00:00 Hey, what's up? I'm Josh Todd from Buckcherry and you're watching Life Minute TV. Check
00:05 it out.
00:11 Buckcherry's Josh Todd knows what his fans want, a rockin' good time, and he works hard
00:16 to give it to them. At 52, the singer-songwriter, who's been clean and sober his entire professional
00:21 career, says he vocalizes every day to keep that unique sound that comes out of his mouth
00:26 in check, and even still find a range that's new. Inspired by everything, including the
00:32 people around him, this poet, who started at just 15 years old, says he got into this
00:37 to write, and wants to own those lyrics as a frontman. Own it, he does. The band just
00:42 released their 10th studio album, appropriately titled Volume 10, with 10 new originals and
00:48 a bonus cover of Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69."
00:56 Currently on an extensive world tour with Skid Row that will continue through next year,
01:01 we caught up with Todd on one of their East Coast stops, New Jersey's Wilmot Theatre.
01:06 This is a Life Minute with Buckcherry's Josh Todd.
01:09 Yay, Josh Todd, Buckcherry, welcome to Life Minute.
01:13 Thank you for having me.
01:14 Aw, thanks so much for doing this. How are you doing?
01:17 I'm good, you know, we're out here on the Volume 10 tour, as you know, and just dropped
01:22 our 10th record. It's a great milestone after all these years being on the road, you know,
01:25 so that being said, we've been on the road this whole year, and we're almost up to like
01:29 100 shows now.
01:30 Wow. How has touring been?
01:33 It's been great, you know, I mean, it's what we love to do, you know, this is what Buckcherry's
01:37 all about, is the live experience, you know, so we enjoy it.
01:41 Yeah, what are fans gonna get when they see Buckcherry?
01:44 They're gonna get a lot of, just a great rock show, you know, we have so many great songs
01:48 now and there's just so much to choose from to construct like a great set of entertainment.
01:53 They're gonna get their money's worth, for sure.
01:55 Now what's touring like? Do you guys all get along?
01:56 Yes, we get along really well.
01:58 And Skid Row, right?
01:59 Yeah, we did a month with them earlier on in the year, and the shows were just great
02:04 attendance and it's a good package, you know. For whatever reason, everybody likes this
02:09 package, so we decided to do Leg 2 and Leg 3 and Leg 4, so this is the second leg right
02:16 now.
02:17 And how would you describe Volume 10? Is it different or the same rock and, you know,
02:22 anything different?
02:23 I mean, we're not gonna reinvent the wheel, you know, we are a rock band, you know, so
02:27 that's always gonna be the same, I think because of my voice, it's kind of unique and different
02:32 from most singers, so you're always gonna know it's a Buckcherry song, you know, but
02:36 it's all about the songs, really. Stevie and I and Marty Fredrickson, we wrote all the
02:40 songs and it just turned out so well and same with Hellbound, the record before, and we
02:45 have this synergy going between us, you know, that's really awesome and it's a lot of fun
02:49 making records.
02:50 Awesome. What inspires you creatively?
02:52 Everything, you know, I just observe the people around me, you know, I always try to put my
02:58 own personal flavor into every song so that I can own it as a frontman and I got into
03:04 this to write, you know, I really enjoy lyrics and melodies, that's why I started this when
03:10 I was 15, you know, so that being said, it's a lot of fun, it's like building something
03:14 from nothing, it's like constructing a house, making a record, it's a lot of fun.
03:18 The words come first for you?
03:20 No, songs like happen all different kinds of ways, you know, sometimes I'll get music
03:26 and with no, nothing on it and just, it'll take me somewhere emotionally and then I just
03:33 start writing or sometimes I will have words and melodies and I'll just sing them to like
03:38 Stevie or Marty and we'll start there and just kind of start going.
03:43 What's something you guys want to do that you haven't done yet?
03:47 What do we want to do that we haven't done yet?
03:50 That's hard, we've pretty much done it all, you know, I mean we've been on every size
03:54 stage, we've toured the world, you know, but I mean there's still places we haven't been,
03:59 like I'd like to go to Russia, I'd like to go to Dubai, I'd like to get back to South
04:02 America, you know.
04:03 Did you always know you wanted to be a musician?
04:05 I mean you were 15, obviously I guess you did.
04:08 Yeah, you know, I grew up in Southern California, as a kid I was surfing and skateboarding and
04:13 there was a drummer that I was surfing with, there was only one band in my high school
04:16 and he happened to be surfing with me and he was like, "We need a singer, you want to
04:19 come down?"
04:20 And I don't even know why he asked me because I wasn't really, I wasn't singing, but I had
04:23 like a good knowledge of music, you know, I was a huge music fan, I had a catalog of
04:28 records and I think he knew that and I was really good at creative writing too, I was
04:31 writing poetry and all kinds of stuff at that time and I just went down there and got the
04:35 bug like right away and I just remember I wrote an original song that day and that's
04:43 all I wanted to do, I never looked back.
04:44 Anything you'd do different, you know, a little bit of something your current self
04:48 would tell your younger self?
04:50 Oh, so many things, so many things.
04:53 The way I take care of myself out here for sure is much different, especially vocally,
04:57 you know, I have to work a little harder the older I get so that's changed but, you know,
05:02 it's also kind of made my vocal range bigger and I'm learning more about vocals all the
05:09 time so that's what's different for sure.
05:11 That's so cool.
05:12 What do you do exactly, like to get ready?
05:14 Just, I vocalize a lot every day, you know, so it's not singing, just vocalizing, a lot
05:20 of scales and stuff like that but you find new places in your range when you're constantly
05:25 doing different types of scales and yeah, it's good with me.
05:29 That's interesting.
05:30 What do you do when you're not working?
05:32 When I'm not working I spend time with my family, my hobby right now is tennis, I play
05:36 a lot of tennis and, you know, it kind of takes me away from everything and I don't
05:40 think about music and it's great.
05:42 Awesome.
05:43 What music do you listen to?
05:46 I listen to all kinds of music, you know, all different genres.
05:49 I listen to a lot of pop with my kids.
05:51 Pop music is written by like the best songwriters in the world so when I listen to rock I listen
05:56 mostly classic rock for sure.
05:58 I find you interesting because you just, you know, you look like almost intimidating, like
06:03 you're like such a rock star but you're like the most sweetest, mild-mannered person ever.
06:10 Do people ever...
06:11 I don't know what people think of me.
06:12 I think a lot of people think I'm a jerk.
06:15 Were you ever a bad boy rock star kind of person?
06:18 No, no.
06:19 You're not, right?
06:20 Not me.
06:21 Yeah, you're just a cool, nice guy.
06:23 I don't know if you know but I've been clean off drugs and alcohol like my whole professional
06:27 career.
06:28 So I'm not doing like the traditional rock star things I guess like drinking and using
06:32 a lot or anything like that so...
06:34 How do you... like longevity obviously you guys have.
06:37 Do you attribute that to anything?
06:39 Definitely taking care of yourself, mind, body and spirit for sure.
06:45 Like, you know, for me I have a set of things that I do to stay sane out here because the
06:50 road can be very challenging mentally.
06:52 I meditate every day.
06:53 I, you know, like I said I work out, you know, all these things are good for my mental health,
06:58 you know, and I really want to be great at my craft, you know, so the most important
07:02 part of the day is that hour and a half on stage, you know, so that's what I think about.
07:06 What's next for you?
07:07 You know, we got a couple, we got to finish out this month and we got December and then
07:11 we're going to go to the UK and Europe beginning of next year.
07:14 That'll be great and then we're going to keep touring throughout the year.
07:16 Next year we usually do two years of touring on a record cycle so... and that's what we'll
07:22 do and then we'll go back and make another record eventually.
07:25 Number 11.
07:26 Yeah, same thing.
07:27 And biggest life lesson since this is Life Minute.
07:30 Oh God, there's so many life lessons in this business, you know.
07:34 I think the hardest thing that I had to learn that there's not a lot of loyalty in the music
07:38 business.
07:39 You have to kind of grow a thick skin and once I kind of learned that and then I learned
07:43 how to take the artist hat off and put the business hat on, I started enjoying it more,
07:48 you know, but that was kind of a painful learning process for a while.
07:54 Yeah, but other than that, that's pretty much it.
07:57 What does music do for people?
08:01 Music for people sets them free, a lot of people, you know.
08:05 I think it's their outlet to let go of themselves, at least Buckcherry shows, you know.
08:12 I feel like people get to be who they want to be at a Buckcherry show, you know, so like
08:16 people work hard and sometimes that's the only show they can see that month because
08:20 of their budget and whatever and we really take that to heart, you know.
08:24 So you can see it in their eyes when they hear their favorite song or they're dancing
08:29 or they're smiling and you just feel that energy, you know, and I think it's a sacred
08:35 place for them, you know what I mean?
08:37 It was for me when I was a kid, so that's what I think.
08:40 Awesome.
08:41 Yeah.
08:42 What was your first album?
08:43 "Given to Me" by my father was "Eagles in the Long Run."
08:47 Yeah, it was pretty cool.
08:49 I did want to ask you that.
08:50 Were your parents supportive?
08:51 Yeah, yeah, there was music going in my house all the time.
08:55 My mother would put on records and clean the house and my sister and I would just kind
08:59 of play and listen to music and I was always into that, you know, she listened to like
09:05 Willie Nelson and Rod Stewart and Kenny Rogers and all these records that I still remember
09:10 to this day, you know, and then I got into my own kind of music and my sister had her
09:15 own collection of music and I would go in her room and listen to her records and, you
09:19 know, it was a cool thing.
09:21 To hear more of this interview, visit our podcast, Life Minute TV on iTunes and all
09:25 streaming podcast platforms.
09:27 (upbeat music)
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