Back in 2002 every rock radio station worldwide couldn’t get enough of the song “Headstrong” by American band Trapt. Now fast forward to 2019 and the song has stood the test of time well and with now seven albums under their belt they have gained legions of rock fans along the way. The band are returning to Australia in late February 2019 so to celebrate the tour we caught up with Trapt vocalist Chris Taylor Brown as he shares his excitement to return to the land down under.
SCENEzine
What have you been up to so far in 2019?
Chris Taylor Brown
We are just finishing the new album that we will be putting out this summer. We’ve got these Australian shows coming up then a bunch of shows in America.
SCENEzine
We are huge fans of your track “Come together”. How did that collaboration excuse the pun all come together?
Chris Taylor Brown.
I’m a fan of An0maly as far as his commentary on news. I admire his hip hop and the stuff he does musically. So I just wanted to meet up with him and see what we could do together to talk about politics or social commentary or make music. We sat down had a good meeting and then from there we were like lets do a track. We had some music and showed it to him. He really like the track and started writing a rap to it. I had a couple of lines of the hook but not much then when he started laying his rap down I wrote the rest of the hook right there. It came together and worked really well.
SCENEzine
It’s pretty crazy that you finally got to tour Australia two years ago but now will be back again. That must be a good feeling?
Chris Taylor Brown
Yeah it went well the first time out so we are going for round two. I’m really excited.
SCENEzine
What are your memories like of your first Australian tour?
Chris Taylor Brown
It was a great group of people that we played for. The crowds were really enthusiastic rock fans we had a great time with them. You could see how much passion they had by every word that they knew. We were really happy about how the crowds took to the shows. We couldn’t of asked for a better first trip.
SCENEzine
When you were in Australia last time did you get to do many tourist things?
Chris Taylor Brown
We went to see Sydney Opera house that was cool. We definitely checked out some cool bars around the venues. Other than that we went on walks to take it all in.
SCENEzine
When you’re in Australia this time you’ll play some highlights from self titled. That album means a lot to so many people. It must be a great feeling for you knowing so many people cherish that album?
Chris Taylor Brown
Yeah man it’s great. The cool thing about when we came over was everybody knew all the words to all the songs. The real hardcore fans showed up for all the shows.
SCENEzine
The song “headstrong” has really taken on a life of it’s own over the years. Did that song come quickly in the writing process?
Chris Taylor Brown
I feel like the song came together pretty quick musically then the lyrics followed real quick. Yeah it came together real fast. We knew it was going to be a special track as soon as we demoed it out.
SCENEzine
What’s the feeling like for you on stage when you play “headstrong”?
Chris Taylor Brown
It’s awesome man. Seeing the expressions on everyone’s faces and the passion that they are singing with and energy that they are putting out there. It definitely gives me a lot of fuel to do what I do.
SCENEzine
What was it like doing the video for “Echo” having to act?
Chris Taylor Brown
I’ve acted in a few videos over the years. It’s cool to have the singer doing some of the acting stuff because lyrically you are telling a story and you get to act it out. It’s always fun doing that.
SCENEzine
We really love when your songs are done acoustically also. Is that how most Trapt songs start out being written on acoustic guitar?
Chris Taylor Brown
Well the acoustic collection that album we did all those songs started out acoustic that’s why we did it that way. We are probably going to do another volume of songs that didn’t start out acoustic but we are going to try and make them acoustic.
SCENEzine
Do you get a chance to play acoustic live much?
Chris Taylor Brown
Yeah we definitely do both acoustic and electric at shows. It gives the audience two different types of shows.
SCENEzine
Going way back in time do you have any memories of what it was like playing with Motley Crue?
Chris Taylor Brown
It was a great tour we had a great lineup of bands. Motley Crue was great even know they had been doing it for so long they were total professionals on stage. It’s great seeing guys have such a long career in this business seeing that was cool. The tour was really successful. Tommy Lee had his undressing room as he called it (laughs). All in all it was a great tour.
SCENEzine
What’s your feeling on the state of the music industry now. How do you compare releasing a new album now compared to when you were starting out?
Chris Taylor Brown
Music is more out there now and easier to get for the public. Not as concentrated previously with just a few bands going for slots on radio stations. So I think that there’s just more to choose from so it’s harder to find things almost. The diversity of genres is much deeper than it was twenty years ago.
SCENEzine
I’ve noticed you are quite into keeping physically fit does that relate to how you’ve been able to keep your voice sounding strong over the years?
Chris Taylor Brown
Your voice is like any muscle, you have to be consistent. If you take a big break from singing you’ve got to work your way up slowly just like lifting weights. So I look at my voice like a muscle to keep it strong and sounding good. I make sure I sing as much as I can.
SCENEzine
Do you do anything special for your voice before you play a show?
Chris Taylor Brown
I do a warm up at least an hour before the show so that helps. I don’t really have any other rituals maybe a shot of Jameson or something. But that’s it no crazy voodoo magic
SCENEzine
Lastly do you have a message for your Aussie fans that are stoked for the tour?
Chris Taylor Brown
Get ready for a big party with some high energy rock music in your face. We will throw in a couple of new songs too.
(interview by Christian Ross)
Tickets available via – https://metropolistouring.com/
