MADBALL Frontman: How We Found Our New Guitarist MIKE GURNARI

This past October, Metal Express Radio's Mick Burgess conducted an interview with MADBALL singer Freddy Cricien in Newcastle, England. You can now listen to the chat below.

Speaking about the 2017 departure of longtime MADBALL guitarist Brian "Mitts" Daniels, Freddy said: "I love Mitts; I mean, Mitts is family. And it was more a situation where we were going in different directions in our lives. So we kind of were, like, 'Hey, man, just go do your thing, and we're gonna just keep doing this thing.' We just played New York and he was there. Mitts is family, man. It was that time. And I sort of just had to be the guy to say, 'Hey, go ahead, man. Just go over there. And we'll keep it going over here. And thank you.' There was no weird stuff."

Regarding the involvement of former MADBALL guitarist Matt Henderson in the making of the band's latest album, "For The Cause": "We were kind of already thinking about that, even going into it. We were already even thinking of him even when Mitts was still with us. We were kind of, like, 'Maybe let's get Matt Henderson involved just for…' So he was kind of always there. And then, when the decision was made to let Mitts go, it was, like, 'Yeah, that's a given. Matt Henderson has to do the record.'"

On the topic of the addition of guitarist Mike Gurnari, Freddy said: "He's our permanent guitarist. We made him official. He's awesome, man. He's great. We met him through our friends from WISDOM IN CHAINS — a band out of Pennsylvania; a great, great, great band. He was actually filling in for their guitarist on a tour, and they crossed paths with us. And he caught my eye a bit. I was, like, 'This guy's pretty good.' And at the time, our friend Dom [Dominik Stammen] from Germany, from BORN FROM PAIN, he was filling in for us; he did a bunch of touring with us. So I was sort of keeping my eye out for someone. And when I saw [Mike], I said, 'Yeah, I like what he's doing.' And then he finished his thing with WISDOM IN CHAINS, and he really didn't have a gig. So I picked him up… He plays well. And he's a great guy. That's a big deal for us — he's gotta be the right guy, the right personality. We've been at this a long time."

"For The Cause" was released in June 2018 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2014's "Hardcore Lives" was co-produced by Tim Armstrong (RANCID),who also makes a guest appearance on the song "The Fog". It was mixed and mastered by renowned producer Tue Madsen (MESHUGGAH, THE HAUNTED, SICK OF IT ALL) at Antfarm Studios in Denmark.