Every once and awhile Boxingtalk brings our readers a little something different.  We recently had the opportunity to sit down with one of the most famous rock and roll singers of the past 5 years.  Brad Arnold of the internationally known 3 Doors Down sat down with us, and talked about the bands upcoming new record.  The band is currently in the studio in Florida working hard on their next album, due out soon.  Arnold is an avid boxing fan, and shows us that he's pretty up to speed on today's fighters.


BC – What's up Brad, what's the latest?

BA – Nothing to it bro, just sitting down here in Florida recording us a record.

BC – When can the 3 Doors Down fans expect the new record to be released?

BA – Very soon man, we have been writing for the last 3 months, and we have been recording for the past 3 weeks.  We have about 30 percent of the record done, we have two or three songs to work on, but man, I am excited about this new record.

BC – How do you feel about the material so far, do you feel good about the songs that are done so far?

BA – I do man, this album is a ROCK record this time, I mean it has a few ballads on it, but this record is going to really rock.

BC – Before you guys got signed, did you guys rock harder? Maybe do less commercial music as opposed to now? 

BA – This record will reflect more about what were about now than the previous two have had.  I always said that write what you can play live. When you have a lot of hits that are ballads, and you play them live, you tend to want to get back to jamming some rock songs again, there will be no shortage of rock songs on this new record.

BC – What got you into music?

BA – I am the youngest of seven kids, my older brother used to bang on the drums.  There is a picture of when I was in 6th grade of me reaching up trying to beat on my brothers drum, I could barely reach it.  Then I would use my mom's pots and pans to bang on them going up and down the stairs, beating the dog out of them.  Then I would start losing my moms pots and pans one at a time (laughs).

BC – You were the drummer for the band before you took the lead singing role, weren't you?

BA – I did, I played drums first.  I played drums in my school band for a couple years, and me and Matt started playing together.  We started 3 Doors Down, and the only reason I started singing was because we didn't have a lead singer.  I said, “I'll try”, and I played drums and sang for the entire time that we were a local band. 

BC – What is the meaning behind the bands name,  3 Doors Down?

BA – Well it came about when we were going to Gulf Shores in Alabama.  There are a lot of fruit stands down there, and some would be multiple stands in one building.  We saw one stand where the letters were missing, it said “Doors Down”.  I guess it originally said, fruit stand so many businesses down, or something like that, so we had a show that night and we didn't have a name so one of the guys said, “What about 3 Doors Down?”, and there you have it, (laughs).

BC – The bands first smash hit was Kryptonite, how did that song come about?

BA – The little skippy drumbeat in that song, I came up with on my desk in High School algebra class, and that's where I wrote the lyrics for it too, I was 16 years old.  I was practicing it at home, and one of the other band members (Todd) was in the shower, and he heard me jamming it, he stuck his big ole dirty head out of the shower, and asked me, “What's that?”, and I told him, “That's a hit!”.

BC – How did the big break come for the band?

BA – We begged our local radio station in Biloxi, Mississippi to play our song.  We begged and begged them to play Kryptonite.  They started playing it and it quickly became the most popular song that they ever had on their radio station.  There is a report that goes out that reflects what is being played on the radio stations.  Besides the band's name is what label they are with, but we didn't have a label yet.  It didn't take them long to come down from New York to talk to us, so they flew us up there, and we haven't looked back.

BC – What went through your mind when you finally got the big record contract?

BA – You know what man, I still can't believe that I do this for a living.  I still wake up in the mornings and just say, “man I can't believe that I do this for a living.”  I just want to keep on making music, I mean it still has not sunk in for me.  It's the fact that I get to do what I love, play music.

BC – How does it feel to be in front of 50,000 fans and they are all singing the lyrics of the songs that you wrote?

BA – That's those moments when I close my eyes, and say, “I can't believe that this is happening.”

BC – Away From The Sun, debuted at number 8, how did that feel?

BA – That was our second record, and that was awesome.  Sometimes the second record doesn't do as well, but man it went well. 

BC – Seventeen Days, your third record debuted at number 1, I am guessing that's when you knew that 3 Doors Down was a special band?

BA – We did, that's when we realized that we really accomplished something.  No matter what we do, nobody can ever take that from us.

BC – Do you ever get nervous singing in front of 50,000 people?

BA – You know when I get nervous? I went back to my High School to talk to the music class, and there were 30 people in there, and they were all looking at me like, “ what do you got to say?” (laughs), and that's when I get nervous.  When you can see all of them, that's when I get nervous.

BC – You're a big boxing fan, how did you and Butterbean get to be friends?

BA – We meat through a common friend.  I was lucky enough to meet him, he's a great guy.  He's just a good ole fella, and he's a funny guy.  I love ole Butterbean, he's just a good guy.  I was always a boxing fan, maybe not a die hard fan, but I love boxing.  I can always remember from the Tyson days how exciting boxing was, he was at his peak when I was a kid.  When Tyson came on, it was a big event, I remember that.

BC – Do you get to any of the boxing matches in person?

BA – On occasion I do, I wish I could have made the Roy Jones Jr's fight in Biloxi, but I was in Florida working on the record.  I saw Marquez vs Vasquez 2, man they were beating the dog out of one another (laughs).  I agreed that the referee should have stopped that fight, Marquez was getting his bell rang.  Those smaller guys can sling, they have less mass, and almost the same muscle, they throw rocks in there.

BC – Brad we appreciate you joining Boxingtalk, is there anything that you would like to say to your fans in closing?

BA – I want to thank all of the 3 Doors Down fans for letting me do what I do for a living, and God Bless you for that!

M

Send questions and comments to: bradcooney1@bellsouth.net