When recording Staind's upcoming release, The
Illusion of Progress, frontman Aaron Lewis planned to make the band's heaviest record to date.
That didn't
happen.
"It's not necessarily a heavy record, which is very odd because going into the studio that's
what I expected and wanted it to be," said Lewis, chatting via phone from his Massachusetts home. "There are glimpses
of heavy in parts, but it's all over the musical spectrum."
To say this new album is one of the most anticipated
of the year in rock is no exaggeration. Staind, in a sense, is the archetypal post-grunge, hard rock group. Aaron Lewis, with
his pain-soaked vocals, is one of the most recognizable voices in the '90s/early '00s alt-music oasis of guys like
Eddie Vedder and Maynard Keenan. Frankly, anyone who hasn't heard tracks like "Outside," "It's Been
A While" and "For You" needs to question their modern rock credibility.
So what else should we expect
from the Johnny K-produced The Illusion of Progress, out Aug. 19? Oddly enough, in this era of iTunes and the death of the
classic album, Staind is bringing something of a concept disc - a set of songs that could and should be listened to as a whole.
"Every song on the record in one way applies to the illusion of progress," Lewis said. "It's not
a concept album. It was never intended to be a concept album. But if you go and listen to the songs, it could almost be considered
a concept."
The album boasts the single, "Believe." When asked, Lewis is hesitant to talk about
the meaning behind the ballad.
"Telling somebody what the song is about is kind of like telling someone what
happens at the end of movie before they've gone to see it."
Sonically, Lewis says the album is broader
than anything Staind has done before: "There's some blues, there's a song with a gospel choir, there's a
completely acoustic song, some jazziness and some old school, straight-up rock."
Lyrically, it's emotion-drenched.
How does Lewis, a man known for wearing his heart on his tattooed sleeve, conjure up new emotions to bring album after
album?
"If you start thinking about stuff like that, next thing you know stuff stops coming out," he
said. "... I close my eyes, lick my lips and go at it. I don't have to find a place. I live in that place.
"I don't really know where it comes from. Everything around me is inspirational in a good way or a bad way."
This will be Staind's sixth studio album. The outfit formed in Springfield, Mass., in the mid-'90s and blew
up when Aaron Lewis performed the song "Outside" with Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst on The Family Values Tour in
1999. That live recording was plastered on rock stations across the nation.
Call it fate, but Lewis wasn't
even supposed to play "Outside" that night.
"Ten minutes before we hit the stage, I asked Fred (Durst)
what he thought about me doing a different acoustic song at the end of that night ..." said Lewis. "He was like,
'Why don't you do the song we were messing around with in my basement at my house? If you do that song, I'll come
out and I'll sing the choruses with you.'"
"I thought, 'That's an insurance policy,'"
he said, chuckling. "We were the first band of five bands to play on the Family Values Tour and nobody knew who we were.
It was quite the opportunity."
The problem? Lewis hadn't written the entire song yet; just the riffs and
chorus.
"I went back to my dressing room and went into full panic mode ... I could have just as easily crashed
and burned versus what actually happened."
News June 2008
06/30/08
Staind's Aaron Lewis Tells Fans To Expect Surprises
On New LP, The Illusion Of Progress
Rare is the band that heads into the recording studio with the expressed intention
of replicating the last LP they'd released. And Staind is definitely not one of them, according to frontman Aaron Lewis.
"We're big on trying not to repeat ourselves, and grow in some way with every record we make," Lewis
told MTV News — very matter-of-factly — this week from the Malibu, California, set of their forthcoming video
for "Believe." "We need to feel, at the end of it, that we made a better one than the last one. I think this
is our best record yet — because I'm supposed to feel that way, or else the record wouldn't be done."
On their forthcoming sixth LP, The Illusion of Progress, Staind, perhaps for the first time ever, took an experimental
approach to the songwriting process, incorporating unfamiliar elements into their sound. As a result, "We grew as a band
from another record's worth of time gone by, and another record's worth of touring. You learn as you go."
Lewis thinks that longtime Staind fans will be rather surprised when they hear the follow-up to 2005's Chapter
V because of "how big of a step we took in some songs." He said some tracks, like "Pardon Me," "Save
Me" and "Rainy Day Parade," will feature pedal-steel guitar, while one cut boasts a gospel choir. "There's
also a lot of guitar solos on the record — basically, there are a lot of things that have never really been done on
a Staind record before," he said.
As usual, Lewis' lyrics were largely inspired by his day-to-day existence;
he calls Staind's catalog "an audio diary of sorts." While not a concept record, Lewis' lyrics largely correspond
with the album's title, which the boys had settled on well before beginning work on the disc.
"It can
just apply to so many things," Lewis said. "We came up with it because we were standing around, not writing a record
when we should have been writing a record. We were giving the illusion of our own progress. And the title just stuck, and
without any conscious thought to it at all, all the songs ended up, in some way, shape, or form, being able to be applied
to the title, which is kind of cool."
Lewis wouldn't discuss the songs in any depth, just as he wouldn't
provide many details about the video for "Believe," which was a cross-country endeavor. Why? "I don't want
to ruin it for everyone," he said. "That'd be like telling people what the end of a movie is before they see
it."
He did tell us that the video will begin with the band, piled into a clunker of a car, in their hometown
of Springfield, Massachusetts. In the video, the band drives across the U.S., so the clip will feature footage from that trip.
The video ultimately concludes with Staind in California, and Lewis, singing his impassioned lyrics as he strolls across the
sands of "the 'Bu."
"We don't really know what it's going to be just yet, but it's
going to center around this journey from the East Coast to the West Coast," Lewis said. When making a video, "you
always get a bunch of different treatments, and pick the one you think might be cool. But, they never end up being what the
treatment says they are. I always find myself scratching my head at the end of it, going, 'Huh — I didn't really
read it that way."
This summer, Staind will be hitting the road with 3 Doors Down and Hinder, and then they'll
head over to Europe as the support act on Nickelback's tour there. Lewis said he doesn't mind being lumped into the
same category as these radio-friendly rockers, even if Staind's first album was more metal than it was bro-rock.
"We've somehow survived in this business for over 10 years, and we're still here. We're about to embark
on the next leg of this adventure we've been on — this dream I still haven't woken up from," he said. "These
other bands, we're all just out here trying to do the same thing: trying to write songs people want to hear, and the powers
that be want to get behind. Everybody has to group everybody into something, because they have nothing better to do. That's
just how it is."
And at some point soon, Lewis hopes to issue his long-rumored solo debut but he said there's
nothing definitive in terms of a scheduled release for that effort.
"The whole idea of the solo album came
about because I played some solo shows, and they went over well, so I figured the solo stuff can go in the opposite direction
do Staind," he said. "It's going to be more acoustic-based and not really a full band experience. But, I am
pretty excited about it. It's a way for me to express my creativity in a different way."
Altitude TV's "Live and Direct" show has posted video footage of STAIND performing its new
single "Believe" on June 24, 2008 at an industry showcase at the Viper Room in Hollywood, California. Watch the
five-minute clip below.
"Believe" is the first single from STAIND's upcoming sixth studio album,
"The Illusion of Progress", which arrives in stores on August 19. With hits like "It's Been Awhile"
and "Outside" in their catalog, The Pulse of Radio asked STAIND vocalist Aaron Lewis if the band feels pressure
to top or match those every time they write a new song. "You know, it just means that when we're deciding what songs and listening to ideas
and creating from the very beginning, some ideas just don't make it," he said. "We've got to feel like it's
good enough to be brought to the table. You know, I don't like filler...you know, 'Yeah, that's good, it's
not gonna be a single anyways.'I want every song on the record to be a song that could be worked as a single to some radio
format."
STAIND shot a video for "Believe" in Los Angeles on Wednesday (June 25).
"The
Illusion of Progress" was recorded at Lewis' home studio in New England.
STAIND's last album, "Chapter
V", came out in 2005 and has sold just under one million copies in the U.S.
STAIND will hit the road with
3 DOORS DOWN and HINDER for a summer tour beginning on July 4 in Muskegon, Michigan. The group will also open for NICKELBACK
this fall in Europe.
06/24/08
STAIND: New Album To Receive European Release Through ROADRUNNER
Springfield, Massachusetts natives STAIND will release their brand new record, "The Illusion of Progress",
through Roadrunner Records in Europe on September 8.
In a special launch with MySpace, you can hear the new single
"Believe" online now at: www. myspace. com/staind. The band is set to shoot a video for the song in Los
Angeles this Wednesday, June 25, with director Chris Simms.
"The Illusion of Progress" was produced by
Johnny K and recorded in the home studio of STAIND vocalist Aaron Lewis, with the original band lineup, including Mike Mushok
(guitar), Jon Wysocki (drums, percussion) and Johnny April (bass, vocals). The band calls the new project the "most musical
CD" it's recorded to date, and has been treating its fans to a series of intimate, behind-the-scenes "webisodes"
documenting the recording process.
Comments Lewis: "We went into the studio with the mindset of making our
heaviest record yet, but the record that came out has flavors of PINK FLOYD and straight-up blues. We didn't use the same
rigs that we use onstage; we used all vintage guitars and amps, and I'm pretty psyched about it! The songs are pretty
timeless in their texture."
STAIND will be touring the U.S. this summer with 3 DOORS DOWN, but will return
to the UK in September supporting NICKELBACK.
06/20/08
STAIND Is Back
Multi-Platinum Band Rolls Out New Flip/Atlantic Album: "THE ILLUSION OF PROGRESS" Due August 19; New Single,
"Believe," Released to Radio and iTunes on June 24; Worldwide Summer Tour Kicks Off July 4, Including Dates With
3 Doors Down and Hinder; International Dates With Nickelback Set for September
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire
- June 20, 2008) - Multi-platinum band STAIND has announced the much-anticipated release of "THE ILLUSION OF PROGRESS"
(Flip/Atlantic), available August 19. The first single, "Believe," hits radio and iTunes June 24. A worldwide summer
tour kicks off July 4 in Muskegon, MI prior to band's joining the 3 Doors Down bill on July 9 in St. Louis, MO. STAIND
will also tour internationally with Nickelback beginning September 8 in Cologne, Germany.
"THE ILLUSION OF
PROGRESS" marks STAIND'S sixth studio album and is the follow-up to 2005's RIAA platinum-certified "Chapter
V." STAIND'S last three studio albums all debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, earning their place as
one of the most successful rock bands of the new millennium. STAIND joins an elite shortlist of five other artists who have
also accomplished this feat, including U2, Dave Matthews Band, System Of A Down, Van Halen, and Disturbed.
"THE
ILLUSION OF PROGRESS" was produced by Johnny K and recorded in the home studio of STAIND vocalist Aaron Lewis, with the
original band line-up, including Mike Mushok (guitar), Jon Wysocki (drums, percussion), and Johnny April (bass, vocals). The
band calls the new project the "most musical CD" they've recorded to date, and even treated their fans to a
series of intimate, behind-the-scenes "webisodes" posted on staind.com, documenting their recording process.
Comments Lewis: "We went into the studio with the mindset of making our heaviest record yet, but the record that
came out has flavors of Pink Floyd and straight-up blues. We didn't use the same rigs that we use onstage; we used all
vintage guitars and amps, and I'm pretty psyched about it! The songs are pretty timeless in their texture."
Over the past decade, STAIND has sold more than 15 million records worldwide. They've had four #1 singles that span
three different radio formats, including two massive crossover singles, "It's Been Awhile" and "Right Here"
(certified RIAA gold). "It's Been Awhile" spent 16 weeks at #1 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart, making
it the #1 most-played rock record of 2002.
STAIND'S 1999 major label debut, "Dysfunction," was certified
RIAA double-platinum, and in the new millennium the band's "Break The Cycle" was certified 5x platinum, followed
by the platinum succession of "14 Shades Of Grey" in 2003 and "Chapter V" in 2005. 2002 saw the release
of the gold-certified "MTV Unplugged." In 2006, Flip/Atlantic released "The Singles: 1996-2006," the band's
first-ever hits collection, along with a separate companion DVD, "Staind: The Videos."
July 4 Heritage Landing Muskegon, MI July 5 Indianola National Balloon Launch Indianola, IN w/Stone Temple Pilots July 7 Adado Riverfront Park Lansing,
MI July 8 Capitol Federal Park @ Sandstone Bonner Springs, KS July 9 UMB Bank Pavilion St. Louis, MO July 11
Blossom Music Theatre Cuyahoga Falls, OH July 12 Marcus Amphitheatre Milwaukee, WI July 13 First Midwest Bank Pavilion
Tinley Park, IL July 16 PNC Bank Arts Center Holmdel, NJ July 18 New England Dodge Music Center Hartford, CT July 19 Delaware State Fair Harrington, DE July 20 Saratoga Performing Arts Center Saratoga Springs, NY July 22
Tweeter Center Mansfield, MA July 23 Cumberland County Civic Center Portland, ME July 25 Darien Lake Theme Park
Darien Center, NY July 26 Susquehanna Bank Center Camden, NJ July 27 Hershey Park Stadium Hershey, PA July
29 Roberts Stadium Evansville, IN July 30 DTE Energy Music Theater Clarkston, MI Aug 1 Firstier Arena Kearney, NE Aug 2 West Fair Amphitheater Council Bluffs, IA Aug 3 Bayfront Park Duluth, MN Aug 5 Casper Event Center Arena
Casper, WY Aug 7 Sioux Empire Fair Expo Hall Sioux Falls, SD Aug 8 Buffalo Chip Campground Sturgis, SD Aug
10 Lonestar Amphitheater Lubbock, TX Aug 12 Concrete Street Amphitheater Corpus Christi, TX Aug 13 Belton County
Expo Center Belton, TX Aug 15 Kiefer UNO Lakefront Arena New Orleans, LA Aug 16 Bancorp South Center Tupelo, MS Aug 21 Minnesota State Fair St. Paul, MN Aug 23 The Penngrowth Saddledome Calgary, Alberta Aug 24 Rexall Place
Edmonton, Alberta Aug 26 General Motors Place Vancouver, BC Aug 27 WaMu Theater Seattle, WA Aug 29 Mandalay
Bay Las Vegas, NV Aug 30 Konocti Field Amphitheater Kelseyville, CA Sep 8 Cologne Arena Cologne, GER** Sep
9 Schleyerhalle Stuttgart, GER** Sep 12 Odyssey Arena Belfast, UK** Sep 13 RDS Simmonscourt Dublin, IRE** Sep
15 MEN Arena Manchester, Midlands, UK** Sep 16 Sheffield Arena Sheffield, Midlands, UK** Sep 18 The NEC Birmingham,
Midlands, UK** Sep 19 o2 Arena London, South East., UK** Sep 21 Wembley Arena London, South East., UK** **International
dates with Nickelback.
06/19/08
Staind Sees 'Progress' On Next Album
Staind
has set an Aug. 19 release date for its next Atlantic album, "The Illusion of Progress." First single "Believe"
will hit U.S. radio outlets on June 24.
"It's a departure from the last record," Staind frontman
Aaron Lewis tells Billboard. "There's a lot more effect-y experimentation and a lot more textures with vintage instruments
and vintage amps."
The band recorded at the studio that Lewis keeps in his barn with producer Johnny K. And
while Staind previously swore to rock even harder this time out, Lewis says it's aware of pressure for another ballad-style
track along the lines of such hits as "Outside" and "It's Been Awhile."
"That's
what the record label wants," he says. "You're foolish not to [be aware] of that."
"Illusion"
is the follow-up to 2005's "Chapter V," which has sold 986,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen
SoundScan. Staind will be on tour this summer, beginning July 4 in Muskegon, Mich.
06/16/08
Staind Release Date Revealed
Staind’s new
album ‘The Illusion of Progress‘ is set to hit stores on August 19th. The first single “Believe” will
be released to radio on June 30th.
06/04/08
New Staind Single Impacting Radio This Month
Staind’s new single
“Believe” will make its way to radio on June 30th. The bands new album ‘The Illusion of Progress‘
is due out later this year.
News April 2008
04/22/08
Staind's Lewis Quiets Down For Solo Disc
Even
though Staind's next album is due out "July-ish," frontman Aaron Lewis is still making plans to record a solo
album in the near future.
"As soon as this (Staind) record is done and while we're out on tour I'll
be writing and getting everything ready to go," Lewis tells Billboard. com. "It'll probably come out right on the tail
end of this new Staind record."
Lewis says that at the moment he's planning to produce and play most of
the instruments on the album himself but notes that, "We'll see how far I get with that adventure."
As to what the album will sound like, he points to softer Staind material such as the hits "Outside" and "It's
Been Awhile" as well as "So Far Away," "Epiphany" and "Everything Changes" as indicative
of the direction he'll be taking in his solo work.
"The songs that I tend to write have always been different
than what we write as a band," Lewis explains. "Usually the acoustic-based songs we've had over the years have
been written on an acoustic (guitar) sitting in my living room, and then I bring them to the band and say, 'Here's
the song, you guys do what you do...'
"Before I ever started in this band, the acoustic thing is what
I did," he continues. "That's what my dad did when I was a kid, and that's something I've always wanted
to do. It can co-exist with Staind because it's not the same kind of songs. It's like having my cake and eating it,
too."
Staind has a few May shows -- including Rock on the Range May 17 in Columbus, Ohio -- before lunching
a summer tour with 3 Doors Down. "We're good friends with them, and it'll be fun," Lewis says. "I can't
wait to hook up with them."
04/22/08
Staind To Open For Nickelback In Europe
Staind
will open for Nickelback on their fall European tour.
Dates include:
September 8th in Cologne, GER @
Arena September 9th in Stuttgart, GER @ Schleyerhalle September 12th in Belfast, IRE @ Odyssey September 13th
in Dublin, IRE @ RDS Simmonscourt September 15th in Manchester, UK @ Arena September 16th in Sheffield, UK @ Arena September 18th in Birmingham, UK @ NEC Arena September 19th in London, UK @ 02 Arena September 21st in London,
UK @ Wembley Arena
Staind’s new studio album ‘The Illusion of Progress‘ is expected to be released
in August.
Front-man Aaron Lewis has plans to begin writing for his solo debut which is expected to be released
toward the end of the bands upcoming tour in support of their new album.
04/21/08
STAIND
frontman Aaron Lewis confirmed to The Pulse of Radio on Friday (April 18) that his band will head out on the road this summer
with 3 DOORS DOWN, adding that the two bands have a good relationship from previous outings. "Ah, we're good friends with them," he said. "And
it'll be fun. I can't wait to hook up with 'em." Dates and venues for the tour have yet to be announced.
HINDER is also reportedly on the bill, although that is not official yet.
Meanwhile, STAIND continues to work on
its sixth studio album, which Lewis says is tentatively titled "The Illusion of Progress". He said that only a few
guitar and vocal tracks remain to be done. "We are just about finished," he said. "We just wrote a couple more
songs to add into the mix of it all, and then, you know, getting it mixed down and stuff, and we go back out on tour this
summer with 3 DOORS DOWN, and then when that's over we go to Europe with NICKELBACK."
Lewis says STAIND is planning a summer release for the new album, which
will follow up 2005's "Chapter V".
STAIND will play several festivals in mid-May, including Rock
on the Range in Columbus, Ohio.
News March 2008
03/12/08
Aaron Lewis, Dee Snider, & More to play benefit show
for fire victims
On March 23rd, VH1 and VH1 Classic will premiere AFTERMATH: The Station Fire Five Years Later.
The one-hour special mixes interviews with survivors of the the Station Nightclub fire with footage of the recent Phoenix
Rising concert to benefit victims of the blaze. Among the bands who performed at the concert were TWISTED SISTER, TESLA, WINGER
and AARON LEWIS of STAIND. Sister frontman DEE SNIDER also hosted the concert. The February 2003 fire at the Station Nightclub
in Providence, Rhode Island killed 100 people and seriously injured 200 others, only 15 of whom currently qualify for Social
Security benefits. The folks at VH1 hope the special will raise awareness about the plight of the survivors.
03/03/08
Station concert raises $175G Last week’s Phoenix Rising benefit concert brought the rock - and fans brought the dough.
More
than $175,000 was raised for the Station Family Fund, the organization that distributes money to victims and victims’
families affected by the 2003 nightclub fire that claimed the lives of 100 music fans and severely injured 200 others.
“Even with attendance at
the concert lower (than anticipated), the amount of donated expenses kept us clearly in the black,” said Station Family
Fund co-creator Todd King.
Close
to 6,000 fans turned out to see Twisted Sister, Tesla, Winger, Staind’s Aaron Lewis, Boston’s Tom Scholz and country
artists including John Rich, Gretchen Wilson, Dierks Bentley and Kelly Pickler - not nearly enough to fill Providence’s
Dunkin’ Donuts Center. But with the arena waiving fees and local unions donating time and services, the end result qualified
as a financial success.
And more funds are in the pipeline. King says he anticipates another $30,000 to $40,000
from concert merchandise sales, auctions and donations from the John Rich Foundation and VH-1, which will air highlights from
the concert, as well as accounts of survivors, on March 23.
“We could not have gotten a better group of artists, hosts or production people,” King said. “It
felt great to have everyone give this fund a voice.”
Go to stationfamilyfund.org for more information.
03/03/08
STAIND took time out of its recording schedule to perform
at last month's San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo for the second year in a row. Watch video footage from the concert via
the group's latest webisode, which can be viewed on their myspace.
The band began writing its sixth studio
album in November and sketched out more than ten songs so far. Guitarist Mike Mushok previously said the tunes so far are
split between some of the heaviest material the band has written and some of its more standard melodic fare.
To
bridge the gap between that record and the group's next album, STAIND frontman Aaron Lewis plans to release an acoustic
disc of his solo work. Plans are fluid at the moment, he said, but he's considering a mix of live recordings and studio
tracks for that album.
Aaron Lewis' five-night solo acoustic run at the Mohegan Sun Cabaret in Uncasville,
Connecticut on February 20-24 was filmed for Lewis' first solo DVD.
In a recent interview with the Tonawanda News, Lewis stated about his solo shows, "It's kind
of like you're at a party and somebody starts to play the acoustic guitar and play while he's sitting on the couch.
The goal is more to have a good time and let people hear what they want to hear."
STAIND took a year-long
hiatus after touring for most of 2006 behind its last studio effort, 2005's "Chapter V". The group also released
both a greatest-hits and video collection in 2006.
News January 2008
01/23/08
Aaron Lewis is used to the calls for "Free
Bird."
The frontman for hard rock group Staind even obliges with the first phrase and the first verse.
"If I leave here tomorrow," he quoted the opening lines of the iconic Lynyrd Skynyrd song in a recent telephone
interview from Reno, Nev.
Those shouts of random song requests are what Lewis wants to hear on his solo acoustic
tour, which comes to Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula on Sunday.
However, he still didn't expect the
Barry Manilow request.
"I stopped dead in my tracks," Lewis said.
And then he asked the audience
member if he was serious. He wasn't.
"That type of stuff adds such a humor factor to the evening,"
he said.
Lewis said the requests and jokes bring a lightness to the evening that he said could be pretty depressing
and dark if he only played the music of Staind.
The singer soared to success with the hard rock act, selling more
than 8 million records, with hits such as "Outside" and the crossover smash "It's Been A While."
In recent years, he has used off time to play runs of acoustic shows, but it hasn't been entirely stepping into
a new arena.
"Before I met the band, that's what I was doing," Lewis said. "Since I was 17,
I was playing shows and bars acoustically."
Staind has been working on a new album, but concertgoers won't
hear any of the band's new material in the set.
Lewis is recording some of the solo shows with both video and
audio next month but doesn't know what might come of the footage yet.
Every night, he asks his guitar tech
what song to start with, and just goes free-form from there, playing Staind's hits, songs he's written on these solo
tours, obscure cover tunes and of course, the oddball requests.
"It's totally fun. People are laughing
and having a good time," he said.
That means he might break out the Scorpions' "Still Loving You"
or 4 Non Blondes "What's Up?"
"If I'm feeling good that night -- it's like Klaus Meine
singing," he said, comparing his voice to that of the Scorpions' lead singer.
"It's all where
the night takes me," he said.
01/17/08
Staind frontman to wing acoustic solo show
Fans attending Aaron Lewis’ sold-out shows this weekend at the Bear’s Den Showroom know they will hear
the Staind lead singer in action.
That’s about all they know they’ll get.
Lewis’ acoustic
shows, which he’s led since before his band gained fame more than a decade show, are decreed by the audience. If they
want to hear a Staind hit, that’s what they get. If they’d rather hear some Pearl Jam or Led Zeppelin, he’ll
accommodate those requests.
“It’s kind of like you’re at a party and somebody starts to play
the acoustic guitar and play while he’s sitting on the couch,” Lewis said by phone prior to a recent set in Reno,
Nev. “The goal is more to have a good time and let people hear what they want to hear.”
The shows remind
Lewis of early five-hour sets he’d do in bars, during which he’d strike up conversations with patrons and interact
with nearly everybody. This is far different than his Staind shows, which he said offer some advantages over the solo sets
and some disadvantages.
“With Staind, I’ve felt that the music did all the talking,” he said.
“It’s just fun. It’s a completely different vibe altogether.”
Tonight’s and Friday’sjan
17-18 two-hour shows at the Bear’s Den, located inside Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel, require no practice, no backup
band and no set list — “just me and a stool,” Lewis said. Lewis will field requests and see where each night
takes him, but he doesn’t mind where he ends up, even if that means performing a Staind hit like “Outside”
one more time.
“It still amazes me that people want to hear those songs,” he said. “They’re
the ones that have spent the money for the show. If they want to hear it, I think I’m pretty lucky.”
The latest acoustic tour will see Lewis perform a series of weekend shows through February. His works during the week on
Staind’s newest record, the band’s seventh, which is due out around June; the drum and bass tracks have been recorded,
he said, with guitar work and vocals to come.
To bridge the gap between that record and the group’s next
album, Lewis plans to release an acoustic disc of his solo work. Plans are fluid at the moment, he said, but he’s considering
a mix of live recordings and studio tracks for that album.
Although his repertoire numbers in the thousands, Lewis
does not guarantee that he can fill every request this weekend. It won’t be for a lack of trying, though.
“I’m
not always successful at finishing a song, but it’s real. It’s as real as it gets,” he said. “It’s
like riding a bolt of lightning.”
01/04/08
Softer side of Lewis comes out during solo, acoustic
set
Lighthearted may not be an adjective often used to describe Aaron Lewis. With his shaved head, tattoos and
piercings, he cuts an imposing figure, an image appropriate for the intense frontman of the nu-metal group Staind.
Lately, though, Lewis is getting noticed as a solo acoustic artist, taking a more laid-back approach to his angst-laden,
introspective songs.
“They (the audience) definitely end up seeing a side of me that they didn’t know
existed,” he said to the Hartford (Conn.) Courant. “I’m quite lighthearted throughout the whole thing. I’m
cracking jokes and cracking on myself and cracking on people in the audience for saying stupid (expletive).”
Lewis will show his softer side during a Jan. 11 stop on his “Have Guitar, Will Travel” tour at the Silver Legacy
Resort Casino.
His solo show features acoustic versions of Staind songs such as “So Far Away,” “It’s
Been Awhile” and “Outside.” Fans also will be treated to an eclectic mix of covers, which could include
“Rainbow Connection” by Kermit the Frog, “Puff the Magic Dragon” or “On and On” by Stephen
Bishop, according to an Argus Leader (Sioux Falls, S.D.) story.
“I don’t have a set list,” said
Lewis, who also takes audience requests during his performance. “I never have a set list. I just go out there and do
it. Play as many songs as I can remember to play as far as Staind or stuff that I’ve written.
“And,
you know, pull covers out of my butt. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I know four or five hundred covers. I’ve
been playing these solo shows since I was 17. So I know all sorts of covers, some of which you might not expect,” he
said.
The singer-guitarist got his start playing cover tunes in bars in the New England area before he formed Staind
in 1995.
“That’s how I survived for a long time before Staind,” he said in a past interview with
Best Bets. “Now, back then I was getting $100 a night — to play three sets.”
Staind — Lewis,
guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist Johnny April and drummer Jon Wysocki — toured extensively and self-released its debut,
“Tormented,” in 1996.
The band signed on with indie label Flip and later was picked up by Elektra Records
with help from Fred Durst of the band Limp Bizkit. Staind released its second CD, “Dysfunction,” which was a big
hit in 1999.
Its biggest seller was 2001’s multimillion-selling “Break the Cycle,” which had
the hits “Outside,” “Fade” and “It’s Been Awhile.” The follow-up in 2003, “14
Shades of Grey,” was another chart-topper with a radio hit in “So Far Away.”
The band’s
fifth CD, “Chapter V,” made its debut at No. 1 on the sales charts in the summer of 2005. In November 2006, Staind
released a retrospective CD, “The Singles 1996-2006.”
Lewis told the Courant the band is working on
a new studio album, due out in 2008. He also plans to release an album and possibly a DVD of his solo performances.
In the meantime, he said he enjoys playing acoustic shows.
“There’s no distorted guitars and this
big wall of sound coming at you to bury the lyrics in,” Lewis said to the Courant. “It’s the rawest, most
stripped-down version and form of the song that it could be.”
MTV
