Interview: Bobby Amaru – Saliva
Photo Credit: Laura Janowicz|GetAMPED Magazine
BearlySinister:
First of all, I’d like to state that I’ve been a fan of Saliva from the beginning. I saw you guys in 2012 w/October Rage, I walked up and shook your hand and told you I was thoroughly impressed with your live performance. The same can definitely be said of your studio ability! You don’t see that very often these days anymore.
Bobby:
Yeah, ya know, I appreciate it man. We work pretty hard to try to bring the live show and I do as well. I take it very serious. What show did you see us? What show was it?
BearlySinister:
It was Beaumont, TX at The Gig on Crockett St.
Bobby:
Oh, OK! Yeah, yeah, yeah, so you live there?
BearlySinister:
Well, I’m FROM Texas, we moved to Kansas about a year ago.
Bobby:
Oh, OK. Yeah, we love playing Beaumont! We did a Halloween show there!
BearlySinister: Yeah, I heard, it was like a week after Taproot’s “Gift” tour, wasn’t it?
Bobby:
Oh, did they stop in? Cool!
Yeah, it was a fun show!
BearlySinister:
Your new album, “Rise Up” comes out April 29th on your new label, Rum Bum Records. Tell me, what’s the story behind the title?
Bobby:
“Rise Up”? Um.. well, it’s just kinda where we’re at, what we feel, ya know? It’s a statement record. Just tryin’ to get this thing to the level we feel it could be at and I mean, that’s pretty much it. Ya know, we have the song, the song was written, why not just call the record that, ya know? It’s kind of where we’re feelin’ that “Rise Up” is on it.
BearlySinister:
Before I got to talk to you, I had a chance to spin the album. It’s awesome, really a step up!
Bobby:
I appreciate it man, ya know, it’s hard. A lot of bands try to… the way the situation is a lot of the time is like “Oh, well, you know, we have to be just like the old stuff”. There’s an element there in Saliva where you can tell I have a completely different style of writing. As well as adding or bringing in songs like “Lost” or “Closer”… songs that you probably would never hear the band play otherwise. It’s like a breath of fresh air that we worked on, ya know?
BearlySinister:
Who did you work with and what was your experience like with them?
Bobby:
Producer-wise? We worked with this guy named Bobby Huff. He’s a pretty nationally known rock player. He’s not like a big-time producer or anything. Our first thought: We weren’t looking for anybody like that, ya know? We needed someone who could help us come up with new ideas, someone who just kind of… got it. Like “Awh, man what about this part?” It was all about the songs more than the production, ya know? Cuz they’ve made a lot of records, they’ve been around a lot of producers and so have I, I come from a production background so… we knew that if we got the songs right, the production would have no problem.
BearlySinister:
Yeah, and it always seems like a record comes out a lot better if you’re focusing more on the songs and less on the production.
Bobby:
Dude, at the end of the day, they’re great songs and that’s what I’m saying! It doesn’t really matter how much the production is shy or the bass is shy, it’s all about the songs.
BearlySinister:
“In It to Win It” was released in September and “Rise Up” features a lot of the songs from that release. What’s the story behind that?
Bobby:
It was, exactly! What we did is we decided, we wanted to release the record in September but we were having a hard time with retail because, ya know, late in the year, Fourth Quarter, a lot of labels start putting out greatest hits records and the bands are like A-Caliber, ya know? We never really wanted a September release but we just felt we couldn’t establish retail, so we just released it online. We knew we needed to get it done… we made this record early in the year, so we just ended up releasing online for the fans and it kind of went way, ya know? Because we knew we were going to release the album in stores in April and it was going to be a much bigger deal. So we just kind of threw it out there, man. Really just for the hardcore Saliva fans, to see, ya know, what kind of attention it would get. It was more or less for the hardcore Saliva fans. Did you have it then or no?
BearlySinister:
Yeah, I had it then, actually my friend picked me up a copy on your store and I reviewed it… I believe you guys shared it, as well! But it was awesome and I think that “Rise Up” features a lot of the greatest songs from that. I know that there were, what was there 15 songs on “In It to Win It”?
Bobby:
We recorded 15 songs and we said that “oh, well let’s just put like 11 or 12 songs on the record” and then, when we decided to do the online thing, we just said “well, let’s just release all 15 songs then”. We were gonna do a lot of other things with the new record, ya know, we were gonna record some new songs and kind of add some things, but we realized that retail was gonna make a bigger impact, ya know, especially internationally. We felt that we had some really really good songs, strong songs that hopefully translate. It would have been kind of pointless to go and spend more money to record some more songs. We felt like the record was there.
BearlySinister:
Yeah, I hear you and a lot of people probably didn’t get a chance to hear “In It to Win It” and the people who didn’t will get to hear the best parts of the album on “Rise Up”.
Bobby:
Have you viewed the record cover yet? It’s pretty cool, man.
BearlySinister:
Yes, I love it!
BearlySinister:
Do you have a favorite song on the record? Whether it be recording, performing or writing?
Bobby:
I like it all, I love recording, I love being in the studio, I like working with other artists, too, ya know, but I know my main passion is definitely on stage performing. But I mean it… it goes both ways, ya know, once you’re performing and you’re out there and you’re doing it for a solid year or two years, then you wanna go to the studio, like “Oh my god, please! Yeah, I want something different, a change.” New things. But yeah, I like it all, man. I don’t really have one particular favorite.
BearlySinister:
I have to say in addition, you do the older material great justice, too.
Bobby:
Oh, cool man! Thank you! I didn’t wanna stray too far away from any of that stuff, ya know? I mean a lot of fans… they judge that and they’re wanting to see you fuck it up. Just gotta keep it real, ya know?
BearlySinister:
You’ve been with the band for approximately 2 years, how has your experience been with them so far?
Bobby:
You know something? You’re probably the first person I’ve actually talked to that realized that. Most people are like “So, yeah, you just joined the band like a month ago, how’s it feel?” and I’m just like “Uhh… I’ve been with the band 2 years dude!” Yeah, dude, honestly it’s been great man! The fans have been great, I’ve met a lot of cool people, the tours have been fun. We’ve got to play with a lot of bands, we’ve headlined some really awesome festivals. It’s been great, circus was fun. We’re gonna go to Russia, we’re gonna go to South America later in the year, too.
BearlySinister:
It seems like you guys have a great chemistry, I’m sure there’s problems in the band, every band has them, but it seems like you’re really well connected.
Bobby:
I think the thing with the band is they just got to where it wasn’t fun for them. It wasn’t fun anymore. They needed something new, something alive and just energy.
BearlySinister:
Like, as much as I love some of the songs from “Under Your Skin”, it didn’t feel like everything was there.
Bobby:
It wasn’t a Saliva record! It wasn’t, ya know? That’s the thing, nothing against Josey but he really had no involvement in that record at all. I don’t even think he wrote one word. It was like writers, If you look at the credits, I don’t think he’s even on any of the songs.. He was pretty much ripped out of the band and replaced by writers. So I mean, it’s not a Saliva record.
BearlySinister:
“Rise Up” is a track that really pops out and gets you amped up from the get-go. What is it that made you choose it as the first single?
Bobby:
Well, it seemed to have the most good, positive message. The message was good. I think it’s heavy enough, too and it has old Saliva elements as well with the playing of the songs and the guitar. That was kinda it, ya know, we wanna make a statement. We want to send that to people that listen to it, ya know? It just seemed to have the best message for a first single. It was like right in front of us the entire time, so.
BearlySinister:
How has touring been with Saliva and have you had a favorite tour?
Bobby:
Well, we’ve really just done a lot of tours headlining. We haven’t really done… this year will be the year that we’ll actually be doing package tours. I think there’s been some talks of us going out this Summer with Fuel and Puddle of Mudd. There’s like those kinds of things, but we haven’t really done any of those, ya know, we’ve done festivals a lot. We;ve done a lot of the bike rallies and stuff. We’ve played with Candlebox or… we’ve done a few of those where it’s actually been with other bands, but no actual tours. So, I can’t really say my favorite tour because they’ve always been us, headlining.
BearlySinister:
Social Media: Necessary evil or great help to your band?
Bobby:
Social media is a great help for a band. Poor thing for relationships, though. I’ll tell you “Hey, If you’re on Facebook and you’ve got a girlfriend, you’ve got to go after them here.” That’s just the way it works because you’re in a band and you’re on Facebook. Nah, I’m just kidding… well, I’m really not but I feel that it’s a great thing for music, promotion-wise. I do disagree with things like downloading music and, I mean, I’m a hypocrite saying that because I’ve downloaded music but I think that that has ruined music and at the same time, social media can ruin profiles for bands because ya know, someone can actually find your address, find out everything about you. How many kids you got, ya know, Rock N Roll is always supposed to be mysterious and it was always supposed to be people leave either happy or pissed off, ya know? Not knowing your grandma’s name or what kinda underwear you wore yesterday. But I think for promotion tools.. bands are able to go out there and actually promote themselves and actually make money themselves without a label these days. Ya know, put a music video up or put them beating up cops or somethin’ and next thing you know you’ve got a million views and people know about you.
BearlySinister:
I agree, I mean, to me it can be a little bit of both. You’ve got your pros and your cons. But that’s with anything.
I know you’re quite the family man. How does your son feel about his daddy being a Rock Star?
Bobby:
Oh, man, yeah! My son is extremely excited that daddy does what he does. We’re actually… our first show, we’re rehearsing in Memphis coming up and then we have our first show in Orlando, FL, which, ya know, I live in Jacksonville so… I’m gonna pick him up from school and he’s gonna go to the show with me, hang out with me. We’re playing with Cold at the fairgrounds there and I guess it’s like the fair’s goin’ on, but the radio station is putting the event on that night. But yeah, it’s gonna be cool to take my son, ride on the bus, we’re gonna hang out, go see what the fair’s about, check out the bumper cars. My daughter’s a little too young for all that stuff right now, so she’ll just hate me for years for all of it.
BearlySinister:
My daughter’s the complete opposite: Since she was in the womb, we’ve listened to hard rock and we’ve listened to heavy metal and she’ll sit here and she’ll whine and whine and whine if like rap music or something like that is on, but when we put on Saliva or something even heavier and she’ll lay there and coo and fall asleep to it.
Bobby:
I’m not gonna lie, kids have perfect ears for music. My son loves Michael Jackson.. like you put anything on that was a hit or anything, they like it. Yeah, it’s crazy. My son likes heavier stuff, too, ya know, he likes Pantera. He wants to hear like “Walk”. He gets on these kicks with new songs but I have to say that Michael Jackson’s stuff is his favorite.
BearlySinister:
I don’t want to take up too much of your time so I guess I’ll wrap it up here. Is there anything else you’d like to say to your fans, our readers and the general public?
Bobby:
Record’ll be out April 29th, we’re excited, hopefully you’ll catch a show next time we’re around! You said you’re in Kansas, now? We’re playing Kansas City here coming up, I think I saw it on the dates.