

Alternative/Rock
Papa Roach: “It was indicative of the era musically but I think that the music and the lyrics they can transcend that.”
In our latest Cover Story, Papa Roach guitarist Jerry Horton tells us the story of their hit album ‘Infest’…
From the moment the words “Cut my life into pieces, this is my last resort…” rang out, rock fans across the globe had a band and a new anthem to call their own. For Californian nu-metal rising stars Papa Roach, it was a track that was going to propel both the band and the album it came from, Infest, into the Premier League of rock bands alongside the big-hitters of a flourishing nu-metal scene.
An incredible twenty-five years later and the band, the single and the album are still going strong. Papa Roach, away from working on their new record, have it the road to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Infest with the tour, entitled Rise of the Roach, rolling into the UK this week.
In our latest cover story, V13 sat down with guitarist and founding member Jerry Horton on the opening date of their European run in Germany to look back at the impact the album had on the band and generations of rock fans.
Infest is 25 years old. I saw this and I’m in my 40s now and I’ve not actually felt like I’m that age until I saw that. How does it feel to say those words ‘Infest is 25 years old?’
“Yeah, it’s wild, man. We’ve been just doing our thing, always busy making new music, doing tours and time is, obviously it’s not irrelevant, but it’s not something that you really think about. Every once in a while management or whatever will mention, “Hey, you got this anniversary coming up,” and, yeah, 25 came up and that’s almost half my life. It’s crazy because it seems like it was just yesterday but also a lifetime ago.”
It really does. I think back and I had a little Nokia phone with ringtones and I got a “Last Resort” one on the phone as my ringtone. Literally now I can get the internet on my phone. When you were writing and recording Infest, did you ever expect it to become the iconic album it actually became?
“I think back then I wouldn’t say we were delusional, but we felt strongly about the songs. We knew that, we expected that the songs that we picked for singles would do well and we expected that we would be on the radio and we would be touring. It just didn’t happen the way that we imagined it would happen. We expected a build up, we expected to work it, to tour for a while and hopefully get to a certain level but it was completely different.”
In a parallel universe then what do you think you would actually be doing now if Papa Roach did not have this incredible success?
“I think we would still be doing it on some level. It’s what we were supposed to do. If it didn’t hit, then we would have kept on going and try to make more albums… and whatever.”
Looking back, did you think you were actually prepared for the mainstream success that actually came along with “Last Resort”?
“We, we didn’t even realize what happened until after it was over. We were caught up in the whole thing like when we did the MTV Awards, there’s P!nk and there’s Alicia Keys and there’s the Backstreet Boys and it was that part of it that was really wild.
Meeting our idols was incredible. At the Kerrang! Awards meeting Brian May and he’s like, “Hey, you guys are cool.” That’s something that you can talk about but, really, until you experience it, it doesn’t really translate.”
“We, we didn’t even realize what happened until after it was over. We were caught up in the whole thing like when we did the MTV Awards, there’s P!nk and there’s Alicia Keys…”
“Last Resort” was a song that really resonated with so many people and it continues to do so. Would you consider it to be timeless as a result of this?
“I would think so. It was indicative of the era musically but, I think that, stylistically anyway, the music itself and the lyrics they can transcend that. Even now people are still discovering it which is pretty crazy.”
Some bands do feel that when they get that hit song, as a result of that incredible popularity, sometimes it feels like a bit of a weight or a noose around their neck in some regards. Do you guys still get the same buzz and the same rush from like playing it after all these years of live shows?
“Yeah, we do. When people light up, and they get stoked, that ignites it for us. Stood there at soundcheck playing it, it feels like “Oh, here we go again,” but, when it’s a moment and the crowd goes crazy, it brings it to life for us again.”
As we’re talking 25 years, what has actually been the biggest highlight of those last 25 years for you?
“To boil it down to one thing, it would be impossible. I’d say touring with some of the bands that we toured with. Doing some of the Award shows and meeting some of our heroes. Even over the years, just doing festivals and meeting new bands, it’s been a wild, crazy ride. The fact that we’re 25 years in, technically longer than that, but this far in and we’re still making music and we’re selling out shows, we have a new song at radio that is, at least in the States, that’s already doing well, I’d say that’s probably one of the best things that I could think is. We’re still here, still doing it.”
Your success offered you opportunities to collaborate with, for example, Carrie Underwood for “Leave the Lights On.” Over the years, Papa Roach has collaborated with like quite an eclectic collection of artists. Has there been anyone specific that stood out or been particularly memorable or perhaps someone who might have been a bit of a risk genre wise?
“I don’t think it wasn’t necessarily a risk, but when we got to work with the Black Eyed Peas, that was another highlight. Not only is Will.I.Am super creative and he works really fast with ideas and everything but all those guys are super cool and it was such a pleasure. I think that the song that we did together is something that is Top 10 for me. It was a cool look for us. It was a great thing because it was on their album so, not only did we get to collaborate, but we got to be on their album.”
“I don’t think it wasn’t necessarily a risk, but when we got to work with the Black Eyed Peas, that was another highlight.”
If you could actually collaborate with anyone, living or dead, who would be the dream to work with?
“That’s a tough one. It would be amazing to work with Gilmore. It would be fun to work with Bjork. It would be awesome to work with Trent Reznor, any one of those people.”
You mentioned Bjork, a collaboration with Papa Roach and Bjork, that would be an interesting sound to say the least…
“I don’t know how that would go, but it would be weird, that’s for sure.”
Rock music really does find a way to translate, transcending genres in any way it can. I’d love to see you work with Paul McCartney just to get out of the box. Onto the future then, fans are waiting patiently for that 12th studio. What can we expect from it when we do see it?
“I feel like I’ve said this before, but, because we worked with different producers, it was like a group of three to four different guys, we did a few songs each and so it’s very diverse. There are some things that are really experimental, it’s kind of all over the place, but there’s so many great moments and riffs and hooks and beats and all of it. That’s really as far as I can go to describe it. You’re going to have to hear it.”
Let’s talk about touring to wrap up, or as I call it Tales of Touring Terror…
“The first show we did ever in Italy was at a snowboard festival in the Alps. I don’t remember where our connection was from, but we basically flew in there on a very small prop plane. The crosswinds were such that we were coming in for the landing and we were completely sideways and everybody was looking out of the side window and we were going forward. We didn’t know if we were going to make it though.
We finally made it, we got there, and the stage was basically a trailer rigged with lights and it was minus 13 outside – even the lights couldn’t really help heat us up. It was painful for, the whole set. Our agent as kind of a backhanded apology had coats made for us that said ”Papa Roach – Coolest Band On Earth -13 degrees.” He didn’t live that one down for quite a while. We did it with our friends in (Hed)pe and Xzibit was also there. After we suffered in the cold, we had a good time and we got a story out of it.”
You’re visiting three cities in the UK as part of this celebration. Is there a favourite venue?
“It’s a little cliche, but it’s going to have to be Wembley just because that’s something that we’ve wanted to do forever and it’s now lined up and the fact that it’s sold out is amazing.”
Papa Roach continue their “Rise of the Roach” tour this week with the following shows:
07/02 – London – Wembley Arena
08/02 – Nottingham – Motorpoint Arena
09/02 – Liverpool – M&S Arena
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