In a new interview with Carlota of the X107.5 radio station in Las Vegas, Nevada, PAPA ROACH frontman Jacoby Shaddix was asked how he has changed in the 25 years since the music video for the band’s breakthrough song “Last Resort” was first released. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It’s the young me, man. I’m so a million miles from that person. There are threads and a common bond between where I’m at now and where I was. I always cared about people — I had this compassionate heart — but I was just young and reckless. And I had to have a certain amount of — I don’t know — maybe narcissism in a way to be able to do this thing, to be able to go, ‘We’re the best. Check us out.’ To be ballsy enough to walk into a room with [LIMP BIZKIT’s] Fred Durst and unplug the speaker and be, like, ‘Yo, what’s up? P-ROACH in the house. And they’re, like, ‘Who the hell are these guys?’ You know what I mean? Just trying to sell people demos straight to their face. I had to have this certain amount of ‘we’re the best’ kind of vibe going on. ‘Cause that’s what it took to sell yourself, I think, back in the day. And I think I’ve got a certain amount of that when we step on the stage. It maybe comes off a little cocky, but there’s a time and a place, right? The stage is where I let it shine. I think I probably tried to let it shine in some places that I didn’t need to let it shine.”Jacoby also reflected on getting what he previously called a “verbal assassination” from Sharon Osbourne after he started a riot onstage at Ozzfest in 2001. “I needed it,” he said. “I was kind of, like, I had the world in the palm of my hands and I was just acting like a numbskull, starting riots everywhere I went. And she’s, like, ‘Hey, listen, you idiot. If you wanna have a respected name in this business, you’ve gotta stop being a toolbag.’ She used some more colorful words, I think, in the moment, but I needed to be rattled at that point because it’s, like I could have totally gotten in a lot of trouble — a lot worse trouble than I had gotten in at the time. And I learned my lessons, and they were valuable lessons.”A few years ago, Shaddix told Metal Hammer that Sharon “cursed me out” after the Ozzfest incident. “Rightfully she was pissed as fuck because the fans destroyed the venue,” he said. “It was a fucking disaster. SLIPKNOT and Ozzy still had to play and the place was in a shambles. I tried to leave in the trunk of a car, but they found out and I had to turn myself into the cops. Then I had to go sit with Sharon in the office and she just cursed me and I was just, like, ‘I am so sorry. I will never do this again.’ I think if I’d just dealt with the cops and paid the money off, I’d have been, like, ‘Fuck it, whatever.’ I would have carried on just numbskulling. But I had this verbal assassination from Mrs. Osbourne. Don’t fuck with Sharon.”This past February, Shaddix celebrated the thirteenth anniversary of his quitting drinking.Over the past decade, Shaddix has spoken openly about how he found himself taking to the rock and roll lifestyle a little too easily, which almost cost him his family.In a 2019 interview with Kerrang! magazine, Shaddix revealed that the struggle with alcohol had been in his family for generations, continually destroying lives and relationships.Last month, PAPA ROACH released a brand-new version of its latest single, “Even If It Kills Me”, via the band’s own label, New Noize Records/ADA. The group and Joshua Landry again produced “Even If It Kills Me (Reimagined)”. The original single reached No. 1 at U.S. Rock Radio, marking PAPA ROACH’s 13th appearance at the top of the charts.”Even If It Kills Me (Reimagined)” is a fresh take on its heavier counterpart, showcasing the hit song in a new light, with a melodic arrangement and signature vocals delivered by Shaddix.PAPA ROACH recently completed the European leg of the “Rise Of The Roach” tour. The trek saw PAPA ROACH bring its biggest-ever production and journey deep through their vast music catalogue, including a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the band’s iconic breakthrough album “Infest”. Special guests for the global tour were WAGE WAR in Europe and will include RISE AGAINST and UNDEROATH in the U.S.PAPA ROACH are two-time Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling leaders in alternative hard rock music. PAPA ROACH are not unfamiliar with calling attention to mental health and have been doing so since the seminal release of their first hit single “Last Resort”. Since then, the band has gone on to create 10 studio albums, their most recent, 2022’s “Ego Trip”, on their own label New Noize Records.Photo credit: Bryson Roatch[embedded content]
