Buckcherry – 17-11-2010

Interview with: Keith
By: Nina Mende

After being stuck in terrible traffic for hours we still managed to do a quick interview with Buckcherry. Keith, the guitar player took his time to answer some of our questions.

The band had arrived in the morning and hung out at the venue pretty much all day. Even though there was an ice skating place right next to it they didn’t go there or played any ice hockey. Keith used to play ice hockey for fun as a little kid though. Keith is originally from Pennsylvania. I was a little shocked as he asked me if I was familiar with the United States but as he found out that I was not from Switzerland and used to live in the US it was all good. So, on we went with the interview.

Their latest album was released in August and the fans seemed to love it. They played a lot of tours behind it and there is another tour planned. “All Night Long” is their fifth album. Whenever you release a new album you are expected to present it live. And that’s what Buckchery do. They are a live band so it works out pretty well for them. They just did a US tour including a couple dates in Canada right after the album came out, now they are on Taste Of Chaos tour through Europe, another US tour is planned for January, then Canada and after that they are heading to South America. For the summer they plan on returning to Europe, a couple headliner shows as well as some festival dates. Buckcherry is used to do 200+ shows per album, so there are still quite some shows to be played.

Buckcherry had done a headlining tour in Europe before, but of course was it not as big as Taste Of Chaos is now. But they are working on it. They are committed to establish an audience here which takes a lot of trips to Europe. Taste of Chaos has about 5,000 to 8,000 people every night and many people are starting to get to know Buckcherry just now. Keith said that it seems like the people like them a lot better than last time they were here. It is kind of a process to build up a fan base, but they are definitely working on it and it will come and grow. Buckcherry has to show their loyalty to their fans and be in Europe more often. And they will.

After the shows they try to meet some of their fans. But the more successful you get the harder it seems to get to meet fans because of all the security and the backstage being quite far away. In little clubs there is no real hiding place and you are pretty much out there with your fans whereas in big arenas and venues there are so many places and the audience seems strongly separated from you. But they enjoy talking to the fans since it’s only because of them that the band gets to do what they do.

As of now there are no plans for a new album yet because for now they just want to focus on their current album. The latest single is called “Dead” for which they just shot a video where basically five different kids were dreaming of becoming musicians while nobody really encourages them with their dream but instead tells them that becoming a musician will never work out. So basically the video describes the lives of the Buckcherry guys in a way. Shooting a video includes long days. As Buckcherry was a new band they didn’t have a say in the videos. Now they get to pick the director, tell him their video idea and push it through.

They haven’t talked about the next single yet. Picking a single is a lot of discussing because you try to showcase your album with that single, pick one that basically represents you. You also want to pick a single the people will like but also one that you like most and that represents them as well. So you have to find a middle way of all this.

The musical influences of Buckcherry are many but actually the usual suspects like Queens Of The Stone Age, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, AC/DC and many many more. But basically they listen to a whole lot more, country, punk, funk, everything. Same story for what they are listening to in the tour bus.

There is no ritual of Buckcherry before going on stage but they try to spend the hour before the show together. Afterwards everyone has their own way of calming down. Keith himself doesn’t really have one other than spending some alone time which is pretty rare when being on the road.

At home Keith is into motorcycles and loves making music. Now he has a recording studio at his house. So now he can record stuff whenever he wants. Also does he like sports. Keith pretty much enjoys watching every sport. He himself likes to jog or ride a bicycle. He tries to stay in shape which is important when doing as many shows as Buckcherry do.

It was a nice and short interview. Many thanks to Keith for taking his time.

Links:
Buckcherry Official