Buckcherry
Onstage he grabs his own ass, slithers around, takes off his shirt and winks at girls in the audience while simultaneously bonding with the dudes. He’s a bouncing ball of rockstar and he’s impossible not to watch. I hung out with Buckcherry's frontman, Josh Todd, over some pepperoni pizza before a show at the world-famous Whiskey a Go-Go on the Sunset Strip.
Check out the super sexed-up dirty version of Buckcherry's "Crazy Bitch" video, premiering exclusively on SuicideGirls.com!
Buckcherry’s official site is under construction so check out their Myspace.
(L)Auren Suicide: Do you want to eat your pizza first? I feel bad!
Josh Todd: No, let’s just do it.
AS:
Okay. So you guys are playing a lot of local shows right now, much smaller venues than you could be playing.
JT:
On the West coast there is not a lot of rock ‘n’ roll stations, so we do much better on the East coast. It’s been a top market for us, for a long time. There is only one rock station here and it’s KROQ and they don’t really play a lot of rock ‘n’ roll, But playing back here has been a lot of fun, this is where we’re from.
AS:
You were born here?
JT:
I was born here, yeah.
AS:
Where?
JT:
At Cedars[-Sini Hospital] right near here.
AS:
I was born there, too! Where did you live?
JT:
I grew up in Orange County.
AS:
Did you go to high school there?
JT:
Yeah.
AS:
How funny I had no idea!
JT:
You too?
AS:
Well, in LA but yeah. So are you guys gonna do a full tour after this?
JT:
We’re gearing up right now. We just got back from Japan. We did a tour with Motley Crue over there. Our record [Fifteen] is out there and the record is scheduled to come out here in April, so everything is coming together. We’re gonna start touring really hard in February. We’re just doing this [Whisky a Go-Go] residency now ‘cause we are on the West coast, and it’s cost-effective, you know?
AS:
Right (laughs). And then you’re here [The Viper Room] on new year’s!
JT:
Yeah!
AS:
You should play with the SuicideGirls, we have a show! A punk burlesque show.
JT:
Right on! Fantastic! Is it really scantily clad?
AS:
Yes, they are scantily clad and tattooed.
JT:
Good deal.
AS:
So, a few weeks ago my office mate at SuicideGirls, Alexis (Sixela) was like 'ohmygosh come in here right now!’ and she showed me the new video [for Crazy Bitch] and we've been watching it everyday in the office. We’re like ‘is it time for Buckcherry now?’
JT:
That makes me so happy.
AS:
It’s awesome!
JT:
Keith [Nelson, guitar] and I wrote that song prior to splitting up, sometime in the end of 2002. It’s always been around I was really excited about it. I came up with the chorus in my car and I was just singing it and I just called him up right away. I was like ‘I want it to be really simple and just cool’ and he got it right away. It just always stuck around and we couldn’t wait for it to get out on a record. I think it’s only a song that Buckcherry could do.
AS:
Oh, totally. There’s no way!
JT:
Nobody takes chances anymore.
AS:
Right. I mean this is totally a song that you want to play, driving in your car, going really fast…
JT:
I’m getting a lot of stories already.
AS:
Oh no.
JT:
I can only imagine what’s gonna happen when the record comes out, how crazy that’s gonna be.
AS:
I can!
JT:
It does bring out some really crazy girls. They come up to you with psychotic eyes, they want to act out that song with you, and you know, it’s just funny. Or they will, like, hug me and start scratching my back and I’ll be like ‘hey, woah, what are you doing?’ like I’m all about it, all the time or something. (laughing)
AS:
Oh jeez. (laughing)
JT:
I think everyone can relate to it in some way or something, especially men.
AS:
We do too! We’re an office full of girls.
JT:
You guys wanna be nasty sometimes!
AS:
Totally, for sure. So is that how you sort of write songs–like you come up with something and tell Keith about it?
JT:
We write songs all sorts of ways. Sometimes he’ll send me a riff and I’ll take it home, write a melody and sometimes it’s the other way around, I’ll say ‘hey – I only have a chorus’ and he’ll finish the song musically, and we'll just go back and forth like that. There’s a lot of different ways I guess. We also write with all the others guys in the band
AS:
How did you find the new guys?
JT:
They are all friends of ours. Like the guitar player [Stevie D.], I’ve known for years. We were roommates back in the day and I always wanted to be in a band with him but it never just quite worked out. Xavier [Muriel] the drummer and Jimmy [Ashhurst] the bass player we also knew. They are just all really great guys and we just got in a room. It was instant, really effortless. We didn’t audition a bunch of people, it was cool.
AS:
And then you made the record [Fifteen] with those guys?
JT:
Yes.
AS:
In fifteen days?
JT:
Well, we wrote for quite a long time prior to that. We tracked the record in fifteen days.
AS:
Still, that’s pretty unbelievable. It’s takes some bands like, years.
JT:
Yeah so it was awesome.
AS:
So what are your goals for this record?
JT:
Just promoting it. We have three records now so we can do a lot of touring. There will probably be a lot of that. We need to solidify ourselves in the market again. I think this record has got some long legs, so we should be touring again for along time.
AS:
Did you love touring with Motley Crue?
JT:
Oh yeah, it was a blast. It’s weird, we’ve traveld with a lot of our heroes.i mean…we've opened for AC/DC and Aerosmith and Kiss, Iggy Pop, you know, a lot of people. It never gets boring when you walk into that situation where you’re like ‘wow, I can’t even believe this.’ So it was like that with Motley Crue. The guys are really nice on top of that. We had a really great time hanging out. It was a great experience.
AS:
And people go crazy for you in Japan?
JT:
Oh yeah, that was our eighth time going there. It was a blast. Eleven shows in eighteen days.
AS:
We’re trying to get the SuicideGirls to tour in Japan. I’m like ‘can I go?’
JT:
the culture is amazing, the art is cool.
AS:
I’ve heard a lot of great things.
JT:
It’s such a beautiful place. Eighty percent of Japan is unlivable because of the mountains.
AS:
And they have really extreme forestry regulations so you can’t ruin the environment.
JT:
You can ski there, snowboard, everything.
AS:
You took a couple of years off between the last record and this one.
JT:
Well, I put out a record, I stayed busy, that’s just about it. I toured nine months last year.
AS:
Are you gonna continue to do solo stuff?
JT:
No. (laughing)
AS:
You like the band thing?
JT:
I was always happy, it just got to the point where were weren’t getting along so well. We had to take our little hiatus. I always wanted to be in one band, for a very long time. I always wanted to have a huge catalog. That was always my dream, staying with it.
AS:
Do you want to talk about tattoos? ‘Cause you know, you've got some and this is for SuicideGirls.
JT:
Okay. (laughs)
AS:
Do you like girls with tattoos?
JT:
Sometimes. Some girls wear them really well and then some girls, they just don’t, the placement’s weird, whatever. I have this theory, okay? If you’re gonna get tattooed, get fucking tattooed. Don’t get a little fucking tattoo on your ankle. Not that that’s a bad thing, but, know what I mean? If there is a girl who’s got wings on her back, and sleeves and some shit running up her leg, that’s hot.
AS:
She went for it!
JT:
Yeah, totally. But other than that, not really. I mean I’ve kind of done it all – the plain Jane, the tattooed girl – they’re all fun in their own way, it all depends on if you jive with the person.
AS:
Yeah, I just had to ask.
JT:
Right. Do you have tattoos?
AS:
No. I’m, like, square.
JT:
I like that.
AS:
I have normal hair.
JT:
It’s hot.
AS:
Thanks!
JT:
I think I’m more into hygiene. I always judge girls by seeing her bathroom. If it’s nasty I don’t want nothin' to do with ‘em.
AS:
Fascinating!
JT:
Well, I have a lot of things, that’s just one of the tests.
AS:
That’s actually sort of a girl thing. Ok, so what are some other tests?
JT:
Nice teeth, that’s one. I’m really into eyes…physically, (laughs) well I’ll just go through the physical things.
AS:
Okay, go for it. (laughs)
JT:
I like a nice ass of course (holds out his hands like he’s holding a butt), tits (holds an imaginary rack), I don’t fuckin’ care, I could go big or small with them. And then…I don’t know, I don’t like young girls. I’m more into girls more towards my age.
AS:
How old are you?
JT:
I’m 34. I like girls anywhere from 28-35.
AS:
Right. Your personal demo!
JT:
I could go for a younger girl if she had it goin’ on, if she could keep me interested. Not that I’m all that, you know?
AS:
Oh, c’mon you’re in a band!
JT:
I don’t want too big of a generation gap because…
AS:
Well, it’s sort of weird.
JT:
Yeah. Because once the physical thing goes, you gotta talk to ‘em. You wanna have something to talk about, right? (laughs)
AS:
Yeah, eventually. (laughs)
JT:
So what sign are you?
AS:
Cancer.
JT:
That’s so cool, it’s a good sign.
AS:
Thanks! What’s your sign?
JT:
Aries. I’m a ram.
AS:
I haven’t known a lot of Aries. What’s a classic trait?
JT:
Career-oriented.
AS:
And is that true for you?
JT:
Very much so. Workaholic, too.
AS:
So did you always know you wanted to be in a rock band?
JT:
Not at first. I wanted to be a professional surfer for a long time. And then when I was about fifteen, sixteen, I picked up a mic and started singing.
AS:
Right.
JT:
Actually, I started screaming. It was awful!
AS:
Wait, can we go back to, um, your tests? Like a girl’s bathroom? I’m into this right now, it’s like a pravate view into the male psyche.
JT:
Um…
AS:
Something funny!
JT:
Oh, man. (laughing, puts his head in his hands)
AS:
If you can’t think of one that’s okay.
JT:
Oh, I’ll give you one!
AS:
(laughing) Okay.
JT:
Stuff that, like, bugs me, you mean?
AS:
Sure.
JT:
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