Job for a Cowboy’s Jonny Davy Talks Mayhem Festival, New Album Plans + More

Job for a Cowboy have spent the last decade building their name and they've been seeing their fan base grow with each album, with 2012's 'Demonocracy' one of their most solid records to date. This summer, the band is finishing off support of the disc while playing the 2013 Mayhem Festival -- their second time appearing on the popular metal tour -- and they're just starting to get ideas together for their fourth album.

Loudwire spoke with frontman Jonny Davy hours ahead of the band's first Mayhem performance this summer at the San Bernardino, Calif., kickoff. Davy dished about the Mayhem experience, the group's forthcoming album plans and his thoughts on becoming "a veteran band." Check out our interview with Job for a Cowboy's Jonny Davy below.

Job for a Cowboy are playing on Mayhem's Jagermeister Stage alongside Machine Head and more. What are your thoughts on playing with those bands that will be right there with you throughout the run on that stage?

It's awesome. I've been doing this for quite a while now, so it's still kind of taking a step back and realizing that all the things I've been doing for the past eight years. For the lack of a better word, it is cool.

What songs are you looking forward to playing during the Mayhem run?

Obviously the newer stuff, it's a lot different than our older material. We're the type of band that changes a lot with every record, we like to progress and try new things. We try to stray away from our comfort zone with every record that we put out. It's fun playing those newer songs but those kids want the oldies sometimes. Especially for a festival like this. We have to please the kids.

'Demonocracy' has done really well for you. Are you working on a new album at this point?

Yeah, after this, this is the end of the road for our touring cycle, which is an awesome way to end it on. We're going to fall off the face of the earth and work on a new record after this.

You guys have such interesting lyrical content. Where does your inspiration come from?

The majority of my lyrics, especially from the last few records, have been extremely political. Almost a little conspiracy-esque. I have been a huge fan of bands, and I say this all the time, but At the Gates, Misery Index, Napalm Death. Very strong political based bands. That's where it comes from it's what keeps me interested in what I always try to read into.

Looking at the main stage, Amon Amarth has this huge ship …

I just saw it, it's crazy.

Who are you most looking forward to seeing on Mayhem this year?

I'm really stoked on the main stage. I'm a big fan of Amon Amarth, Mastodon. I hear Rob Zombie shows are really cool, I still haven't seen him live. I heard it looks more or less like GWAR on steroids. It's cool on this type of tour. There are a lot of options. Different bands you can watch. It keeps it interesting.

You've probably toured with a good number of these bands over the years, but are their any bands on the lineup that you may not have met before that you'd particularly love to meet?

I don't really get starstruck with other bands or musicians. I was telling this other interviewer, if it was a professional wrestler, then I'd be awestruck by it. At this point I've toured with almost every band more or less or played shows with them.

Which wrestler would you want to meet?

I don't know, if Macho Man wasn't dead, I'd like to meet Randy Savage.

You guys have been around for quite a while at this point. How does it feel to now being one of the veteran bands? It wasn't so long ago when you guys were just kicking things off, but now a decade has passed.

I know, we just hit that spot where I guess we're kind of considered veterans now. We were the babies on every tour. It's scary how fast time flies. I started touring when I was 16, 17 years old. It's been almost 10 years.

When you play these massive festivals, what's the feeling for you when you're up onstage?

These bigger audiences are a little easier to work the crowd. Smaller club shows you have to feel it out, how the crowd reacts. This is always - it's really easy to control an audience of this size. They're both really different but in this capacity, it's just fun.

You mentioned earlier that you will start work on a new album after the Mayhem run. Is it too early to talk about the direction of the record?

I think we have ideas but we're so early in the stages who knows what direction it will go in down the road. We don't like to force anything. Whenever the inspiration comes, we just roll with it.

Anything else on the horizon for the band?

Check us out on Mayhem Festival. Buy our record 'Demonocracy.' If you don't want to spend the money, download it, torrent it, steal it. We don't care. Take a listen. Spread the word.

Loudwire thanks Job for a Cowboy's Jonny Davy for the interview. Be sure to catch them on the Jagermeister Stage at Mayhem this summer. The band's 'Demonocracy' album is currently available for purchase at this location.