Saliva – Interview with Josey

Saliva is really back to roots rock. I’m curious about what you grew up listening to.

I grew up listening to a lot of different stuff. I wasn’t really allowed to have rock ‘n’ roll records, but I listened to a lot of Randy Rhodes, Ozzy, Judas Priest, Motley Crue, Metallica, and stuff like that. I grew up listening to a lot of ’80’s radio too, like Phil Collins and Duran Duran. That was stuff I could get away with. I wasn’t allowed to have the Kiss and Motley Crue records I wanted because I had Christian parents.

So you had to go over to your friend’s to hear it?

Yeah, and dub tapes and stuff. They were such big influences on me. My dad was a country gospel artist so I was influenced by that too. I was influenced by Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and stuff like that.

Did you grow up in Memphis?

Yep, born and raised.

People see Memphis as this big country music capitol, but a lot of different types of music have come out of there.

Exactly.

Did you try to escape country music?

Definitely, because it was shoved down my throat. Once I grew up, I appreciated its effect on my life.

How did Saliva come together?

We were all in different bands around town and wanted to get together. We were just the best of the best and finally had the opportunity to get together and do some writing and were together from then on.

Were these songs you had around?

We all brought stuff to the table for this album. It was a collaborative effort.

When it came to getting signed, what songs were you doing?

We were doing “Your Disease” for a long time and we had label attention from radio play we had in Memphis. When Island came along, they were really interested. We put on a showcase for them and they knew it was a hit. They’ve backed us ever since.

I read about the Grammy thing you were in. Was that contest music against music or did they categorize the artists?

It was music against music. We had only been together for six weeks and played in Memphis and won and moved on to the semi-finals in Austin, won there and then went on to New York. After being together for only six weeks it was pretty crazy.

When you are writing, is it personal?

I write all kinds of things, but a lot of it is personal. Sometimes I’ll challenge myself and do something third person. Sometimes I’ll just write about nothing, but for the most part, at least eighty percent is personal. I try to make it so anyone listening can feel it.

Were there songs you can think of when you grew up that effected you?

I was just really into lyrics. I can’t really pinpoint anyone song. “Comfortably Numb” was a big influence on me. I can’t actually pinpoint any song. Kiss and Motley Crue all had huge influences on me. I mean, not really lyrically, because the songs were really just about bitches, cars, and dope. Nikki Sixx had a way to show you how it was done, not the point, just how it was done. You could tell he wasn’t writing Warrant lyrics.

I wanted to throw a few songs out and get the first thing that comes to mind.

Okay.

“Superstar”.

The struggle of the rockstar life and how it can end up biting you in the ass. It’s an honest account of the life that we choose. That is what I meant when I wrote it.

It really hooks you write away. Was that a conscious thing, making it track one?

Yeah, we didn’t just want to open the door. We wanted to kick the door down.

“Your Disease”.

It’s about the ins and outs of relationships and how things can go bad really fast, especially when there are emotions and sex involved. It’s about the exchange and struggle of relationships.

“Lackluster”.

That is textbook Ultimate Sin to me. Ozzy was such a good influence by relaying emotion in his voice and the desperation in his voice when he’d sing a melody. I’ve looked past the satanic overtones people put on him because he was just amazing.

“My Goodbye”.

It’s pretty personal. It’s about my father. He passed away in ’97. It was about the emotions I went through after his passing and how it effected me. I really missed him, and I mean, it’s like the saying you don’t miss the water until the well runs dry. Before I could blink, he was gone, even though I spent twenty-five years with him and then he was gone.

Speaking of your parents, as you said, they didn’t want you listening to rock. What did they think of your career choice?

Well, they love it now. They pretty much got out of that community as I got older and more liberal with me as I became a teenager. They really nourished me musically. They gave me a big push when I was younger. I wouldn’t be here today without my parents’ influence.

The two songs that are really curious are “Click Click Boom” and “Doperide” because they are completely opposite of the rest of the album.

Well, we grew up around a lot of black kids and a lot of local rappers. I grew up listening to a lot of garage tapes growing up. I liked the Beastie Boys growing up. We aren’t afraid of any new directions. We paint with broad brushstrokes.

I’ve been kind of waiting for something along the lines of the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. And you guys kind of go back to that.

Thanks for that compliment!

Do you think music is going to continually be a hybrid instead of going back to the older stuff that was one genre or another?

Absolutely. Like Alice Cooper said one time ‘rock ‘n’ roll is like a roller coaster. It goes up and it goes down, but it always goes back up. I think it’s coming back.

Remember when Nirvana came back, everyone almost thanked them because it got us out of that Warrant thing. Now as pop has completely taken over, I’m waiting for the band that takes that away and does what Nirvana did.

My biggest hope is that our album will be taken into people’s hearts and souls. I hope they realize that this is a new style of rock.

When did you realize you could sing good enough to take it somewhere?

I think I was eight years old and I was singing and playing with my dad. I kind of figured out I could sing, but I didn’t figure out I could do what I’m doing what I do now until I was like thirteen. I was listening to Motley Crue and Ozzy and knew I could do that. I have a funny story. When I was five years old, my dad was a preacher at this church. And the assistant pastor whose son was the black sheep, well, me and him would hang out together and he’d have these stacks of album. And I’d look at them and I remember the first time I saw the cover of Kiss’s Destroyer I knew that is what I wanted to be. I didn’t know what it was, but that is what I wanted to be. I didn’t know what the hell they were. I knew they sang songs, but I didn’t know what they were.

Do you find it weird that there is nothing like Kiss or Ozzy or even Motley Crue today? I mean, in the way that there is nothing larger than life?

Yeah. Ace Frehley was my idol. I was in awe of him.

Gene Simmons creeped me out, but he wasn’t human to me growing up.

I know. That is what I loved about them.

Do you remember writing your first song?

Well, sort of. My dad taught me how to play guitar, but he was right-handed and I’m left-handed, so he would turn the guitar over and teach me how to play chords. And then my cousin showed me how to play barre chords. We were listening to Double Platinum and he showed me how to play the two-finger barre chords.

I remember that is when I freaked. I learned how to play those for like some punk songs and Nirvana songs. I mean, that is the only way you can play a Nirvana song.

I know. And then I really started learning AC/DC stuff. I used to sit there and think, ‘God, I have to write stuff like this.’

They have really good hooks.

They are a good school to go to for basic songwriting. They kept it simple and just fucking rocked it. It doesn’t take all these changes and…

Studio magic.

Yeah. You can keep it simple and still write a great song.

(we went on to talk a while about AC/DC, especially Brian Johnson’s singing style, which brought us to the next question)

Are you conscious of your singing style? Especially how not to burn out your voice?

I used to do that. After four or five days of practice I would be hoarse and burned out, so I went and got singing lessons from a vocal coach. I did some stuff with this older lady and thought it’d be bullshit, but she changed my life. She taught me how to breathe. That is the most important thing. When you sing from your stomach and take that breath and push with your ab muscles, you pass your throat and pass right by it. If you don’t, you trash your throat.

That was the thing with Kurt Cobain. I don’t know how he lasted so long with his voice.

Being on the road, you have to learn how to sing and scream well. I was so happy when I learned how to scream. I think your voice is like an old baseball glove. If you take care of it, it’ll last. You have to know how to treat it right. And you have to take care of yourself. I don’t smoke pot anymore and I drink a lot of water.

Lastly, what is the plan for the rest of the year?

We want to get on a big supporting tour and play across America.

Are you excited about getting on the road?

We’ve all been in bands that have done a lot of touring, so we’ve done the coast to coast thing. I don’t want to say we are seasoned veterans, but in some ways we are. So this is just the icing on the cake. We like being on the road. I hate being in the same place for too long. Once you get it into your blood, you can’t get out of this life.

+ charlie craine