Morgan Rose of Sevendust
by Deb Rao
Staff Writer
The Carnival of Madness Tour featuring Shinedown, Chevelle, Puddle of Mudd, Sevendust and 10 Years made a special New England stop in Mansfield, Mass., at The Comcast Center on Aug. 1st and will be appearing at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Aug. 4th.
Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose checked in with Hardrock Haven to preview the upcoming concert and discuss in-depth the band’s latest release Cold Day Memory:
HRH: Morgan, Thank you for checking in with Hardrock Haven. Sevendust currently is on the road performing on The Carnival of Madness Tour. What have some of the highlights been so far?
MORGAN: It has been going great. We are kind of in the front of the middle of the lineup. So we are protected all over with bands before us and after us. It has been very cool to not to have to carry the weight. We have been headlining for so long. You have to carry that weight on the tour when you are doing that. It has been wake up, do some interviews, go to the venue and play for 45 minutes and grab some food out of catering, relax with have a few beers, watch TV and watch some bands. It has been really laid back for us. It has been a lot easier than what we have been used to. We are really close to a few of the bands on the tour. We get to hang out with them daily. It has just been really cool.
HRH: Tell us about the set-list for this tour. Is the band playing a lot of new songs off of Cold Day Memory?
MORGAN: We are doing a few. It is kind of a short set. We have eight records. It is not easy to put anything together that is going to make everybody happy. We switch them around every few shows to try and keep it fresh. We are doing a few new ones, and then we will be headlining in October, when we will be playing a lot off the new record and a lot of the old stuff, too.
HRH: The response has been phenomenal for Cold Day Memory. It is receiving so many great reviews. Tell us about the writing process for this album.
Morgan: We wrote the majority of it before we went into the studio. It was just a really fun album to record. I wrote a bunch of riffs. Then we got together in Atlanta. There were a handful of songs that didn’t make the actual recording process. We have a handful in the tank right now for extras that I think are amazing. It was a typical Sevendust writing session. We got into the studio in Chicago about halfway through the process. We had a head start when we got in there.
HRH: You also worked with producer Johnny K. Do you think he knows the band’s sound well?
MORGAN: Yes, he was respectful. He didn’t want to change the band, but he wanted to trim the fat. He wanted to give his opinion out there for us to listen to. When it was all said and done, he definitely was one of my favorites [producer] that we ever worked with just because he didn’t overstep his boundaries. He just kind of laid it out there with, “This is what I think, take it or leave it.”
HRH: Do you think that a lot of the success of the album is due to the fact that a lot of the fans can identify with the songs? A lot of the songs seem to deal with personal experiences.
MORGAN: Yeah, that has always been our thing, letting our guard down and allowing people into our personal life. If they can relate to it, sometimes it is unfortunate, but we let them know that we get it. If we can shine a little light for anybody that is going through a tough time, then that is an extra bonus to us. That is the kind of band that we have been for a long time. We will continue doing that.
HRH: Was the album collectively written?
MORGAN: I predominately have written most of the lyrics on the last three records. Then on this one, Clint was back in and was really involved with lyric writing with me. Lajon wrote some stuff. It definitely was a team effort on this one. Clint wrote a lot of lyrics, a lot of riffs and a lot of songs.
HRH: Would you say the band has come full circle with the return of Clint Lowery?
MORGAN: Yes, that sound is something that makes the band. The thing that started to depart was the fact we had three voices and a soulful singer on top of real heavy music with heavy vocals, and another singer in Clint that could go along with that. So we had three different voices. When we first came out on the scene, that was something new. I think that set us apart from other bands for a little awhile. When Clint left, we lost that extra voice. We lost his guitar playing, which was just something we had to have. That has been a full circle move for us, I believe.
HRH: What inspired the title of the new album?
MORGAN: That actually was Clint’s idea. We were in Chicago, and it all just kind of came together that way. It was freezing cold while we were there. We were just tossing song titles around. He had written that line in a song. Actually, that was a title to a song that we ended up changing that title to and using it as the album title. It was just that memory of being up there and it being freezing cold everyday.
HRH: As a drummer, you have inspired so many musicians and fans. What was it like to be voted by Drum magazine as one of the top drummers of all time? What was running through your mind when you heard the news?
MORGAN: It has been pretty cool. Whenever I see the people that win this, I kind of give a half smile and look around and say, ‘that guy is not the best guitar player in the world.’ I will see the list and Steve Vai is not even on the list of the top 100 guitar players of all time. My point is: I took it with a grain of salt. I was flattered. I believe, popularity-wise, I was voted that way. I won metal drummer of the year and performance of the year and knocked Lars Ulrich out of that spot. When that happened, I just kind of shrugged my shoulders and thought, ‘I am not the best drummer in that category, but my Mom will this so.’ My Mom will really like those awards. I don’t take compliments really well. But I was flattered, and I can’t lie; it was nice to hand that stuff over to my parents.
HRH: What inspired your clothing line Alien Freakwear?
MORGAN: It was pretty funny. We were doing a signing one day; Vinnie was right after me after the signing at this table. There were a lot of people in this line. Vinnie would sit there and talk to people. We call him the Mayor. I do talk a lot with people, but I would get to the point that I didn’t know what else to say. I started doodling. I had a few people that would make jokes that you look like an alien with your hair all crazy and how you act. I was doodling, and I doodled that little alien on somebody’s signature. After the signing was over, people that didn’t get that little guy started coming back to the line, asking me to put that little guy on their signature. Somebody told me you should put that one a T-shirt. That is a cool logo. I said, ‘Who would buy it?’ They said that we have a lot of people that follow your band. You might be surprised. So we had three tries at it. I had the misfortune of allowing people that I haven been in relationships with handle it. It is not the financial side of it that bums me out. The first go-around, when the split happened, people weren’t getting any of their stuff. The person quit sending the stuff, and fans were angry. I didn’t know who was supposed to be getting anything. I have it handled now by somebody that I am not sleeping with. You have to go to www.alienfreakwear.com to get it. I just kind of kept it underground for now.
HRH: Last year, you filled in for Tommy Lee on Cruefest when he injured his hand. What was that experience like. Are you good friends with Tommy Lee?
MORGAN: Yeah, I have known him for a really long time. It was a nightmare and a dream come true all in one. I was really excited to be able to hang with him. Contrary to what anybody might think, I had never played a Motley Crue song in my life. I had an hour and 20 minutes to get ready for that concert. There were six or seven songs off of Doctor Feelgood that I never even heard in my life. It was really stressful to be sitting up there and have Tommy Lee talking in the microphone in my ears telling me, ‘Here comes the bridge and count me off 2, 3,” and I would change. He would say, ‘We are going back to the verse here.’ It was really nerve wrecking to be learning a song with someone kind of guiding you through it in front of 25,000 people. It was pretty awesome. I have been close with him for a long time. I love him. We have a really cool friendship. I went to the Bahamas with him in between the tour, when we had a break. It was a really, really cool thing.
HRH: What are your future touring plans after COM wraps up?
MORGAN: Yes, we are going to headline in October. On this tour, we are doing a bunch of meet-and-greets. The Monster people have been fantastic. It has been a really cool tour. I didn’t know what really to expect. All the guys are awesome in Shinedown. We go out in the crowd a lot. It has been a really successful one, too. Nowadays, it is not easy to get a bunch of people in seats.
HRH: I think, too, the ticket prices are at a moderate price so the fans can afford it, which is good. The bands are outstanding. Some of the best touring bands in the business.
MORGAN: I have looked at the numbers that everyone is doing on some of the other tours, and there is not much going on that is doing more than this. It is pretty exciting. I am glad to be a part of it.