Dead Rhetoric: Doing a double-album like this in stage of your career…I don’t think Soilwork would have been able to pull it off ten years ago. Do you think the Soilwork of 2002 or 2003 would have been able to do this?
Strid: I agree, for sure.
Dead Rhetoric: You’re established enough to take a risk like this. It’s almost a high-risk, high-reward scenario. Were you worried it might go over people’s heads?
Strid: It was there, but we didn’t allow it to take over. It’s always been like that for us. There are a lot of loyal fans out there who are really like, developing with the band. It was definitely there. I felt a little stress, but only a healthy level. It was a challenge; there’s so much you want to prove to yourself and the listener. We needed something interesting like this and I think we pulled it off.
Dead Rhetoric: Going back to 2002 and 2003, you were cranking out albums every year. The pace was pretty grueling, so do you wish you would have taken a breather, maybe soaked in some of the success Natural Born Chaos was getting?
Strid: Hard to say. It’s always easy a couple of years down the line thinking we should have done things different, but there’s no point in thinking like that. There might have been times…I felt Figure Number Five was rushed. It turned out good, but we lost a bit of the intensity we had on Natural Born Chaos. Also, Sworn to the Great Divide – it wasn’t rushed, it wasn’t rushed at all actually [laughs]. We spent too long in the studio, like a year and-a-half. It didn’t turn out better because of that. Production sucked on that one. It could have sounded differently, but what’s the point on thinking about that now.
Dead Rhetoric: I’m with you on Figure Number Five. Natural Born Chaos was such a critical and consumer success that a part of me back then, thought you would really devote a few years to it.
Strid: Natural Born Chaos, we didn’t realize what we were doing. That album was really ahead of its time. It became an album with a little bit of a cult status a few years down the line. I don’t think we realized we had something unique.
Dead Rhetoric: Was Ozzfest 2005 the tipping point for that era of the band? After Stabbing the Drama was released, it felt like you could put a wrap on that run.
Strid: We’re not really a band that likes life on tour. We did maybe 250 shows on that album, so I guess we needed to take some time off. That’s the only reason. Like in the beginning where we only did one tour per album, I’m pretty sure we would have continued to put an album out every year.
Dead Rhetoric: How much of a kick do you get out of giving vocal lessons while I tour? I know you’re going to be doing some while on your upcoming North American run.
Strid: It’s pretty cool, meeting fans face-to-face. Whether it’s vocal coaching or taking their band to the next level, what to think about, approaching record labels and all that stuff…it feels good to share some of that experience. It’s a great kick to see a person go “I didn’t know I could do that!” It’s so much mental, it’s not really about your vocal chords, it’s all in your head. If you can inspire someone, or hang out and do vocals together, they might feel more confident. It’s a confirmation that they can actually do it.
Dead Rhetoric: Are kids looking to learn more how to do growled vocals, or clean?
Strid: It’s usually screaming [laughs]. I also encourage to try some clean vocals because if you’re going to do some screaming vocals, at least practice cleans. A good screamer is usually a very good clean singer.
Dead Rhetoric: Do you remember the moment when you realized you could pull off clean vocals in this context?
Strid: Yeah, I do remember. I did go to a vocal coach before A Predator’s Portrait and that’s when I got the confidence. That’s what you need. You don’t have much confidence if you want to try something new. It was scary for me at first; I could barely listen to my own vocals [laughs]. I thought I sounded like I was 12 years old.
Dead Rhetoric: We talked earlier about doing long tours and the occasional aversion to them. You’re about to embark on what is easily your longest North American tour to date. What’s the expectation?
Strid: It’s hard to say. We’re playing some really small places in some cities where we haven’t been before, like Abeline, Texas. I have no idea what to expect [laughs]. We’re playing EVERY corner of North America…so I don’t know. My expectations are kind of low in a way. It’s a great thing to be able to tour that many places for a new album. I’m guess I’m seeing it from a promotional perspective.
Dead Rhetoric: Are you worried about the back-to-back shows, and taking care of your voice?
Strid: Not really. I’m not the kind of guy that has to warm-up very much, I just need to be careful about not getting sick. I cut down on my drinking, but right now, I can’t do it anymore [laughs].