GODSMACK Drummer Discusses Rumored MÖTLEY CRÜE Beef

Ken Brzezinski of Static Multimediarecently conducted an interview with GODSMACK drummer Shannon Larkin. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Static Multimedia: How do you, as musicians, walk the fine line between staying true to your roots and being able to satisfy yourselves creatively?

Shannon: Usually the riffs decide how new songs come about, with one of us showing the others a riff, and then the rest of us just jamming along until a song starts to form. If the song sounds too far from our roots (or our sound or style) then we can tell after jamming it a few times, and we either drop it or re-work it to sound more true to our roots. Satisfying ourselves creatively is pretty easy, as we aren't trying to re-invent the wheel musically — we are a blue-collar hard rock band. That said, we do side projects in which we can experiment with different textures and styles and scratch any itches to experiment in different genres.

Static Multimedia: You've pretty much done it all from a touring standpoint, been a headliner, been an opener, and played massive outdoor festivals in Europe; what was the best tour you've been on?

Shannon: I can't speak for the rest of the guys, but my personal favorite was when we went out with ROB ZOMBIE and SHINEDOWN on the bill. It was all outdoor venues, a summer tour, our motorcycles on tour with us, and kick ass crowds all over America for 10 weeks. METALLICA in Europe was a very close second.

Static Multimedia: What exactly happened at Crüe Fest 2 to inspire you to write "Cryin' Like A Bitch"? Rumors are abound, but there really are no concrete facts.

Shannon: Again, I can't speak for the rest of the band. My only problem was the way their [headliners MÖTLEY CRÜE] security treated our friends and family backstage — made it a bit uncomfortable to try to hang out normally because it was made to be such a big deal when Motley was in sight backstage, like our family or friends were gonna bother them or something, which was simply not the case. And I always hate it when the opening bands are barred from watching the headliner from a designated spot somewhere on the side of the stage, simply because if we want to watch their set (which you would think they would want) we can't just go out front and watch without it turning into a meet and greet with fans, which defeats the purpose cause we aren't watching the show then. In fairness, they blamed it on all of their pyro, but if you've ever seen 'SMACK, you would know that we use a ton of pyro also, and we always find a spot that friends and family and opening bands can check it out. All in all, Tommy [Lee] rules, and Nikki [Sixx] and Mick [Mars] were really nice to me the two times I got to meet them. Never saw Vince [Neil]. On a side note, I came up with the title "Cryin' like a Bitch" after seeing Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers crying on the sidelines after a loss. That may sound cruel, but hey, I'm a Raiders fan. 'Nuff said.

Static Multimedia: Since band members live in close quarters a lot, sometimes they like to prank each other. Does that happen with the band, and if so, what's the best prank you've seen or had done to you?

Shannon: We aren't really pranksters. We find it easier to tour without the added pressure of waking up to a rubber snake in your bunk or some shit. We do try to dress up at Halloween shows, which is always funny.

Static Multimedia: How often do you guys have a "Spinal Tap" moment?

Shannon: Well, we use moving drum risers that spin and roll to the front of the stage during the drum solo. Since they are mechanical, it is inevitable that they will malfunction at some point in pretty much every tour, which definitely leads to a "Spinal Tap" feeling when three or four roadies have to run out to the front of the stage and try to fix shit in front of ten thousand people! You just gotta laugh it off.