MORGAN ROSE Says SEVENDUST Is No Longer 'Too Abrasive' For CREED Crowd

In a new interview with Rock 100.5 The KATT FM 's Cameron Buchholtz, SEVENDUST drummer Morgan Rose spoke about his band's friendship with the members of CREED and ALTER BRIDGE. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The CREED guys and ALTER BRIDGE, those are two of our closest people. Well, they're both basically the same band, minus the singer and the music, but the members are all similar. We just played with [ALTER BRIDGE] the other night on a one-off, and we did Europe with 'em, and it was the best experience I've ever had. Anytime that we're doing anything with those guys, we're excited. 'cause those are our boys."

After Buchholtz noted that the first time he saw SEVENDUST was when the band supported CREED on the "Weathered" tour more than two decades ago, Morgan said: "Oh, God. So that whole tour probably cost us not only a lot of money, but a lot of really good experiences, because people back then — it's a different world now. Heavy music back then was not what it is now. So we kind of fell into this weird area where we were able to play with CREED, kind of, and then we could go and play with SLIPKNOT the next week, kind of. So it was, like, we're not quite heavy enough for the SLIPKNOT people and we're definitely too heavy for the CREED people. So we were out with [CREED], and I remember looking and seeing people, and they're looking at us horrified. [They were thinking], 'This is the craziest, heaviest shit in the world.' And then so we were up to do the tour when they came back on this [latest reunion run]. We had just gotten done with STATIC-X, and I love the guys in that band. Some of those guys are my best friends on earth. But, man, 'We just got through with this heavy tour. I feel like we're almost like being accepted back into the heavy world again. I don't know if this is a good idea. I don't wanna have people looking at us like they hate us. I don't want this.' 'Cause I just remembered the 'Weathered' tour. So we didn't do it. And then it ended up being one of the biggest tours of the year. And then on top of that, they were, like, 'Well, there's some shows opening up, if you wanna do a few.' So we did, and they were massive, and everybody was great. And it was, like, 'This is not what it was back then.' So we're not too abrasive for their crowd anymore. It used to be that, but now it's, like, yeah, 'Oh, SEVENDUST is cool dude.' And I'm, like, 'Oh, God, I wish I would've done it.' I was very vocal about it. Some of the guys in my band, I think, still secretly do something to my food when I'm not looking, because they're pissed about it. But it was a mistake. It was a lesson learned. And we're excited to do anything with those guys moving forward, for sure."

Asked if there are times when he feels SEVENDUST is not heavy enough to tour with certain bands, Morgan said: "Well, the thing is that there's like this middle ground of heaviness now where it can be anything from BREAKING BEN[JAMIN] or DISTURBED and some of the bands that we grew up playing with. But then you can get into some extreme side of things. I was talking to somebody, and I was, like, 'We played with some bands back in the day,' and I was like, 'We were very tough on them,' because — it wasn't a thing of any talent or anything. It was just a style clash, where it's, like, if you got guys that are more aggressive and it's close enough, it's gonna cause a problem. Well, so I said, 'Yeah, we beat up on those bands.' And then I'm, like, but make no mistake about it. Go sit us in a room with SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL or LORNA SHORE, and it's, like, we're gonna take it like an ass beating; it's just gonna be rough. So there's some of those places where I've got some really close friends in those super-heavy bands, and they might like SEVENDUST, but I'm, like, 'You ain't getting me anywhere near those tours, dude.' I don't want any part of LORNA SHORE. And literally the drummer is like my baby brother, and I would love to spend every day with him on tour. And I'm, like, 'You ain't getting me on that tour with you, dude. I'm not taking it like that.' So, yeah, there's still places where I'm, like, 'Let's just go ahead and' — what is it? Like [in the] 'Step Brothers' [movie] where he wants to take a different route home. I'm, like, 'Let's take the long way back to where we're going. I don't wanna go down that street.' … I don't wanna go down that route. We're too old to be competing with those young bucks like that."

SEVENDUST's fifteenth studio album, "One", will be released on May 1 via Napalm Records. The band once again collaborated with producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida. Baskette had previously worked with ALTER BRIDGE and Slash, among others.

SEVENDUST's U.S. headline tour in support of "One" kicked off on April 16 in Carterville, Illinois, and will run through May 20, concluding in Knoxville, Tennessee. ATREYU, FIRE FROM THE GODS and AMERICAN ADRENALINE are also on the bill. Additionally, SEVENDUST will appear at major festivals, including Welcome To Rockville and Sonic Temple.