JOSH TODD Says BUCKCHERRY Is A 'Black Sheep Of Rock N' Roll'

BUCKCHERRY vocalist Josh Todd recently spoke with RadioactiveMike Z, host of the Riverside, California radio station 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire" The full conversation can be streamed below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the group's new album, "Warpaint":

Josh: "This is BUCKCHERRY 3.0, for sure. The 'Warpaint' record is very reminiscent of all the things that happened before the '15' record dropped. We had some lineup changes; it had been three years since our last record; and we had to make the record of our career. Everybody will say what they want to say, but I really believe that this is one of the best BUCKCHERRY records."

On covering NINE INCH NAILS:

Josh: "The cover conversation always comes about on every record cycle. It's just something that always comes up. I was thinking about songs, I was a big fan of the 'Pretty Hate Machine' record. I thought it was really raw and honest, and something I'd never heard before. That being said, Trent Reznor's vocal range is right in my wheelhouse, and I thought that approaching that song, 'Head Like A Hole', would be a great rock song. It wasn't really too thought-out — just, 'Okay, I like the lyrics; it's in my wheelhouse; I'll bring it to the band and see what's up.' We were just setting up to track the 'Warpaint' record, and I was in the live room, and I'm just like, 'Hey, I've got this idea for a cover. Let's just jam it out real quick and see.' I didn't know that our producer, Mike Plotnikoff, was recording us at the time. We kind of ripped it out and he goes, 'Why don't you guys come in the control room?' He put up a rough mix of it, and it sounded like a BUCKCHERRY song. It was like, 'Wow, this sounds so good. It's totally us. I think we should do it.' Everybody was into it — our label, our manager — so we went with it.'

On Reznor:

Josh: "He's great, and the great thing about him is he's really kind of stuck to his guns and done what he believes in over the years, and really created this body of work that is unlike anything else. I really feel like that's what BUCKCHERRY's done. Even though we're a rock n' roll band, there's no one that sounds like us. We're very unique, and when you hear a BUCKCHERRY song, you know it's BUCKCHERRY. I'm proud of that."

On BUCKCHERRY's debut album, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year:

Josh: "I was just a little baby. It's crazy. I don't ever think about the whole run until I step back, because I'm constantly working. If I'm not writing a record, I'm out touring a record, then I come home and start writing. I'm always accumulating song ideas, and I'm just writing around the clock. Then I've got the family, so I'm very busy, and time flies. I don't really think about it much until everybody kind of brought it up this year, and I started reminiscing about the whole career. That first record, I was so green as a singer and a songwriter. I've really come leaps and bounds since then, and learned a lot. I really believe in every record before I put it out wholeheartedly. When I got into this, I just wanted to make really honest art — I wanted to be honest and unique and unforgettable and all those things. I think we accomplished it."

On never quite fitting in:

Josh: "BUCKCHERRY has never been mainstream rock since we started. To know that we've been kind of like this black sheep of rock 'n' roll for twenty years now and maintain this career... we just have amazing fans, and we based our reputation on our live show, and I'm so glad, because it really pays off. People still want to go out and see live music."

On the new generation of rock bands:

Josh: "I see some of these new-school rock bands, and they're really trying to have that old-school feel, but you can tell they're not really listening to the right kind of music to get that. You've really got to have soul. All those great older rock bands, they all listened to African-American artists. That's really where it's at. That's what needs to be brought back to rock music — more soul. You've got to have a colorful past. It definitely helps to have some kind of tragic story there in your childhood or whatever. Through every decade, there's only a handful of artists that are like that, and they go on to have a lot of longevity for sure."

"Warpaint" was released on March 8 via Century Media/RED Music. The 12-song disc was produced by Mike Plotnikoff, whose last collaboration with the band was the platinum-certified album "15".