution (The Final Amen)", was released on September 20 via SBG Records.

"Revolution (The Final Amen)" marks the first piece of music guitarist C.J. Pierce, bassist Stevie Benton and drummer Mike Luce have completed with McCombs in 13 years.

The "Revolution (The Final Amen)" video was filmed at El Paso, Texas's Speaking Rock Entertainment Center.

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.