JOSH TODD Says BUCKCHERRY 'Wasn't A Band For A While' Prior To Departures Of KEITH NELSON And XAVIER MURIEL

Josh Todd says that BUCKCHERRY "wasn't a band for a while" prior to the departures of guitarist Keith Nelson and drummer Xavier Muriel earlier this year.

The singer made his comments while promoting the upcoming debut album from his JOSH TODD & THE CONFLICT side project, which also features BUCKCHERRY guitarist Stevie Dacanay (a.k.a. Stevie D.).

Speaking to the "Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon" podcast, Josh stated about BUCKCHERRY's latest personnel shuffles (hear audio below): "The last three years, BUCKCHERRY was just changing. It just wasn't what it was. There was no collective thought. It just wasn't a band for a while. And we were touring a lot. I think just people had other things that they wanted to do.

"I was kind of blindsided by the whole thing, honestly," he continued. "So I just kind of made my adjustments. Alls I knew is that I wanted to make new music, and I was really fired up about making a new record. And so that's what I started doing, and then it all kind of unraveled. And it wasn't like a big… It all happened in January, so people didn't know about it till later. And we got the new guys, which is Kevin Roentgen on the guitar, and I just carried Sean Winchester [EVERCLEAR] over on the drums, 'cause he's just so good, and I'm such a rhythmic singer, having a drummer that I really like is important to me. And I didn't wanna keep auditioning guys and teaching guys new music; it was starting to become just crazy for me, because I was dealing with two bands. So I got Sean in there to play drums, and he's just doing a great job."

According to Todd, the current lineup of BUCKCHERRY "is the best it's been in a long time. We're having so much fun, and we're a gang," he said. "Kelly LeMieux is still playing bass, and Stevie is playing guitar, and we're having a great time. Eventually we'll make a new record, and that'll be something I'll be tending to a hundred percent again. But right now my focus is on THE CONFLICT, and BUCKCHERRY is just doing, like, fly dates."

Asked why it was important for him to keep the BUCKCHERRY brand alive and not just focus exclusively on other projects following the latest BUCKCHERRY shakeup, Todd said: "Well, listen, BUCKCHERRY is a huge part of my life, it's a big part of my career. All those words and all those melodies came out of my head, so I'm very passionate about it and I love it. And it's something that I will always tend to and put a lot of effort and love into. And that's what's gonna happen till I'm done with this game. So that's that. I also have other sides of my that I wanna express. I like being diversified.

"This is the day and age of being diversified, especially in rock music; you can't just do one thing anymore. And the average music listener is not just listening to one thing. The kid that's listening to 'Crazy Bitch' or whatever is also listening to Drake, he's also listening to Bruno Mars. It's just a different situation now.

"I love rock music, so that's why I wanted to create THE CONFLICT — something heavier and more along the lines of that other side of me that I really like to express."

The new lineup of BUCKCHERRY made its live debut on April 28 at the Rock Into Spring festival in Las Vegas, Nevada.

BUCKCHERRY's latest album "Rock 'N' Roll", was re-released in January 2016 via F-Bomb/Caroline. The deluxe edition featured the record's original track list as well as a new version of "The Feeling Never Dies", a brand new song titled "Getting Started" and a B-side called "Cannonball".

JOSH TODD & THE CONFLICT's debut album, "Year Of The Tiger", will be released on September 15 via Century Media.