Taproot – Interview [2002]

Interview with Taproot drummer Jarrod Montague!

How long have you work on Welcome?

A long time, about nine months I think. We started pre-production with Toby last November and wrapped in May but had to do some mixing in June.

Were you writing in the studio or did you have songs done?

Yes on both of those. We went to Toby with songs we had written and he thought three or four were okay. We were like ‘holy shit!’ because we thought the songs were really good. He liked a chorus here and a verse there, but didn’t really like anything as a whole. So we took those four songs and made them a lot better and took ideas from other stuff and created new songs. He wanted to push us further. He noticed that when we sit down and write songs we write Taproot songs. But when we are jamming we are pretty creative and come up with crazy stuff. He wanted us to stop trying to write Taproot songs. So he left the studio for a month or two and we wrote. We ended up coming with good stuff. Half the record includes songs that we wrote in that session.

Was it cool that he pushed you?

It was cool. I definitely got bent out of shape here and there. He would criticize certain things that we were doing as musicians. We had a lot of stuff going right to the computer as we practiced so we could take it home and listen to it. He was right. He was saying that I rush in the beginning and then slow down to get back to the beat. So we had to start playing to a click so that we could learn that. Toby taught us a lot of stuff. We actually met him a few years before when we were choosing producers for the first record but he came off as a drill sergeant and he had the reputation as being cocky. But he has a reason to be cocky because he knows music and he knows what he can get out of you. It was hard in the beginning but we learned a lot and I’m glad he pushed us even if we were mad at him for a couple of weeks.

How do you approach recording? Do you say ‘We want to make a great Taproot record’ or do you say ‘We want to make a great rock record’?

That is a good question. I think we wanted to make a great rock record and push ourselves to the next level. None of us were really happy about how Gift sounded because we had to rush it and get it done in a month and a half. We knew we wanted every song to be able to stand on its own. One thing we told Toby was that we wanted the songs to be their own. When we went back and listened to the songs he didn’t like, we realized he was right, that they weren’t that good. Some of the songs sounded exactly alike. We couldn’t even tell three songs apart. Now when you listen to Welcome each track tells its own story.

I listen to a lot of albums and the thing that annoys me is the songs will sound the same. Is it that they sound so different to you because you wrote them that you missed the point, that the fans don’t see any difference?

Exactly. They are usually different lyrics, but the music sounds the same.

That’s why you need a good producer right? And not a yes man?

Exactly. The roll of the producer should be to tell you what you need and show you what you need to work on. People asked if Toby came in and wanted us to write hits. That’s not what it’s about. He wanted us to push the envelope.

Was there any pressure?

Not really. We feel that Gift did well and there are still Taproot fans. It was a success on that level. Welcome was the first album that we wrote specifically for an album. With Gift we wrote the songs over a three to five year period and not specifically for that record. We did put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make it sound great.

Are you trying to follow the Godsmack blueprint, which is the blueprint a lot of bands have followed over the years, of building fans through long tours and hard work?

Yeah. Absolutely. Poem is the first song that has got the radio play. I think we’ve always wanted our career to go like that. If we would have blown up like Papa Roach did on their first album and who are having a hard time following that up, I don’t know what we’d have done. So we are glad they are working the way we have. Another band we look up to is the Deftones. If you are a Deftones fan you own all three of their albums.

And if you just found out of them you go backwards and buy the previous two.

Exactly.

I’ve done that. If I get a record and love the new one I have to buy the older ones.

I do that all the time.

I did that with the Super Furry Animals.

I’ve heard a lot about them.

They are great, sort of like a poppy new Pink Floyd.

That is funny that you mention Pink Floyd because that is one group that I went backwards on. I saw them in 1994 in the Silverdome in Detroit. I was blown away. At the time I only owned Dark Side Of The Moon and The Wall at the time, but I was so blown away that I had to go out and buy a few more records. I bought Piper At The Gates Of The Dawn the next day.

I did the same thing. I got Echoes the best of cd and I can’t stop listening to it. I never considered myself a fan of Pink Floyd until just recently and now I’m buying all their stuff.

That is crazy.

That second cd Echoes is the greatest. I listen to it every day.

I considered myself a fan of Pink Floyd but one day we were on the tour bus and our driver was playing this album and I was like ‘wow, who is this?’ and he said ‘do you have to ask? It’s Ummagumma’. Hell, I didn’t have that record. (Laughs) So I had to buy it.

Speaking of the tour bus, are you looking forward to pounding it out on the road?

Yeah. We feel like if we are sitting home we aren’t doing enough. When you are on the road you feel like you are trying to get fans. We also like to hang out with fans after the show. As much as we bitch about being on the road when you pull up to McDonalds and you see them, you realize what you’ve got. If they can hand me a bagel sandwich with a smile then I can’t complain.

Do you think the road warrior attitude is what separates rock from all other genres?

It is. I think more and more hip-hop artists are touring. Eminem was pretty successful getting out on the road.

Nelly is trying it.

Yeah. I wonder how they do all the collaborations on the road. (laughs) When we were young I looked forward to seeing my favorite rock bands. I remember buying Metallica tickets two months in advance and all I could think about for those two months was seeing Metallica.

It makes you wonder when you are huge fan what the guys from Metallica are thinking about when they play – So what do you think about when you are on stage?

I try not to think about the music because that is when I fuck up. (We both laugh) It’s probably a bad habit I have. But I have a few drinks before I go onstage so that I can relax. Sometimes I’m sitting there playing and I think about things that happened earlier in the day. Like why an interview that was scheduled didn’t happen. It’s weird how it’ll come to you at a moment like that. Otherwise I love to watch the crowd. If there is people moshing I like to watch that. If there is some kid standing there with his arms folded I get pissed off at him and wish he were dead. (We both laugh)

Do you ever play and remember when you were a kid out there as a fan?

Definitely. But I do that more when I’m backstage then when I’m playing. I always try to get that into my head at some point. I try to get into the music that I listened to as a kid like Metallica’s And Justice For All. I get excited because I wonder if there is a kid out there that is excited to see us, as I was to see Metallica. So I better give it all I can when I play.

How huge was playing Ozz-fest. Speaking of road warrior. Ozzy is the original road warrior.

And talk about a guy who loves what he does. Here he is at his age and he is still jumping around. I hope I can still be doing it at his age.

Every phase of my life Ozzy has been around.

(Laughs) Isn’t that crazy?

Finally since we are on the topic of Ozzy and long careers. What are your hopes for the future for Taproot?

I try not to think about the future too much because next year I could be a millionaire or I could be in the same position I am in now. It’s crazy how fickle things can be. I try to live for the moment.

+ charlie craine