PAPA ROACH's New Album Takes Listeners On A 'Wild Ride'

Patricia Dao of TagWorld.com recently conducted an interview with PAPA ROACH lead singer Jacoby Shaddix and bassist Tobin Esperance. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

TagWorld.com: "The Paramour Sessions" is your newest record. What was it like recording this record?

Tobin: "Paramour Sessions" is a dream that we've always had. We've always wanted to go to a crazy wild exotic mansion and write a rock and roll record, because our favorite bands growing up were doing it. AEROSMITH with "Toys in the Attic" or RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, they did it at the Houdini Mansion . We wanted to re-create that on our own and see how that would manifest for us. We went to discover who we were as musicians. We found that we ended up with something completely different. We were set out to write this sleazy board to the floor rock and roll record and there are some songs that adhere to that ethic and idea, but when we got into the jam sessions nobody was watching us nobody was listening so everything goes. We had amazing jam sessions, some lasted six to seven hours for us that was killer we were able to collaborate truly and just living in the house 24/7 effected it.

Jacoby: Just to be able to be in there 24/7 and be inspired by the surreal environment we were in a cathedral room with high ceilings it made us play a different way, more open and dynamic. In the process, we recognized what our strengths and weaknesses were and incorporated that in our songwriting. We just had fun too. We just woke up and played music that might not have been on the record. We just jammed to jam. We just started jamming. Sometimes it was about bringing in a riff that Tobin had on ProTools or just a jam that just came out from us right there, spontaneous. There is elements of all types of songwriting on this album. Another thing we wanted was to hit big dynamics so there are really subtle quiet parts that still have an intensity about it and finding that dynamic is huge for us and kicks open other doors. This record is not a one-dimensional album; it has so many facets to it. I don't believe one song it has represents the whole album. I think each one is a piece to this puzzle and we want to take our listeners on this wild ride and it's definitely a wild ride…

TagWorld.com: How as the Internet helped with the success of PAPA ROACH?

Jacoby: It's growing so much, when we first came out the Internet was this new way to promote you band. We can from the era of street teams when people used to hand out cassettes and CDs.

Tobin: Oh, yeah. Cassettes!

Jacoby: That's old school! We are dating ourselves!

Tobin: It's evolved over the last few years. Now there are bands that are getting signed and they have never even played a show, which is strange to me. What if they suck live? I guess that's the risk you run. The Internet has definitely grown and is great tool for us in this point in our career to help reach out to the kids and it's a full circle because in the '70s when people were, like, talking about bands by word of mouth, now they are on computers spreading the word through their fingers. It's just a different medium. Kids are finding what they like on their own again rather then things being shoved down their throat. I've even found new bands on the Internet and I've met people and heard funny stories and seen videos where I can watch a girl from Indiana just shakin' her ass and now she's just as famous as us. Just because she's got a nice booty.

TagWorld.com: Do you use the Internet to reach out to your fans?

Jacoby: Honestly, the Internet is not truly my medium. I'll go on and answer a few fan questions though, so we try to stay in touch. But the best thing is after a show, saying what's up to those kids that stick around. I like person-to-person. Internet is a great tool, but if you spend too much time on it, you become socially retarded. You may be a macho stud on the Internet, then you go out in the real world but you don't know how to talk to a girl. So go experience, human-to-human contact is a beautiful thing.