Interview: Papa Roach Didn’t Shy Away from “F.E.A.R.”

Posted by RiffYou On February 12, 2015 0 Comment

Even though Papa Roach have been together for roughly two decades and sold millions of records during that time, that hasn’t stopped the band – Jacoby Shaddix (vocals), Jerry Horton (guitar), Tobin Esperance (bass), and Tony Palermo (drums) – from finding new ways to approach an album.

With their latest offering, F.E.A.R. (released in January), Papa Roach took the unconventional approach of entering the studio with zero songs. They’re not the first band to step into the jungle without a knife, but this was the first time this band had entered the unknown terrain without being armed.

“I didn’t like it at first. I didn’t like the idea of not being prepared,” explained Horton during a conversation with Riffyou.com. “Tobin is more of the improvisational character in the band, so he had the confidence that we were going to come out with something good. Jacoby and I went along with it and once we adapted to the new environment, we started seeing some cool stuff come out. Our acceptance and confidence went up and we got into it. It was a cool experience.”

That environment was no longer Papa Roach’s hometown studio in Sacramento, rather it was The Hideout studio in Las Vegas where the band put its trust in Kevin and Kane Churko, a father and son production team that’s helped bands like Five Finger Death Punch and In This Moment bring albums to life.

Immediately, the Churko’s challenged the Papa Roach process, explains Horton. The guitarist recalls the producers being very decisive about what they liked and what they didn’t. If a song was not great early in the recording process, it wasn’t dwelled upon and would subsequently end up on the scrap heap. This method, recalls Horton, very quickly showed the band what they needed to put forth song wise.

The end result became F.E.A.R., an album that still has that aggressive, light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel heavy rock style that Papa Roach has become known for, but also elements of electronic and less-crunchy instrumental work.

“Initially we just intended on making a heavy record. It was going to be all heavy,” recalls Horton. “Then once we got the first two songs done, we began to wonder if we wanted to continue writing heavy songs. We looked at each other and decided that’s not what we wanted to do.

He continues: “We pulled different ideas and the album ended up being more of a natural process than going by rules set at the beginning. That is important in the sense that if you’re close-minded to something and you only try to do one thing, then you miss out on opportunities. We’ve learned over the years to be open and explore possibilities. We are more than happy with what we got at the end.”

Speaking of the past, 2015 marks the 15-year anniversary of Papa Roach’s major label debut, Infest. While Horton admittedly wouldn’t mind not playing the album’s biggest song, “Last Resort,” anymore, he says that it still gets him excited to see the enthusiasm a crowd gives back when it’s played live.

In the audio clip below, Horton speaks more about “Last Resort” in greater detail, including why the band was forced to censor so many elements of the song, as well as not relying on that track for future success.

-Adam Grant