Jacoby Shaddix and Tony Palermo spoke about the different sounds that make up their new work.
Between the late 1990s and early 2000s, nu metal emerged as a subgenre of heavy metal that blends its classic elements with hip-hop. One of the pioneering bands of the movement was Papa Roach .
Formed in 1993, the California-based band broke down the barriers that divided musical genres. "We grew up listening to rock and roll and hip hop, so mixing the two was natural for us," said vocalist Jacoby Shaddix in an exclusive interview with Wikimetal .
Today, the 18th, the group releases their tenth studio album, Who Do You Trust?, a work that combines the sound already known to fans with elements of electronic and punk. "This is our most eclectic album. We wanted to experiment with new sounds while returning to what we already did, rap and rock," reveals the vocalist.
Despite disagreeing with the term nu metal, Jacoby and drummer Tony Palermo , who was also in Brazil to speak with the press, understand that they were responsible for the subgenre's success. "Nowadays it's harder to categorize music, because a guy who sings pop likes rock, so it's natural that he ends up mixing the two genres in his work," says Shaddix, "Music is music."
The singer says, laughing, that his children listen to Slipknot and Bruno Mars , "I feel that people are more open to listening to different styles of music, styles they don't usually listen to." He believes that collaborations between different artists help break down these barriers and confesses to wanting to collaborate with Eminem and the electronic group The Prodigy . On the album Crooked Teeth (2017), Papa Roach featured Skylar Grey on the track "Periscope" with the intention of introducing the singer to his audience who probably wouldn't have known her otherwise.
The return of rap on the latest album also helped the band continue fighting for homogenization in music. “On the albums before Crooked Teeth , I wanted to prove to myself that I’m a rock vocalist, so I left rap aside, but I missed it. It was natural to bring rap back to these last two albums.” Shaddix reveals that he finds it easier to tell his story through rap, “It’s something that makes me feel good and pleases the fans. There’s nothing better than that.”
Shaddix and Palermo agree that nowadays people are more concerned with the message a song carries than its genre. “It’s a waste to listen to only one style of music. There’s so much good stuff out there,” says the vocalist. He also says he believes honesty in music is crucial, “it’s the best policy and it’s what got us here.” Shaddix has always written about his personal struggles, whether related to drugs, alcohol, romantic relationships, or family.
“Sometimes one of our songs loses a bit of its meaning because we’ve been playing it for so long that we forget when we wrote it. But when we do a show and see thousands of people singing our lyrics, it’s like a message from the fans to us. It’s incredible!”
Passionate about what they do, they reveal that the greatest reward is hearing fans tell them that their music saved them, “It’s wonderful to know that our work helps people.” Regarding songs that have this effect on them, Shaddix cites the album White Light, White Heat, White Trash (1996) by Social Distortion , “That album speaks to my soul. Linkin Park Living Things (2012) sounds like the story of my life. It feels like Chester [ Bennington ] is singing about my life.”
Palermo quotes Bob Marley , “I’ve listened to all his albums a thousand times and every time I get goosebumps. The messages his songs carry are profound and the effect they have on people is incredible. But I can’t say it saved my life, because music didn’t save my life, it gave me life.”
Regarding his honest lyrics, Jacoby says that the most appealing aspect of making music is walking between darkness and light, between suffering and happiness. "It's great to make songs like 'Problems,' 'Suffer Well,' and 'Not The Only One,' which are very different from each other but have a thread connecting them, which is that journey."
Who Do You Trust? was released this Friday and you can listen to it below.
