DROWNING POOL's RYAN MCCOMBS 'Would Love To Go Back' To Physical Formats For Music Consumption

In a new interview with Rock Hard With Phil And Tish, DROWNING POOL and SOIL frontman Ryan McCombs opened up about how music distribution has changed over the years, and what it really means for artists' livelihoods. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Just on a business sense, yeah, I would love to go back to the days of the hard, tangible album in hand, 'cause that's still what I love. The industry was healthier then.

"People sometimes, they don't take the time to understand there's a reason why there isn't as many bands today as there was back in the day, and that has a lot to do with the fact that there isn't the number of labels anymore that there used to be," he continued.

"I was talking to somebody — this is, like, 20 years ago, I'm talking to a fan online; actually, it was longer than that 'cause it was during the whole Napster thing — and they were complaining about the METALLICA stance on it. And I said, 'Well, okay, for one second,' I said, 'What does your dad do?' And this individual happened to be — it was perfect — he happened to be from Michigan, and his dad was an auto worker, which isn't much there anymore. So you can definitely probably relate nowadays. I said, 'Now, tomorrow, if everybody, not just in your town, but if everybody in the world, can go to your dad's plant and drive off the lot with a car and not pay for it, how long is your dad going to be employed?' Because the auto plant has to make money from the sales of the car in order to employ the employee who is making the car. I said, 'Just like the label has to make money from the sales of the music in order to employ the musician. It's the same thing.' And it wasn't until I broke it down like that, that the guy was, like, 'Oh, yeah.' The black and white was too right there in your face to where you never really sat down and thought about the big picture of it. At the end of the day, it's just a business. And if the employer isn't making his money, then he's not gonna be able to employ the employees. And that's what the label and band relationship is and was. So, when that went away, when people started being able to go to the car lot and drive off the lot with a free car, that meant bands weren't sticking around anymore. The labels didn't have the same stick-to-itiveness with bands because they just couldn't afford to."

Ryan added: "I don't wanna come across like I'm crying, 'cause I'm not. I'm appreciative to still be allowed to do this and I'm appreciative that we're still here. We've been able to weather that storm to this point. But it is night and day to the industry that I grew up getting a chance to dance in at first."

Reflecting on the days when listening to an album was an event, a dedicated experience that demanded a listener's full attention, Ryan said: "It was the best. I mean, sometimes you didn't even drive away from the music store. You sat in your car and you had to pull out the inlay and you not only were going through the lyrics as you're listening to the cassette or the CD in your car, but I loved reading the thanks list and everything about it. That was part of it all. And I regret that there's been many, many generations already that will never experience that side of it."

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.