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Exclusive interview: Jerry Horton of Papa Roach
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From left to right: Tobin Esperance, Jacoby Shaddix, Tony Palermo, Jerry Horton
Credit: P.R. Brown
Sacramento rock band Papa Roach have been around for over ten years, beginning their career with distinct nu-metal influences through the release of their major label debut 'Infest.' They received explosive popularity for the hit single “Last Resort” and continue to take on the industry with a series of singles from their following records 'Lovehatetragedy', 'Getting Away With Murder', 'The Paramour Sessions', and their latest release 'Metamorphosis' that includes the tracks “Hollywood Whore,” “Lifeline,” and “I Almost Told You That I Loved You.” While taking a break before kicking off a States tour with rock bands Nickelback, Hinder, and Saving Abel, Papa Roach guitarist Jerry Horton took the time out of his busy schedule to talk about tours, guitars, equipment, and the raw energy of performing.
JM: You're currently on tour, so where are you guys right now?
JH: We're actually on a break in between tours. We just came from Europe at the end of June, the 30th, and we'll be leaving Thursday to meet up with Nickelback.
JM: Very nice. Since you just got back from overseas, did Europe serve up a good crowd for you?
JH: Yeah, it was really good. We played quite a few festivals and some of our own dates. There might've been one show where people that kinda stood there. I think that was, like, Holland and they're notorious for doing that even if they're real into it. That show was good.
JM: You're kicking off this tour with Saving Abel, Hinder, and Nickelback. Since they're Southern-rock influenced bands, how does this influence Papa Roach's approach to performing for that type of audience?
JH: It really doesn't change much. You know I think we have 40 minutes on that tour, so really it's just gonna be mostly singles in a way. We have probably eight or nine singles so, you know, most people know. It'll just be a greatest hits set.
JM: What are your plans after this tour is over?
JH: We're probably going to Europe and doing a headlining tour. And after that in, like, November, December, we'll come back to the States and do a headlining tour.
JM: Cool. So going into guitars now, what are your practice techniques before you perform?
JH: Really just, uh, I have a couple exercises I do. One of them is just doing basic 1-2-3-4 up and down the neck. There's one of them my tech showed me that's called the “Spider” and it's a different kind of – it's hard to get used to, but right now it actually works out for me.
JM: What do you do with the “Spider”?
JH: It's like, it splits your first two fingers and your second two fingers and then you kind of go up and down the neck. It's really simple when you see it but it's kind of hard to describe.
JM: How do you motivate yourself to give it everything you've got on stage?
JH: Besides warming up, we usually jump around a bunch behind the stage right before we go on, to get our heart rates up. And then once we see the crowd, it's pretty much off we go. Like, when we go on stage, we get each other going and we feed it to the crowd and the crowd feeds it back to us.
JM: You play a Schecter on stage, but what is it that you look for in an electric guitar exactly, for live performance?
JH: Well, it has to have the right sound. Pickups have a lot to do with that. The guitar can't be too heavy 'cause I bounce all over the place, so, yeah, the Schecters have pretty much everything I need. They're great guitars and they treat me really well.
JM: You guys do acoustic sets also, so what do you look for in a guitar for your unplugged performances?
JH: Tobin [Esperance] actually plays guitar as well when we do acoustic stuff. So we just, we have some acoustics that we travel with, and it's not really – We don't ask for things. We just have the guitars that we have and it's sort of one of those things where it gets kind of like, it gets nothing but sound and that's what... you know what I mean? It's not something that we can really put in the works, but we've found what we like and we're just sticking with them.
JM: What types of pedals do you use on stage and in the studio and why?
JH: In the studio, we have a pretty good mix of newer and older stuff. It's really what sound is right for the part or the song. On stage I have an effects unit that sort of replicates other things and it's easy for me to just have the setting and then I don't have to worry about it anymore. It's programmed in there. Really we just try to find the right effect for the parts and for the songs and dial it in and then when it comes to the stage, we just sort of take that sound and try and get the same sound in the effects unit and program so we don't have to worry about it.
JM: Are there any particular brands for particular songs?
JH: Obviously, it's sort of box pedals. There's some Electro-Harmonix, some MXR, and some boutique-y pedals here and there that works well with all of them.
JM: How often do you experiment with different sounds and different brands to achieve your personal style?
JH: If I hear something cool, I'll try to find a way to work it in. But we're a pretty straight up rock band, so we don't really mess with a lot of different effects. So it's kind of like, if the song needs it, I'll use it, but if it doesn't need it I won't try and muck up the sound. Our bass tech has a saying that effects are tone-suckers. They just suck the tone out of the guitar. Which I guess it's true to a point, but then you have to have some sort of balance there.
JM: How many guitars do you own, personally?
JH: Too many over the years, I get, Schecter pretty much gives me my guitars every year. I probably have thirty guitars in the studio.
JM: So you don't work with many different brands, then?
JH: In the studio, I do. We've used Les Pauls and Teles, and Strats and stuff. We like to mix it up in the studio because those guitars have very distinct sounds, and if there's something that I feel like, needs a different tone than the normal that works out for us, then we'll go to it.
JM: What's your favorite guitar out of the bunch?
JH: My favorite guitar is one of my Tempest guitars, it's made out of korina. I really can't explain it, but it fits me well and it sounds great. Whenever I switch to it, I always get excited.
JM: It's just one of those guitars that click, then?
JH: Yep.
JM: When you're off the road and out of the studio and sit down to play, what do you pick up?
JH: I have my red Roach guitar from the album cover of the second record ['LovehateTragedy']. I have that and I also have my Gibson SG. That's what I love.
JM: Regarding 'Metamorphosis' now, with the track “Into the Light” you have Mick Mars [Mötley Crüe] thrash out some nice guitar solos. So how did you pick him up to work with you?
JH: We actually got the call from management asking if we wanted to go on tour with Mötley Crüe. This is when we were writing the record and so we said yes and then a couple days into it, we got to working on that song and Coby said “this needs a lead right here, why don't we ask Mick Mars to play on it?” So I was just like “cool.” So Jacoby called management – who our management actually manages Mötley Crüe – so we just called in and Mick was excited to do it. So that's pretty much how it happened. It's a cool experience having him do it. He's one of those guys that I looked up to when I was kid.
JM: In the end result with working with him, what did you learn from him?
JH: What I learned from Mick Mars, from that session he just laid a bunch of different passes to the song and then we kind of picked. I learned that it doesn't have to happen, it's not magic all at once. There's some times where you can do a few different takes and then pick the good stuff from each one.
JM: You're a credited guitarist and songwriter. So what's your real contribution, is it music, lyrics, or both?
JH: It's basically music. I do lyrics here and there if there's something that sticks out to me that you know, I think can be different, but mostly it's music. Tobin and I basically write a good share of the music, but when I do lyrics and stuff, I'm more of the arranging type.
JM: If I were to ask you which Papa Roach song you're most proud of for writing, what comes to mind?
JH: Huh. Uh. Well. We have like, 55 or 60 songs. The most proud of, I guess... me, personally, it would be on our last record. Actually no, it would be on this record, and it would be “Change or Die.” It's got a good energy to it and it helps set the tone for the record.
JM: Okay, last question since we're short on time here. Let's say you're on stage and the band is awesome, you've nailed the guitar, Jacoby's voice is sounding great, and the audience is responding well. What do you think or feel on stage when you've reached that peak?
JH: That's sort of like, uh, it's hard to describe but there's an energy that's like an addiction. There's nothing that can really compare to it. When we have the crowd in the palm of our hand, it's like, Jacoby said one time [that] it's like throwing lightning bolts. It's like no other energy that you can describe.
The tour begins July 9th, so make sure to hit up the tour dates on their Myspace and official website to see if they will be in a city near you!
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