By James Wright

With fire and intensity, Godsmack has taken the hard rock scene by storm in the past few years. Enjoying multi-platinum success with both their debut and sophomore efforts, Godsmack seems to be in the heavyweight division of hard rock. With the release of their third album, "Faceless", Godsmack hopes to join the join their idols Metallica, Ozzy, Sabbath and Deftones, by securing their spot in hard rock history. We recently caught up with Godsmack's drummer, Shannon Larkin, to talk about the band's success, why he left Amen, Michael Jackson, and how Godsmack has sold over 4 million records yet still remains faceless.

Sully Erna • vocals
Tony Rombola • guitar
Robbie Merril • bass
Shannon Larkin • drums

Shoutweb: You seem to be all over the place. I've followed you from your days in Ugly Kid Joe to Amen and now to Godsmack.

Shannon: Thanks man, that means a lot.

Shoutweb: Why did you choose to leave Amen?

Shannon: Well, we had given it four and a half years. We signed with Roadrunner; they pulled our tour support six weeks after the record came out. We couldn't tour on the first record, which set us back. Then we were fortunate enough to get signed to Virgin Records with our second record and that record, as you know, was pretty brutal stuff. "We've Come For Your Parents" was really successful overseas but did nothing in America. So we ended up touring that record for a year and a half straight and when we came home we had absolutely no money in our pocket. The thing with Amen was, we were very punk and didn't give a shit about getting gold records or any of that, but on the other hand we are all in our 30's and have wives and kids.

Shannon Larkin with Amen circa 2000. Copyright (c) Therese McKeon/Shoutweb.com

Shannon: I realized at the end of that tour that I couldn't even pay my rent! So I ended up working with other bands and doing session work, like the new Glassjaw record, just to pay the bills and put food on the table for my wife and kids. Because I was doing so many other things, I wasn't giving 100% to the band and I was just really fed up with the business side of the music industry. This is a really hard business and it came to the point where I was like, "I'm done. I'm just gonna be a session guy because it's not in the cards for me." Making it in this business has always been my dream, ever since I've been about ten years old. So at the end of Amen, I just came to the realization that this isn't what my destiny was meant to be and quit the band.

Shoutweb: So how did you come to join Godsmack?

Shannon: Well, two weeks after I quit Amen, destiny called in the form of Sully Erna.

Shoutweb: How is this different for you in Godsmack versus Amen?

Shannon: Playing wise I get to play more as a drummer in Godsmack. Playing punk rock, it's all about being aggressive and that energy that you bring to the table, where as with hard rock there's a little bit more finesse. You can use a bigger drum set and use more percussion. Playing with Godsmack I have to think a little bit more as a drummer instead of as a punker. (Laughs) Personally, the guys in Godsmack are a little bit mellower and less political than the guys in Amen. In Amen, Casey is a true punk rocker and that guy just rages against the machine! (Laughs) Casey is this self-mutilating punk rocker and then in Godsmack, Sully is Wiccan. Right there, you have two different ends of the spectrum. I must say, I do love both fans and I am still a big fan of Casey Chaos and Amen. The only thing I like a lot more about Godsmack, as a player is, in Amen everything was turned up to ten the whole time. An Amen record is blistering, rip your face off from start to finish. With Godsmack, there are lots of valleys and peaks on the record that will take you down and get you mellow, so that when we do come in and try and rip your face off, it sounds more intense.

Shoutweb: How was it coming into an established band that was writing their third record?

Shannon: Well, it was a pretty smooth transition. When I met Sully in 1988 with Wrath Child America, Sully will tell you I was one of his influences. On top of that, Sully was a kick ass drummer himself, so when we met he was like, "Dude, our styles are so similar to one another." When I heard the first record I was like, "Wow." Most people don't know this but Sully played drums on the first two records and a lot of the stuff he played is actually the same kind of stuff I would have played. So coming into writing this record, we all moved into a house in Miami, Florida and bonded as family. It was a very simple transition for me because when he would break into a riff, I would throw down a drumbeat and that was it. It was pretty much perfect because our styles were so similar. It wasn't a stressed out situation for me because I just pretty much do what I do and it fits perfect with what Sully does. I always tell people in interviews, we were both separated at birth! (Laughs)

Shoutweb: Do you think this is a permanent home for you in Godsmack?

Shannon: Absolutely. We're going to go with this for as long as we can or as long as there's an audience for it. I definitely think I'm here until the end of this band, which I'm hoping is a very long time. The thing we really want to achieve with Godsmack is to have a ten plus record career. Our sights are never set on record three or four; we're focused on record ten.

Shoutweb: So in other words, you're in this for the long haul?

Shannon: Yeah! We'd love to make this a longevity thing and I think we have a good start. There isn't really anyone else doing anything like this in music right now. If you look at hard rock right now, the big bands are Korn, Linkin Park and those kinds of acts but they don't even have guitar leads. Nothing against those bands, but we're trying to bring rock back around to the Aerosmith and early Metallica days where we can bust into a heavy ass lead section.

Shoutweb: It seems like nobody is doing big guitar rock anymore.

Shannon: You're exactly right. It's ironic that something like that makes this band different. Sully has told me the stigma of Godsmack is that through the first two records, everyone wanted to compare them to other bands. It's fine to compare a band to other bands because that's what people do. People always make the comparison to Alice In Chains, which to us we can't even see. I don't think we sound a like but our band does love Alice In Chains.

Shoutweb: Once you break the two bands down sonically, there really isn't that much to compare.

Shannon: No, there isn't. A little funny side story to that, last month we were on the cover to Metal Edge and the cover said, "In the studio with Godsmack." So as you know, our new album is entitled "Faceless" and after all the Alice In Chains comparisons, inside the magazine they had a typo that said, "The making of Facelift." (Laughs) We were shitting our selves laughing about it. (Laughs)

Shoutweb: From the sound of the single, this sounds like a little bit of a heavier direction for Godsmack.

Shannon: I think musically, this record is heavier and Sully really came into his own. His voice has matured. When I look at all my favorite singers, Perry Farrell or even Henry Rollins, it's not about how well you sing but rather that charisma that you have in your voice so that when it comes on the radio you can immediately identify who it is. Sully really came into his own with this record and, at the same time, his songwriting has gotten better. Now the choruses he writes are just huge! Every single song he's written lately seems to bust into this big ass chorus that floors you every time. With the last two records, which I love, they didn't seem to have that part and I think they just lacked his charisma. I think he captured it on this one.

Shoutweb: It doesn't seem like very many bands are doing heavy songs anymore. Everyone is worried about being too heavy for radio, yet Godsmack released probably one of their heaviest songs as a first single.

Shannon: I love that! Right now we are doing something different from what everyone else is doing. I think that this couldn't be better timing for us and I think in this business, it's all about timing because in my years I've seen so many great records come out and go right in the dirt. I think we're in a good place right now and think there needs to be a band like Godsmack out there, who is just a hard rock fucking band who will come to your town and kick your fucking ass!

Shoutweb: During the recording process the band invited fans down to the studio to preview some tracks and sit in on a taping of MAD TV?

Shannon: Well I've been in like four other bands in my career and the Godsmack fans are diehard. I go up on the boards on our website all the time and it reminds me of when Pantera was starting out because they have such a powerful fan base. Being the new guy, it made me feel really good to see how strong their fan base was. Think of it this way, your favorite band changes a member after two records and that can bum you out. These people totally embraced me and I thank them for it. We're actually thinking of doing other promotional things for the fans, like having an area in front of the band when we perform, so the Voodoo Tribe can get right in front. I know every band says the fans are important to them but for us they really are important. This is always a band that has had radio success, but for the most part they've always been a faceless band and they were never over exposed like Limp Bizkit where everyone knows their faces. A lot of times we'll walk into a club and the only person people recognize is Sully. Some people have even said to Sully, "You're not the singer for Godsmack!"

The other faces of Godsmack. Copyright (c) Therese McKeon/Shoutweb.com

Shannon: For the most part they have been a pretty faceless band and whether or not that will change, I don't know. I think again, timing wise, it's good for this band because it's not something where your sick of looking at the singer's face, like how everyone turned on Fred Durst, or in the 80's it was Kevin DuBrow!

Shoutweb: Is that where the name "Faceless" came from, Godsmack selling two million copies of "Awake" but not having their faces plastered everywhere?

Shannon: Yeah, totally. When we started recording, we'd work five nights a week and go out on Friday's. We could walk into bars or clubs in Miami and not even be recognized and it was like we were pretty faceless. I'll say this again because sometimes the whole idea of being a rock star has a big stigma, but that's what we've all wanted to be all our lives. I think at this point in careers though, it's a good thing that the band hasn't been put through the washer, you know?

Shoutweb: I think being a "rock star" is only a bad thing when you lose touch with reality or the people that put you there, kind of like Axl Rose.

Shannon: Or even Michael Jackson! What's up with him? What a freak, right?

Shoutweb: Did you have a chance to watch that 20/20 special?

Shannon: I watched that fucking 20/20 thing and it rocked my world man! (Laughs) He is so out of touch man! How about when he had his little baby sitting on his knee? I have a four and half year old daughter and I've gone through the whole thing with raising a little tiny baby to a toddler to a little girl. Michael had this baby on his knee with bottle in its mouth and he's playing double bass with his legs and the baby was bopping around! I was like dude, be gentle! Whatever, he's just a freak! I can guarantee that Godsmack will never get like that even if we do sell ten million records like Guns N Roses. We're all middle class people and Sully was lower class. He had the whole dysfunctional family thing where his parents split up early and it was just him and his mom. He lived in this really ghetto area of Boston, so he's from the streets. I could never see Sully turning into an Axl Rose.

Shoutweb: Where he's canceling tours, starting riots and walking off stage?

Shannon: That shit will not fly. Godsmack toured for four years on the first two records and in that time they cancelled maybe two shows not including the shows after September 11th, which I think is a good reason. If there's one thing that I can say that I do for bands, it's that I'm very energetic live. You'll notice that with any band I've been in that my energy rubs off on the other guys. They'll look back and see me going mad back there and they'll have to step their shit up a bit. I will say this, Godsmack, on this upcoming tour, will be the best that the band has ever been live. I've already seen it rubbing off a bit on Tony, who never really moved onstage, he's stepped it up and I've only done two shows with the band. New Year's Eve was sick.

Shoutweb: I can vouch for you there. I've seen you live with Amen a few times and leaned over to a buddy of mine and said, "Holy shit! Look at him beating the shit out of the drums!" Honestly, you have to be the hardest hitter I've ever seen live.

Shannon: Thanks dude. I live for it and you know it.

Shoutweb: In your opinion, what can fans expect with "Faceless"?

Shannon: Well, it's going to be a heavy big rock record with big ass drum fills and lead guitars. The lyrics are really deep and I think this album has a lot of depth. Sully is unique in his songwriting, everything he writes about, whether it be about someone who pisses him off or an experience that took him to another level, it's all very honest and from his heart. I think everyone can expect the same thing Godsmack has always done, but a lot more mature, with a lot more depth. On tour, you can expect a hell of a show. We've been working on things that I can't really get into cause I've been ordered to keep my mouth shut, but we've are gonna have this killer stage that no other band has used before. We're going to use the whole arena to the point where even the people in the back are part of the show. It's going to be sick. Come see the band on tour because we're definitely going to light it up.