HRH Interview With Buckcherry Guitarist Keith Nelson
I don’t make it a secret that Buckcherry is one of my favorite bands out there so of course I jumped at the chance for the opportunity to interview guitarist Keith Nelson. I thought it was a great interview, there were a lot of questions I didn’t get to ask because there wasn’t enough time but that is ok I will save them for the next time. Here is what he had to say, Enjoy!
HRH: Buckcherry recently wrapped up the inaugural Cruefest, how did you think the tour went
Keith Nelson: I thought it was phenomenal, a lot of fun
HRH: What were some of the other bands on the bill that you watched when you had a chance?
Keith Nelson: Papa Roach they are a great live band and of course the Crue they were just over the top.
HRH: Do you think Buckcherry will go out with Cruefest next year?
Keith Nelson: Definitely if we get the chance.
HRH: Buckcherry did over 300 shows in support of 15 are you looking at the same kind of tour for “Black Butterfly”?
Keith Nelson: We were thinking of maybe 600 or 700. Just kidding, Yeah you know we are a live band and that is what we do so going out on the road and living out on the pirate strip as they call it and making rock-n-roll 6 nights a week is kinda what we do.
HRH: 15 was recorded in 15 days how long did it take to record “Black Butterfly”?
Keith Nelson: 21 days on this record
HRH: When it comes to writing is everyone involved or is it you and Josh?
Keith Nelson: Everyone is involved, every song ultimately ends up in the room with all 5 guys weighing in regardless of where it starts. A lot of times Josh and I will come up something, get it pretty much completed, take it in and start rehearsing it. I want to hear what the other guys in my band think of it and see if they have any ideas.
HRH: Is there a story behind the title “Black Butterfly”?
Keith Nelson: Not really, well I guess the only story is there was a song called “Black Butterfly” that we all loved but ultimately didn’t make the record. Not because it was inferior to anything else but in the big picture of the record that piece just didn’t seem to fit, we loved it and certainly it will see the light of day at some point. But when we were coming up with concepts for the cover the image of the Black Butterfly was kind of stuck in my head so I proposed that as the title of the record and everyone seemed to like it.
HRH: So far there are 3 songs available for the fans to hear with, Too Drunk, Rescue Me, and Don’t Go Away, what are some of the other songs you like off the album?
Keith Nelson: Well there is a song called “Cream” that ends the record that is a pretty special song. It was written and rewritten and left for dead and then rewritten again and that is one of my favorite songs on the record. There is a song called “Imminent Bailout” which I think is probably one of the best rock songs I’ve ever written as far as sheer rock-n-roll intensity. There are so many songs, there is a song called “Rose” that I think is a great stretch for us as far as sonically in our approach to songwriting. Man there is a lot of great songs on the record.
HRH: Was the band surprised by the reaction of “Too Drunk” when it was leaked?
Keith Nelson: You know it is crazy how that all went down cause we actually finished mixing the record on a Sunday and 3 or 4 days later we left to start Cruefest, while that was all kind of going on while we were out of the road. Obviously it is in our best interest to present our record in a very structured, you know thought out way and with all the songs being passed around to different people for mastering, remixing, and what not unfortunately that song leaked. In this day and age we just kind of make the best of what we got so once the song was out there we just kind of had to follow it but it wasn’t our first choice for what the single was going to be.
HRH: You always have extra songs on the singles and imports, has there ever been any talk of putting out a B-sides album?
Keith Nelson: Yeah, I mean there hasn’t actually been any talk but it’s funny because early on the B-sides were very much, well you could tell why those songs weren’t on the record and now the left over tracks are as good as anything on the record but you can only put so many songs on a record. You never know I’m sure at some point after we have more of a discography behind us there will be some more special stuff.
HRH: After “Time Bomb” Buckcherry went on hiatus and you and Josh end up recording some songs with the guys from Velvet Revolver. The story goes there were 10 or so songs recorded is there a chance they will ever be made available to the public?
Keith Nelson: Well what happened with those songs is they were actually live recordings that we would make in a rehearsal room, they were multi-tracked. We didn’t make a record but we did do a very detailed recording of them in a live situation. They do exist, I do have them but they will never see the light of day.
HRH: In the past you played with Huck Johns and now he is playing with JB, Devon, and Yogi in a project called Black Robot. Is that something you helped put together?
Keith Nelson: I have no knowledge of that and know nothing about it.
HRH: Legend has it that you and Josh started Buckcherry because you both love AC/DC. Have you had a chance to hear their new single yet?
Keith Nelson: No but I am so excited about the new AC/DC record you have no idea.
HRH: With Cruefest finished and “Black Butterfly” tour starting up who are some of the bands you are looking at opening for you?
Keith Nelson: Well we start this next leg of the tour in a few days with Avenged Sevenfold, Shinedown, and Saving Abel, which are all great bands that is going to be a fun, fun tour. Airbourne is awesome, I would love to have Airbourne and we are actually going to do some dates with those guys in Japan.
HRH: If you could put together a Cherryfest and you could have any 5 bands past or present on the bill who would it be?
Keith Nelson: Well we would have AC/DC close the show for us and we would go on right before them. Right before us or maybe flip flopping every night we would have Stone Temple Pilots and Rage Against the Machine and I would probably get Muddy Waters to start things off.
And with that we wrapped the interview up, like I said earlier I think it was a great interview, very relaxed and laid back Keith was extremely easy to talk too. I definitely look forward to talking to him again if and when I get the chance.
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Matt my friend, you really need to do some googling and find out who wrote what on that first BC record (here’s a clue: the publishing is split). Keith didn’t even play on it because he CHOKED in the studio. Jonesy had to play the guitar parts so they didn’t go even more over budget. Keith is a hack and Josh used to be cool, but now he’s just looking like an old man with a filthy mouth.
Buckcherry sucks. Black Robot rules! Check them out on http://www.myspace.com/blackrobot
Black Robot is going to be HUGE!!! And those suckers that made off with the name are going to be on the unemployement line because Black Butterfly is gay, gay, gay shit that that fag Marti Frederickson wrote and produced with Keith. Marti fucking writes for Cher and Keith can hardly play the guitar!
In response to Matt! Steve Jones wrote and played EVERYTHING! HA! shows how much you know! and I believe the entire band split the writing shares! Blackrobot is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY better than anything Buckcherry ever released! CAn you hear?? I guess you can becouse you were right about Black Butt…
I like BuckCherry because they got the balls to play 4 on the floor rock while everyone else copies each other trying to sound radio. Too drunk sucks, but you cant win em’ all. They still kick ass. As far as the new band-Black robot on myspace -it is fricken awesome. Both bands are way better than any of this new modern crap.
I heard that song Black Robot has on myspace. It’s HORRENDOUS. Keith and Josh WERE and ARE Buckcherry. who do you think wrote all the songs for the first line-up?
However I just listened to some of the songs that are on black butterfly and they were pretty horrendous too. It’s a shame.
laughing at “bad robot” he knows exactly what your talking about and the response is laughable…
It’s BLACKROBOT, and frankly..it kicks the sh*t out of anything he’s done with Huck Johns prior or the current “to drunk to…”
sorry the old guys in the original lineup are back Keith and your just gonna have to face the reality that they are just better musicians… and as for Huck johns…from what I’ve heard, his voice makes Josh Todds sound like out of key..pitchy..one toned crap..
that is the response Keith should have given..(the truth)
still laughing…Keith…You’re to SOBER!