INTERVIEW: Daughtry
- Posted on December 10, 2007 1:55 PM
- 0 comments
Interview by Katie Spain
London, October 25th 2007
Some bands you connect with, others exist in a dream world, far beyond the reach of little journos like myself. Occasionally however, you meet a group of guys who love the same music that you do, who get excited when you mention their favourite band and are as genuine as they were when playing small pubs and dingy stages. When Seatwave met Daughtry frontman Chris and bass player Brian Craddock, we were surprised to discover that the men behind the biggest selling album in the US this year are actually extremely down to earth.
Chris became the tattooed apple of America's eye after reaching the final of 'American Idol'. Don't hold that against him though troops... he didn't win and that's a good thing because Daughtry, the band was born. The five-piece take all the best ingredients of American Rock and dish it up steaming hot - with amazing vocals on top. Since the release of their debut album in the US last November they have sold 3 million copies and hit the number one spot twice on the Billboard top 100.
When we met them in a central London recording studio, Chris and Brian were promoting the release of their single 'Home' and a sold out gig at London's Scala. Like their previous London gig at the Borderline, the show sold out in minutes. The two mates chin-wagged about Batman,
TOOL, Rock mates and sang us a spot of Bon Jovi.
They also answered some of the questions sent in by the fans (that's you). The answers, you'll find, were enlightening.
First of all, what do you think of London?
C: We love it here. It is our second time. It has a cool vibe to it... it's a little rainy though.
Have you had a chance to see much?
C: Well, we just got here last night. We did see Big Ben though. We were here for about five days last time but we didn’t get a chance to sight see.
We had some fans send some questions in for you. One fan wants to know how Chris developed his voice. Was it hours singing in the shower when you were little?
C: It started out very Tracy Chapman-ish. I didn’t realize what I was capable of doing. I guess it was part of being scared to test the water. A buddy of mine totally talked me in to it after he heard me messing around one day. He turned me on to this band called Tool. he was like, you have got to do that. I was like; I don’t know if I can. So, he kind of got me into screaming if you will; not that I do that a lot. With the combination of listening to my hero Ed from Live and listening to bands like Tool and losing my voice every time I would try to sound like them, I eventually developed my own sound.
You’ve got the hairstyle as Ed Kowalczyk and Maynard James Keenan as well!
C: Well, I grew up as a huge Live fan. At the time, I had really long hair and so I never thought that I would have a bald head. So, it is kind of weird that he is my favourite guy and now I look like him.
What was your most memorable concert as an audience member?
C: Mine was in 1997, it was Live. It was amazing. I was like the giddy school girl yelling ‘I love you,’ and now, we are good buddies! He called me from Vegas the other day, he was gambling. I was jealous.
B: My most memorable one was A Perfect Circle.
What great taste in music boys. I can tell that I'm not going to stick to my questions... Now Chris, you learnt guitar at a very young age?
C: Well, I did try. My dad was a very good guitar player as far as country music goes. When I was like, nine or ten, I was like, hey dad, show me a couple of chords. I couldn’t switch from chord to chord really fast and I hurt my fingers because I playing on an acoustic guitar. At such a young age, it didn’t really interest me that much so I gave up on it. Years later, when I was sixteen, I picked it up again and something clicked.
And Brian, what was your first tune that you learned?
B: The first tuned that I learned was when I was fourteen. My dad was a huge Led Zeppelin fan…I mean huge… I got a guitar for Christmas and literally, the day after Christmas, I took lessons from this local guitar hero. I took in some music for Megadeath, Holy Wars, because that was the song that I was super in to when I got the guitar. We started working on it but even thought his guy was a great guitar player, he couldn’t read tab right. He kept playing on the high strings. I knew my old man would love it if I came home and could play Stairway to Haven – the quintessential guitar song you know. So, I learned it and my dad was stoked.
Do you still have your first guitar?
B: No, I traded it for a BC Rich Warlock.
C: Wooooah!
Do you still have it?
B: No, I kept on trading!
C: This girl I went to High School with sold me this guitar and a little amp for one hundred bucks. It was a sparkly green lotus. It was horrible, this thing sounded like ass.
You guys obviously go back quite a way. How did the band come together after the American Idol thing died down?
C: Me and Bryan have known each other for ten years or more. I started playing music when I moved to Virginia and he worked at the music store. I would always go in there and hang out and annoy everybody. I had a band in the area and Bryan was in one of the bands that were better known, so we opened up for him. We have been friends ever since. We did auditions in LA. I called a bunch of my buddies up and one of them made it. When we started the tour, one of the guitar players decided it wasn’t for him. I called Bryan up and he was on the next plane.
I know that you are in to comics. We were down in Soho earlier trying to find a cool comic, but I am an absolute novice so we picked up whatever we could find. Tell me, what is your ultimate comic?
C: Probably the first Batman.
B: I used to be really in to it too.
C: The one where he is swinging and holding the guy, it was legendary.
Let's talk about Home which is set to be released in January in the UK. Where do you call home now?
C: North Carolina.
If we were to come to your part of the world, where would you take us?
C: If you go to Greensborough where we live, we would take you down town because it is really cool. It has a lot of nice bars and restaurants and has a cool vibe to it. But, if we are talking about taking you anywhere in the States…
B: My answer is always easy. My favourite place is oddly enough, Washington DC. I love it there. There is tons of cool stuff; it is kind of like London.
You have got a gig at the Scala next month which I think is the perfect balance between the huge venues you have been playing and the small ones that you started out in. What can we expect from the gig?
C: A straight up Rock show. Very reminiscent of the Live days and their album Secret Samadhi. It is a lot more intense than the record when we play it live. We want to give them a little something different. It is a little heavier and a little louder.
(At this point Chris, Brian and I meander off into a lengthy chat about Live, TOOL and other epic bands. It could have gone on for the whole interview... Chris gets very excited but I remember why I'm here and ask a few more fan questions).
One of your fans Matt wants to know what the recording process was like for your last album?
C: Well, the band hadn’t been formed yet but I had some great guys in there recording with me. It was fun to see these songs that I hadn’t written years ago take on new life. They sound totally different to what I ever expected it to be like. It was a lot of fun to be creative and to make those ideas happen.
Do you improvise a lot on stage?
B: Yeah we do, we kind of have certain places like at the end of the set, and we just go with the moment. But, it is going to change shape here; we are going to change it all around again.
Are you touring with Bon Jovi?
We are doing two shows with him. We were fans yeah; I actually did a little on Karaoke the other day!
Another fan question... Cat said – I loved it when you did a show and said Daughtry the band, not the man. Is it easier being recognized as a band now?
C: I was kind of pissed off actually because the radio guy went out to introduce us at this big metal fest and he said ‘everybody welcome Chris Daughtry from American Idol.’ I was like, you gotta be kidding. For the most part, the fans get it. I think sometimes TV personalities try to be clever and it comes off not very flattering to us. The people that care have caught on.
I can see how the rest of the band might get annoyed.
C: Well, these guys drive the show. It is very much not about me.
Kim wants to know which band member is the funniest/smelliest or most annoying?
C: Easy. That will be Joey Barnes. He is definitely the funniest man to be around. He actually always smells really good though. We are always wondering what cologne he is wearing.
Angel says: Chris, since your dream collaboration is with Chris formally from Soundgarden, are you going to make this happen?
C: I tried to; I was in Paris looking for him. I was walking around with a photo and asking if anyone else had seen him. Oddly enough, I think we have the same vocal coach, but I have never met him.
Daughtry's new single - ‘Home’ – 7th January 2008
www.daughtryofficial.com
Get tickets for Daughtry's gigs here.
We managed to get a Batman comic signed by Chris Daughtry. For your chance to win this money can't buy baby, check out our competition for your chance to win.
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