Josh Todd Talks New Record, Chester Bennington
Josh Todd isn’t just the voice of Buckcherry anymore.
Featuring Buckcherry guitarist Stevie D., Sean Winchester and Greg Cash, Josh Todd & The Conflict are dropping their debut album Year of the Tiger on September 15. In a recent conversation with WRIF’s Meltdown, Todd touched on how the album is a return to form of sorts, as well as the speedy nature in which it was recorded:
“This record is like back to my roots. I grew up in Southern California; I was a little punk rock kid. All my records from 15-17 were independent punk rock records. I had a huge collection, and I was really into those records because they were very honest and real. They didn’t have major labels taming them down and making them write songs for a radio format…I was just going through a lot of change, and it was all really good change, but some of it was painful. I just kinda write from the heart, and I just go where the music takes me most of the time…I really had to hunker down and make the record of my career again, and I just feel like this record ‘Year Of The Tiger’ is very, very special…I recorded all of the vocals in six days, and we literally were in and out of the studio not even two weeks.”
As with any rock conversation lately, the topic of Chester Bennington came up, and Todd gave a very unique perspective on the Linkin Park singer’s suicide:
“I did not know Chester, but people who commit suicide…It’s a very sensitive subject for me. That happened with my father; I’m a kid of that, you know. It happened when I was ten. All I think about is that these guys had children. I just wasn’t a good choice. It’s just an effed-up thing you do to the families. I don’t understand these guys who have a lot going on. They have great careers and hit songs…so that part of me is like…I don’t really have too many emotions about it. I just think about those kids…All I know is what I’ve dealt with through the years, as far as that empty hole. I wouldn’t want anyone to go through that, and I just feel like it was a really bad decision. I don’t care what the guy was going through. It seemed like he really planned it out. When you commit suicide, all of a sudden there’s no…you don’t get any money from life insurance policies. That’s gone. I don’t know what he brings in on the music side of things, but hopefully, those kids are taken care of, because they got their whole lives that they gotta have clothes and go to school and no dad. So, it’s not a good situation.”
To pre-order Josh Todd & The Conflict’s new album, go to JoshTodd.com.
To listen to this interview in its entirety, head over to WRIF.com.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFddN7zKzMQ/
Erica Banas is a rock/classic rock blogger. The first man she ever loved was Jack Daniel. (True story.)
