SEVENDUST Drummer: 'We're Already Ready To Do Another Record'

Brandon Weiss of The Triangle Online recently conducted an interview with SEVENDUST drummer Morgan Rose. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

On the upcoming release of the band's sixth full-length album, "Alpha":

"We're waiting for the new record to get its ass out on the street. It's been a long time since [the record]'s been done. We're already ready to do another record, but we gotta wait another year and let this thing do what it's gotta do. It's pretty exciting, though. [We're] nervous, excited, scared, happy, all the emotions that go along with putting [a record] out there."

On how the band has progressed and matured over the past decade:

"We were a little bit out of control at times. But we're all good now. It's one of those things where we've grown up and stuff. We've gotten a little more business-savvy from getting screwed numerous times. But we're pretty much the same guys. The thing that's nice right now is that we've got our integrity back so that we can write the songs that we want to write and continue what it was that got us started before people started to sort of level with our creative process."

On the band's unique deal with Warner Music Group label imprint Asylum Records:

"It's a very interesting deal. We funnel ourselves through Asylum [Records]. We're distributed through [Alternative Distribution Alliance]. The people that are kind of running the show for us radio-wise are under the Warner Music Group umbrella. It's pretty interesting. We've basically got ourselves in a position where our avenues are whoever is in the office that can do something to help us out, is going to jump in and help. It's a pretty cool place to be."

"We're in a position where it's like, we don't have to worry about being the big guys anymore. Everywhere we go, it's been like people kind of benefit from the little bit of success — well, a lot of success — that we've had over the years. When we were with TVT [Records] and we went to Winedark [Records], we were the big band. Now, we're in the position where we have people working for us who have a very long history of dealing with much bigger acts than us. It's a nice place to be. It's nice to have some strength behind you."

On the preliminary work it took to write the new album:

"We had a bunch of material that was sent to me, music wise. The preliminary stuff was, I just kind of grabbed the reins on the first two songs lyrically and melody-wise. Then we started to piece to stuff together. . . We went in a room in Atlanta where we started out when we were young. We went back to that home base that we had at the beginning. We just started jamming, and I started going a little wild with lyrics and getting these songs done. It was a relatively painless process, other than the fact that I was worrying about some stuff that was pretty deep for me. But it felt good. We felt like we had the ball in our court to do what we wanted, so it made us feel real comfortable without sort of having someone telling us what to do."

On the future of SEVENDUST:

"I'm playing harder right now than I think I've ever played — ever. I'm playing real hard, I'm hurting myself real bad, but it's what I feel like doing. I'm excited about this record; I'm excited about the shows. I can't stop myself. I feel like crap, but I just can't stop myself from unloading."

Read the entire interview at The Triangle Online.