10 YEARS Drummer: 'We Are A Band That Is Here To Stay'

Bill Sullivan of the Rock And Roll Report recently conducted an interview with 10 YEARS drummer Brian Vodinh. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

Rock And Roll Report: The new record comes out August 31st and is called "Feeding the Wolves". What is your primary goal for this record, and who thought up the title?

Brian Vodinh: Our primary goal for this album is simply just to make our mark in rock music and let people know that we are a band that is here to stay. We have made some changes in the band recently and for this first time in many years, if ever, we are totally on the same page. This feels amazing! We are firing on all cylinders now and want to share our music with the world. We also feel that "Feeding the Wolves" is an album that was 12 years in the making. All of our experiences leading up to this album played a major role in its creation. In regard to the title, it comes from a lyric in the song "Shoot It Out" and just seemed insanely appropriate, considering our headspace and other elements that we have experienced lately.

Rock And Roll Report: "Feeding The Wolves" sounds edgier and darker than anything the band has done to date. Is this the direction you see the band continuing in?

Brian Vodinh: Yes, I do feel that this direction is something that we will continue to elaborate on. But, I do have to also say that 10 YEARS is a band that is comprised of some very unique and creative individuals, and the sound can be majorly influenced by the headspace of each member at any specific time of writing. We have always wanted to make a heavier and edgier album, though, so "Feeding The Wolves" is that album for us.

Rock And Roll Report: The first single, "Shoot It Out", is awesome — a full-out sonic attack that no doubt gets everyone revved up at the show — tell us more about why this song was chosen as the lead single, and describe the inspiration behind it.

Brian Vodinh: "Shoot It Out" is a song that came together incredibly quick and was the result of pure frustration about the industry that we are trying to survive in. People like us get into music because we love creating and performing. After the passion turns professional and you have mouths to feed and mortgage payments to make, all of a sudden things become a little different. Also, the pressure that comes along with being a signed and touring musician is pretty relentless. "Shoot It Out" was written very early in the writing process for "Feeding The Wolves" and is about this pressure from the industry. When we came off the road and knew that it was time to start writing a new album, we were all kind of freaking out a little bit because we knew that so many people were going to be looking over our shoulders and telling us what they thought were hit songs and things like that. There are definitely too many cooks in the kitchen of rock 'n' roll! So, we were feeling this pressure a whole lot, especially me, and "Shoot It Out" actually came to me in a dream that woke me from a deep sleep. I'm convinced that I must have been thinking about these lyrics or the melody subconsciously prior to this incident, but I literally jumped up out of bed at like 3 or 4 in the morning one night and just started singing the chorus of this song. I immediately got my cell phone and used the voice recorder to capture the idea, and what I mumbled at 3 or 4 in the morning that night was exactly how we kept that chorus. The same melody and lyrics and everything. This song was chosen as the first single from our new album because the band believed in the song and fought tooth and nail to make this our first single. We have had a history of being unhappy with our single selection, so this time around we made up our minds and said this has to be it. Luckily, other people also agreed!

Read the entire interview at Rock And Roll Report.