Buckcherry’s Josh Todd Discusses ‘F#ck’ EP, Singles Club, Uproar Festival + More
Buckcherry are lightening the mood after their heavy 'Confessions' album. The band just released the 'F#ck' EP, a collection of tracks all featuring the F-word in their title. Frontman Josh Todd recently spoke with 'Loudwire Nights' host Full Metal Jackie about the expletive-filled collection. Check out the chat below.
'Loudwire Nights,' Full Metal Jackie with Josh Todd of Buckcherry on the show with us. Josh, the title of your new EP is 'F#ck,' released on your own F-Bomb records label. Every song title includes that word. As a lyricist what makes that word such a go-to expressive tool for you?
Yes. The new EP is 'F#ck' and you can pre-order it now on iTunes. Let me tell you something, there are so many ways to use the word f#ck. We wanted to express it on record and make great Buckcherry songs out of it. It was well thought out. It's not just some silly EP we did. We worked really hard on this. I can't wait for people to hear it. It's really great.
'Say F#ck It' is a rendition of an Icona Pop song 'I Love It.' What initially turned you onto that song and what makes covering something outside the expected Buckcherry style so much fun?
I'm a huge fan of pop music. I have small kids so I listen to a lot of pop radio when I take them to school and drive them around. So that song kept coming on the radio when it was a hit and I called Keith up, and said listen, "I have this idea of a song, you gotta bear with me and see it through because I think it can be really great." At that time he wasn't really getting it, so I sent him the song and he said, "OK." Then we went through the process of turning it into a Buckcherry song and it was a lot of fun doing it.
It was challenging at times. I think that's the whole fun about covering a song is to try to make something that's not necessarily what you'd think you'd be doing and calling it your own. Look what The Black Crowes did with the Otis Redding song 'Hard to Handle.' I just thought that was so cool, they took that song and made it their own. There were so many people that didn't even know that it was an Otis Redding song. There's probably people today that still don't know that.
The 'Singles Club' campaign on Pledge Music will give people access to cover tunes you've recorded. What it is about releasing music through that platform that makes so much sense for a band like Buckcherry?
We haven't recorded a lot of cover songs over the years, so we wanted to make it special for our fans to be able to get close to us and have something that's exclusive and their own. It's been a lot of fun. People have been really responding well to it. Our first release was 'Beast of Burden' and I can't even tell you how many tweets and how many text messages that I got regarding that song. Then we just released Minor Threat's 'Small Man, Big Man,' which was a lot of fun for me to do because my whole foundation was punk rock and I grew up in OC California and 'Out of Step' was a huge record for me. To get that out there and to feel like we did it justice is really cool.
There were a lot of layers to the last album, 'Confessions.' Is the new EP a way to cleanse your musical palate?
'Confessions' was an emotional roller coaster. It took a lot of out of us. It was a long process to get that record done and we're so proud of it, but it was a lot. We definitely want to have a great time on this next effort and do something that's fun and crazy -- basically, a record label's nightmare. That's why we wanted to start out with for our first record on our new record label, F-Bomb Records. I think it's so cool.
There's real diversity on this year's Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar festival. What do you like most about playing in front of an audience more diverse than one that might come out to see a tour featuring bands more similar to each other?
It is diverse. You've got Godsmack, Seether, Skillet and Escape the Fate and then us. But we're all playing loud guitars and drums and bass and singing. It's kind of different genres of rock and when you put them all together. I think everyone can find a common thread. The challenging part of us was to go and recruit new Buckcherry fans. That's why you do festivals, you want to go out there and find new people interested in your band.
Thanks to Buckcherry's Josh Todd for the chat. The band's 'F#ck' EP is available at this location. And don't forget to catch the band on the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival at these stops. Tune in to Loudwire Nights With Full Metal Jackie’ Monday through Friday 7PM through midnight online or on the radio. To see which stations and websites air ‘Loudwire Nights,’ click here.