interview
By
antiGUY
The hard rock scene seemed to be getting
a little stagnant; every CD that came across my desk seemed to be the same
rehashed nu-metal that’s been filling the airwaves and CD racks for the
past couple of years. I had been waiting for something new and exciting
and I finally got it a couple months ago when Wind-up sent us an advance
copy of Drowning Pool’s debut, “Sinner”. The album kicked ass from start
to finish with a killer heavy sound mixed with memorable melodies, this
wasn’t just another Roadrunner knock-off band, this was something new and
exciting. It seems the hard rock fans out there agree as “Sinner”
has exploded, climbing up the charts, gaining heavy rotation on MTV and
the band has been playing to screaming fans all summer at Ozzfest.
I had the opportunity to sit down with C.J. and Stevie backstage at Ozzfest
when the tour hit Southern California in June. My first impression of these
guys is they would be damn cool to party with; they seem to have a fun-loving
and positive attitude; a couple of normal guys who love music and have
been lucky enough to make music their career. A couple of months
ago you might not have heard of Drowning Pool, a lot can change in a few
months. These guys deserve all the success they get, so kick back
and ease drop on our conversation and get to know the members of Drowning
Pool a little better.
antiGUY for RNW:
Do you guys want to introduce yourselves to our readers?
C.J.: This is C.J. ,I play guitar.
Stevie: This is Stevie, I play bass.
RNW: So how is Ozzfest going so
far?
Stevie: Ozzfest is awesome.
C.J.: It’s been amazing dude.
Stevie: the best way to spend your
day is out at Ozzfest!
RNW: I heard you guys got stuck
in a mall in St Louis?
Stevie: Yeah (laughs) A little bus
difficulty stranded us in the middle of nowhere.
C.J.: Luckily there was a mall nearby
so we got to spend the day going to Hot Topic and what else was in there?
We hung out at Chili’s for awhile, hung out at the bar there was nothing
else to do all day.
Stevie: Get drunk shopping all day
long it was awesome!
C.J.: I bought stuff I don’t even
need, I was loaded so I bought it.
RNW: With the album sales you guys
probably have some money coming your way.
C.J.: I wish!
(laughs)
Stevie: Everyone else is out shopping
on our album sales!
C.J.: We spent a lot of money.
RNW: How did you land the Ozzfest
gig?
Stevie: Begging, pleading.
C.J.: I don’t know it was the right
place, right time. Everything kind of fell into place. The president of
Windup was talking to Sharon [Osbourne] I know they had a lot of people
up for it but for some reason she picked us. We are very luck to be here.
Stevie: We thank her very very much
if she is listening.
RNW: How did you guys land the deal
with Windup?
C.J.: Land the deal with Windup?
Actually we made our demo and our manager just handed it out to people.
Somebody knew somebody and it just fell into their hands. They liked it
and the next week they flew us up to New York to do a showcase, it was
that simple. There are different ways you can take to get signed but the
CD just fell into their hands. Somebody knew somebody who knew somebody.
RNW: Where did your name come from?
I hear there is a lurid story behind it.
Stevie: The name came from my parents
were out of town for spring break and I decided to stay behind so I could
like party and have my friends over. One of those nights I just brought
my girlfriend over, watching TV and I finally got laid! I’d been working
on it for months and that movie happened to be on [Clint Eastwood’s The
Drowning Pool] and years later I was thinking of a band name and I was
like you know; thinking about playing in a band, thinking about getting
laid and the two just kind of fell together.
C.J.: Such a sweet story!
Stevie: It is. I feel sorry for
that poor girl, someday someone is going to find her and give her hell
about this.
RNW: What’s her number we’ll call
her right now.
(Laughs… C.J. starts rattling off a bogus
phone number. )
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