Sully Erna, who not only fronts one of the most recognizable rock bands on the planet in Godsmack, he is one of the more versatile frontmen as well. Sully took his talents to create a truly great offering in his initial solo effort called Avalon. The eclectic mix of rock, blues, classical, and some middle eastern gave this release a different kind of flavor to it. One that Sully, himself, is extremely proud of as he gushed about it during our interview. Sully talked about how the record came about and how he envisions this project to take flight into other projects down the road. We also talked about the current offerings on what his band Godsmack is bringing to the table at their live show this time around. So breathe in and breathe out and enjoy some serenity as we sit down with the one and only Sully Erna.
Gus: You just came out with your first solo CD Avalon on Universal Republic Records. Its been a long time coming since the last time we talked about this a couple of years ago. Explain how the process came about.
Sully: Some of the songs were stuff I collected over the years and I never felt that they were right for Godsmack. I still really enjoyed the music and liked the songs that I wrote. I knew one day I would just put them out independently or just hold onto to them for a moment like that. Some of them were 6 or 7 years ago. Eyes of a Child, I wrote quite a while back. Then a lot of the other stuff came when I joined forces with Lisa Guyer who is my vocalist on the record and then I met Niall Gregory, the Percussionist from Dead Can Dance. We started thinking. We got some things and Lisa has such a cool voice and our voices work so well together like on the song Hollow, which I featured her on the last Godsmack Record. We were like, you know what? We should really try to put something cool together. They always knew I was into this vibe like Dead Can Dance, Mazzy Star, and Vas type of music. Through those kinds of influences, I created songs like Serenity and Voodoo and stuff like that. For me, I wanted to put together something more along those lines but even more down that road and even more authentic to that style of music. Lisa was a big fan of that style as well and thats how it all really got started with her, me, and Nialls coming up with this idea of playing together and writing. Then Lisa introduced me to some of the other members, like the guitar player Tim (Theriault). Then Tim introduced us to the keyboard player Chris (DeCato). Everyone kind of knew someone else that they brought into the project. Then I found the cello player and she is from Bulgaria. Little by little, it was all starting to come together. It was a little bit of a process.
We definitely found the right members because all of them were so super talented and great. Most of them were classically trained musicians. We really enjoyed playing for the music and not being so intricate and stuff like that. There are moments where they kind of just hover and play for what the music calls for, rather than just play for their own personal reasons and that kind of stuff. They are much, much better musicians than even what you hear on the record. I think between that and all the different influences that each one of us bring to it – me coming from a rock background, Lisa coming from a blues background, Niall coming from an African and Brazilian style of drumming and Irina (Chirkova), the cello player, coming from Bulgaria and being classically trained in her field – I think everyone just brought their own flavor and thats why this record sounds as unique as it does. I know for me, if I was a record store ownerIf I heard one song at a time, I could categorize it where it would belong. I dont think as a record as a whole I could categorize it. I dont know what category it would go in if I would have to put in on the shelves.
Gus: The CD has a mix of classical, rock, blues and has a Middle Eastern flavor to it as well. Is this what your were aiming for?
Sully: It just happened for the most part. We always started with the foundation. Most of the time with like rthymic grooves and percussion like stuff. I had a lot of different ideas for laying down foundations, for like a drum pattern. Most of the whole record, with the exception of Broken Road and Sinners Prayer, was all hand drumming. So me and Niall would start playing a groove on the drums and then sometimes people would just join in and start having some kind of a rhythm or whatever. When we heard something we would go thats cool or thats not cool” or whatever! We would kind of just jam a bit and that would take us down the road. Sometimes people would come in with a specific piece. The guitar player, Tim (Theriault), showed up with the opening riff and a couple of progressions to the song Seven Years. I knew that song was going to be a big epidemic monster! Little by little, it was taking its own form by people bringing in ideas. I brought in Avalon, I brought in Until Then, I brought in Eyes of a Child and stuff like that. The bass player, Chris (Lester), brought in the acoustic to My Light. So everyone kind of donated their own influence here. The keyboard player, Chris (DeCato), came up with In Through Time and stuff like that. Everyone came in with raw bits and we just pieced them together there.
So not knowing, in whole, what this record would sound like, we were just putting songs together. We would go thats a cool song and I want to keep that one. This is a cool song I want to keep that one. Not knowing when the record would be put together in a sequence or that if it was going to even work together. For some magical reason it just did! The record flows so well for me from the front to back. I almost feel like its such a musical experience. I havent felt this kind of emotion in a record since I was a big fan of Pink Floyds Dark Side of the Moon and records like that, where it was really about the music. Not that Im comparing myself to Pink Floyd.
Gus: No, I understand.
Sully: The experience is very visual and pictorial.
Gus: Was there anything specific that you wanted to do on your initial solo effort that you are unable to do on a Godsmack record?
Sully: I dont know yet. Its so new still. We are letting it get some legs and seeing how people respond to it. I know for sure I want to take this live. I want to take this on a completely different experience than I do with Godsmack. I now identified Godsmack. Ive experimented with Godsmack over the years, but the core audience wants Godsmack to be Godsmack. Bad Religion, The Enemy, Time Bomb, you know…the more power stuff. Voodoo and Serenity they accepted and they love them, but they still know us to be a raw, hard rock & tough band. Now I understand what that purpose is for Godsmack and I will always allow for that to be that and I will make it bigger and better in that genre. As far as the solo project goes now, this is where I really want to expand and spread my wings and open it up to a new audience. I want to really create a beautiful, visual, and emotional musical experience when we take this thing out live. Thats the one thing I know I cant do with Godsmack. I can do it in a different way, but I cant do it the way I want to do it with this thing. For whatever its worth, they should be two animals. Im not going to get a bunch of guys to do another hard rock project because I have Godsmack to do that with. So why would I go out there to do that unless it was some group this with Dave Navarro or whatever? Its one of those things where I want this to be completely different genres of music. So thats the one thing I look forward to is to take this thing out there live. Trying to create an experience for the people to take them on a journey live, rather than just getting up there and playing like a new band.
Gus: In 2008, you did a small solo tour. Give the fans a timeline when you will be taking this project on the road?
Sully: Im hoping we can start at the beginning of February or March, Gus. Godsmack will run to the beginning of November and we will take the holidays off. Maybe before Godsmack runs again, Im hoping we can get out there in February or March with the solo thing and start to test it out a little bit and see how it looks and feels. Im really hoping that people gravitate to this record because of the music. If I can get this record to be popular, I dont care if I ever get paid for it, in that sense, because it has nothing to do with the money. I wanted it to be popular because I have this amazing vision for this record to put it into a Vegas style theatrical production. Im really hoping I can accomplish that. So one day, I hope in a few years down the line, me and you are talking again and you can say wow, I remember you telling me about this idea and there it is! Thats the goal with this project. Now that I can see it, feel it, and know what it is and understand it, I really think I can take people on a journey like Pink Floyd did with The Wall.
Gus: What other types of promotional appearances, to get the word out about the CD, will you be doing besides the tour?
Sully: Everything and anything I can. Im utilizing as much press as I can. Im advertising it on the internet. We have websites running. We have street teams out there. Im promoting it on the Godsmack tour, where before Godsmack goes on, we play a 5 minute EPK of the making of the record. To let them know that the record is available at the merch booths. I think this is going to have to be a viral campaign. We just have to get as many core fans involved as possible and spread it to their moms and dads and aunts and uncles. Let this reach a whole new genre and a whole new fan base. More importantly, get out there and tour with it live so the world can get out that there is this new thing thats cool to see and the music is great to complement it.
Gus: You shot a video for Sinners Prayer. Where was that shot at?
Sully: We just did that at the Sound Stage at The Third Encore in Burbank, California. We did a few songs. We did Seven Years, My Light, Sinners Prayer and I think Until Then. Eventually, we will put them on the sites and stuff and circulate them on the internet. They were more or less builds for the EPK for marketing tools to show people what we looked like and what we sounded like. For people who havent heard it yet and to help promote the record. Also, Sinners Prayer, featured on the The Expendables soundtrack with Sylvester Stallone, is going to be hitting stores soon too. People can get a copy of that on DVD as well, with that song being the main title track in the movie.
Gus: Youre currently on tour with Drowning Pool and Five Finger Death Punch until November. What can the fans expect from Godsmack on this tour that they havent seen in the past?
Sully: Well, youre the first guy I have been able to answer this question with, as up until now we havent had a show yet, until last night, where we had our first one in Hollywood, Florida. Its a really, really cool show. We did the first 10 or 11 years of our career a certain way and we were known for the big shows and pyro and explosions and all that stuff. Now, we took a couple of years off and we decided to come back and reface the band with a whole new look. So, the stage is completely different. We brought in some really, really cool video information. We have this great laser show. The whole look is different. It is still the old Godsmack in the big production style. The production is awesome! Its a new kind of production. Its a look that Godsmack really hasnt had yet. People will be happy to hear new songs and to see a whole new look to the band.
Gus: Going back on your solo CD, I think its a terrific release and we will do whatever we need to get the word out!
Sully: Well, we hope that this thing will get bigger and better and have its own legs one day. Hopefully, I can grow into this thing like Billy Joel did or when Sting left the Police, not that I plan on leaving Godsmack, but you know what I mean. This is something I feel I can retire into and feel comfortable on stage. There is going to come a point where it wont be cool because I will have dentures and sh*t (Gus and Sully laugh). But I will be up there with a piano and enjoying that experience of playing live and think that this is the project that maybe can take me into the sunset one day.
Gus: I think you have a good band, a diverse band. Im definitely excited to check it out live, so hopefully there will be a show around the Buffalo, NY, area.
Sully: Thank you so much! I appreciate it. You have a good day!
Gus: You too!
