Butch Walker Doesn’t Deny His Hair Metal Roots, Hates Yearbook Photo
"Did you see my high school year book photo in the book? It's f---ing atrocious," Butch Walker tells Noisecreep. The singer-songwriter is referring to a photo in 'Drinking With Strangers: Lessons From A Teenage Bullet Belt,' the hilarious and often touching memoir he just released.
The book follows Walker's colorful life, from his childhood in Georgia, to his days in the late '80s as a member of hair metal C-listers SouthGang, and finally through his journey to becoming a hit producer and critically acclaimed solo artist.
"It wasn't that difficult for me to remember a lot of these stories. I think that's because I've been telling them to all of my friends – drunk on tour buses and sitting at bars – throughout the years. I'm actually lucky to remember a lot of that stuff since I was obliterated half of the time," laughs the singer who is also out promoting 'The Spade,' the brand new album by his band, Butch Walker & The Black Widows.
Besides his successful solo career, Walker is sought-after producer and songwriter. His impressive resume includes everyone from pop music queens like Avril Lavigne and Katy Perry to rock acts Weezer and Saosin. It's a long way from his days slugging it out on the Sunset Strip as the guitarist in SouthGang.
"I think what happened was by the time SouthGang got signed, that train had passed already. It was about to be the end of that hair metal era and we were too late. Musically, I was yearning for something more. I couldn't just stop at that. I was obsessed with a lot of different styles of music growing up. In fact, I'm still a music junkie.
"When that band ended, I was still so young and adventurous. There was no way I wanted to stay playing hair metal. I wanted to try something else. I wasn't interested in writing songs about sex and partying all the time. I felt like there was a lot more to say and a lot more to do. It was time for me to move on."
Walker has always been open to talking about his days in the hair metal scene, even including references to it in his lyrics. "That era of my life and career is something that I never deny. There are these hair metal romantics out there that think that I deny my roots, but they're sadly mistaken. I actually talk about that time period all the time. It was fun, but I don't necessarily want to go and put some spandex on.
"Denying those years happened would be like if I said, "All I listened to was Joy Division growing up." But that's never been the case for me. I just don't want to wave a flag for a type of music I haven't related to in 25 years. It's like a high school yearbook photo – I don't want to look at it all the time."
Butch Walker's 'Drinking With Strangers: Lessons From A Teenage Bullet Belt' is out now.
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