Buckcherry's Josh Todd Talks New Album, Vol. 10, Current World Tour with Skid Row, and Commitment To His Craft - video Dailymotion

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Buckcherry's Josh Todd knows what his fans want -- a rocking good time. He has been clean and sober his entire professional career and with a commitment to honing his craft. He vocalizes daily 'finding new places to take his unique range." Their latest release, Vol. 10 , includes 11 tracks, ten new originals, and a bonus cover of Bryan Adams' 'Summer of '69.' At 52, Todd is one of the most dedicated professionals you could come across, wholeheartedly committed to "giving fans their money's worth," he says. "Buckcherry has always been about the live experience." Inspired by everything, including the people around him, the poet says he got into this to write. "I want to own those lyrics as a frontman," Todd said. And own it, he does. Buckcherry is touring with Skid Row, with 100-plus shows so far, and will continue touring into next year. We caught up with him backstage at the Wellmont Theater in New Jersey. This is a LifeMinute with Josh Todd from Buckcherry.

Transcript

00:00 Hey, what's up? I'm Josh Todd from Buckcherry and you're watching Life Minute TV. Check

00:05 it out.

00:11 Buckcherry's Josh Todd knows what his fans want, a rockin' good time, and he works hard

00:16 to give it to them. At 52, the singer-songwriter, who's been clean and sober his entire professional

00:21 career, says he vocalizes every day to keep that unique sound that comes out of his mouth

00:26 in check, and even still find a range that's new. Inspired by everything, including the

00:32 people around him, this poet, who started at just 15 years old, says he got into this

00:37 to write, and wants to own those lyrics as a frontman. Own it, he does. The band just

00:42 released their 10th studio album, appropriately titled Volume 10, with 10 new originals and

00:48 a bonus cover of Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69."

00:56 Currently on an extensive world tour with Skid Row that will continue through next year,

01:01 we caught up with Todd on one of their East Coast stops, New Jersey's Wilmot Theatre.

01:06 This is a Life Minute with Buckcherry's Josh Todd.

01:09 Yay, Josh Todd, Buckcherry, welcome to Life Minute.

01:13 Thank you for having me.

01:14 Aw, thanks so much for doing this. How are you doing?

01:17 I'm good, you know, we're out here on the Volume 10 tour, as you know, and just dropped

01:22 our 10th record. It's a great milestone after all these years being on the road, you know,

01:25 so that being said, we've been on the road this whole year, and we're almost up to like

01:29 100 shows now.

01:30 Wow. How has touring been?

01:33 It's been great, you know, I mean, it's what we love to do, you know, this is what Buckcherry's

01:37 all about, is the live experience, you know, so we enjoy it.

01:41 Yeah, what are fans gonna get when they see Buckcherry?

01:44 They're gonna get a lot of, just a great rock show, you know, we have so many great songs

01:48 now and there's just so much to choose from to construct like a great set of entertainment.

01:53 They're gonna get their money's worth, for sure.

01:55 Now what's touring like? Do you guys all get along?

01:56 Yes, we get along really well.

01:58 And Skid Row, right?

01:59 Yeah, we did a month with them earlier on in the year, and the shows were just great

02:04 attendance and it's a good package, you know. For whatever reason, everybody likes this

02:09 package, so we decided to do Leg 2 and Leg 3 and Leg 4, so this is the second leg right

02:16 now.

02:17 And how would you describe Volume 10? Is it different or the same rock and, you know,

02:22 anything different?

02:23 I mean, we're not gonna reinvent the wheel, you know, we are a rock band, you know, so

02:27 that's always gonna be the same, I think because of my voice, it's kind of unique and different

02:32 from most singers, so you're always gonna know it's a Buckcherry song, you know, but

02:36 it's all about the songs, really. Stevie and I and Marty Fredrickson, we wrote all the

02:40 songs and it just turned out so well and same with Hellbound, the record before, and we

02:45 have this synergy going between us, you know, that's really awesome and it's a lot of fun

02:49 making records.

02:50 Awesome. What inspires you creatively?

02:52 Everything, you know, I just observe the people around me, you know, I always try to put my

02:58 own personal flavor into every song so that I can own it as a frontman and I got into

03:04 this to write, you know, I really enjoy lyrics and melodies, that's why I started this when

03:10 I was 15, you know, so that being said, it's a lot of fun, it's like building something

03:14 from nothing, it's like constructing a house, making a record, it's a lot of fun.

03:18 The words come first for you?

03:20 No, songs like happen all different kinds of ways, you know, sometimes I'll get music

03:26 and with no, nothing on it and just, it'll take me somewhere emotionally and then I just

03:33 start writing or sometimes I will have words and melodies and I'll just sing them to like

03:38 Stevie or Marty and we'll start there and just kind of start going.

03:43 What's something you guys want to do that you haven't done yet?

03:47 What do we want to do that we haven't done yet?

03:50 That's hard, we've pretty much done it all, you know, I mean we've been on every size

03:54 stage, we've toured the world, you know, but I mean there's still places we haven't been,

03:59 like I'd like to go to Russia, I'd like to go to Dubai, I'd like to get back to South

04:02 America, you know.

04:03 Did you always know you wanted to be a musician?

04:05 I mean you were 15, obviously I guess you did.

04:08 Yeah, you know, I grew up in Southern California, as a kid I was surfing and skateboarding and

04:13 there was a drummer that I was surfing with, there was only one band in my high school

04:16 and he happened to be surfing with me and he was like, "We need a singer, you want to

04:19 come down?"

04:20 And I don't even know why he asked me because I wasn't really, I wasn't singing, but I had

04:23 like a good knowledge of music, you know, I was a huge music fan, I had a catalog of

04:28 records and I think he knew that and I was really good at creative writing too, I was

04:31 writing poetry and all kinds of stuff at that time and I just went down there and got the

04:35 bug like right away and I just remember I wrote an original song that day and that's

04:43 all I wanted to do, I never looked back.

04:44 Anything you'd do different, you know, a little bit of something your current self

04:48 would tell your younger self?

04:50 Oh, so many things, so many things.

04:53 The way I take care of myself out here for sure is much different, especially vocally,

04:57 you know, I have to work a little harder the older I get so that's changed but, you know,

05:02 it's also kind of made my vocal range bigger and I'm learning more about vocals all the

05:09 time so that's what's different for sure.

05:11 That's so cool.

05:12 What do you do exactly, like to get ready?

05:14 Just, I vocalize a lot every day, you know, so it's not singing, just vocalizing, a lot

05:20 of scales and stuff like that but you find new places in your range when you're constantly

05:25 doing different types of scales and yeah, it's good with me.

05:29 That's interesting.

05:30 What do you do when you're not working?

05:32 When I'm not working I spend time with my family, my hobby right now is tennis, I play

05:36 a lot of tennis and, you know, it kind of takes me away from everything and I don't

05:40 think about music and it's great.

05:42 Awesome.

05:43 What music do you listen to?

05:46 I listen to all kinds of music, you know, all different genres.

05:49 I listen to a lot of pop with my kids.

05:51 Pop music is written by like the best songwriters in the world so when I listen to rock I listen

05:56 mostly classic rock for sure.

05:58 I find you interesting because you just, you know, you look like almost intimidating, like

06:03 you're like such a rock star but you're like the most sweetest, mild-mannered person ever.

06:10 Do people ever...

06:11 I don't know what people think of me.

06:12 I think a lot of people think I'm a jerk.

06:15 Were you ever a bad boy rock star kind of person?

06:18 No, no.

06:19 You're not, right?

06:20 Not me.

06:21 Yeah, you're just a cool, nice guy.

06:23 I don't know if you know but I've been clean off drugs and alcohol like my whole professional

06:27 career.

06:28 So I'm not doing like the traditional rock star things I guess like drinking and using

06:32 a lot or anything like that so...

06:34 How do you... like longevity obviously you guys have.

06:37 Do you attribute that to anything?

06:39 Definitely taking care of yourself, mind, body and spirit for sure.

06:45 Like, you know, for me I have a set of things that I do to stay sane out here because the

06:50 road can be very challenging mentally.

06:52 I meditate every day.

06:53 I, you know, like I said I work out, you know, all these things are good for my mental health,

06:58 you know, and I really want to be great at my craft, you know, so the most important

07:02 part of the day is that hour and a half on stage, you know, so that's what I think about.

07:06 What's next for you?

07:07 You know, we got a couple, we got to finish out this month and we got December and then

07:11 we're going to go to the UK and Europe beginning of next year.

07:14 That'll be great and then we're going to keep touring throughout the year.

07:16 Next year we usually do two years of touring on a record cycle so... and that's what we'll

07:22 do and then we'll go back and make another record eventually.

07:25 Number 11.

07:26 Yeah, same thing.

07:27 And biggest life lesson since this is Life Minute.

07:30 Oh God, there's so many life lessons in this business, you know.

07:34 I think the hardest thing that I had to learn that there's not a lot of loyalty in the music

07:38 business.

07:39 You have to kind of grow a thick skin and once I kind of learned that and then I learned

07:43 how to take the artist hat off and put the business hat on, I started enjoying it more,

07:48 you know, but that was kind of a painful learning process for a while.

07:54 Yeah, but other than that, that's pretty much it.

07:57 What does music do for people?

08:01 Music for people sets them free, a lot of people, you know.

08:05 I think it's their outlet to let go of themselves, at least Buckcherry shows, you know.

08:12 I feel like people get to be who they want to be at a Buckcherry show, you know, so like

08:16 people work hard and sometimes that's the only show they can see that month because

08:20 of their budget and whatever and we really take that to heart, you know.

08:24 So you can see it in their eyes when they hear their favorite song or they're dancing

08:29 or they're smiling and you just feel that energy, you know, and I think it's a sacred

08:35 place for them, you know what I mean?

08:37 It was for me when I was a kid, so that's what I think.

08:40 Awesome.

08:41 Yeah.

08:42 What was your first album?

08:43 "Given to Me" by my father was "Eagles in the Long Run."

08:47 Yeah, it was pretty cool.

08:49 I did want to ask you that.

08:50 Were your parents supportive?

08:51 Yeah, yeah, there was music going in my house all the time.

08:55 My mother would put on records and clean the house and my sister and I would just kind

08:59 of play and listen to music and I was always into that, you know, she listened to like

09:05 Willie Nelson and Rod Stewart and Kenny Rogers and all these records that I still remember

09:10 to this day, you know, and then I got into my own kind of music and my sister had her

09:15 own collection of music and I would go in her room and listen to her records and, you

09:19 know, it was a cool thing.

09:21 To hear more of this interview, visit our podcast, Life Minute TV on iTunes and all

09:25 streaming podcast platforms.

09:27 (upbeat music)

Buckcherry's Josh Todd Talks New Album, Vol. 10, Current World Tour with Skid Row, and Commitment To His Craft

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