SPILL FEATURE: WE’RE PROBABLY MORE POPULAR THAN WE’VE EVER BEEN RIGHT NOW – A CONVERSATION WITH MORGAN ROSE OF SEVENDUST

WE’RE PROBABLY MORE POPULAR THAN WE’VE EVER BEEN RIGHT NOW

A CONVERSATION WITH MORGAN ROSE OF SEVENDUST

Sevendust is a band of resilience. Formed in 1994, this band has remained a diamond in the rough of the hard rock and nu metal genres. Morgan Rose, the drummer of the band, says that being in a band for that long can be both a blessing and a curse, and that the social aspect of getting along and communicating in a band is equally as important as the music you play. “But really, the thing that’s wild is that being in a band is a marriage, except you’re married to four other people,” He explained, “You know, so you learn how to kind of deal with each other. There’s certain things inside of it that have helped outside of the band, and then there’s other things that hurt outside of the band. You learn how to accept certain things from other people and try to not be the squeaky wheel.”

Rose continued, sharing his personal experience being on the road with Sevendust, and how the band has evolved their communication skills with each other. “I think that slowly we got to the point where we love each other, we’re cool. We can say, ‘Hey, man, that was shitty, what you did last night. Can you, like, not do that?’ …And it slowly started to affect the domesticated side of things a little bit. We’re not like professionals for anything yet, but at least, you know, somebody can say, ‘You’ve done this, and this kind of bothers me.’ And instead of going, ‘Well, you bother me like this!’…it’s like, no, that’s not really mature. So, we’ve learned to grow over the years.”

Sevendust recently had some music go viral on TikTok being used in some trends. Rose expressed his appreciation for this, and his surprise at the sudden upturn in the youth in the fanbase. “But, you know, something happened where we had a track that was really old that went viral on TikTok, and so we started this tour. It happened while we were off. The shows are selling out. And I’m like, that’s really nice, you know, we haven’t been out in a while. And then I’m looking at them, there’s like, 7 to 10 people that are crowd surfing at one time, and that hadn’t happened in a little while.  I’m looking while I’m playing, and I’m like that kid’s 13 years old, you know? And I’m looking out going, where did these kids come from? And then somebody told me it was TikTok…And then I met some kids the other night, and they’re like, ‘You’re the biggest band in my high school.’”

ONE ALBUM REVIEW

The fans are incredibly important to Morgan Rose and Sevendust. Rose spoke about how incredibly loyal fans of the band are, and how that touches him and the other members. “But the one thing that we realized, and it’s gotten super heavy with us, is that the loyalty that we have in the people that support this band is insane. You know, I know that it’s really easy to be supportive of a band that’s, you know, insanely popular, but we’ve kind of done it under the radar for our entire career, and the people that support us treat us like we’re the biggest band in the world, and we love and respect them for that. And that’s the relationship. I’ve talked to a bunch of people, and nobody says a bad word about Sevendust… If you’re in with us, then you know, it’s all over.”

Rose then mentioned how he hopes that his music touches those same fans and helps them in some way, just like the fans help the band. “When you connect with somebody on a lyrical level, and they take that song and that means something to them.” He continued, “There’s a feeling of some responsibility, even though we don’t consciously do it and go, “We need to make sure that we’re careful here” or anything. We never do that. But we realize when it’s done, it’s almost like, this might help somebody.”

When asked what advice he would give future musicians, Rose explained that your band members can make or break the experience, and that being careful who you play and tour with can help with your mental health down the line. “I want to enjoy this, you know, it’s not about I want to be in a band so that I can live the lifestyle of a band guy. I want to write songs, and I want to do something that makes me feel good. The advice is, just make sure that you like the people that you’re playing with, you know, and really scrutinize it early, you know, look at it closely and see this guy is not a good person, or this guy is, you know, got a problem that I’m going to have to deal with down the road.”

Sevendust is currently on the road touring the release of ONE, their newest album. Rose expressed his gratitude for the success of the tour and the new album, along with the new audience the band has reached. “I believe that we’re probably more popular than we’ve ever been right now. And I’m just like, I don’t really get it, but I’m loving seeing and meeting all these new people. It’s a trip. God forbid something like new happens to this band after 100 years. It’s like, what the hell is going on? So, we’re really enjoying it. I wish I was 20 again… But we’re super grateful, and just kind of watching it, just smiling and looking at it, going, ‘This is crazy.’”

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Photo Credit: Chuck Brueckmann