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Aaron Lewis
Mike Mushok
Johnny April
Jon Wysocki
In the past decade, Staind have sold more than 12.0 million records worldwide, had four No. 1 singles at mainstream rock radio, seen six more singles break the Top 10, and watched their last three albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Album Chart. They have earned their place as one of the most successful rock bands of the new millennium, but that success is something that they refuse to take for granted.
“We’ve seen too many bands come and go to ever feel like we have a sense of security,” says guitarist Mike Mushok, reflecting back on his band’s four major-label studio efforts, and taking into account Staind’s highly-anticipated new release, due later this summer. “With each new album, we never want to rehash what we did before, but we also don’t want the new music to be so different that it alienates our fans. We try to walk that line. As a band and musicians you want to grow and mature, not just put out another ‘It’s Been Awhile’ eight years later. You want something new that hopefully builds on that, and you want something that enables you to continue to grow as songwriters.”
To Staind’s credit, growth is one thing that has been paramount to all of their success. “We just always wrote music that we liked and that we thought was good music,” says frontman Aaron Lewis. “Our biggest concern is always that it is a good song at the end of the writing process, whether it is a song that is so heavy that your intestines fell out, or whether it is a song that is a lot lighter and makes you want to cry.”
From the heavy-handed gut-punches that marked the band’s early days trying to out-muscle their local competition on the Western Massachusetts hardcore scene, to the breakthrough success of back-to-back ballads “Outside” and “It’s Been Awhile” in 2001 and the seemingly endless array of radio hits that followed, Staind have stood out because they focused their attention on music while too many of their peers were focusing on image, fashion and trends.
“You look at any band that’s had any kind of longevity, and you have to have the music,” says Mushok. “Whether you’re playing a heavy song or not, there has to be a catchy riff there. Once that riff is there, Aaron does a great job of finding a really nice melody to go over it.”
In a band of reluctant rock stars, Lewis is the face of Staind, a position that has played host to more than its share of emotional purging as the band progressed through their double-platinum major label debut “Dysfunction” in 1999, and into the new millennium with a succession of platinum plus follow-ups in “Break The Cycle” two years later, “14 Shades Of Grey” in 1993, and “Chapter V” in 2005. “The albums were definitely the darkest in the beginning,” Lewis recalls, “then they got less dark as my personal feelings evolved and it became easier to write about pertinent things in my life. ‘Chapter V’ is an angry record, but for different reasons, because I was looking at all the fucked up things happening around me, rather than looking inward, like I did in the past.”
What Lewis may spurn in terms of showmanship, he makes up for with a conviction that has proven to be Staind’s calling card, his vocals piercing the soul and his lyrics flowing like blood from the wounds. He doesn’t just perform in front of audiences, he connects with them, relates with them, tells them that it’s okay to be angry, then consoles them. “Aaron’s lyrics are very emotional and personal, and early on it was really tough for us to see how our records were going to touch people,” explains Mushok. “But it really affected him to have people come up to him and tell him how much they took away from what he wrote and how they related to it. For me, that was a one of the biggest adjustments we really had to make early on; One day you’re in Springfield, MA, writing some tunes, and the next thing you know those same tunes are really affecting people. That’s really an eye opener, it’s a really powerful thing.”
Yet as much solace as fans find in Staind, you’ll still find Lewis keeping to the shadows and avoiding the spotlight. “If I go to the Grammys, it’s going to be because I got nominated, not just to be there,” says the softspoken frontman. “Most of my life I haven’t even been comfortable in my own skin, let alone being comfortable as the center of attention. I know it sounds silly, because I’m not really hiding behind anything, but I when I’m on stage I can at least hide behind my microphone, I can hide behind the guitar I’m playing, and in my mind I’m hiding.”
If the members of Staind have learned anything in the past decade, it’s that they can trust their emotions, even when they bring them somewhere unsuspecting
“For our new album, we went into the studio with the mindset of making our heaviest record yet,” offers Lewis, “but the record that came out, with us writing in the studio, some of it has flavors of Pink Floyd and some has flavors of straight-up blues. We didn’t use the same rigs that we use onstage, we used all vintage shit, guitars and amps, and I’m pretty psyched about it. The songs are pretty timeless in their texture, whereas typical Staind isn’t, sonic wise, necessarily timeless.”
“We’ve been fortunate that the last three albums have been No. 1 records, but that was never even a goal of ours,” concludes Mushok. “It never even entered our minds that we could have a No. 1 record, let alone three in a row! Will this next one be one? I don’t know… But if it’s not, I’m not going to be heartbroken. The most important thing for us is that it’s a record we love, because writing is a really selfish thing and you have to love what you put out. After that, I want other people to hear, like it, and be able to relate to it. If we can just accomplish that, that’s all we can ask for.”
“We’ve seen too many bands come and go to ever feel like we have a sense of security,” says guitarist Mike Mushok, reflecting back on his band’s four major-label studio efforts, and taking into account Staind’s highly-anticipated new release, due later this summer. “With each new album, we never want to rehash what we did before, but we also don’t want the new music to be so different that it alienates our fans. We try to walk that line. As a band and musicians you want to grow and mature, not just put out another ‘It’s Been Awhile’ eight years later. You want something new that hopefully builds on that, and you want something that enables you to continue to grow as songwriters.”
To Staind’s credit, growth is one thing that has been paramount to all of their success. “We just always wrote music that we liked and that we thought was good music,” says frontman Aaron Lewis. “Our biggest concern is always that it is a good song at the end of the writing process, whether it is a song that is so heavy that your intestines fell out, or whether it is a song that is a lot lighter and makes you want to cry.”
From the heavy-handed gut-punches that marked the band’s early days trying to out-muscle their local competition on the Western Massachusetts hardcore scene, to the breakthrough success of back-to-back ballads “Outside” and “It’s Been Awhile” in 2001 and the seemingly endless array of radio hits that followed, Staind have stood out because they focused their attention on music while too many of their peers were focusing on image, fashion and trends.
“You look at any band that’s had any kind of longevity, and you have to have the music,” says Mushok. “Whether you’re playing a heavy song or not, there has to be a catchy riff there. Once that riff is there, Aaron does a great job of finding a really nice melody to go over it.”
In a band of reluctant rock stars, Lewis is the face of Staind, a position that has played host to more than its share of emotional purging as the band progressed through their double-platinum major label debut “Dysfunction” in 1999, and into the new millennium with a succession of platinum plus follow-ups in “Break The Cycle” two years later, “14 Shades Of Grey” in 1993, and “Chapter V” in 2005. “The albums were definitely the darkest in the beginning,” Lewis recalls, “then they got less dark as my personal feelings evolved and it became easier to write about pertinent things in my life. ‘Chapter V’ is an angry record, but for different reasons, because I was looking at all the fucked up things happening around me, rather than looking inward, like I did in the past.”
What Lewis may spurn in terms of showmanship, he makes up for with a conviction that has proven to be Staind’s calling card, his vocals piercing the soul and his lyrics flowing like blood from the wounds. He doesn’t just perform in front of audiences, he connects with them, relates with them, tells them that it’s okay to be angry, then consoles them. “Aaron’s lyrics are very emotional and personal, and early on it was really tough for us to see how our records were going to touch people,” explains Mushok. “But it really affected him to have people come up to him and tell him how much they took away from what he wrote and how they related to it. For me, that was a one of the biggest adjustments we really had to make early on; One day you’re in Springfield, MA, writing some tunes, and the next thing you know those same tunes are really affecting people. That’s really an eye opener, it’s a really powerful thing.”
Yet as much solace as fans find in Staind, you’ll still find Lewis keeping to the shadows and avoiding the spotlight. “If I go to the Grammys, it’s going to be because I got nominated, not just to be there,” says the softspoken frontman. “Most of my life I haven’t even been comfortable in my own skin, let alone being comfortable as the center of attention. I know it sounds silly, because I’m not really hiding behind anything, but I when I’m on stage I can at least hide behind my microphone, I can hide behind the guitar I’m playing, and in my mind I’m hiding.”
If the members of Staind have learned anything in the past decade, it’s that they can trust their emotions, even when they bring them somewhere unsuspecting
“For our new album, we went into the studio with the mindset of making our heaviest record yet,” offers Lewis, “but the record that came out, with us writing in the studio, some of it has flavors of Pink Floyd and some has flavors of straight-up blues. We didn’t use the same rigs that we use onstage, we used all vintage shit, guitars and amps, and I’m pretty psyched about it. The songs are pretty timeless in their texture, whereas typical Staind isn’t, sonic wise, necessarily timeless.”
“We’ve been fortunate that the last three albums have been No. 1 records, but that was never even a goal of ours,” concludes Mushok. “It never even entered our minds that we could have a No. 1 record, let alone three in a row! Will this next one be one? I don’t know… But if it’s not, I’m not going to be heartbroken. The most important thing for us is that it’s a record we love, because writing is a really selfish thing and you have to love what you put out. After that, I want other people to hear, like it, and be able to relate to it. If we can just accomplish that, that’s all we can ask for.”
