MUDVAYNE Singer: Not Touring Behind New Album Is 'Our Biggest Trick'

Chad Bowar of About.com recently conducted an interview with MUDVAYNE/HELLYEAH vocalist Chad Gray. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

About.com: After using Dave Fortman as the producer on the last couple albums, you went with Jeremy Parker. How come?

Chad: Dave is still listed as a producer. Jeremy is Dave's first engineer. Dave had been working and working and needed a break, and we were ready to go. He still wanted to be involved, and suggested that Jeremy do it. Dave wanted to help him get his foot in the door outside of being an engineer. We worked on tones with Dave and Jeremy, then Dave went away and Jeremy recorded it. Then Dave would come back in different sections.

About.com: With the music industry in such a state of flux and sales down across the board, how do you judge what a successful album is these days?

Chad: I've pretty much given up on it. I remember from so far back that all I ever wanted to do was make a career out of playing music, and I have that. I don't have a Ferrari or a mansion or anything, but I've lived a somewhat comfortable life. I'm not rich by any means and live a pretty humble lifestyle. It's been awesome. It's been a great ride and I hope I have a few more laps around the track and can keep it going as long as I want to. That's why I'm in another band. When one's on downtime I go do something else. I love to play music. I love to work.

About.com: Do you have any tour plans lined up for MUDVAYNE?

Chad: MUDVAYNE is the king of being anti-climatic, and this is to date our biggest trick. We're putting out a record and not touring behind it. I don't think it gets any more anti-climatic than that. Greg (Tribbett) and I are doing HELLYEAH right now. We're writing that record and want to tour t hat record, give it a proper cycle. I think when the time comes to do MUDVAYNE again it's gonna give us something to come back to, because we're not touring on this cycle right now. But that doesn't mean in a year or so we can't come back and support this record and play these songs for people live. I think that day will come, it just isn't right now. Sometimes you've just gotta go away, and that's what we wanna do. We'll go fly our HELLYEAH flag for a little bit and do that thing, and this will be here when we're ready to come back to it.

About.com: How far along are you on the HELLYEAH record?

Chad: Vinnie (Paul) has got about 10 done, I've got about three written. It's moving. It's been kind of weird, because I don't know if I'm ever going to get the momentum I had the last time until I can put this side of me away. I'm doing a MUDVAYNE listening party, I'm doing a bunch of press. I think when the record's released and that work is done, I can get fully focused into HELLYEAH. But it's been tough because of the schedules.

About.com: Did any of your HELLYEAH vibe bleed over into the MUDVAYNE songwriting for this album?

Chad: I don't think so. I try really hard to keep those separate. I think it's really important for both bands.

Read the entire interview from About.com.

"Scream With Me" video: