*NEW INTERVIEW* --November 11th, 2009 with Shannon!
Away-Team.com: Let's talk about the new album.
Shannon: Man, it's going great! We're shooting to finish it on December 15th, and then looking to release it sometime in March of next year. It's going to be a monster. The drums sound incredible, Sully's [Erna] voice is on fire…it's gonna be much more like the first record; much heavier, with simple, catchy guitar-driven riffs. We're working with Dave Fortman who I was lucky enough to play with in UGLY KID JOE and who has done production for SLIPKNOT and MUDVAYNE, to name a few. He and Sully are co-producing the record and they make a great team.
One of the cool things about this album is that we're recording it one track at a time. What I mean by that is, instead of me just laying down the drum tracks and then the band coming back in and laying down all the guitar, vocals, bass and stuff…we actually do one tune and then complete it before we move on to recording the next one. It's so cool because we get to hear what everything is going to sound like almost immediately and I'm not just laying down my drum tracks and then sitting around for the rest of the time waiting for it all to be done before I get to hear anything finished. It makes it way more exciting to record like this.
Away-Team.com: Any track titles that you're working with that you can let us in on?
Shannon: I don't think it would be too cool to reveal any of that right now since some of them could easily change by the time the record comes out, but I can tell you that it will probably be eleven tracks that get released. We're working with fifteen right now and I think that we'll finish narrowing it down to eleven that will actually make the album. It's pretty cool this time around because we have an instrumental that's about seven minutes long!
Away-Team: Is it anything like the old WRATHCHILD AMERICA (Shannon’s early band signed to Atlantic Records in the late 80’s and early 90’s.) instrumentals that your fans are used to? You know, those crazy ones with twenty different tempo changes…like “Prego” (from the WRATHCHILD AMERICA album 3-D)!!! (laughs)
Shannon: (laughs) It’s in there!!! (laughter) No, it only has about three significant tempo changes, but it’s really a step up from anything the ’Smack fans have heard from us to date. It’s really crazy and very cool to hear.
Away-Team: I assume touring will begin sometime in April, after the album has dropped?
Shannon: We’re hoping either March or April so that it coincides with the release. That’s a pretty safe bet.
Away-Team: Cool deal. Well, I know you’re a busy guy, so as always, thanks for checking in with us and hopefully we can do this again when you’re on your way back home to Florida. We’re all eager to hear how the album sounds and get the skinny on some of the song titles.
Shannon: We’ll do it for sure, Craig. I’ll be in touch when my feet hit the Florida soil! Thanks again for all the support.
Stay tuned for more on GODSMACK’s next tour and detailed information on the finished album when we talk to Shannon again the week of December 15th!
