In his most candid interview to date on the Mudvayne reunion, frontman Chad Gray has revealed that his decision to return to the band was born from a period of being “lost” after the death of his Hellyeah bandmate Vinnie Paul, and that his one condition for the comeback was to “continue the legacy” with new music.
Speaking with “Popdust“, Gray opened up about the difficult personal and creative journey that finally led to the release of the band’s first new singles in 16 years. He explained that after the “celebration of life” tours for Vinnie Paul, he was unsure of his future.
“I didn’t know what to do. And I was talking to my buddy who’s now my lawyer for this band. And he’s just, like, ‘What do you wanna do now?’ I’m, like, ‘I don’t know, dude.’ And he’s, like, ‘You can go back to Mudvayne.’ And I’m, like, ‘Man, I really don’t wanna go back to Mudvayne.’ I was just really not that excited about it,” Gray admitted (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
It was his lawyer’s next point that “perked my ears up.” “He’s, like, ‘This gives you an opportunity to continue the Mudvayne legacy. ‘Cause you guys just went away, and people weren’t excited about that.’ He’s, like, ‘You could totally come back, continue the legacy, create new music.'”
However, after reuniting, the band spent several years touring without creating anything new, a situation that left Gray deeply frustrated. “This is not why I came back to this… So, I was, like, ‘We have to do this. We have to do this,'” he said.
The path to new music was not easy. Gray revealed that an initial attempt to write together “just didn’t work out,” and he began to question, “Do we still want the same things?” The breakthrough, he explained, came when they brought in acclaimed producer Nick Raskulinecz (Alice In Chains, Foo Fighters).
“The thing we were missing the first time was a producer,” Gray stated. “They manage the egos, they manage the personalities… You have a very, very distinct vision of maybe what you want and there has got to be compromise. And the producer is the guy that will make that compromise happen… He really came in and got us focused on what we needed to do.”
The result has been two new singles, “Hurt People Hurt People” and “Sticks And Stones,” which Gray says have been met with an overwhelmingly positive response from fans who felt the band delivered exactly what was expected.
“The apprehension that people have, like, ‘Mudvayne, new music. Ugh. What’s it gonna sound like?’… And they’re, like, ‘This is exactly what I’ve been expecting to hear for the last 16 years.’ We kind of did exactly, I think, what people are expecting, and that’s a cool feather in the cap,” he said.
The new music comes as Mudvayne is in the final stretch of their “L.D. 50” 25th-anniversary tour.
Mudvayne “L.D. 50 25th Anniversary” Remaining U.S. Tour Dates:
- Oct. 19 – Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola Roxy
- Oct. 21 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater
- Oct. 22 – Virginia Beach, VA – The Dome
- Oct. 24 – Montclair, NJ – The Wellmont Theater
- Oct. 25 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway
- Oct. 26 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
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