Indianapolis Music - Sevendust Interview (May 2002) (Full Interview)

Описание: Sevendust - May 2002
Copy by Joh Padgett

Sevendust has been on the road chasing their dreams of success for quite some time. In the 6 years since the band has been together, Sevendust has recorded three albums (all of which have gone Gold - including their recent release Animosity), logged more road miles than a circus, played more than 900 shows and have appeared on most of the late night talk shows including The Late Show with David Letterman, Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show.

Even with such success, the band has had its share of rough times. When the band came off the road after the last tour, some of the band members had to go through physical therapy due to being so banged up from performing. As if their physical woes were not enough, the band also discovered bad business had taken a toll on their bank accounts as well.

You'd think a band that had sold more than 2 million records wouldn't have to worry about money, but Sevendust were so financially hobbled they nearly had to get day jobs - the death of any label act. Due to unspecified problems with their previous manager, former Twisted Sister guitarist JJ French, Sevendust found themselves a new management company in Jeff Hanson Management and Promotions. Jeff Hanson is also the same wizard behind the Creed success story.

With all these trials and tribulations in their lives, it would have been easy for the new album to be an angst driven rage of a metal album - but it didn't work out that way. Instead, Sevendust dug down deep and came up with some of the best melodic metal ever recorded. Working with such a well-respected producer as Ben Grosse (Fuel, Filter) also helped smooth out their sound. The end result is the fine new album Animosity.

With their business affairs finally in order, the band set out to record this record with a renewed sense of mission. "The title of the record admits a lot", admits Lowery. "There are issues that we had with people who led us the wrong way and disappointed us, and this was a chance to get it off our chests. We finally felt some sort of closure with those issues by writing these songs."

One of the issues needing closure was the death of their friend Lynn Strait, front man for the band Snot. It was in honor of his death that lead singer Lajon Witherspoon and Clint Lowery wrote and recorded "Angel's Son" for the Strait Up compilation - a song which scored them their biggest hit yet on radio across the US. The song reappears on Animosity having been remixed and a strings arrangement added to the track.

When the song became a hit while they were still recording Animosity the band realized they didn't have to be the heaviest hitters on the Nu Metal block. They could showcase Lajon's powerful vocal abilities and introduce more melody into the mix and come up with an entirely new direction for the band to head in.

Animosity also allowed the band a chance to work with Aaron Lewis, lead singer for the band Staind. "Aaron and Jon Wysocki (Staind's drummer) flew into Orlando and were playing golf with Morgan (Rose - drummer for Sevendust)," recalls Witherspoon. "So we just said, 'Hey, would you like to come down to the studio and do a song?' So Aaron came down, we let him listen to a couple of tracks, he heard 'Follow,' and I said, 'I think this would be a great song for you to sing on.' He did the second verse and some harmonies on it, and it turned out great!"

Animosity has given the band a renewed sense of self-confidence. Sevendust have redefined both themselves and their sound, taking their anger and turning it into a heavy and beautiful menagerie of sound. "We really hope that people out there understand where we're coming from on this record, and we're eager to see what they're gonna do," says Lowery. "It really means a lot to us what the fans think about this stuff. We wouldn't be doing it if it was any other way."

Now touring in support of Animosity, I had a chance to interview guitarist Clint Lowery while on the road. Click the links below to listen to our IMN exclusive mp3s of the interview. Appearing at the Egyptian Room @ Murat Center on Wednesday, May 22nd, catch Sevendust with opening acts Soil and Switched on the bill as well.