Episode 03 – Livin’ La Vida Larkin – Shannon Larkin of Godsmack

0:00 Speaker 1 You are listening to the AltWire podcast where we feature candid interviews with some of the hottest names in the entertainment industry. Get ready for your host, Derek Oswald.

0:16 Derek Oswald Hello, and welcome to the AltWire podcast. Today, we have a special guest, Shannon Larkin of Godsmack. Shannon has performed with some of the biggest names in music and now serves as the drummer for Godsmack, which he's done for close to twenty years. In this podcast, we'll dive into Shannon's career and discuss the music of Godsmack plus a whole lot more. So buckle up and prepare for a fantastic conversation with Shannon Larkin of Godsmack. The AltWire podcast starts now.

0:44 Shannon Larkin Ready, go.

0:49 Derek Oswald Thank you for joining us today, Shannon. How are doing? I'm good. Thank you. Excellent. Excellent. Wanna thank you for joining us today. You've been drumming with Godsmack for the better part of twenty years now. Lighting Up the Sky actually represents a massive milestone for you guys in the fact that it's been touted as being your final studio album. At what point during the writing and recording process did it seem perfect to make this your studio swan song?

1:15 Shannon Larkin We had actually talked about it being a final record before we even started writing it. You know, the big elephant in the room age, you know what I mean? And we figured we've already had over two decade career and made records we're proud of, and, you know, we've been working, touring at our level of success, you know, which has been a dream of ours that came true, And, I was talking to opening bands like the Ravens Age over for us in The UK tour, you know, the drummer, how old are you? 23. And I'm like, wow, my daughter's 24. You know, there were so many different reasons why we came to the conclusion of making one more record, but breaking up is never one of them. Honestly, we're not gonna break up, and we'll keep playing. Aerosmith did it. You know? Just quit making studio records. You know? After every show, the fans come up. Why didn't you play this song? Why didn't you play this song? Why didn't you play this song? And it's because we have too many of them. Like, we were looking at, like, we can actually feel a freedom and not have any pressure or expectations after this. We like the idea of going out on top, going out at the success level that we dreamed of and have lived without, you know, having to keep going. And people ask, well, the creative part. And, know, I'll say this also, making records, the actual making of records was never our favorite thing to do as a band. That's always been playing and touring and that's the reward, man. And so making records, there's fun moments, of course, but for the most part, man, it's just trying to get everything right, and it's questioning yourself. There's a lot of psychology that happens in in making records, and, you know, it's it's a it's an odd, weird time for us. And then when it… Whenever it's over, we like it. Then we're always like, finally, it's over. You know? And so we look at it like we're at the the highlight of our whole lives and careers, and we wanna enjoy it and be able to, you know, find other mountains to climb also. You know what I mean? Like, you know, Sully does solar work. I got the Apocalypse Bliss revival, this side project that I feel I can do into the future with, again, without expectations. You know, we've sold lots of records. We're not wanting for money or fame, certainly. We're at a place where we're all happy and we get along better than we ever got along. And we've had so many highs and lows in the band over the years. They've had the usual stuff happen to us too. You know, it's alcohol and ego, sex, money, drugs, and that's how rock bands are, and we've survived all that, and we feel like closer than we've ever been. And this record was I would say we don't really enjoy making records. This was the funnest one we ever made, and the most drama free and easiest one we ever made. Everything magically clicked into place in this one, and it was just it felt right. And, you know, having discussed it, like I said before, when we were, wow, we're in it. Is this gonna be it, guys? And we were like, oh, yes. This feels right. And the songs I I liked after Sully, you know, different things happen. I've talked about the writing of the record. He got in a heartbreaking breakup in his personal life, and we took a break right in the middle of writing. We had, like, 10, 11, 12 songs written by then, of which only three ended up making the record because then he went home after some tragic heartbreak and breakups and that shit happens. And so when he came back, boy, he was fully loaded and we scrapped most of the stuff we'd written and went on a whole new plane. So that was meant to be we failed, and then it ended up being like the final record to us was like a love letter to our whole career. I came up with that one because after hearing the whole thing as a body of work, after it was mixed and I was like, oh my God, it's, it's got a little bit of everything from all the arrows up the band. And we always made records four years apart. And now just Sully, he's a genius in ways I call him my genius because, you know, he came with the, we'll write and record for a year, then we'll tour and work it, go and play for our fans for two years, and then we'll take a year apart. And you do what you want. You cannot even look at a guitar or drums, or you can go and do your side thing and get your yayas out that way, or you can be at home with your wife, kid, pillow, dogs, turtles, fish, blah, blah, So when you get back together after a year apart, after having lived in tight quarters for three years, united with this product that you're selling out there, taking the year off was a genius thing because then when we get back together, we're also fresh. Well, there's our boy. There we are. There's the band. That's right. You know, and everybody's excited and there's a new excitement that we can always capture. But the point is, you know, four years apart, for each record is good. It's a long time. And so, like, our records, I think they all sound like a Godsmack, but they all have obvious differences to me being that close to the music. And it's because in four years as humans, we all change, you know, and then it gets to the point later on in the career when the fans of the earlier, more aggressive music weren't so into the Legends Rise sound or whatever, and it's like, man, you know, we're not young dudes full of piss and vinegar, like angry anymore. Like we're all like, exactly. We're pretty happy. I kill all of us. And like I said, man, we had fun and got a little better than ever on this one. And so everybody has their personal reasons of why we thought it was just a genius move to not make any more records, but not break up and not do a cash grab. I gotta say that. You'll never see us go, final chore, you know, come pay $600 because that's the last time you'll see them. We're not doing that. You know, because what if we want to go play some rad event later on in life or something, you know, and they're like, Metallica's playing. You guys want to play? And we're like, sure. Or even if we want to go tour, you know, after this record, we're going to tour, by the way. That's the plan. We'll tour for two years on this one. We'll take the break in a year off like we've always done our whole career. And then instead of going back in the studio for a year and making another record, we'll go, hey, where do y'all wanna play this year? Let's do two weeks in the Midwest or three weeks in Europe, or let's go to South America for a week and play three shows. Whatever we wanna do, we're not selling anything anymore, and this way we don't feel old too on stage. Like, when it does come that day where we feel like, oh, man, I'm not… I don't feel right when I scream, you know, stand alone or whatever he's screaming. If he feels like, you know, it's not real anymore, then it… You know, who wants to see old dudes go up there going through the motions? You know? Maybe the fans. And so I apologize to any fans that would feel, like, cheated because we choose to go out the way we wanna go out. But I do know that if you really think about it, it's super smart. You know? And for us as as a band, we feel that's how we can give the best shit in the future to our fans. Like, think of the set list, you know, with no new record. Now you're gonna get just all the songs you know, all the hits and, like, the highlights basically of all the tours and albums we've done. So like if it was Basis, the highlight of the show was the part in I Stand Alone with the pyro and then Straight Out of Line with the video part and whatever. Have like the parts that everybody, all our fans are all, when you did this and that tour. So now we can take all those magic moments, meets tour into our older years. And when, so when you come see Godsmack, say at a festival, it's not going be supporting a record which will lean heavily on musically. We're going to be playing a best of set from 20, by the time you see us, twenty six years of radio song that people like. You know, like, we're not picking the set list. The people, the fans, our people pick it by calling the radio and requesting that song. And if… So we figure if there's a hit song and then our fans wanna hear it, and we'll let them write the set list.

9:52 Derek Oswald There is a growing trend when I'm speaking to artists that artists are seeming to want to move away from making albums anymore, you guys included. But say in the future, if inspiration strikes, do you think you guys might release a one off single here and there, or do you think in terms of recording music, you guys are just absolutely done?

10:12 Shannon Larkin No. I I actually said that earlier to somebody that, you know, we're not like, we'll never record again. No one ever said that. We said we'll never make another record. Because with, again, the normal person that's not in the business and is not a musician and just loves music and wants to hear music, they don't understand, you know, exactly how much and what goes into the whole process, not just of creating the music, that's the good part, you know? It's you're making a product to sell for a bunch of different people, and it's all about money and, you know, stats and power. And so it's not that that's a bad thing. I'm just saying we've been in it, man, for over two decades in it, like making records that sell. You know what I mean? And and toy making shit tons of money and all that crap, you know? And there's a lot of pressure in making records. And so… But we're not… Like, for instance, like you say, if, say, you know, The Rock's making a new movie and he's like, man, I'm gonna make Scorpion King eight, you know, and I really want guys to, like, write a song for it. We would go and go in the studio, write a song for The Rock, man. This isn't about us breaking up in the near future or anything. It's just about breaking out of the machine and not out of bitter taste breakup either. This is something like where you've had that long, great relationship, and now you're you're like, what's next? And I can still be with this one because we can still be a band easily without making records, you know? And we're on a timeframe because we can't be Godsmack. I mean, at least not with Shannon Larkin. If I'm 65 years old, I'm not gonna be the drummer. You know, it's it's hard music and it's music that I feel you have to emote and play with passion. And that's why most aggressive bands and their fan base is younger. And that's why when I was a young'un, was Slayer, Metallica, Venom, Boivod, and Sodom. Mean, it just, it was, you know, aggressive hardcore band, Black Flags, Dick Ennies, The OA, Serpajerks, you know. Ramon Sextus was, it was, you know, everything that I I mentioned just really quickly, you just off the top of my head of bands that I loved when I was young, it was all aggressive. And then it was later on in life in my forties and stuff, listening to music that I actually grew up on that my parents would play, you know, which was American radio, rock and all the seventies and stuff like that, which is a much, much more mellow music. So I'm not only not wanting to play the heavier stuff as I, as we aged, but I'm also listening to different lighter sounding music, like, like Zeppelin and the Doors and, and all the bands that, Rush and Sabbath and, you know, the early Beck Kiss, you know, Ted Jen and, all the bands that before I really knew I was gonna be a musician that I loved, I went and kind of reverted back to, and I found that, you know, in my metal record collection, which I still have my vinyl of all the Metallica Slayer that, like I said, all the bands that came out in, in those era from 1983 to 1990, probably '8. I was just into all that of the heavier, aggressive music and lots of punk rock music, but then I'd started, you know, again, kind of rediscovering, you know, and, and learning also songs, songs for songs like, you know, you start to become nerdy as a songwriter and get into music theory and and why this chord is better and what makes this sound happy, what makes this sound sad, how's this key chain gonna be dramatic. You know what I mean? And it becomes almost like putting puzzles together. And to me, it was way more interesting with classic rock, blues rock, psychedelic rock of the sixties and seventies than, say, the hard rock of the nineties and early two thousands. You know?

14:33 Derek Oswald I've actually been a a listener very early on. I was actually lucky enough that, you know, a lot of people's dads, sometimes they listen to the oldies or they don't listen to current music. My dad was a huge hard rock fan. So, basically, as soon as your self titled came out, he was already listening to it on the radio, buying the CDs. So I was fortunate enough to be following you guys since the late nineties when I was only 12 years old. I was fortunate enough to actually be able to have a preview of your album before this podcast, the new one. And I gotta say, as a longtime Godsmack fan, it's in the top three for me. It's absolutely amazing how much you guys have grown in just a period of, you know, almost twenty five years and how strong this material is. So I share the sentiments that you have. I think this is some of the best work you guys have ever done.

15:24 Shannon Larkin Well, thank you, Derek. You know, it makes me proud, and I'm very proud of this new record. I'm very proud of Sully. I'm super proud of Tony Rombolo on this one who ends again, Sully, who's co producer, he's, you know, he has a lot of of the last final say on how much… How long a lead section is, you know, and he was extending leads for Tony this time, and it made it more rock and roll and energetic to me. I'm so proud of Robbie too, who his tone and the way he played on this record was better than he played on any record. That's what I'm saying. And so, you know, my drums are very proud. I just, I can't say how fun and easy this record was when usually I hate making records with, with Godsmack because there's pressure involved, man. Know, Sully sees what he wants before we start, you know? And so his fight is to get us to help him paint the picture and, you know, and then, like, it's always a psychological battle for me to get that right head frame for each different mood that he's, you know, trying to portray in his songs, and, and that's why it's always been fun and, and a challenge for me. He's, he's a great drummer also. So, you know, I, I'm challenged every record by him, and, you know, he doesn't sit down and try and play what's in his head. He'll sing it to me. You know? And I'm like, or whatever. And so he's always challenging me and trying to get me to play better. And at the end of the day, it's always, you know, it's always been more work for some reason than at the end of the day on this record where it's just like, and I'm covered in sweat and running into the control room going, let's listen to that. It sounded so good, you know. And he's a hip… In other words, he produced this record great too. So that's just another thing that fell into place. You know, these things are like… It's like professional sports. I always say it because, you know, it's like football team just with one one little thing that doesn't fall right into place, and you might not win. And everything fell into place, and we felt like we won on this last one. And Robbie will tell you, especially, there's always one or two things that you wish you could have done differently or that you think you could have done better. But I think with just perhaps the universe around us this time, even just the stars aligned, as they say, and everything went to place, you know, perfectly. And I couldn't be more proud of everybody involved. You know?

18:13 Derek Oswald Now you met Sully early on in your career and have stayed friends for nearly four decades, two of which you've spent as the drummer for Godsmack. What do you think it is about your friendship with Sully and your musical partnership that has made it stand the test of time?

18:27 Shannon Larkin We're very similar in many ways, you know, especially musically, if that's the thing, and that's what made us become brothers, and that's what's kept us brothers for all these years. We speak just the same language musically, and beyond that there's been so many similarities over the years that were like, wow, where, you know, we just are very much alike in our thinking, you know, politically, religion, you know, the big hard topics, we are the same, and so it's been, you know, quite easy. And, when sometimes the drum magazines question is, you know, you're in a band with a guy who played on first two records, and he's a great drummer in his own right, you know. And how is that when it comes to your parts and how is it in the studio and everything? And I've always said it's been just great because all he does is he loves my playing. So all he does is just try and egg me on, man, and make me radder than I would have been, you know? And so he's never once been like… In fact, on this record, I'll say this first time, he played drums on the song called Truth, which is a kind of rock ballad y kind of thing. And the reason was is as we were in there, we'd written a song, and he knew it like back of his hand because it came from within him. Right? I'm trying to learn the arrangement. I learned it. And the day of recording, we wasted probably three or four hours of me trying to play that song. And the reason was is the beat, there was no pattern. So in the verse, he accentuates the vocal line with his drumbeat. Right? So that the drumbeat changes each four bar with the vocal line. And so I am like, well, I don't know the vocal line. I don't even know the lyric or the vocal line. So how am I gonna play? How can I play along to the vocal? I don't know it. So, and I said to him, he's like, well, I can maybe sing a scratch of it, but I'm not quite done with the vocal anyway. And I'm like, but I have it, the phrasing, you know. And so, anyway, long story short, I went home that evening out from the studio, and I usually… I'll come home from the studio, and I'll work on the song I'm gonna record the next day. So, I go into my studio, and then I wear my drums and stuff, and I'll work. And as I'm working on Truth, I thought, wait a minute, he played on the first two Godsmack records. I don't think fans would mind if he played songs on. So I called Sully. I'm like, why don't you just play the drums on this one? He hadn't played since, you know, that when I first joined the band, you know, on a record or something, I played all the drums. And so he's like, well, I didn't know, you know, I'd give you, you know, like, man, my ego, don't, you know what I mean? I, I feel, and at this point we had had, I'd already played like some really cool drum tries that I was super proud of, and I'm kicking ass or whatever. I'm like, I'm kicking ass, man. You play this song and it'll save us time and it'll get you back on the scale for the first time in twenty years. And he's like, let me think about it. Cause he had a 100 other things he was doing too. Doubling guitar parts. You know, the mode parts, keyboards, it's vocals, background vocals, know, he has. So he had, I guess, thought about it the next day, he called me and said, I'm gonna track. I'm like, go for it, dude. And he did it that day. And it's like I said, that fell into place. And here's the drummer telling the singer, why don't you just play the drums on this one? You know, There was no drama, man. It was just… Everything was just so right on this one. And I know it's… It comes… That shit comes across on tape. You know what I mean? Like some bands that sound flat in the studio, it's because they had red light fever or they couldn't somehow get their emotion on the tape. And so when a song does get an emotion on tape, it's obvious to me. You know what I mean? And, like, I hear it in every song. I feel my playing. I feel Tony and Robbie and Sully's playing, and I feel like like it's bright.

22:36 Derek Oswald One of the things I wanted to ask about was the live drum duels that you and Sully have been doing for the past couple years. It's so fun to watch you two riff off of each other. When did those start, and what gave you guys the inspiration to start doing that live?

22:51 Shannon Larkin Alright. So there was a song that we use a riff of in that drum solo. And, you know, I, it's not really a drum solo. And if you think of the word solo, that's one, right? One person on the stage soloing. Right? And so what, what happened was this song, Get Up, Get Out from the first record. This is pre me. And so Tommy Stewart's in the band and Sully, who has really hot hands, he's great percussionist, and he can really go. And he wanted to break down the song Get Up, Get Out for a live thing to get the people's hands up at the festivals, Oswald fashion stuff they were on and get the hands up in the air and get them clapping and have something that that they could. And here's this great drummer guy. So he had Tommy hold down a beat. They broke someone down bad to choose the bat. And then they had a little riser that they had with wheels on it and two congas, a set of bongos, a timbale, and a little cymbal. And so they'd roll that out on the stage, he'd jump up, and start jamming with Tommy Stewart. Right? And so that was the thing that they did before I joined. When I joined the band, Sully had his Yamaha drums set up in the rehearsal room, and I was coming to start writing the record. I was in the band and I had a drum set sent there also. And we set it up right in front of Sully's drum set head to head right in the room. And as two drummers and long friends do, we sat down and started jamming against each other, like, you know, one, two, three, four, go, two, three, four, and I want in, and I go. And so we we did that for just for fun. And we were in the tempo, and I remember him saying, can do this and get up, get out instead of me rolling out the the little percussion thing. I can… We can roll a whole drum set out. And it started right there, man, before we… And the song we were working on, and I'll never forget this because it happened pretty much the day I joined the band. We set those drums up. We started doing it back and forth, and the idea came out of, well, we placed the get up, get out, break down where I bring the percussion out with a verified, you know, piece that we'll write. And that's why we ended up using Get Up Get Out still to this day in the first and second part of that groove. We came up with the kind of voodoo ish tribal thing at the top of it later, Well, you're looking for something to lead into the get up, get out beat though. So where we start, you know, going back and forth. But also we always wanted to keep Robbie and Tony on the stage and keep guitar and bass in it so that it's not a drum solo, you know, that's when everybody goes to get a beer in the arena when the drummer starts playing. So we wanna, you know, make it some exciting that, you know, was part of a show, you know what I mean? So, and it's funny because everybody calls it the drum solo. Are you guys doing the drum solo? But really I'm like solo as one, one person. But, anyway, we kept trying to change it over the years too, and we'd change it. We, we wrote a whole separate different one, twice and, always end up going back to that one. It, our fans, I think know it now. It's like a, it's like a song now to them. They're, you know, when we start playing it, they know, oh, here it is, you know, and it's familiar. And so we've just ended up never changing it. It has slight changes every time and will purposely do some different moves to it, you know, different stabs, perhaps do it like a montage of cover songs at the very end of it. You know, we we always try and change those up. We pride ourselves on playing. We love to play live is our thing. We always say we're a live band. We don't run trad. There's two songs, Bulletproof and Unforgettable, that we had to run tracks on. And two songs out of 17, not so bad. No no offense to all the bands that run tracks throughout their set backing vocals and all that. But Bulletproof has a synth part in the verse that goes, and it just sounded flat without it. So we we roll in that one tape. And then in Unforgettable, there's a part that breaks down, and there's like we had a choir full of kids sing that chorus, you know, I feel the right inside me or whatever, and it's all these kids' voices on the record, and so so we run tape there. But otherwise, we are a live band, man. We pride ourselves on being four dudes on the stage, which you hear all that big wall of noise you hear, all the sounds coming from us four dudes, you know? And it's an old school thing, and we got nothing against bands that run tracks, but we don't like to because of that live thing. You know what I mean? Although one big we did when we came home or where the guys are from actually, you know, it's it's right over the the state line in New Hampshire, about forty five minutes outside of Boston is where they live, where those kids that were a… Indeed a school choir that we got into our studio when it was up in Boston and and had them sing that part. Well, we… Those same kids, you know, like a year later, now the record's out or a year and a half later, record's out. It's hit. They're they're hearing their voices on the radios, you know, And, and we came back through, and we sold out this this amphitheater, and there's there's, like, 10,000 people or whatever it was. And we got all the kids in, and and they all got up on stage and got to, you know, sing that song with them. So that was pretty cool.

28:37 Derek Oswald Now one thing I wanted to ask with such tight knit friendships within the band, I imagine there's funny stories to tell. Do you guys ever play pranks on each other while you're on the road or in the studio?

28:48 Shannon Larkin Yeah. We're not really that bad. Not big pranksters, man, to each other. And, you know, we're serious about the band and about when we're on tour, you know, like, I don't know. We like to be a united front with our crew and be a gang or something like, and so we're all for one, one for all on tour, and we we never fuck with each other, man. You know, it's especially particularly Sully and I because Robbie and Tony, they weren't in the game before Godsmack. They were just doing weekend stuff with cover bands and stuff like that, you know, where Sully and I had both been in original bands since young ages trying to make it and put records out. I had a band Ralph child and was an ugly kid Joe's name, man. I, you know, I've had a a bunch of bands that I've toured the world with and had many bands with shenanigans and pranks and funny stuff that they do to each other. But in the end, when I joined Godsmack, you know, Sully had… He tries to make it a family vibe and calm. We like to party, though. Don't get me wrong here, but we didn't mess with each other. I don't know. That's a good question. I never really thought about that, but we didn't mess with each other, We were already, thanks, Sully and I, mainly, we'd already been through the hazing's and all the whole van waking up in a, you know, parking lot on your mattress that they'd taken out of the hotel while you're sleeping or what, you know, things like that. And, we'd all been through all that kind of shenanigans, I'll call them on the road. And by the time I joined Godsmack too, they were already big. You know, they'd sold 7,000,000 records by then. I came in, and so it was pretty much an organization by that point that ran it, you know, where, like, we, you know, we get up on the bus or whatever and somebody, our road manager or somebody comes and gets us and leads us to where we're supposed to go. And I… It was all new to me too. I'd never been in up on that level before of a headliner or whatever, and it all was pretty much a machine. You know, we we are a machine. We a well oiled machine on tour. It's it's our lives. And so, you know, I think if you fuck with each other, then you're not gonna have over two decades of… And end up all love… Lovey dovey like we are. You know? And we really are. I… I'm not making it up. You know? They… We've gone through so many ups and downs. It was years where certain two members of the band didn't even speak to one another, what, you know, while making record. And so we've had some tough times, ups and downs, but, you know, to end, there's a reason I think it it it ended like how we all are. And it's being able to change within a business that enables you, and and it's being able to focus on the important parts of the band, which isn't the business, and it's respect. You know? And somehow we all ended up on the same page, and we're very blessed for that.

32:06 Derek Oswald And just to wrap up before we finish, is there any closing comments you'd like to make towards the fans?

32:12 Shannon Larkin Yes. Thanks for for being patient with us. You know, the the pandemic hit, and I know it now it's been five years since we put Legends Rise out. So, you know, thanks for being patient. And I I hope it… It'll be well worth the wait for our fans from the early, when do you call it, vintage vintage smack Yep. Vintage smack. Yep. To the modern now smack. I think that everyone's gonna be super stoked on this one, And we're gonna put out the whole record in February, and the second single will also come out in February with the release of the record. And I don't know if I'm at liberty to say what song it is yet, but I know what it is. You'll know soon. And I wanted to say one more thing about my Apocalypse Blues revival. It's the side thing I have that I've had some time to do a record with. I got, man, it's it's might not be something for everyone and Godsmack fans or whatever. But what it is is it's heavy psychedelic blues rock, and I'm real proud of that too. So I just wanted to… I promise my guys, any interview I get, I'm gonna try and at least mention our name. Right now, you could go up on YouTube and the Apocalypse Blues Revival has some lyric videos and you just to see our music. But I will say this, that last record we did, the first one was a more of a concept record. So the new stuff is is quite better, I think. But I'm proud of the first stuff. Apocalypse Blues revival. Godsmack. Peace.

33:59 Derek Oswald That brings us to the end of this episode. Lighting Up the Sky is available now for preorder on Godsmack's official web site and will release on 02/24/2023. Be sure to stream their latest single, Surrender, on your DSP of choice, and follow the band's socials for upcoming tour dates in your area. I wanna thank Shannon for joining us today and for being such an awesome guest. If you've enjoyed what you've heard, please follow us on your DSP of choice and give us a review on Apple Podcasts. My name is Derek, and this has been another episode of the AltWire Podcast. Thank you for listening.