After surviving the fall of nu metal, Papa Roach have consistently silenced their naysayers. They’ve embraced new sounds, collaborated with TikTokkers and have just released their second greatest hits compilation, celebrating the second decade of their career. Frontman Jacoby Shaddix is one of metal’s greatest survivors … but can he survive your questions?
If you could bring one thing back from the nu metal era what would it be? Jacob Brady (email)
“Adidas pants – look at this shit! [Stands up and does a twirl] I’m bringing them back right now! I’ve a wallet chain too. Sometimes you just don’t let go of shit.”
Any plans to bring a trombonist back into the band at any point? @cam_smiley
“No, not at this point, but it’s funny you brought that up. The fella that played trombone in P Roach for a month just texted me the other day, and it was really cool to catch up with him because I hadn’t caught up with him in years. His father was our teacher in high school band and they were very creative people, supportive of the arts. I really loved being in the school band. You never know what the future holds. I mean, fuck! We might want a little [toots] ‘bwwaaaa baaa baaaaaah…’”
Who is an artist or band you’d love to collaborate with, but just hasn’t happened yet? @EternalRemorse
“I’d love to collaborate with The Prodigy. I’ve been saying it for, like, 15-plus years now, maybe one of these days it’ll work out. I saw Liam [Howlett] was posting a while ago about creating new music, I don’t know if it’s for The Prodigy or just him creating music. They were one of my favourite live groups ever. I have a very fond memory of being on tour, I think it was back in 2013, we were doing Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park [in Germany], and I took my son to see Prodigy live. I was fucking floored, jamming out. I looked at my son and he was blown away. Later on that night, I’d got this Gibson guitar from my friend Herman the German. I took it into the Prodigy dressing room and got it signed for my son, Makaile, so we have a little piece of rock’n’roll memorabilia.”
Hammer: If you were to make a song together what would that sound like?
“Just some rowdy, fucking, thrash hop. Rapping and screaming on a Prodigy track would be dope. I keep throwing it out in the press – I just gotta get bold enough and slide up in his DMs…”
What meal would you make someone who was coming over for dinner for the first time? Jamie Hughes (email)
“I’d do a Tri-Tip BBQ situation. I’d grill out some veggies and do some roasted rosemary garlic potatoes and we’d tear it down. I love doing the BBQ. Tri-Tip is like a really big cut of meat and you slow cook it, it’s real tender. I really enjoy cooking outside: that’s a peaceful place for me. Plus, in California outdoor living is a big deal. Once it comes spring and summer time, we’re outside as much as possible.”
What’s been the most exciting aspect of putting together the new album? @punksailorscout
“It’s been a really cool process. I pinch myself because I’m going, ‘Alright, we are going to do a ‘greatest hits volume two’, what the fuck?’ I’m in eternal gratitude to our fans for sticking with us through the highs and the lows. We’ve had great successes and great failures, but we’re courageous enough as creators to keep putting ourselves out, put our blood onto the dancefloor and risk it. This is our way to put a pin in it because we’re moving on. We signed a new record deal, so this is a great way to bookend this period of our career. It’s an ending but it’s a new beginning too.”
Hammer: What would you class as the epic failures?
“In the critics’ eyes, our second [major label] album, Lovehatetragedy [2002], was an epic failure. But I look back on it very fondly. It was a necessary record to make to continue to build our identity. We felt like we were being pigeonholed as a one-trick pony and we felt there was so much more to our band than the nu metal tag. I love being one of the forefathers of nu metal, that’s fucking dope, but we’ve been able to outlive it and celebrate it at the same time.”
What advice you would give to someone who struggles with mental illness such as depression or anxiety? @TracyJo17226805
“First, be willing to talk about it, be willing to be vulnerable about your feelings. Second, exercise. It’s a major component that’s overlooked so much by people who struggle with mental health. And cut down your screen time and your time on the couch. Get active and get moving. What I’ve learned about myself, is that it’s about the action that creates the right thinking. I can’t think my way out of depression and if I sit and ruminate in that, then I stay in it and there’s no freedom in that. Also, quit eating sugar. Sugar is a major factor in inflammation of our brains and that’s where the problem lies, within our minds. If our minds are inflamed, our brains are inflamed, then one of the side effects is depression. I’ve been in that place where I can’t even get out of bed. Maybe I’m a bit of a hard ass on myself. I’m like, ‘Get off the fucking couch, you’ve got to move, Coby.’ I talk to myself like this because if I don’t, I’m going to stay stuck.”
Are you a gamer? @RalphSidorowicz
“I am not a gamer. I’ve always sucked so bad with my hand-eye coordination when it comes to games. It’s defeating to me. I just wasn’t one of those kids that got into that. I was more tactile. I like to build. I like to create. I like to make noise. Gaming was never really a passion of mine, but if you ask about Jerry [Horton], our guitar player, that’s a fucking gamer. He’s legit.”
Jacoby, will you be my dad? @0vercastkid
“I mean they don’t call us Papa Roach for nothing. Come on! Papa! Yeah, I’ll be your dad, but you gotta call me Papa.”
Hammer: Do your kids think you’re a cool dad?
“For the most part, yes. I’ve got a great relationship with my kids. Part of it, I think, is my absence to be honest, I’m not around all the time. I’ve been touring so much of their lives that when I’m home, there’s that quality time. We have an open, honest relationship; my kids tell me what they are going through and we talk about what’s real. Part of that stems too from me not really having a relationship with my dad and wanting to build a solid relationship with my boys. When you don’t have that, there’s that hole. I don’t want my boys to grow up like that.”
Who’d win in a fight between Corey Taylor and David Draiman? Rich Pedder (email)
“Probably Corey. I really like David, but with Corey, there’s this visceral, sinuous savage in there and David is a little more easygoing. I’ve never seen David mad, but I’ve seen Corey mad!”
What is your idea of a perfect day with Jerry? @maria_tibai
“Working out in the wood shop, I think that would be a rad day. He’s very much a hands-on type of guy. He’s into woodworking and he’s always got some cool stuff that he’s researching and learning. I think it would be really cool to build something. I’d probably make a dining table. He made a dining table for his house and that’s fucking awesome. I’m like [drops voice to a whisper], ‘Can you make me one?’”
If I build you a time machine will you go back to 2020 and not record that new version of Last Resort with that person off TikTok [Jeris Johnson]? @MushiMoshiMoshi
“Of course not, dude. That shit is slapping! You’ve got the old-school version – rock that shit. This is for the young kids. This shit ain’t for the old people! That’s alright though, you’re going to get the haters. My son Makaile is like, ‘Dad, have you seen some of the comments on this?’ and I’m like, ‘Son, it is what it is if you’re bold enough and brave enough to put yourself out there for criticism.’ It’s part of the nature of this beast and you can’t please everybody. Not everybody is going to be happy with what you do, but I’ve got to be happy with what I do.”
