Drowning Pool
An Interview with guitarist CJ Pierce
by Karli Norton
November 2014
photo by Phil Hunt
The superstitious better say their prayers, because Drowning Pool is bringing the “unlucky” full force. After 13 years, the band is re-releasing their 2001 album ‘Sinner.’ The expanded reissue is a two-disc set with remastered originals as well as 13 demo tracks including “Soul” and “Hero Sleeping”, the last song to be recorded with the band’s first singer Dave Williams, whose untimely death in 2002 at the age of 30 marked an unlucky end to a rising star. The current tour is a chance for new fans to see some of these classic songs live. Max Ink caught up with guitarist CJ Pierce out on the road.
“There were a couple different factors involved in waiting 13 years… some bands do ‘best of’ records which is kind of a traditional thing after ten years or after they break up… it’s just the normal thing to do and our band doesn’t have a normal career in order to stick to the norm. Also we have all this bonus material with Dave Williams on it and it just seemed like the right time.”
Pierce also happened to find the very last rehearsal that Drowning Pool had with Williams, which is included on the second CD of the re-release.
Drowning Pool now consists of Jasen Moreno on vocals, CJ Pierce on guitar, Stevie Benton on bass, and Mike Luce on drums. Although finding a new singer was hard, Pierce believes that Moreno is a great fit.
“Everything now is awesome with Jasen Moreno… personally, I was pretty pissed at the fact that we had to keep doing these singer changes. You just want to get the right guy and keep moving forward, ‘cause you love music. But we have that now with Jasen,” says Pierce.
Drowning Pool has gone through four singers since they started. The unfortunate passing of original singer Dave Williams left the band lost and heartbroken. “It was hard… everything was hard. Some people get weird about it, that we should have stopped after he passed away. If someone in your family passes away you wouldn’t stop doing what you love. He would want us to keep going on… it keeps Dave’s name alive and living strong.”
The Unlucky 13 Anniversary Tour is providing chances for fans to hear Sinner in a way that they haven’t been able to yet.
“We are all different people from 13 years ago to now. So going back and playing the old songs is fun. The vibes of the songs are great; the crowd is awesome, of course. From a guitar standpoint I’m always trying to better myself. We add stuff to it… It’s fun and you can still have fun with these songs and do other things within the song. Just little things that we used to do before we recorded this stuff that the fans get to see.”
Drowning Pool is currently touring with Like a Storm- hits like “Love the Way You Hate Me” and “Wish You Hell”- A Breach of Silence, Red Tide Rising, and Imperial Fall. They will be in Wisconsin on November 21st at Route 20 Outhouse in Racine Wisconsin and at the Q and Z Expo Center in Ringle, Wisconsin.
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Drowning Pool
CD: Unlucky 13 Record Label: Eleven Seven
• Purchase Unlucky 13 on Amazon