Aaron Lewis interview that's kinda wacked haha! with part one added grrrrrr
Staind explain why they're better than Nickelback
Break The Cycle has to be one of my favourite albums of all time, so when I heard that Staind had a new album out and were hitting the road in the UK, I was more than a little excited, despite the fact that my love for front man Aaron Lewis has now shifted to Nickelback’s Chad Kroger…
I caught up with Aaron before his Manchester gig to see why his true fans don’t appreciate Nickelback, why guns don’t kill people, rappers do and he never dyed his pubic hair.
Hey Aaron, how are you enjoying being in the UK?
It’s been great.
Where has your favourite gig to date been?
Oh I don’t know, [FF: Manchester?] Yeah, Manchester this evening.
We’ve been waiting for you to return ever since the release of Chapter V in 2005; how have fans reacted to your return?
The shows have been really good, we’re very lucky that we have the amazing fans that we do.
Have you found your fan base has gotten bigger or smaller?
Well it seems that the choices that were made by the people guiding our careers earlier in our career weren’t good ones and in the 10 or 11 years that we’ve been doing this job, we should have been in the UK a dozen times already, but management didn’t stand to make any money by sending us over here so they kept us in the states.
Our career over here has suffered tremendously because of it and we are just very thankful that there are still fans here and I hope that that grows as we get over here a lot more often now that those people aren’t in control of our career anymore.
Did you get up to anything super exciting during your break?
Which little break? [FF: Between this album and your last one] I spent the whole time doing acoustic shows.
So, we’re in a bit of an economic crisis at the moment, why should people spend their last couple of pounds on your new album the Illusion Of Progress?
I don’t know what the answer should be to that, especially in the pretence you put it in. with the credit crunch going on, I think the least important thing for somebody to do would be to go out and buy an album.
Surely a person would want to treat themselves to a lovely CD to make them happier?
Well I guess we have put a lot of time and effort into making sure that if you do buy the record you don’t buy the two or three songs you know already on the CD and the rest of it is crap. All killer, no filler.
If you were selling the album to someone who has never heard of you before, which one song would you recommend they listen to?
I’m not a good salesman. There isn’t an answer to that question. I don’t think that one some could paint a picture.
Okay, can you sum The Illusion Of Progress up in five words for me?
A little outside the box.
I love how you made it into a sentence. Woo! So you’ve also done a tour with Nickelback who (I’m sorry to admit) replaced you in my CD collection, how was that tour for you?
Why did you have to choose between the two of us? [FF: Don’t say that!] Why couldn’t we both live there?
After break the cycle I ventured out into another musical world and then Nickelback came along so Chad Kroger was taking over my life and now you’ve come back and I just hate splitting my ears between you both! You’ll have to read the review then you’ll understand where I’m coming from..
I’ll have to check it out.
You do sound pretty similar though…
Oh my goodness. He’s a little gravellier. He’s my friend!
Wow! He’s my hero, I love him, well I don’t love him, I’m not a psycho, I just wish I could sing like him! Anyway, did their fans receive you well?
Our fans and Nickelback’s fans cross over in top 40 music charts. Our true fans don’t have any appreciation for Nickelback.
That weird, because Nickelback are playing Arena tour and you’re playing the smaller Academies, so I imagine they have a lot of fans who might like you also. Anyway, moving on, if you could share a stage with any band, who would it be?
Led Zeppelin. Black Sabbath.
Not Girls Aloud then?
I don’t know who that is.
They sing Something Kinda Oooh. Anyway, what’s in your CD player at the moment?
I really don’t listen to music very much. [FF: Just your own?] No, never. When we’re done in the studio I don’t play the CD again. Wouldn’t that be weird if I sat at home and listened to my own music?
No! If I was a singer, I’d swan around the house singing!
Well you don’t catch me singing my own stuff walking around very often.
I bet you do in the shower, you sing Nickelback don’t you? Scrap that, if the bands equipment was in a fire and you could only grab one thing, what one piece would you save?
My guitars. They’re all old. You cant replace them, if they were new guitars I could just go get a new one and it wouldn’t matter.
What was the last book you read?
From beginning to end, I don’t know if I’ve ever fully finished a book, I’m not much of a reader. I have ADD so when reading I will read a paragraph and I won’t take anything in from the paragraph so I have to read it again, and then having to read something over and over gets a little tedious when you’re trying to read a whole book!
Okay, so to ask you three random questions; if you were at a friends house for dinner and you found a cockroach in your salad, what would you do?
I’d tell my friend! If it was a stranger I just wouldn’t eat the salad.
What if it was you’re new President, would you say; “Excuse me Mr President, there’s a cockroach in my Salad?
Absolutely.
What is the oldest age you would like to be alive?
I want to live as long as I can. I’ve got kids, three daughters.
If you were on a plane and sat next to you was a woman of average appearance with whom you were having pleasant conversation offered you £10, 000 for one night of sex, what would you do?
No way, I’m a married man.
We ask everyone we interview to come up with a question for the next person we interview and Goldie Lookin Chain have come up with one for you… do you know them?
No
They sing that song; “Guns Don’t Kill People, Rappers Do”…
No I don’t know it, but it’s true though. [FF: I don’t think so] Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.
Yeah, but not just rappers, lets not start stereotyping here Aaron, Eminem hasn’t killed anyone has he? Anyway, that’s not the point, they want to know if you ever dyed your pubic hair?
Coloured it? No! What for? That’s odd, I’ve never dyed it no.
Now can you come up with a question for Mindless Self Indulgence?
Ask them why they were wearing hockey masks when they opened for us a couple of years ago.
Ooh, interesting, thanks for your time anyway Aaron.
Break The Cycle has to be one of my favourite albums of all time, so when I heard that Staind had a new album out and were hitting the road in the UK, I was more than a little excited, despite the fact that my love for front man Aaron Lewis has now shifted to Nickelback’s Chad Kroger…
I caught up with Aaron before his Manchester gig to see why his true fans don’t appreciate Nickelback, why guns don’t kill people, rappers do and he never dyed his pubic hair.
Hey Aaron, how are you enjoying being in the UK?
It’s been great.
Where has your favourite gig to date been?
Oh I don’t know, [FF: Manchester?] Yeah, Manchester this evening.
We’ve been waiting for you to return ever since the release of Chapter V in 2005; how have fans reacted to your return?
The shows have been really good, we’re very lucky that we have the amazing fans that we do.
Have you found your fan base has gotten bigger or smaller?
Well it seems that the choices that were made by the people guiding our careers earlier in our career weren’t good ones and in the 10 or 11 years that we’ve been doing this job, we should have been in the UK a dozen times already, but management didn’t stand to make any money by sending us over here so they kept us in the states.
Our career over here has suffered tremendously because of it and we are just very thankful that there are still fans here and I hope that that grows as we get over here a lot more often now that those people aren’t in control of our career anymore.
Did you get up to anything super exciting during your break?
Which little break? [FF: Between this album and your last one] I spent the whole time doing acoustic shows.
So, we’re in a bit of an economic crisis at the moment, why should people spend their last couple of pounds on your new album the Illusion Of Progress?
I don’t know what the answer should be to that, especially in the pretence you put it in. with the credit crunch going on, I think the least important thing for somebody to do would be to go out and buy an album.
Surely a person would want to treat themselves to a lovely CD to make them happier?
Well I guess we have put a lot of time and effort into making sure that if you do buy the record you don’t buy the two or three songs you know already on the CD and the rest of it is crap. All killer, no filler.
If you were selling the album to someone who has never heard of you before, which one song would you recommend they listen to?
I’m not a good salesman. There isn’t an answer to that question. I don’t think that one some could paint a picture.
Okay, can you sum The Illusion Of Progress up in five words for me?
A little outside the box.
I love how you made it into a sentence. Woo! So you’ve also done a tour with Nickelback who (I’m sorry to admit) replaced you in my CD collection, how was that tour for you?
Why did you have to choose between the two of us? [FF: Don’t say that!] Why couldn’t we both live there?
After break the cycle I ventured out into another musical world and then Nickelback came along so Chad Kroger was taking over my life and now you’ve come back and I just hate splitting my ears between you both! You’ll have to read the review then you’ll understand where I’m coming from..
I’ll have to check it out.
You do sound pretty similar though…
Oh my goodness. He’s a little gravellier. He’s my friend!
Wow! He’s my hero, I love him, well I don’t love him, I’m not a psycho, I just wish I could sing like him! Anyway, did their fans receive you well?
Our fans and Nickelback’s fans cross over in top 40 music charts. Our true fans don’t have any appreciation for Nickelback.
That weird, because Nickelback are playing Arena tour and you’re playing the smaller Academies, so I imagine they have a lot of fans who might like you also. Anyway, moving on, if you could share a stage with any band, who would it be?
Led Zeppelin. Black Sabbath.
Not Girls Aloud then?
I don’t know who that is.
They sing Something Kinda Oooh. Anyway, what’s in your CD player at the moment?
I really don’t listen to music very much. [FF: Just your own?] No, never. When we’re done in the studio I don’t play the CD again. Wouldn’t that be weird if I sat at home and listened to my own music?
No! If I was a singer, I’d swan around the house singing!
Well you don’t catch me singing my own stuff walking around very often.
I bet you do in the shower, you sing Nickelback don’t you? Scrap that, if the bands equipment was in a fire and you could only grab one thing, what one piece would you save?
My guitars. They’re all old. You cant replace them, if they were new guitars I could just go get a new one and it wouldn’t matter.
What was the last book you read?
From beginning to end, I don’t know if I’ve ever fully finished a book, I’m not much of a reader. I have ADD so when reading I will read a paragraph and I won’t take anything in from the paragraph so I have to read it again, and then having to read something over and over gets a little tedious when you’re trying to read a whole book!
Okay, so to ask you three random questions; if you were at a friends house for dinner and you found a cockroach in your salad, what would you do?
I’d tell my friend! If it was a stranger I just wouldn’t eat the salad.
What if it was you’re new President, would you say; “Excuse me Mr President, there’s a cockroach in my Salad?
Absolutely.
What is the oldest age you would like to be alive?
I want to live as long as I can. I’ve got kids, three daughters.
If you were on a plane and sat next to you was a woman of average appearance with whom you were having pleasant conversation offered you £10, 000 for one night of sex, what would you do?
No way, I’m a married man.
We ask everyone we interview to come up with a question for the next person we interview and Goldie Lookin Chain have come up with one for you… do you know them?
No
They sing that song; “Guns Don’t Kill People, Rappers Do”…
No I don’t know it, but it’s true though. [FF: I don’t think so] Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.
Yeah, but not just rappers, lets not start stereotyping here Aaron, Eminem hasn’t killed anyone has he? Anyway, that’s not the point, they want to know if you ever dyed your pubic hair?
Coloured it? No! What for? That’s odd, I’ve never dyed it no.
Now can you come up with a question for Mindless Self Indulgence?
Ask them why they were wearing hockey masks when they opened for us a couple of years ago.
Ooh, interesting, thanks for your time anyway Aaron.
Views: 86
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Maria on -
HI, I think you've got me wrong... I'm used to most people Slagging off Nickelback, and trust me I know the type of genre Staind are, and thats one of the reasons I like them. All I'm saying is that the woman had no real need to start the Nickelback being better than Staind shit off as they are completely different bands as you put it "Nickelback playing in stores, Staind not" I fully understand my music, I know where Staind are coming from and I know what kinda band Nickelback are...I think we all just have a problem with this woman...especially as she made people think Aaron said that Staind were better... therefore upsetting the Nickelback fans who have probably just got into Staind since they heard them when they supported Nickelback. Please understand I know how pissed off you must be as I am too for Aarons sake Not Chads, but Aaron knows how these interviewers are, what kinda things they say to wind stars up and he let it ride over him ... so good for Aaron... I hope now you see that I'm not trying to stand up for Nickelback over Staind, but trying to put the point across about this woman that started the debate.. Even though I'm not a die hard fan, but I understand Stainds music as much as anyone and I paid money to see a band I've enjoyed for a few years ( staind ) and sang my ass off at the gig in Birmingham U.K, So I hope that you understand I'm relating to you all ... just not that woman and her way of doing things... take care xx
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Permalink Reply by Justin Goldman on -
Maria said:HI, I think you've got me wrong... I'm used to most people Slagging off Nickelback, and trust me I know the type of genre Staind are, and thats one of the reasons I like them. All I'm saying is that the woman had no real need to start the Nickelback being better than Staind shit off as they are completely different bands as you put it "Nickelback playing in stores, Staind not" I fully understand my music, I know where Staind are coming from and I know what kinda band Nickelback are...I think we all just have a problem with this woman...especially as she made people think Aaron said that Staind were better... therefore upsetting the Nickelback fans who have probably just got into Staind since they heard them when they supported Nickelback. Please understand I know how pissed off you must be as I am too for Aarons sake Not Chads, but Aaron knows how these interviewers are, what kinda things they say to wind stars up and he let it ride over him ... so good for Aaron... I hope now you see that I'm not trying to stand up for Nickelback over Staind, but trying to put the point across about this woman that started the debate.. Even though I'm not a die hard fan, but I understand Stainds music as much as anyone and I paid money to see a band I've enjoyed for a few years ( staind ) and sang my ass off at the gig in Birmingham U.K, So I hope that you understand I'm relating to you all ... just not that woman and her way of doing things... take care xx
No Doubt! This chic started all this crap. It's getting silly already.
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Permalink Reply by Pammie8 on -
Im just curious who this chick is blowing to get a job as a journalist because it is painful obvious she doesent no dick about doing interviews.
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Permalink Reply by spidermonkey on -
it's like comparing Prime Rib to Pop Rocks...
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Permalink Reply by Maria on
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I'm glad you've got what I was saying...It's so not about who is better than who. One thing about her she knows how to wind people up!! made herself look stupid though
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Permalink Reply by Justin Goldman on
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Pammie8 said:Im just curious who this chick is blowing to get a job as a journalist because it is painful obvious she doesent no dick about doing interviews.
lol.
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Permalink Reply by Justin Goldman on
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spidermonkey said:it's like comparing Prime Rib to Pop Rocks...
lol...like mixing asses with elbows..U are so right!
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Permalink Reply by jdanek630 on -
This was the most horridly conducted interview that I've read in a long long time. I hope not all of the British interview conductors are like this chick.......
Lisa, I'm guessing you didn't post this on the ol' school boards because you knew everyone would be disgusted by this interview? haha. I still don't like these new forums =[ -- not sure if I ever will!
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Permalink Reply by jdanek630 on
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.....and I love the fact that this chick thinks she knows anything about gun-related violence over a guy who grew up straight out of the Springfield, MA area .... which has been in the top 30 most violent & dangerous cities in the U.S. list for over a decade now.
What a twit, seriously.
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Permalink Reply by spidermonkey on
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i've been hearing a lot of that...what IS the difference between said "old forum" and new forum. Are the people different or is it the set up, what?
Jdanek630 said:This was the most horridly conducted interview that I've read in a long long time. I hope not all of the British interview conductors are like this chick.......
Lisa, I'm guessing you didn't post this on the ol' school boards because you knew everyone would be disgusted by this interview? haha. I still don't like these new forums =[ -- not sure if I ever will!
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Permalink Reply by jdanek630 on
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spidermonkey said:i've been hearing a lot of that...what IS the difference between said "old forum" and new forum. Are the people different or is it the set up, what?
Jdanek630 said:This was the most horridly conducted interview that I've read in a long long time. I hope not all of the British interview conductors are like this chick.......
Lisa, I'm guessing you didn't post this on the ol' school boards because you knew everyone would be disgusted by this interview? haha. I still don't like these new forums =[ -- not sure if I ever will!
All of the above.
There aren't as many posters but most of the users on the old forums have been on the forums for quite a few years and have been to quite a few Staind shows and are the fans that know quite a bit about the band ya'know? It's very much like a "family" rather than a bunch of random people slobbering over a band haha - no offense to anyone, these forums have actually been more organized than I thought they'd turn out to be, but it's still a great deal different.
I think the reason why the old forums haven't been shut down (and probably won't be) is because Staind & their online management know that they'd pretty much be breaking up a family if they did! The band knows most of the people on the old forums by name or face. I'll try and get used to these new boards though.
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