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Daughtry is getting ready to release their new album ‘Cage To Rattle’ on July 27, 2018 via RCA/19. This is the longest the band has spent in between albums and from what we have heard so far so, the wait has been well worth it. With singles ‘Backbone’ and ‘Deep End’ out there, fans get to hear the direction of this album. That direction is big, anthemic, extremely well written and produced songs.
Chris was kind enough to sit down with us on July 4th to talk about the new album and give his fans some background on the making of this album. Chris is a music lover and his passion for it shines through when you speak to him. He’s appreciate of his fans and he hopes that everyone will give this new album a listen.
Here’s our conversation with Chris Daughtry:
Tommy – SoundVapors: Hi, Chris. Happy 4th of July!
Chris Daughtry: Yeah, Happy 4th!
SV: So you’ve got a ton going on. You have the record coming out on the 27th, you’ve just completed a leg of shows and now you’ve got a bunch of new dates coming up to support the album.
CD: Yeah, we’re actually getting ready to kick it back off. We have a show tonight in Missouri and then we leave for Japan tomorrow. We’re there for a couple of weeks and then we come back and do a little promo and then start the U.S. tour.
SV: Is this your first time to Asia? I saw in addition to Japan you are playing Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
CD: This is our first time in Thailand but we’ve been to Singapore about three times and we’ve been to Japan once. But this is our first time to Thailand so it’s very cool we’ll get to do that.
SV: With the release date coming up do you ever find yourself getting nervous when you are in “release month” or “release week” or does it feel just sort of normal now?
CD: I forgot what it’s like to release an album :laughs: It’s been a little over four years since the last one so we’re anxious to get it out. But I wouldn’t say nervous. We’re very pleased with what we’ve heard as far as feedback and from the fans, from what they’ve heard. I feel like we got this one right. But you never know until it’s released.
SV: I felt like there was little change of direction, musically, from Leave This Town to Break The Spell to Baptized and then again to this one. Were you consciously trying to change up the sound a little or is it purely just a musical growth?
CD: I think it’s certainly a huge departure from Baptized. Simply because of, for lack of over-explaining it, the band played on this record. They did not play on Baptized. That was a bit of an experimental record, to be honest. It wasn’t intentionally meant to be that way, it’s just the way it turned out. With this album I think we wanted to get back closer to our roots and this feels like it. We definitely wanted to shake things up a little bit by enlisting Jacquire King as Producer. I think there’s a little bit of Indie flare on the record that we’ve never really had before. Overall I think it’s just a more mature piece of work than our previous albums. I think the songwriting, playing and musicianship is more mature. It just feels like a grown up record!
SV: Yes. Mature, that is a great way to describe it. With the song White Flag, it has this great big epic feel to it but not in a juvenile sort of way. Also, the production is second to none. Jacquire King has produced some great albums.
CD: Oh yeah, he definitely has a great track record. We had a great time recording with him. I think it was different than anything we’d experienced before. There was some head butting and there was a lot of frustration that went into making this record.
SV: But sometimes that can be a good thing, right?
CD: Oh yeah, in the end I think that was a good thing. For me, I think it took so long to make this record I think I got to a point where I was second guessing everything. It was like “is this even good.. is this even the right direction.. is this worth even putting out?” It felt like Straight Out Of Compton when Dr. Dre scrapped the record :laughs: I sort of felt like that this thing was headed that way and I thought “is this damn thing ever going to come out?” :laughs: But at the end of it, man, we are very happy with it and how it turned out. I also think it forced us to be better musicians and I think that’s what we needed. We didn’t need somebody to come in a do the same records we’ve done before. We wanted someone to do their version of us and I thought Jacquire was the perfect choice for that.
SV: I saw that it took you guys around two years to record. Where there moments where a bulk of the recording took place or did you use all of that two years?
CD: No, we definitely did not use all of those two years. A lot of it was writing. Some of it was, we got started but then we had already booked a tour that kind of conflicted a little bit with the schedules. So soon as we sort of found a groove, we’d have to leave and be on the road for a couple of months. Then after that, Jacquire was pretty much tied up for a while with some other bands so it was like a scheduling game. We had to sort of re-find our groove again and I think that second pass of recording kind of solidified the sound of the record. So I think that time in between was actually quite useful and helped us dive into or re-evaluate the sound of the record and what we were going for.
SV: It can be weird because some of my favorite records like Freakshow by Silverchair or Jar Of Flies by Alice In Chains were recorded very fast and I love them. But then there are albums that took FOREVER to record and turns out to be this labor of love and those are the best ones. So it’s like you never can tell how this is going to turn out.
CD: Oh yeah (Freakshow) that’s a great one. And I’ve done both. I’ve done the record where it was kind of “in and out” and then, this is the longest we’ve ever spent on a record. Part of that is because we hadn’t recorded together in a long time and it was kind of finding our “how do we do this again??” :laughs: Do we want to do it live or do we want to do it the new school way? So there was a bit of live recording, there was a bit of overdubs and we kind of experimented with it.
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CD: It’s a weird climate in music right now. It’s rock but is that going to get the time of day? We’re just really proud of it regardless of what kind of commercial success it has, and hopefully it gets a little of that too. But as far as a piece of work we’re super pumped and think the fans are going to be super happy too. They’ve been patient and waited longer than we all anticipated! :laughs:
SV: One of the tracks on it, Deep End, has this introspective feel, musically. Vocally I feel like it’s one of your stronger performances. I’m not sure how you feel about it but you sound very strong on it.
CD: You know.. it’s funny. When we were recording it, I did a demo of that song when it first came up. So I did the demo vocals in my office at home. Then me and Jacquire went to track the vocals I just couldn’t duplicate it. There we just certain aspects of it that felt vulnerable and it was just one of those things that was hard to reproduce. So we said “screw it!” and we just used those.
SV: WOW. That’s interesting. Is there any inspiration or backstory to the song?
CD: You know what? That was one of the only songs in a long time that I didn’t really have a good hand in writing. It was one of those songs that the label asked “what do you think of this song?” So when I first heard it, it wasn’t something that I was in love with and mostly because I didn’t like the bridge. :laughs: So I rewrote a whole new bridge to it. It then felt a little more identifiable to me. The I really got to dive into it, no pun intended. :laughs: It honestly felt like everything I went through in this record process and how I had to kind of open myself up a little bit more. Be a little more vulnerable and dive into the deep end of those emotions. And really just give myself away to the process of trying to make this record. So in the end it’s very poetic on how it all came about and I just can’t picture this record without that song.
SV: That’s a great story and to be honest, it all feels so perfect.
SV: Do you have a couple of songs on the album that you feel like people HAVE to go listen to?
CD: White Flag for certainly one of them. :pauses: Man, this is so hard because I have two or three that are like “you’ve got to listen to this.. no you’ve got to listen to this one”. :laughs: Let’s see. Back In Time and As You Are. As You Are I wrote with my wife. And that’s probably the most personal song I’ve written in a long time. And I just feel like our youth, especially right now, with all the bullying and teen suicide is through the roof… I feel like this song is something that people need to hear.
SV: Thanks for sharing that.
SV: At this point in your career, you’ve pretty much done it all. Is there any one thing you prefer to another in terms of the writing process, recording or playing live shows?
CD: That’s a tough one because I love the process of creating. There’s so much freedom in it because at that time, nobody has heard it yet. So you get to experiment. Then there’s the performing of it and it’s like hey, here’s our baby, :laughs: I hope you like it. :laughs: But I think that they are both equally gratifying for different reasons. But if I had to pick one or the other, like the one I can’t imagine myself not doing, it would be performing. I can’t see myself not performing.
SV: Well you’re a worker, man. :laughs: I mean, that’s what Daughtry does. They tour and play a ton of live shows and people love coming to see you guys play. You’ve got to love that.
CD: Absolutely!
SV: Is there a place that you love to play or look forward to go back and play a show?
CD: It’s always great to play in Denver at Red Rocks. It’s such a majestic backdrop. You get out there and see it all, you forget that you’re playing a show. And that’s no slight to anywhere else, it’s just a magical looking venue it’s just hard to believe that you are there. And we love all of our fans and we can’t wait to get back out there.
SV: In your song Long Live Rock and Roll, you mention so many epic artists. Crue, GNR, The Beatles, The Stones, Elton John, Billy Joel and also my favorite, the grunge scene. Are there any artists around currently that you’d like to work with?
CD: Oh man, there’s a ton. There’s an artist, Donna Missal. This girl is one of the most phenomenal singers I’ve heard in a long time. Go check out her song Keep Lying. She RIPS. Her vocals are ridiculous.
SV: I am listening to that song as soon as we finish here! (side note: I did.. and Chris was right. Whoa.. holy moly) Any other artists come to mind?
CD: I’d love to do a collaboration with Post Malone. I think that’d be cool too! And really I’m just such a fan of music. I hear people all the time that I’m like, “oh that’d be cool to do something with them”. But those are the two that come to mind right now.
SV: IF you were able to start a band and I only want to pick from musicians that have departed, since you already have a great band. Josh Paul, Josh Steely and everyone are awesome, so you are all set there. But you are the singer and you could go back and grab a guitar player, a bass player and a drummer, who are you jamming with in your 4-piece?
CD: Alright so we gotta get Cliff Burton on Bass! And let me see.. You’ve gotta go with Jimi, man. Jimi Hendrix on guitar. On drums. John Bonham!
SV: You’ve gotta go Bonzo, right??
CD: :laughs: absolutely. This is a pretty superstar band. I’m out of my league here!
SV: :laughs: I think you’d crush.
SV: Is there anything you want to say to your fans? Or is there any message you want to convey to them?
CD: I feel like this record needs to be heard. This is for the fans. We did this record for them. We can’t wait to get it into their hands and see them out on the road!
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– Tommy Marz
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