SEVENDUST's LAJON WITHERSPOON Says He And His Bandmates Are 'Growing As Artists'

In a new interview with "The Jasta Show", SEVENDUST singer Lajon Witherspoon spoke about how the group's music has evolved over the past two and a half decades and how he and his bandmates are influenced and inspired by things going on around them.

He said (see video below): "I feel like we've done music enough to where now, at this time, people say, 'SEVENDUST's heavy. They're nu metal. They're rock. They're soft,' or whatever — I don't care; we've done it. We can do heavy. We can do it all.

"I cannot continue to do the same music over and over again. We're all growing as artists, as men. We're not those same kids. I was 21 years old when I signed [my first] record deal. I didn't have a care in the world. I didn't care if I had a house, 'cause I all I wanted to do is get on the road. Then all of a sudden, life changed. I got a wife. Then I had babies. And I became a father. And then my music changed, because we're not mad anymore. We are pissed off — we're still hard as hell — but guess what? We're daddies. We go take the damn trash out [when we are at home]. That kind of thing right there, I feel like, helps me be a better artist, because I feel like when we're out there always on the road and you're never really coming home, I don't have anything to write about, because my life is just that.

"I need this [time at home]," he continued. "I need to look at my next-door neighbor and say, 'That dude is a douchebag,' to have all those different things… Life —I guess it's life, in a sense. And that's what I need to be able to continue to be an artist. And I feel like even looking at the bad side of what's going on in the world today that us artists are able to be creative right now in this time, and maybe not write the happiest songs, but we can definitely have an outlet right now."

SEVENDUST's 13th studio album, "Blood & Stone", was released on October 23 via Rise Records. The follow-up to 2018's "All I See Is War" was once again tracked at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida with producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette, who has previously worked with ALTER BRIDGE and SLASH, among others.

Earlier this year, guitarist Clint Lowery told Front Row Entertainment Live about "Blood & Stone": "I think this is one of our strongest records in a while. I'm proud of all the music we do. Every band likes to say, 'Oh, yeah, the new record is the best one we've ever done.' I think it's a very reflective record for where we're at musically, where we're at as a band. So that's always a goal. I think we just wanna be genuine. We don't wanna put out a dud record. Not everyone's gonna like it; we understand that. We just try to do what we do best. We're not the heaviest band in the world; we're not a pop-rock band at all either. We're just this aggressive band that has our own thing, and we stay true to that."

Last month, SEVENDUST took part in its first-ever livestream and its only show of 2020: "Sevendust: Live In Your Living Room".