DROWNING POOL Guitarist Says Split With RYAN MCCOMBS Has 'Been Coming A Long Time'

Angela Chase of the 97-1 The Eagle radio station in Dallas, Texas recently sat in on DROWNING POOL guitarist C.J. Pierce's tattoo session with Dru Bias at Saints And Sinners in Carrollton. In the video segment below, Pierce discusses DROWNING POOL's recent split with singer Ryan McCombs and what the band is looking for in Ryan's replacement.

On the split with McCombs:

Pierce: "It's something that's been coming a long time.

"Like with any relationship, we've been through a lot of stuff in the last six years, and actually, we had a lot of great shows and we've done a lot of great things together. But [we've] grown apart, especially in the last three years.

"If you're gonna write music together and tour together, you've gotta be hitting on all four cylinders — everybody's gotta be on the same page.

"Mike [Luce, drums], Stevie [Benton, bass] and myself have been friends since high school. We've had our ups and downs and we've definitely had our share of scraps with each other, but we always seem to work through it. With Ryan, we kind of had it in the back of our heads that he may not be in it for the long haul. Again, no discredit to Ryan, and I'm not trying to talk any smack on him, but just the fact, the reason why he left SOIL was because he wanted to spend more time with his family and stuff like that. And you can't down a guy for that; in fact, it's respectable that he would wanna stay home and spend time with his family.

"I was really hoping he would [be in it] for the long haul, [but] we've just kind of really grown apart. So instead of going into the studio and trying to force something and just throwing out a record there, [we thought it would be] better if we part ways now while we're still on good terms."

On the fact that DROWNING POOL has been through three lead singers in its 10-year and four-album history as a recording artist:

Pierce: "I think it's more common than not for bands to change members; it's a pretty common thing. It's always hardest when it's the lead singer and that's kind of the focus of the band and the face of the band, if you will, and I guess we have been through a few [frontmen] in the last few years. But at the end of the day, when you're creating music together... Mike, Stevie and myself, we've been buddies, and we've been through thick and thin. And hopefully we'll find somebody else that's on that same page or that has that same passion."

On what keeps DROWNING POOL going after all these years:

Pierce: "I think one of the reasons why we're still in it, we're still forging ahead, is because we love music. For me personally, it's a way of life and it's been my passion. I've always wanted to play music. I love every aspect of it — I love writing and producing, I love touring. And you wanna be in a band with like-minded people that love every side of it. I mean, there's a lot of fun and partying that comes along with it, but there's a lot of work that comes along with it [too]. . . People see an hour-and-a-half show, they come out and party [with us], and they don't see the other 21 and a half hours of what else goes on; there is a lot of work involved. I'm hoping to find somebody that comes in — a singer/songwriter — that has passion about it like the rest of us and that's on fire about doing all those aspects that come with playng music."