Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix On Upcoming Touring Via Live Nation & The “Who Do You Trust?” Album

Papa Roach has been one of the top leaders in alternative rock for nearly 20 years and continues to impact that space with the recent release of its 10th studio album, Who Do You Trust? The two-time GRAMMY-nominated band has sold over 20 million records worldwide, having gained over two billion streams (and counting) to date with charted with 17 Top 5 Billboard hit singles to its credit.

Currently the quartet is touring the U.K., while this summer Papa Roach will be hitting the road in support of Who Do You Trust? alongside Asking Alexandria and Bad Wolves. Produced by Live Nation, the U.S. summer tour kicks off July 27 in Dallas, Texas. For a limited time, discounted $20 tickets will be available via Live Nation, thanks to National Concert Week; the event runs from May 1st to 7th.

While interviewing Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix by phone — he was calling from Scotland — I asked about upcoming touring, the earlier-mentioned Who Do You Trust? and what else is coming up for the California-based group. The full interview will be broadcast in the near-future via the Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz podcast, while more information on both Papa Roach and Live Nation’s upcoming National Concert Week can be found online at www.paparoach.com.

How long or how far in advance did he know that this summer tour was booked for Papa Roach?

Jacoby Shaddix: We put the tickets on-sale Christmas of last year, so we’ve known about this tour since Christmas of last year.

Is everything in Papa Roach land that far in advance that you know what you’re doing eight nine months out?

Jacoby Shaddix: Not with everything, but we try to as much as possible have a good long time before we’re jumping into things so we know. It’s nice to get a little look at a calendar and know you’re going to be working here-here-here-here, bang-bang, boogie-boogie, down-down-down, now I’m going on vacation. (laughs)

So Who Do You Trust? came out back in January. When did you start making the record?

Jacoby Shaddix: I think we just finished up Crooked Teeth and we were gonna go out in support of that record and tour… We were supposed to do a run with Of Mice & Men and that was when Austin [Carlile] had gotten really sick and so they had pulled the plug on that tour. Instead of going on tour we went back in the studio and started working on a new record. We wrote like five songs that ended up being on Who Do You Trust? and then we went out and finished up the touring cycle on that and then went back into the studio to finish the record. So it’s kind of like we recorded that record in two chunks.

Are you going to be playing a lot of Who Do You Trust? on tour this summer?

Jacoby Shaddix: Yeah. Right now we’re playing five or six songs off the new record live… It’s really going over great. It’s really cool to play the stuff and the fans are singing the songs back to us and just vibing on the music.

I’ve been following Papa Roach for a long time. I think I saw you in 2001 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City and that was an interesting point in your career where you guys were clearly at the top of your game and had these big radio hits. Of course it all declined and then it got huge again. You’re still playing arenas all these years later so I’m curious when you knew that you were going to be a long-term band and not just dependent on radio singles.

Jacoby Shaddix: Back in 1997 we put out a record called Old Friends From Young Years and this was before our album Infest, it was an independent album. We always believed from the very beginning that we would be a band that would be around for years… That’s why we title the album Old Friends From Young Years because that was the goal for us personally, to look back years and years later and still be “old friends from young years.” Where we are years and years later still doing it… I think we’ve all been very intentional about what we do and how we envisioned ourselves and our career.

You know, it doesn’t always work out the way you planned it, but for us it’s been a wild-ass ride. We’re so grateful to still be going here, doing our deal, making music that connects with people especially. We’ve got a new song “Elevate” on the radio that’s cracking up and we’ve got another top 10 track, and you know it’s always nice to have that radio success. But it’s also about that live show, too. I think that’s been really the most integral, important part of who we are, our live show.

Something that really intrigues me about Papa Roach is being an Eleven Seven [Music] band. Most of the Eleven Seven roster is bands that kind of revitalized into long-term career artists. Artists that basically have more singles than slots in the setlist. Is it that this kind of band is attracted to Eleven Seven? Or is that all just kind of a coincidence?

Jacoby Shaddix: I think Eleven Seven is very good. They’re working with bands that have had a history and forging the future for a band like that… I think they did a really good job with Mötley Crüe, and I think we’re in a similar space right now with them and what we’re creating is the legacy that we have a vision for ourselves.

So in closing, any last words for the kids?

Jacoby Shaddix: Any last words for the kids out there… Listen to your parents. Sometimes they know best, but not all the time. Go out there and be alive in this crazy world. Go leave it better than you found it. And if you love music, go create music. If you love people, go help people. Get out there, be a positive force.

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Tags: Eleven Seven Music, Jacoby Shaddix, Live Nation, Motley Crue, National Concert Week, New York, Of Mice & Men, Papa Roach

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."