Trapt have been wrecking stages and storming the charts since the glory days of the noughties and are still selling out venues worldwide, including Australia in 2017. You guys sold out each state and received rave reviews, now coming back this year for round two, they are hoping to do it all over again but bigger and better!
Metal-Roos: Thank you so much for talking to me! I should start with the usual, you guys excited to come back down under?
Oh yeah man! Last time we were there we had such a great time so, we were so keen to do it again! We’re really excited.
M-R: In 2017, you had a string of sold-out shows over here. Is there anything you are looking forward to about re-visiting Australia?
Not anything specific, we’re just excited to see Australia again. We have a special type of fan down there, they really care about music. They really care about Trapt as a band, and they love to have a great time. We just can’t wait to get down there and do it again.
M-R: Can you try to describe how it feels to have your lyrics sung back to you from sold out crowds on the other side of the planet?
Feels great man! Feels like there is lot of people out there that understand where you’re coming from. They understand what you talking about and what you went through. When you have people that feel the same way you felt it feels like you have a big group of people behind you and supporting you.
M-R: How does touring Australia compare to touring the states or Europe? Are there any big differences?
Yeah, you know we came out to Australia and it felt like touring the US, just as big of a market as we have in LA or New York City. It was awesome to see that.
M-R: Trapt love breaking out the acoustic guitars, can we expect any of that in the upcoming shows?
Yeah, of course man! We have acoustic stuff as a part of what we do in Trapt. We hit it hard with electric but will have acoustics moments for sure.
M-R: I read that you are looking forward to hearing the support bands at the Aussie shows. Can you give us a clue about who’s on the bill, have they been chosen? Do you guys have usually have input to who is supporting Trapt?
The promoter tends to pick the opening bands, but I heard that we have great bands supporting us. So we are excited to meet up with them and throw down! haha
M-R: Trapt are a real-life survival story, getting through real challenges and threats to the band, how are things in the Trapt camp in 2019?
It’s great! We played in LA and Vegas last weekend, those two shows were awesome. We’ve got a new song in the set called Fire, and we’re going to play that new song in Australia. The bands never sounded better, we’re firing on all cylinders. It’s great.
M-R: I read that you have a new release in the works, how does the writing process usually work for Trapt? Is anything evolving for the new album?
You just go through what you go through, for a couple of years and songs come out of it. We’ve got some great songs on this album, a lot of emotion. The timing was good and these songs are some of the best that I’ve ever written and we’re excited to share them with the world.
M-R: I listened to the release with AN0MALY, a killer song, wicked hook in the chorus, how did that collaboration start, and how was the writing process for the track?
We know each other through Hollywood, you know, the LA scene and all that. Being into politics and social commentary and all that good stuff. He and I are also artists, so we decided to collaborate and that’s what we got and it was awesome. We wanted to do a song together, so we made the music and he loved the track. Then he wrote his raps real quick and came down to the studio and it was great. He laid down his raps, and I was like “wow that’s amazing” which made me really step up and I do what I got to do then I laid that hook down and rest is history, great times.
M-R: Can you give us an insight into what is inspiring the musical direction for the new album?
Just a lot of self-discovery over the last year, a year where I got surprised here and there, you know, by life, but I think we came through it really well.
M-R: Trapt had a very turbulent time during writing for DNA. How much influence do you think that had over the lyrical or musical direction for the album?
It’s just like I said man, what you go through is what you tend to write music about. What mood you’re in, what emotions you’re feeling or whether you’re feeling emotions at all. When it’s a heavy emotional thing you tend to get the best songs and that’s how it kinda works.
M-R: You recently partnered with Cinq Music for the upcoming release, how did that relationship come about?
Just a friend of a friend, we wanted to try him out, just to see how it goes.
M-R: DNA was self-produced and self-engineered; will this continue with the new release?
Yeah man, we’ve been doing that for the last three albums so it’s going to be like that.
M-R: How much difference is there between making a music with Cinq’s help as opposed to independently? Are there pros and cons to both?
Well, when do it independent but you got to be your own critic. When you do with the label, they’re the critics. So, there’s more responsibility but also more freedom.
M-R: 19 years is amazing for any band, what is the main difference of Trapt of 2019 with the Trapt of 2000? Is there anything that has stayed the same?
We’re just much better musicians. I’m a much better singer. We are all just better performers man, everything’s better just a better show.
M-R: You included the fans heavily for DNA, as the main song-writer, was it difficult allowing their influence on your creation? What was that experience like?
We just wanted fans to pre-order the album in advance, we wanted to them to put their mark on the album, like a mini executive producer to be a part of the process. We sort of let them into the recording process here and there. We’re not going to do that on this album though, just the regular pre-orders for the fans. It was cool, we really wanted to offer our fans a different experience.
M-R: Thanks again for speaking to me, the shows are going to slam, I’m sure, any last words for the Aussie fans?
Just have a can’t wait to see you guys! Can’t wait to hear you singing every word back to us and sharing that positive energy.
Interview Date: 2019-02-03
Interviewer: Jonathan Hurley