Athens, GA’s Lullwater have been battling it out in the musical trenches for over a decade now. The band’s been influenced by everyone from Pearl Jam to Drive by Truckers to REM. Their sound has evolved and grown, but has remained true to the raw, gritty style of rock that fans continue to resonate with. Their latest album Voodoo saw the band evolve even more with guitarist Daniel Binnie making his recording debut with the band. The addition of a new band member can bring in influences that can be like oil and water or butter on hot, homemade biscuits. You might want to get another container of butter because these boys are making some might tasty biscuits. This combination has definitely hit on something special and you can hear the rewards all over this new album. I sat down recently with lead vocalist John Strickland for yet another interview. I’m glad Brother John isn’t tired of talking to me because I definitely enjoy catching up with the dude. We talked about the new album, broken bones and a lot of damn snow. Pull up a chair, order a beer and listen in.
John Strickland/Stillwater: We are in Minneapolis tonight and it has been the coldest the last couple of days.
Minneapolis; the home of Prince.
The last time we were here was with Theory of a Deadman and the ceiling collapsed in the venue. It made the news! They had to shut the venue down, the firetrucks came in and everybody had to get out.
I saw some fan footage of that on the news the next day! That was insane!
Yeah man; it was pretty crazy!
Man, I’ve been seeing so much goof stuff in regards to your new single “Dark Divided.” As a fan, I’m seeing a lot of people are gravitating towards it. It’s also getting a lot of attention from different radio and internet radio outlets. I’m not speaking badly of “Empty Chamber,” but this one seems to be opening up even more doors.
It’s been doing really well man and we’re really proud of it. You mentioned “Empty Chamber” which was the lead-off single. What I think that song did for “Dark Divided” is that it did open a lot of doors to stations that liked it. I think “Dark Divided” is showing the diversity of the band and people get two different vibes from the record. I know we’re excited! We’ve been watching the charts a little bit and seeing what it’s doing. All of the feedback from the program directors around the country is that everyone has been really supportive of the song.
Speaking of getting two tastes, anyone who has followed the band immediately noticed that this record is a bit of a different side of the band.
It’s somewhat of a new band because Daniel Binnie is on Voodoo and he helped create that song along with Justin Davis and Jakob Herrmann. We all went in and wrote together. I think a lot of this record too is Daniel coming in and putting a lot of his songs, his riffs and his things onto them. It’s definitely a new chapter and it’s a progression as far as the band goes. We’re super excited that Voodoo turned out the way that it did.
You guys seem to be red hot right now and you’ve been on some equally hot tours all year long. You were out on the Sevendust tour and now the Defy the Sun Tour with Blacktop Mojo.
This year’s been tour heavy! The Sevendust and Tremonti tour was pretty insane from right out of the gate back in January. We’ve been consistently touring the record. We really appreciate everything that Blacktop Mojo have been doing for us too. This is actually the second time that we’ve been out with those guys and it’s a big crazy, circus family. We all get along and we love each other, but it’s a good kind of crazy.
I’ve heard some bands say that when they come off a tour like the one with Sevendust, that they learned something about themselves. Was that true for you guys?
I think that tour, since it was a five band bill, it almost like a mini festival. It’s like you have a Nascar pitcrew. You have 30 minutes and you get in and get out. For us, I think we learned time management a lot better. Personally, I think everyone went through the gauntlet together. It was high energy, high stress, but a big reward kind of tour for us. So, we kind of got thrown through the fire with that and we came out alive. There were growing pains of being out on the road with a big band like that and big crowds and all of that. You kind of have to sing or swim and I feel like we were able to swim out.
You may have been battered and bruised, but you survived.
You know it!
On that tour or with this one, did you hit any markets that were new to you guys?
We did hit a few new ones as well as going back to some of the ones that we had visited before. We were all different types of rock, but the Sevendust fans were great to us as well as the Tremonti fans. We were all in a room with a great bunch of fans, so it pretty cool.
Do you approach new markets any differently? I mean, you’re going into a show where you have no idea if anyone has even heard of Lullwater.
You know, we just go in and do our thing. If it is a new market, we go in with the same approach. It’s still a stage and it’s still got microphones. It’s another day at the office. It is exciting for us because it’s a kind of a challenge. If we’re hitting a market for the first time, then we do want to amp our game up a little bit.
I guess there’s that take no prisoner approach no matter what city.
That’s right man!
My favorite track on the album and one that I’ve seen mixed opinions on is the last track “Suffer Not.” It’s definitely one of the longest tracks that you guys have ever done. Just when you think you’re going right, it changes lanes and goes left. The originality and experimentation is just superb! Daniel is just wailing away towards the end of the song and the intensity really builds. Then, it’s like you just lay down the mike and let them have this insane jam session. Dude, there’s even strings on the damn thing!
Yeah man! There are strings all over it! There’s a cello and violin; I think those were the two that we used on that one. I think the cello came in on the third verse or the fourth verse. Dude, Rick Nelson is awesome; he’s a great player and put all the strings down on the record. We had keys, we had horns, dude we have the whole shebang on that song. That was our experimental, let’s jam it out, be a little conceptual and throw it all on the table. The crazy thing is Jakob Herrmann goes ‘Alright guys; this song is so long and you only get one take.’ So, we did it in one take.
Are you serious?
Yeah, everybody that got in there did it in one take. Whatever this is, this is what it’s has to be. I think it was because Jake didn’t want to spend eight days on a ten minute song. So, we had to get it tight and do it right.
All of the greats throughout music at one time or another have thrown a track in on the album that made you go ‘what the hell’ on your first listen. Led Zeppelin is a great example of that! It just shows another side of the band and the diversity that they have.
We wanted to do that too, so I appreciate you saying that Johnny. It’s one of those songs that we don’t get too many people talking about, so I do appreciate that. I love that song and that’s probably one of my favorite songs on the record. As long as we’ve been doing records, the last song on the record has always been experimental. We got the reviews for the record and it was either like you’re saying ‘I love this song; it’s crazy but in a great way’ or ‘I love the record except for that last song. What the hell was that?’ I think it gives us the freedom to be able to experiment like that. We can say, ’let’s just write this for us. We’re not only going to write this song, but then we’re going to change it and then ramp it up at the end.’ Actually, the tempo was Jakob Herrmann’s idea. It was interesting to say the least, but it was fun.
I know you only have a limited amount of time on these package deal tours, but have you played it on your headline shows?
We haven’t played it live, but everybody wants to. We actually joke about this. One day when we have like a two hour set, we’re just going to play the three last songs on each album. That’s it; that’s whole the show!
I would definitely buy a ticket to that show! Speaking of great shows, you’re out on the road now with Blacktop Mojo, Otherwise and Kirra on the Defy the Sun Tour.
We started in Grand Junction, Colorado, so we drove from Athens to Colorado. We hit a snowstorm going through the Rockies and it turned into a 50 hour ordeal! It’s been crazy weather man; I think we’ve had two blizzards so far. They named this the Defy the Sun Tour. The irony of that came true because we haven’t seen the sun in about a week. I think somebody pissed off the sun god after naming this tour and he’s taking it out on us. Seriously though, the tour’s been fun man. It’s a big family again like we were talking about. The Blacktop guys are dear friends of ours and have really been helping us out this year. It is crazy because it’s getting cold and we’re hitting all kinds of weather but it’s turning into this big family. We toured with Kirra on the Sevendust tour and they’re the opening band on this tour. We got to meet the Otherwise guys and they’re super nice and awesome. So, it’s turning out really, really well.
I do have a fan question for you and it’s from our Photographer Daphne who wants to know what the hell ever happened to that acoustic album?
It’s on ice; no pun intended since we’ve been in snow. The entire acoustic record is sitting there. We might be doing some edits here and there, but as far as that goes it’s ready to roll. I think the way that management’s looking at it and our people are saying let’s go through Voodoo and do the radio and all of that stuff. Then, we’ll go back in on the acoustic record and who knows? We might be doing some acoustic tours, so that’s kind of what we’re looking at for that record.
Our last part before we go is a little segment that we shall call Inside John’s Head (head, head, head, head). Just pretend there’s a cheesy echo effect there. We’ve lost so many iconic music figures over the last few years. If you could go back and choose any figure that we’ve ever lost to bring back but not to play music. Just to hang out with, have a drink or two and just chat about whatever. Who do you think you’d bring back?
I’ve got to say two on this one. Chris Cornell; when he passed it really hit me hard. I’ve been a huge Soundgarden fan for a long, long time. The other would be Tom Petty. You know, hanging out with Tom Petty in a bar and drinking beer would probably be the coolest thing in the world.
Do you remember the first album that you bought with your own money?
Yes I do; I remember the first three. The first was The Offspring Smash. The second was Pearl Jam Ten and the third was Green Day Dookie. Those were the first three records that I ever bought with my own allowance, cutting grass kind of thing.
Have you ever had stitches and if so, what was the reason?
I’ve never had stitches.
How about broken bones?
Oh yeah; I was a crazy little kid. I’ve broken fingers, toes, feet.
Sounds like you were a bit mischievous.
Yeah, I was a rambunctious little kid. I had a fort out in my backyard with a swing and I drove my mom crazy with it. You’d miss the trampoline and bam! There’s your broken hand! I had a four wheeler when I was a kid, so there are the feet.
If music was over today and you had to go into professional wrestling, what would your name be?
Our drummer Joe is a big wrestling fan, so I feel like he’s already got his wrestling name picked out and has had it for years and years and years. I don’t know; that’s a good question. I don’t know; I guess I’d be Haggard. I’d be the Harry Potter Haggard dude. I know that’s lame; I don’t have a clever answer for that one.
Finally, if you could choose any person to be the voice of your inner dialog, who would it be?
Morgan Freeman for sure! I’d probably be asleep all the time because he would sooth me and I’d pass out. James Earl Jones would be another great one.
I know you guys have a show tonight, so I’ll let you go. Is there anything that you want to add that I may have missed?
No, I think you covered a lot. I always appreciate talking to you Johnny. It’s never an interview, but always a good time and a good conversation.
By I’m Music Magazine Owner/Editor Johnny Price
Lullwater is: John Strickland (Rhythm Guitar & Lead Vocals), Daniel Binnie (Lead Guitar), Roy ‘Ray’ Beatty (Bass & Vocals) and Joseph Wilson (Drums & Vocals)
Order your copy of Voodoo:
iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/voodoo/1450697184?ls=1&app=itunes
Apple:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/voodoo/1450697184?ls=1
Spotify:
spotify:album:4YI1rHpyehYzHnt8IZ346w
http://open.spotify.com/album/4YI1rHpyehYzHnt8IZ346w
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