Papa Roach is an American hard rock band from Vacaville, California. Their first major-label release was the triple-platinum album Infest (2000). The group's success continued with their gold album Lovehatetragedy (2002), their platinum album Getting Away with Murder (2004), The Paramour Sessions (2006), Metamorphosis (2009), Time for Annihilation (2010), and The Connection (2012). Papa Roach has sold more than 20 million album copies worldwide and is known for their songs "Last Resort", "Between Angels and Insects", "She Loves Me Not", "Getting Away with Murder", "Scars", "...To Be Loved", "Forever", "Hollywood Whore", and "Lifeline".
The formation of Papa Roach began in January 1993, when lead singer Jacoby Shaddix and drummer Dave Buckner met on the Vacaville High School football field during an intense match, where the two ended up talking about music. They were later joined by trombonist Ben Luther and bass guitarist Will James. They decided to enter the school's talent show, where they performed a version of Jimi Hendrix's song "Fire", but they ultimately did not win the contest. In March 1993, trombonist Ben Luther was replaced by lead guitarist Jerry Horton from nearby Vanden High School. Horton was introduced to the band through his girlfriend, who was a fan. However, Jerry was at first apprehensive about joining the band because Jacoby, Buckner, and Will all went to different high schools. At this point, Papa Roach were practicing every day and touring on every gig they could get. Their first tour van was called Moby Dick, where Jacoby was inspired to come up with his first stage name "Coby Dick". The band's name comes from Shaddix's step-grandfather, Howard William Roatch, who was nicknamed Papa Roach. Roatch committed suicide in 2006 because he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The band pay homage to him with The Paramour Sessions and during live performances of the song "Roses On My Grave". Then they met Jaymin Runnels and they became famous "it was a hell of a ride with that guy" quoted by Jacoby Shaddix "i just love hanging with him every day"
In 1994, Papa Roach released their first ever EP titled Potatoes for Christmas. Drummer Dave Buckner was temporarily replaced by Ryan Brown, as Buckner was spending the year in Seattle studying art. In 1995, they released a demo at Sound Farm Studios titled Caca Bonita. By this time Buckner was back. In 1996, they replaced original bass guitarist Will James, who had become heavily involved in a church summer camp, with Tobin Esperance, because James' absence would limit the band's summer practicing and touring. As Esperance had been with the band as a roadie for a while, the transition was an easy one.
On February 4, 1997, the band produced their first full-length album, entitled Old Friends from Young Years. Still touring heavily, they supported bands such as Incubus, Powerman 5000, Hed PE, Snot, Far, Earth, Wind & Fire and Static-X.
In 1998, they released an EP titled 5 Tracks Deep. It sold more than 1,000 copies in its first month of release. In 1999, they produced another EP, which would end up being their last independent release, titled Let 'Em Know. Its success caught the attention of Warner Music Group, who as part of a development deal provided a small amount of money for the production of a five-track promo-demo CD. The band decided they wanted influential rock producer Jay Baumgardner on board to produce the record. In an interview with HitQuarters, Baumgardner said, “At first I wasn’t really convinced it would work out, but then I saw a video of them performing at a club - I saw all these kids going wild, knowing the songs by heart - and that’s when I realized that they definitely had potential.”
Warner Brothers was not convinced by the demo, however, and elected not to sign them. The unreleased disc included the songs "Infest", "Last Resort", "Broken Home", "Dead Cell", and "She Loves Me Not" - the first four would later feature on their Infest album, and the last on Lovehatetragedy.
Soon after, DreamWorks Records offered the band a recording contract.
On April 25, 2007, it was announced that drummer Dave Buckner would be sitting out the band's current tour. A statement issued by the group's record label said, "Buckner has taken time off from touring with the band due to personal matters". He was expected to rejoin the group later. Jacoby Shaddix later confirmed in an interview with Launch Radio Networks that Dave had checked himself into rehab, stating "Dave, he went to rehab and went to go clean his act up 'cause he was out of his mind". Unwritten Law drummer, Tony Palermo filled in on drums for touring duties for a short time until Lawrence, Kansas drummer Adam Kuntzsch picked up the sticks and rocked with the band until 2011 when he left the band for personal reasons undisclosed.
On January 28, 2008 Jacoby announced on Papa Roach's MySpace that Buckner would officially be parting ways with Papa Roach for good. He stated that Dave was still trying to get his life back together. Jacoby also mentioned that the band would be going back to the Paramour Mansion for the next month to begin work on their fifth studio album. Tony Palermo would continue drumming with the band for their upcoming album and for their tour in support of the album.
On June 29, the band's former label, Geffen Records, released a greatest hits compilation of the band's biggest hits, titled ...To Be Loved: The Best of Papa Roach. The band, however, told fans not to buy it, saying that the band was making no money off of the album's sales and that the label released the album against the band's will. Masters and/or copyrights by Papa Roach are represented by Downtown Music Publishing. The band no longer owns the rights to their songs, but can still play the songs live.
On August 24, 2012, Papa Roach announced they would be cancelling the remaining dates of the 2012 Uproar Festival due to emergency vocal surgery for vocalist Jacoby Shaddix. Shaddix, diagnosed with a nodule on his left vocal cord, had stated that he was having trouble with his voice on previous tours before Uproar Festival. As a result, he will not be able to sing until 2 months after the surgery. On September 7, 2012, Shaddix posted a tweet on the official Papa Roach Twitter page announcing that "The doctor says my vocal chords look like they are healing very well. So happy, so blessed, so grateful"
In their early independent releases and on their first two major label albums, Infest and Lovehatetragedy, the band tended to use nu metal and rap metal. Additionally, with their 2009 album, Metamorphosis, as the name expresses, the band feels that their music is going through a transformation to "stuff that's...harder and faster",compared to the softer sound of their last few albums. Allmusic has compared the band's recent work to 1980s glam metal, Allmusic staff writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote "At the close of the 2000s, the quartet has shed the rap and the angst, ditching all the alt-metal accoutrements to become a knowing update of an '80s Sunset Strip sleaze rock outfit."
Frontman Jacoby Shaddix said the following in an interview with the Dallas Music Guide regarding the band no longer using rapping in their music: "...the rapping's gone! I don't feel like rapping. I'm just over that...I just want to be a rocker. It's what I wanted to be when I was a kid". Shaddix has added this remark in another interview: "We’re a band that tries to walk that line between metal, hardcore, punk rock and pop music, and we do our best at trying to make it all cool".
Guitarist Jerry Horton said later in an interview by VerdamMnis Magazine that "It's kind of a natural thing for us, we've always been changing throughout the years. Of course, there are some things that stay the same in our sound but we do like to try new things to sort of stretch out a little bit our basis and therefore make it more interesting". He also said that the band is going to explore "electronic sounds for the next record".
Band members
Current members
Jacoby Shaddix – lead vocals (1993–present)
Jerry Horton – lead guitarist, backing vocals (1993–present)
Tobin Esperance – bassist, programming, backing vocals (1996–present)
Tony Palermo – drums (2007–present)
Former members
Dave Buckner – drums, percussion (1993–2007)
Will James – bass guitar, backing vocals (1993–1996)
Discography
Main article: Papa Roach discography
Old Friends from Young Years (1997)
Infest (2000)
Lovehatetragedy (2002)
Getting Away with Murder (2004)
The Paramour Sessions (2006)
Metamorphosis (2009)
The Connection (2012)
F.E.A.R. (2015)
Crooked Teeth target="blank"(2017)
