Interview with Solo Artist and Godsmack frontman Sully Erna

Sully Erna, vocalist and frontman for the extremely successful metal band Godsmack, is preparing to release his first solo venture, Avalon. For this record Erna has taken a much different approach and created a disc that is quite a departure from his body of work with Godsmack. Avalon is composed of extremely melodic, piano-laced tunes that are woven together with an eclectic set of rhythms and grooves that are hypnotic and more than enjoyable to listen to. Erna took a moment to answer some questions about Avalon and the writing process behind the disc.

Now that your brand new CD, Avalon is complete and set for release, how do you feel about it and are you satisfied with the outcome?
Sully: Yeah, I am extremely excited! Oh my God I have been holding onto this thing for over a year now. It has been mixed and mastered for over a year and we were just trying to be patient and find the right spot to drop it. It feels good right now, the reviews are really strong and people are really getting it from what they have heard so far. I am really excited to let the world hear the rest of the album. I am excited because I really feel this is the most special thing that I have ever done so far.

I have listened to it and I found it incredibly interesting. But in your own words what can fans expect when they pick up a copy of Avalon?
Sully: Well I know that I wanted it to be very intellectual, eclectic and hypnotic and I really feel like it has a lot that.

It definitely has a nice World music feel to it as well.
Sully: Yeah, I think so, but to me it is not completely that. Take the band Dead Can Dance for instance, they are a big influence on me with their rhythmic aspects, but they are a lot more authentic in that genre of music. This has inspirations of that type of music with a modern edge to it.

You say that you have been sitting on it for over a year, but how long did it take to record?
Sully: To initially track everything, probably a few months.

Are you fairly quick in the studio? Can you usually knock things out in a couple of takes?
Sully: Yeah but this was more of an experimental project. We were always experimenting with a different sound or a different time signature and things like that. So this took a little bit longer than when we just lay down rock tracks because they are usually 4:4 time and they are a bit simpler, you just have to find the right groove and the right melody. This was more about the dynamics and the textures and things like that. It called for different instruments and it took some time just figuring out what those sounds were and how we could find them. Some of that just had to do with finding musicians who could play at a certain level and execute that stuff. It was a little bit of a challenge but it was really a fun journey that is for sure.

When you were recording this did you decide on suitable sounds fairly quickly or did you tweak obsessively?
Sully: It takes time for this kind of thing. We did not use too many crazy instruments, but there were times when I heard a certain sound in my head and I just had to figure out what that sound was and what made the sound. Sometimes we had to create it and other times we just had to find out what type of instrument it was. For the most part it was a standard procedure. It was not too complicated, but it was not real simple either.

Are there any tracks on Avalon that are personal favorites or that have good stories behind them?
Sully: I really love this whole record. It is hard for me to single out tracks on this one. Normally, I swear to you, I am not like your typical musician that says “oh yeah everything on the record is great.” But to me I can’t help but saying that. If this was Godsmack I would definitely have like 3 or 4 favorites, not that I don’t like the other ones, but I don’t love them as much as others. Usually by the time I get done writing, recording, mixing and mastering a song I can’t stand it anymore because I am sick of it, I have heard it a thousand times already; I am over it. But I run every morning about 4 or 5 miles a day and I put this record on and I am still, a year later, not sick of hearing these songs. If I had to pick a few I would say, “7 Years,” “Sinners Prayer,” “My Light” and “Until Then.” To me those four songs really shine on this record.

How do you think your musical shift is going to sit with fans of Godsmack?
Sully: It is a separate market but you know there will be a bit of crossing here. Of course the Godsmack fans are going to be interested in what I am doing but it is important to know that this isn’t a rock record. I have made it very clear that this is not me branching out as a solo artist doing rock music. I am not killing Godsmack or disconnecting it at all. I am just doing something that I really love doing as well and it is a completely different animal. I think for the most part there will be a lot of Godsmack fans that will embrace this and act even as the street team for this by passing it on to their moms and dads and helping expand the audience. There will be the haters too I am sure, people saying things like, “what the hell is Sully doing playing the piano, that is so gay, and hail Ronnie James Dio.”

What kind of touring plans do you have in support of this disc?
Sully: It is too premature to say right now. I have to do Godsmack this fall and then find out where the holes in my schedule are around that. I would like to take this out on the road, but I am not sure what this is going to be live yet. It could just be a special event type of show, a Warped show or a full tour in theatres or something. Right now it is a little too soon to say.

You stay fairly busy with Godsmack and your side project; I am not sure how you find time to do it all.
Sully: It is ridiculous. My girlfriend drives me crazy with it. She is always telling me to sit down and take a breath. I get bored sometimes and I just want to stay busy. Other times I am so busy I just want to be bored… I don’t know, it is like the Ying and the Yang sort of thing.

Any closing words Sully?
Sully: I am just exited about the record and I hope people invest the time and give it a chance. This is really a complete body of work and not a record you can just pick out one or two songs from. It would just be nice to have people enjoy the whole experience of the album because it really is about the music. I hope people really get that. It is not about the pyros, the video screens and jumping on stage. This is completely about the musicality of the project and hopefully people get that.

I got my copy yesterday from the record company and I did not know what to expect, but my son and I sat down and listened to it and top to bottom I think it is great. It is definitely a departure from your other work, but once you get into it I think it is a great flowing album.
Sully: Thank you, I appreciate that. That is all I am hoping people get from it. This is really a very musical record. It is very vivid and pictorial and if you spend time with it I am sure you will paint pictures in your mind because the lyrics are so vivid. I hope people enjoy it as an experience and not just a record with their favorite singles on it.

Even the sequencing of this seems to flow really, really well.
Sully: Thank you. Believe me it took a long time. That is why I have been sitting on this for so long. It is my first opportunity to branch out as a solo artist and wanted it to be perfect… as perfect as it can be in my eyes. Now, I think I have found the flow of it and how everything is connected. I would even like to see this do well enough to be able to become a theatrical production like “Tommy” did or like “The Wall” did. Not that I am comparing myself to Pink Floyd, but just the experience and the journey of it. I think I could make something very cool from this in a theatrical way. We will see though… one step at a time.

Did you produce this yourself?
Sully: I produced this myself.

Was it a different experience wearing the producer’s hat this time as well?
Sully: Well no it was really challenging because it was the first time I got to work with different caliber musicians. People that are much, much better than I am as a musician. I learned so much from listening to these players that it really helped my game as a producer. I loved it. It was so refreshing. It was one of the most satisfying projects I have done so far. It was just so fun, there was never any stress or arguing, it was really just a great time and I am excited to get it out there and play it live.