“We need to live a little bit of life before we go into this next thing, and see where it takes us.” – M. Shadows comments on how their plan with upcoming Avenged Sevenfold album.
The band has their European tour lined up this June. Following this are a couple of stadium shows with System Of A Down. As they are still very much focused on their last album “Life Is But A Dream…”, front man M. Shadows talks about taking a break and exploring before they start working on the ninth album.
In a recent interview with Bradley Hall, they discussed all the Avenged Sevenfold albums one after the other. They started with their recent album “Life Is But A Dream…” till their debut album “Sounding the Seventh Trumpet”. For the next question, Bradley goes: “For the next album, I’m assuming you’re either gonna go completely off the deep end or you’re gonna go in right, the most, like commercial thing you’ve ever done!” He then asks “So like can you spoil any teasers or anything for, like, what the future holds..?”
M replies they don’t know or “haven’t really thought about it..””The focus, until recently, was [playing live in] India, Peru, and we want to do something in South America before Life Is But A Dream… is wrapped up. We’ve got these really interesting European markets that we’re doing in the summer. Just doing different things,” the singer shares.
M. Shadow explains Avenged Sevenfold’s creative flow for next album
“So I don’t know… I think we’ll probably just spend some time with our families, and there’s always that creative itch, and jotting down ideas – whether it’s on your iPhone or whether it’s into Pro Tools, and just having this sort of bag that Santa’s got over his shoulder, and maybe dig through the presents at some point and see if there’s anything that’s like, ‘Oh! Let’s get into it!’ But right now I think it’s just in accumulation mode.”
Shadows further explains, “If you’re always in front of Pro Tools, and you’re always consumed by media, and you’re always playing video games, and you’ve always got a podcast in when you’re on a walk, you’re not really living a life where something can come and push you off your balance.”
Explore more: Artist Showcase: 10 Iconic Tracks by Avenged Sevenfold That Define Their Legacy
M. Shadows goes on to talk about how spontaneity comes alive when social media doesn’t consume artists. He explains why instead taking a break helps; how the ideas just flow in.
“The best guitar riffs sometimes happen when you’re walking down the street “: M. Shadow
So according to the singer their next process would be “taking long walks, go on a bike ride. play some sports”. M. Shadow explains how when our mind is not consumed by this “attention economy” that we live in, the ideas start flowing. That is when we can “jot them down”. “Because I think it’s really hard for most people to go, ‘Okay, I’m gonna write from 2 – 6,’ and then you just go and sit down and stare at a computer, or you stare at your guitar. The best guitar riffs sometimes happen when you’re walking down the street and you hear a noise, or you have an idea…”
Later in the interview, Shadows goes on to say how the idea of the Nightmare album came to him while riding his bike back after playing basketball. He also talks about the story behind Sunny disposition – how the 2016 elections inspired him to write music. “You have to, like, have your brain open enough to not be consumed by things…,” goes on M. Shadows. Watch the full interview here:
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