How many of the nu-metal bands from the early 2000’s are still around anymore, let alone relevant at this point? How many of those bands are still putting out records, let alone ones of any quality? The list is very short indeed. Crooked Teeth, Papa Roach’s album from back in 2017, was one of the band’s most successful to date. Outside of a couple albums in their middle period that weren’t too great, the band has managed to deliver at least a few bangers per record, even collaborating with Maria Brink and Lupe Fiasco recently. I mean, Papa Roach goes DJENT is a thing, and it’s catchy as hell.
In a recent interview with Global News Service, the band discussed how they’re able to remain vital in an ever changing industry.
GN: “How do you think you’ve managed to stay relevant with the decline of hard rock and metal?”
Papa Roach: “It’s hard to, because the listeners nowadays have so much to work with. They can only do 10 seconds of a song at a time. So you gotta try and capture the listener. I feel that we still do that.”
“With great music and an even better live show. Something that’s been an integral part of our careers. When we get up there and play these hits, people go, “Oh f**k, I remember that from that year,” so we’re now shaping up to be one of those legacy bands. We’re becoming the soundtrack for some of these people’s lives and continue to do so. We look at our demographic now and know there’s a future for P. Roach, because it’s still thriving with this youth culture. It’s all kids in the front row. Most of them probably weren’t even born when our s**t dropped.”
Responding to a question about the band doing press in Canada, Papa Roach said:
“It was a cool thing to actually get some face time and create a fellowship with people in the music biz. We don’t want to just be a name on a piece of paper or a pitch. We want to get people invested.”
In the same interview, the band dropped a major hint about a celebration for the 20th anniversary of Infest.
GN: What are the plans after the album drops?
TP: January essentially starts the next chapter of Papa Roach. It kicks it all off.
JS: 2020 is also the 20-year anniversary of our first major album, Infest, so we’re gonna do some really cool stuff around that. The next few years are gonna be really f**king exciting.
TP: Daunting, but exciting.
It’s a great read that you should take a few minutes of your time to do so. While the bands still has their older records and hits to fall back on, it’s great to hear their newer material is still kicking as well. Papa Roach may not be the band they were 15 years ago, but then again, it’s why they still matter.
Papa Roach’s new album “Who Do You Trust?” will be released in January via Eleven Seven Music. Check out the title track below.
