ROBBIE MERRILL Says GODSMACK Doesn't Waste A Lot Of Time In Studio

In a recent interview with NQ Music Press, GODSMACK bassist Robbie Merrill spoke about the songwriting process for the band's sixth album, "1000hp", which came out last year.

"We wrote for the album individually, but all got together after that to hash everything out," he explained. "It's a good little thing that we do. It's more about trying to compare and trying to get a bunch of stuff prepared, so we're not wasting a lot of time in the studio trying to find stuff. I mean, there's always one or two songs that get written right there in the studio too, but it's all about doing your homework, preparing, and getting in the room together and hashing out everything. It goes pretty smooth that way. You don't get so much writer's block, because you haven't prepared. If you are stuck on one thing, you can move on and go and work on another song pretty quickly."

Robbie also talked about the recording sessions for "1000hp", which were once again helmed by producer Dave Fortman (SLIPKNOT, EVANESCENCE) at the band's new 4,000-square-foot headquarters just 30 minutes from the heart of Boston, Massachusetts.

"We do a lot of pre-production," he explained, "but we also have sort of a system we have found. What we would do back in the day was we always did drum stuff first and then the bass and then the guitar and then Sully [Erna, vocalist] would be stuck in the studio by himself doing all his parts and singing, so now we do a song a day. So we will do drums for one song, then lay down the guitar and we'll lay down the scratch track and I'll play my bass stuff. That way everyone is in the room together and going through stuff and hashing it out and analyzing it right there giving ideas. There's a little bit of pressure doing it that way, but because you're recording, that pressure is there anyway. Because you have four guys that have their own opinions, it can get pretty crazy, but at the end of the day, it's not that bad, and because of pre-production, you are already familiar with the songs. I only need an hour in the studio, so if you give me that time, you will have a pretty cool bass track. It works, because after a week, you have five songs laid down that you can listen to, which is pretty cool."

"1000hp" sold approximately 58,000 copies in its first week of release to land at No. 3 on The Billboard 200 album chart. The disc, which arrived on August 5, 2014, followed up 2011's "The Oracle", which topped the chart with sales of 117,000 copies in its debut week.

Erna described the sound of the "1000hp" album to The Pulse Of Radio as "a little bit more raw, a little bit more open. The writing was a little freer. The production is really kind of raw and in your face, and the songs, man — I'm really, really excited about these songs. And I have to tell you honestly, I wasn't that excited about writing this record at first."