GODSMACK's SULLY ERNA Talks New Solo Material, Trying To Break Into Acting (Video)

On December 10, TheRockRevival.com 's Matt Bishop conducted an interview down with GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna at Keswick Theatre in Glenside, Pennsylvania. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether he has written any new solo material since the release of his 2010 solo album, "Avalon":

Sully: "Yeah, I'm constantly writing. It's just a matter of when I feel like I have the right batch of songs to put on an album. Because that's really important to me, especially with the solo stuff. This is the kind of music that's… it's more personal to me. It's not something I'm really looking to be critiqued about or whatever. I mean, they can, if they want to. But it's not as visible as GODSMACK is, with the heritage that that band has. So, for me, this a lot more personal, so it has to be really right. This isn't about big radio hits and that kind of stuff; this is a live musical band with a lot of great multi-instrumentalists in it. So when it's ready, it's ready. But I'm always writing, always looking for material."

On whether his next solo release will be another full-length album:

Sully: "I think so. I'm still old school in that way where I really enjoy creating art and I really enjoy creating a full body of work, with sequencing and how the songs flow into one another. Back in the days when PINK FLOYD 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' and albums like that were really relevant, I still have that mentality to wanna do that. Although we're entering a much different era in our lives now with the digital age and all that stuff, so now it's more about people picking a single or two off iTunes. But it doesn't mean I wanna represent my art in that way either. And there is gonna certainly gonna be a point where — with GODSMACK or even with the solo stuff — that I may just wanna do singles and tour off the heritage of the band, which I think GODMACK is a lot more poised for right now than the solo stuff. But the solo stuff is still fairly new and I wanna nurture that some more, so I think, for sure, it's gonna be more of a full-length album when it's ready."

On trying to find his way into the acting world:

Sully: "Back in 2003, I kind of got bit with the acting bug when I did the video for 'I Stand Alone' and I had to do scenes with The Rock and Kelly Hu, and some established actors. And I remember thinking I was gonna be really nervous and uncomfortable, and I surprisingly found myself very comfortable working out these scenes with these people that I thought would be a little bit more intimidating. And from that point on I started just exploring the acting world and I started doing classes with a lady named Susan Batson, who's a really top-notch acting coach — she does Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. And from there, I started getting a little bit more involved in it, and I started landing small roles — like on [the TV series] 'Dirt' with Courteney Cox — and I just recently did a role in a new Martin Scorsese movie called 'Bleed For This' — small part as a blackjack dealer that I have a scene with the main guy in the movie, Miles Teller. Katey Sagal is in it and stuff like that. And I just finished shooting a pilot for a new TV series with a bunch of the cast from 'Sons Of Anarchy' — David Labrava, who plays Happy on 'Sons Of Anarchy', and Drea de Matteo. So between that and a couple of films that I'm supposed to be doing next year, I'm just trying to continue to get some momentum in TV and film, because I really enjoy it as well. It's a really fun thing. And I'm just working my way up that ladder at this point, and nurturing GODSMACK when that needs my attention, and doing some solo stuff. And the rest of my time I give to my daughter."