Papa Roach is an American
rock band from
Vacaville, California.
[1] Their first major-label release was the triple-platinum album
Infest (2000). The group's success continued with their gold album
Lovehatetragedy (2002), their platinum album
Getting Away with Murder (2004),
The Paramour Sessions (2006), and
Metamorphosis (2009). The band's seventh album,
Time for Annihilation, was released on August 31, 2010. Papa Roach has sold more than 10 million album copies worldwide, and are known for their hits "
Last Resort", "
She Loves Me Not", "
Scars", "
Forever", and "
Lifeline", among others.
Band history
Formation and early years: 1993–1999
The formation of Papa Roach began in January 1993, when lead singer
Jacoby Shaddix and drummer Dave Buckner met on the Vacaville High School football field during an intense match, where the two ended up talking about music. They were later joined by trombonist Ben Luther and bass guitarist Will James. They decided to enter the school's talent show, where they performed a cover version of
Jimi Hendrix's song "
Fire", but they ultimately did not win the contest. In March 1993, trombonist Ben Luther was replaced by lead guitarist Jerry Horton from nearby Vanden High School. Horton was introduced to the band through his girlfriend, who was a fan. However, Jerry was at first apprehensive about joining the band because Jacoby, Buckner, and Will all went to different high schools. At this point, Papa Roach were practicing every day and touring on every gig they could get. Their first tour van was called Moby Dick, where Jacoby was inspired to come up with his first stage name "Coby Dick". The band's name comes from Shaddix's step-grandfather, Howard William Roatch, who was nicknamed
Papa Roach. Roatch committed
suicide in 1996. The band pay homage to him with
The Paramour Sessions and during live performances of the song "Roses On My Grave".
[2]In 1994, Papa Roach released their first ever
EP titled
Potatoes for Christmas. Drummer Dave Buckner was temporarily replaced by Ryan Brown, as Buckner was spending the year in
Seattlestudying art. In 1995, they released a demo at Sound Farm Studios titled
Caca Bonita. By this time Buckner was back. In 1996, they replaced original bass guitarist Will James, who had become heavily involved in a church summer camp, by Tobin Esperance, because James' absence would limit the band's summer practicing and touring. As Esperance had been with the band as a
roadie for a while, the transition was an easy one.
In 1998, they released an EP titled
5 Tracks Deep. It sold more than 1,000 copies in its first month of release. In 1999, they produced another EP, which would end up being their last independent release, titled
Let 'Em Know. This was seen
[by whom?] to be Papa Roach's best independent effort as a band, highlighting their distinctive sound. Its success caught the attention of
Warner Music Group, who as part of a development deal provided a small amount of money for the production of a five-track promo-demo CD.
[3] The band decided they wanted influential rock producer
Jay Baumgardner on board to produce the record.
[3] In an interview with
HitQuarters, Baumgardner said, “At first I wasn’t really convinced it would work out, but then I saw a video of them performing at a club - I saw all these kids going wild, knowing the songs by heart - and that’s when I realized that they definitely had potential.”
[3]Soon after, Rodriguez was contacted by
DreamWorks Records, offering the band a recording contract.
Papa Roach formed a friendship with
Alien Ant Farm, a band from Southern California. The two bands shared their fans with each other, Papa Roach's being from North Cal while AAF's are from South Cal.
[edit]Breakthrough and mainstream success: 1999–2005
After signing with DreamWorks Records in October 1999, they immediately hit the studio to record their debut major-label album titled
Infest. The album included old songs from their independent releases, these being "Infest", "
Last Resort", "
Broken Home", "Dead Cell" from the Warner Brothers demo CD; "Revenge In Japanese" as "Revenge" and "Thrown Away" from their
5 Tracks Deep EP; "Legacy", "Binge", "Snakes", and a softer version of the originally heavier "Tightrope" from the
Let 'Em Know EP; which were re-recorded, and three additional newly written songs: "
Between Angels and Insects", "Blood Brothers", and "Never Enough".
Infest was released on April 25, 2000, and sold 30,000 copies in its first week of release. With their debut album released, and the music video for "Last Resort" recorded, they hit the
Vans Warped Tour and numerous other large tours, including the
Anger Management Tour with rap acts
Eminem,
E-40,
Xzibit, and
Ludacris.
In late 2000, they even toured the
United Kingdom, highlighting how quickly their popularity had spread worldwide. In 2001, the band toured
Ozzfest, where they performed on the prestigious main stage, on both the
United States and United Kingdom tours.
After enormous amounts of touring worldwide, most notably in the United States, United Kingdom and
Japan, the band hit the studio again to record their second major-label album which was to be titled
Born to Rock, but was re-named to
Lovehatetragedy. The album was released in the United States on June 18, 2002, and though it didn't outsell
Infest, it managed to chart higher in both the United States and United Kingdom album charts. The album has sold over 500,000 copies and has been certified
Gold. The album marked a change in sound, morphing from
nu metal to
rock, except on the album's first single, "
She Loves Me Not". The music video for "
Time and Time Again" was also featured on the
Pepsi Blue commercial.
In late 2003, Papa Roach wrote and recorded their third major-label album with the working title
Dancing In the Ashes, but released as
Getting Away with Murder. The band worked with well-recognized producer
Howard Benson. After completion, the band filmed the video for the title track, "
Getting Away with Murder", and went on a small summer club tour to warm-up for the new album and tours to follow. Some long time fans of the band criticized
Getting Away with Murder for its softer
alternative rock sound, compared to their previous albums. Regardless of the perceived backlash,
Getting Away with Murder outsold
Lovehatetragedy, mainly due to the enormous popularity of the album's second single, "
Scars". Currently, the album has sold more than 1 million copies and has been certified
Platinum. On November 9, 2004, the band released their fifth EP,
Rolling Stone Original. The EP is only available digitally. On November 22, 2005 they released their first video album,
Papa Roach: Live & Murderous in Chicago.
[edit]The Paramour Sessions and departure of Dave Buckner: 2006–2008
The current Papa Roach logo, used since 2006.
On September 12, 2006 Papa Roach released their fourth major-label album
The Paramour Sessions. The band chose the title in respect to the recording location, the
Paramour Mansion. The band was given the idea of doing an album in a mansion, while they were recording
Getting Away with Murder, by
Slipknot, who were recording their
Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) album in the
Houdini Mansion and told the band it was "the only way to make an album".
Jacoby Shaddix stated on a fan board that the album was likely to be titled
Days of war, Nights of Love, which is a lyrical quote from the song "No More Secrets" on the album, as well as an anarchic book published by CrimethInc. in 2000. Other tentative titles for the album were "Redemption" and "Forever", the title of the album's second single. The band hadn't picked their first single but had narrowed it down to "Crash", "What Do You Do?", and "
Forever". However, "
...To Be Loved" ended up being the first single for the album, and was the official theme song for
WWE Raw from 2006 to 2009 until being replaced by "
Burn It to the Ground" by
Nickelback. The album marked a more alternative rock-based sound compared to earlier efforts but still contained the softer ballads akin to
Getting Away with Murder. The album debuted at #16 on the Billboard 200 Charts.
The band started touring their new album in August 2006, with an American tour followed by one in Europe. On October 2006, Papa Roach toured with bands such as
Guns N' Roses, during their
Chinese Democracy tour, and
Deftones throughout the United States, having major success. They were also the special guest band during the Zippo Hot Tour with
Hed PE and
Eyes Set To Kill.
The band originally planned to release a compilation of acoustic recordings for their songs, such as "Forever", "
Scars", and "Not Coming Home", which was recorded for
KROQ's charity Christmas album,
Kevin and Bean's Super Christmas. The acoustic compilation has since been cancelled. In an interview with billboard.com, Jacoby Shaddix, had stated that he didn't think fans are quite ready for the acoustic direction.
[5]On April 25, it was announced that drummer Dave Buckner would be sitting out the band's current tour. A statement issued by the group's record label said, "Buckner has taken time off from touring with the band due to personal matters". He was expected to rejoin the group later. Jacoby Shaddix later confirmed in an interview with Launch Radio Networks that Dave had checked himself into rehab, stating "Dave, he went to rehab and went to go clean his act up 'cause he was out of his mind".
Unwritten Law drummer,
Tony Palermo filled in on drums for touring duties.
[6]"
Forever" is the second single from
The Paramour Sessions and was in heavy rotation across America. On May 23, 2007, more than four months after the album's second single, "Forever", had impacted radio stations, the band shot the official video for the song in
Los Angeles, directed by Meiert Avis. Dave Buckner was in the video and had returned from rehab at that time. On June 15, the single was released and the video made its official debut on
AOL.
[7]On January 28, 2008 Jacoby announced on Papa Roach's
MySpace that Buckner would officially be parting ways with Papa Roach for good. He stated that Dave was still trying to get his life back together. Jacoby also mentioned that the band would be going back to the Paramour Mansion for the next month to begin work on their fifth studio album. Tony Palermo would continue drumming with the band for their upcoming album and for their tour in support of the album.
[edit]Metamorphosis and Tours: 2008–2010
In an interview in February 2008 with
99.7 The Blitz, a rock radio station in
Columbus, Ohio,
Jacoby Shaddix stated that the band was currently working on their new album, which, like
The Paramour Sessions, was to be titled
Days of War, Nights of Love, which is a lyrical quote from the song "No More Secrets" and the titles of two songs from the album: "Days of War" and "Nights of Love". However, the album was renamed to
Metamorphosis to mark the band's ten years since their signing with
DreamWorks Records in 1999 and to mark all of the changes the band has gone through in the past ten years.
The band also went on tour with
Seether,
Staind, and
Red later in the year. They changed the release date of
Metamorphosis to March 24, 2009 during that tour.
On October 26, Papa Roach released the music video for the song, "
Hollywood Whore", and was released as an
EP in Canada and as a digital single on October 28. According to the band, the video was just something for the fans while they waited for
Metamorphosis, and was not intended to be a single. The album's first official single, "
Lifeline", was released on the band's
MySpace profile on January 9, 2009. The band also went on tour with
Buckcherry,
Avenged Sevenfold, and
Burn Halo in early 2009. The
Crüe Fest DVD was released on March 24, the same day
Metamorphosis was released. The second single, "
I Almost Told You That I Loved You", was released on June 1. On June 23, they released their ninth EP,
Naked and Fearless: Acoustic EP. The EP is available through the
Zune Marketplace,
iTunes, and
Rhapsody.
Papa Roach toured with
Nickelback on their
Dark Horse Tour through
Live Nation outdoor amphitheater's along with
Hinder and
Saving Abel in the summer. During that tour, Jacoby Shaddix confirmed that "Had Enough" would be the album's third single, before playing the song itself. Online, Papa Roach asked fans what they "Had Enough" of and showed a fan-made video of the song online. Despite this, the music video was not released and was cancelled as a single due to label issues, according to the band.
[edit]Time for Annihilation and move to Eleven Seven Music: 2010–present
On January 8, 2010,
Jacoby Shaddix announced on Papa Roach's official
Twitter account that the band was about to start working on new songs. On February 8, Jerry Horton said that he was at the studio starting to write. The band also said on their website that they would be releasing 'Big News' in the next couple of weeks. The band continued to add to rumors of a new album or other release on twitter.
On February 23, Jerry Horton officially announced that the 'Big News' fans were waiting for was the news of the band new album, a combination of live tracks and new songs. He said that they recorded it on the last run of their 2009 co-headlining tour with
Shinedown at the
Binghamton, New York show and were recording five new songs in the studio for it.
[9]In March, Jacoby said he was recording vocals for two new songs called "Nemesis" and "No Matter What".
[10] Later that month, the band released the official teaser for the live album and confirmed that the release date would be in the summer of 2010. In June, on
Nikki Sixx's radio show,
Sixx Sense, Jacoby confirmed that the final new song for the album would be "The Enemy", and that "Nemesis" had been renamed to "One Track Mind".
In April, the band played two new songs, "
Burn" at the Chili Cook Off in
Richmond, Virginia on April 17, and "Kick In the Teeth" on April 30. In May, Jerry Horton said in an interview that the name of the album would be
Time for Annihilation, and would feature nine live tracks and five new songs, making it a live album and a studio album. He also said that the new single would be "Kick In the Teeth" and that the band switched labels to
Eleven Seven Music.
[11] Later, Jacoby added on that the album would be released on August 31.
[12] "Kick In the Teeth" was released as a single on June 22.
[13]On June 29, the band's former label,
Geffen Records, released a greatest hits compilation of the band's biggest hits, titled
...To Be Loved: The Best of Papa Roach. The band, however, told fans not to buy it, saying that the band was making no money off of the album's sales and that the label released the album against the band's will. Masters and/or copyrights by Papa Roach are represented by
Downtown Music Publishing. The band no longer owns the rights to their songs, but can still play the songs live.
On August 1, the song "No Matter What" was leaked onto the internet. Four days later, the rest of the
Time for Annihilation album was leaked.
Time for Annihilation was released on August 31. The band announced that the next singles from the album would be "Burn" and "No Matter What". They also said they were interested in releasing another live DVD, but want to wait until they have a headlining show in
Europe. In October, Papa Roach began the "Monsters of Annihilation" tour with
Skillet.
In an interview, guitarist
Jerry Horton said that the band is going to release a new album in 2012 after a tour "We are going to start touring in March 2011 then we'll enter the studio in late September / early October to work on the new album". He also mention that Papa Roach is going to explore "electronic sounds" for this upcoming record.
[14]In an interview with Upvenue, Tobin Esperance explained that
Time for Annihilation was really just the end of a decade of Papa Roach. "We put out five major label, full-length records, and we were transitioning from a major label, going independent, and we wanted to do something different [...] we'd always talked about doing a live record, and it turned into 'let's add a couple of bonus songs' [...] and now it's half live, half new songs and it's kind of the past and present of Papa Roach, and I think it's a good representation and a good reminder of what this band's about, [...] and it gives you a look at where our sound can go."
[15]Papa Roach will play two intimate shows in London and Sheffield in July with band called
Yashin, possibly where the band will record their next live DVD.
[16]Musical style
Frontman
Jacoby Shaddix said the following in an interview with the Dallas Music Guide regarding the band no longer using rapping in their music: "...the rapping's gone! I don't feel like rapping. I'm just over that...I just want to be a rocker. It's what I wanted to be when I was a kid". Shaddix has added this remark in another interview: "We’re a band that tries to walk that line between metal, hardcore, punk rock and pop music, and we do our best at trying to make it all cool".
[21]Guitarist
Jerry Horton said later in an interview by VerdamMnis Magazine that "It's kind of a natural thing for us, we've always been changing throughout the years. Of course, there are some things that stay the same in our sound but we do like to try new things to sort of stretch out a little bit our basis and therefore make it more interesting". He also said that the band is going to explore "electronic sounds for the next record".
[22]Band members
- Current members
- Former members
- Will James - bass guitar, backing vocals (1993–1997)
- Dave Buckner - drums, percussion (1993–2008)
- Former session members
- Ben Luther - trombone (1993)
- Ryan Brown - drums, percussion (1994)
- Mike Doherty - rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2002)
Discography
Tours
- Warped Tour (2000)
- Issues Tour (2000) with Korn and Powerman 5000
- Total Request Live Tour (2000) with (həd) p.e. and Taproot
- Raid the Nation Tour (2001) with Orgy, (həd) p.e. and Alien Ant Farm
- Ozzfest (2001)
- Headlining tour (2003) with Nonpoint, Reach 454 and Die Trying
- The Bad Boys of Rock Tour (2007) with Buckcherry, The Exies, 12 Stones, Hinder and Rev Theory
- Crüe Fest (2008) with Mötley Crüe, Buckcherry, Trapt and Sixx:A.M.
- The Illusion of Progress Tour (2008) with Staind, Seether, Red and State of Shock
- Dark Horse Tour (2009) with Nickelback, Hinder and Saving Abel
- Headling Fall Tour (2009) with Jet, Kill Hannah and Aranda
- Headling December Tour (2009) with Shinedown and Halestorm
- Headling Spring Tour (2010) with Puddle of Mudd, 12 Stones, Hellyeah, Adelitas Way and Seasons After
- Monsters of Annihilation Tour (2010) with Trapt, Skillet and My Darkest Days
- Taste of Chaos Tour (2010) with Disturbed, Buckcherry and Halestorm
- Jägermeister Music Tour (2011) with Buckcherry, My Darkest Days and Bleeker Ridge
- Raid the Nation with Finger Eleven and Pop Evil
[edit]References
