PAPA ROACH Has Been 'Putting Together' New 'Music Over The Last Year'

In a new interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, PAPA ROACH singer Jacoby Shaddix spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to 2022's "Ego Trip" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Tobin [Esperance, bass] and Jerry [Horton, guitar] and Tony [Palermo, drums, they've just been putting together music over the last year. 'Cause we finished 'Ego Trip' quite a while ago, so there's been time to be creative. And I've got a stockpile of, I'd say, probably like eight to ten songs to choose from, and we picked two of 'em for me to go into the studio and cut vocals on 'em, that we just felt were the most inspiring that sonically felt the right direction for the next song.

"We run our own record company as well," he continued. "And we just had a great run on this album. 'Ego Trip' got three Number Ones on rock radio, our maiden voyage as a record company for PAPA ROACH. So that's really exciting for us as well.

"At one point or another, we're gonna sign [another] band [to our label]; that's gonna be something that we do," Jacoby added. "But I think for us right now, we're gonna focus on PAPA ROACH another cycle and build the infrastructure, and then it's, like, 'All right, here we go. We've tested this thing out with our band for a while… So what's the next phase? It's exciting. That's what we're finding out."

PAPA ROACH recently announced the digital deluxe edition of the band's eleventh studio album "Ego Trip", and the long-awaited release date of "Ego Trip" standard edition on vinyl. The 20-track digital deluxe release features remixed versions of songs from the original record, as well as new music.

An album that sprouted almost by mistake in the throes of a global lockdown, "Ego Trip"'s seeds were planted when the quartet entered a COVID-secure mansion in Temecula, California in the summer of 2020. What started as an escape and an exercise in keeping the creative juices flowing, in a world that had completely ground to a halt, quickly grew into something bigger.

PAPA ROACH are two-time Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling leaders in alternative hard rock music, who in 2020 celebrated the 20th anniversary of their iconic album "Infest".

Esperance recently told Albuquerque Journal about PAPA ROACH's longevity: "I'm always amazed at how we have went through all the different phases and eras. We remained true to ourselves. The music industry has changed so much. We used to perform in record stores and then spend time putting up fliers to promote the band. It's been a journey.

"I never dreamed of it being this big or lasting this long," he added. "I was a dreamer and knew I was going to be a musician in a band. We're still enjoying ourselves and challenging ourselves with each step."

"We know each other's strengths and weaknesses," he said. "We have a chemistry together that is greater than the sum of all its parts. We're also an independent band now and we can release music the way that we want to. We're in a great position to keep writing the chapters in our life."