Email Interview with David Bunton of The Showdown (April 2007)
JoshIVM: Well I’m sure you knew this question would be coming, but let’s talk about your new direction in sound. What brought about the change from the metal of “A Chorus Of Obliteration” to the more hard rock sound in “Temptation Come My Way”? Was it something that was decided upon soon after release of your first album or a gradual change?
David: We wrote “Breath Of The Swamp” and “I, Victim” in March ‘05. So basically right after the record came out we just started doing the new stuff… It didn’t take us very long to figure out what we really wanted to be doing. We love “Chorus…” and are proud of it, but the new CD is just totally us. We are having a blast jammin it. Some of “Chorus…” was written in 02′ its so old to us… But, it was so new to a lot of people. We just couldn’t make another record like that. We would have broken up by now. We don’t enjoy playing in the hardcore and metalcore scene.
JoshIVM: How have fans been responding to the new sound? Were you guys nervous about what people’s reaction would be?
David: We didn’t really care what people would think because its really what we wanted to do. Like I said, if we would have done “Chorus…” Part 2 we wouldn’t have been happy and would have broken up. The people that know us and have been coming out to see us have been hearing the new stuff live since summer 05′ so the people who are into The Showdown shouldn’t have been surprised at all. We are so pumped because its way more positive response than negative and we are picking up so many new people it’s insane. Def. a good feeling.
JoshIVM: Did Josh handle the lyrics again for this album or was it more of a group effort this time around? Obviously the apocalyptic nature is gone and you’ve settled on different topics. Were these things you wanted to write about just things that have been happening in the past few years before this release?
David: Yeah it’s things that have been going down. To me, lyrically, its like “Chorus…” in the way that it is stories. It’s basically stories about us. “Chorus…” was made of stories from the Old Testament, and those battles. It’s just like here are our battles!!! Josh writes all the lyrics, and music was a jam session group thing.
JoshIVM: Obviously we know now that you guys had a great opening week and even charted on the Billboard 200. How did you guys feel when you heard that?
David: Thankful! We put a lot of hard work into the record and it took two years so it was def. a great feeling. It’s really killer to know that people are backing us and going out and getting our record, when you can just get it for free somewhere online. We weren’t pursuing being a full-time band when we started. We just thought it would be neat to tour. So sometimes it’s kinda hard to believe when cool stuff like that happens. Just thinking about it… its just like yeah God def. threw this band in motion.
JoshIVM: Are there any plans for a video release? If so, what song is it for?
David: “Temptation Come My Way”! We are working on it…we should have done it already.
JoshIVM: How did you guys decided upon “Carry On Wayward Son” for your cover on this album? Let me be the first to say, that I highly recommend you guys do more covers.
David: Thanks a lot! We wanna do a cover album…There are so many we wanna do! Maybe even a whole album! The producer was like hey…we are doing “Carry On”! Obviously, we freaking love that song, but we were like who honestly would cover that song? It’s such an insane song to cover. Then we covered it, ha! It was a huge challenge but we had blast doing it.
JoshIVM: Obviously you guys are big fans of the 80s metal and hard rock bands, who are some of your favorite bands from then? Do you have any favorite songs or albums? I’m a huge fan of that era myself. I’ve heard you speak about Jackyl live, so any others that most people might not be familiar with?
David: Tom from Jackyl lives near our old drummer!!!! Cinderella is prob. one of our fav’s. A lot of people only know them for “Don’t Know What You Got Till It’s Gone”, but they are just kickin’ rock and roll. Most untapped song would be “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” from Warrant! Trickster, Kix, Dangerous Toys, Tesla, Slaughter, Damn Yankees… This question is kinda like a field day for me. Haha! Def Leppard! Gotta respect it. Such a great vocal band and every song A HIT! Compared to then….music today is a joke in my book! I want music that I can put the top down in a convertible, crank the tunes, and get pumped on life!
JoshIVM: I’m in total agreement and I listen to every one of those bands myself! Anyways, following that question up, altogether what bands (modern or classic) are you currently listening to?
David: Always have, always will listen to 80’s metal (Def Leppard, Warrant, Poison, Cinderella, Slaughter etc…). I really like bands with melodies and songs you can sing to. And I like a lot of aggressive music too. Current bands that I’m loving: Buckcherry, Velvet Revolver, Slipknot, Foo Fighters, Sevendust. Sevendust is one of my favorite bands. Their new CD that just came out is KILLER! Rockin the classic stuff too: James Gang, Boston. Pretty much a real live, rude mix of music.
JoshIVM: If you had an opportunity to tour with anyone from any era, what bands would you chose to play with?
David: Def Leppard, Aerosmith, Stone Temple Pilots, Belvet Revolver, Buckcherry, Metallica, and Pantera.
JoshIVM: Last year you did a tour with Pillar and others. That wasn’t your typical crowd. How did the kids respond to your set each night?
David: The kids were amazing! We played mostly new stuff on that tour. It was a great tour! It wasn’t our typical crowd, but it was such a good experience for our band, and I think a good bit of those kids stuck with us! We would tour with Pillar anytime.
JoshIVM: I just read that you guys landed a spot on the Second Stage at Ozzfest this summer. Congratulations on that! How did that come about? Any thoughts/hopes for what to expect/what you hope to get out of the tour?
David: Thankz! It’s a mix between our managers being totally killer, and our label just using everything they can to help our band. I think we are more surprised we are on it than anyone. Hopefully our band can connect with the typical American metal head who is looking for something classic, something not metalcore.
JoshIVM: Do you guys have any other touring plans until Ozzfest begins?
David: We are touring with Days Of The New, and then doing a co-headlining thing with Showbread and Chasing Victory! We are stoked for both of those tours!
JoshIVM: How did you guys get in contact with Mono Vs. Stereo? As far as I know you guys never had any independent albums or anything, did they pick you up immediately? Was it from a live show or demos or what?
David: It was from MP3.com. They put us on a compilation and we had a relationship with them for a couple years. Finally we dropped school/work/everything, did a record and went on tour and have been doing it since.
JoshIVM: How about Century Media? They picked up and re-released the old album in Europe, and have again carried this one. How did that come about?
David: We have had a relationship with them since ‘04. It just took a long time to actually go through.
JoshIVM: We’re they involved in helping to get you over there for your tour with Norma Jean? How did that tour go for you guys? Was that your first time overseas?
David: CM gave us tour support and for sure made it possible to come over there. Our managers hooked us up with NJ. We have the same managers. It was our first time there and it was a BLAST we are dying to go back over!
JoshIVM: I ran across a Myspace page awhile back for a band called “Rowdy N The Boyz”. Is that a real side project or just you guys messing around?
David: It’s our tour managers project. Rowdy rules! Dude has “Classic Rock” tattooed on his left bicep. You think he cares!?!?!?
JoshIVM: Thanks for taking your time out to do this interview. Do you have any words of wisdom to leave us with?
David: Funk the norm. Stay heavy metal!
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