Taproot: A heavy alternative

Guitarist Mike DeWolf on Taproot's new album Plead the Fifth

"This song is a poem to myself. It helps me to live ..."

Those are the well-known lyrics to Taproot's hit-single "Poem," a song released way back in 2002 that still to this day gets regular airplay in all regions. But what else has Taproot done? Aside from a well-publicized mini-feud with Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, the band has remained low-key in the press for years. And as far as hit singles or hit albums, they've been all but absent since. But most of us have heard "Poem" on the radio every other day for nearly a decade.

I have a strong feeling that's all about to change after the music world wraps its ears around Taproot's appropriately titled fifth album, Plead the Fifth, their first release for their new label home, Victory Records.

Plead the Fifth is a phenomenal rock album and an early pick for "sleeper of the year." This one could be huge if given a chance. Not only is the album a return to the heavier, downtuned sound of their early albums, it also packs enormous depth and replay ability. From the lead single "Fractured (Everything I Said Was True)" to the pissed off, call-out to rock fans, "Now Rise" and the somber mood, then explosiveness of "911ost," this is a band that's reinvigorated, original and confident. And those are just a few of the highlights.

During a quick Q&A with Taproot guitarist Mike DeWolf, Live-Metal.net's Jeff Maki gets the scoop on Taproot's Plead the Fifth.

Live-Metal.net: First off, congrats on a great new album. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting out of it, but I have to say it exceeded my expectations. Since you guys haven't really been in the spotlight or had any recent radio "hits" the last few years, do you think that fans of the older stuff or even the casual listener will be surprised like I was with the new record? And if so, was this your intention?

Michael DeWolf: The only real intention we had for this album was to make sure it was heavy and aggressive. I guess I could see how someone could be surprised, but at the same time, from our perspective, we have been right here all along doing what we do, but hopefully Plead the Fifth comes as a pleasant surprise, if anything. [laughs]

A lot of the stuff I hear these days tends to rely more on beating you senseless with rhythm and brutality, and relies less on vocals. But with Plead the Fifth, and Taproot in general, the vocals seem to carry the songs. Would you agree? And from the onset, was this one of the goals with the new album?

I think it is somewhat of a balancing act for us. We always like to have somewhat of both dark and light, ugly and beautiful. It wasn't a goal but just something that kind of happens, I guess.

The above said, the album does also show a heavier side of Taproot than I remember. Is this part of the band adapting to the current state of rock music or just a natural progression?

I think that most fans of our first album, Gift, would consider that to be a heavy album due to the low tuning we used on our baritone guitars. We stepped away from that for a bit, which lightened things up, but put them back on for this album.

Describe the overall making of the new album, a rundown of the process if you will.

The pressure was on. [laughs] When we signed with Victory, we set a strike deadline, so we had very little time compared to any album we had ever done. [Vocalist] Steve [Richards] and I would get together daily to pull the songs together. Once we had 12 songs, we all got together with our producer, Tim [Patalan], and started recording. He likes to skip around a lot between songs and instruments, leaving every song open to improvement. It's a crazy way to work, but it works out very well.

Now with Plead the Fifth—logically, your fifth album—what have been the most important things you've learned when making a record?

We have learned so many things over the years about writing, recording and life in general. One of the big things I learned this time out is to be confident in ourselves and the chemistry that happens when we play music together.

It's funny because the very day I got the confirmation for this interview, I had just heard "Poem" on our local FM radio station. And I kind of just thought to myself, "Wow, this song has been around for a long while now, and it's still really good ... Whatever happened to Taproot anyway?" My point is, did you guys ever think that you had such a longstanding hit on your hands when you wrote "Poem" and was does it mean to you that the song still gets regular airplay today?

It is impossible to know. I mean, you can have a good feeling about something, but nothing is ever a sure thing. I think it is awesome that "Poem" has done so well for so long and meant so much to so many people.

With a sound that's somewhere in between "rock" and "extreme," are you at all worried about getting airplay for Plead the Fifth? In other words, do you think people will give it a chance since it's hard to categorize in either of the above?

Our first single from the album is called "Fractured (Everything I Said Was True)" and is starting to get some spins. Like I said, nothing is ever a sure thing, but we are hoping for the best. So far so good, but only time will tell.

I want to talk more about your band's sound. You guys definitely have your own unique sound, a lot due to the vocals in my opinion. But upon listening to the new album, I heard some parts that reminded me of Deftones, Helmet, Korn and even Staind. Are any of these bands ones that you look up to, or is there any one band that you'd be absolutely flattered to be compared to if it made sense?

The first Korn album was hugely inspirational to a slew of bands, no denying that, and Deftones have always been a favorite of ours. Musical comparisons will always be there, but I feel like after 13 years and five albums we have somewhat paved our own trail.

Speaking of Korn and some of those other nu-metal bands, Taproot was somewhat lumped into this category earlier in the decade. What were your feelings on that then, and what are they now? Did it help or ultimately hurt the band?

We have always considered ourselves "heavy alternative" and still do. We have always kind of looked past that really. I mean, bottom line is that we are just a band that makes music and plan on doing so for a long time to come.

Do you think it's any coincidence that a lot of these bands have new albums coming out this year; Korn, Limp Bizkit, Deftones, you guys ...? Are you thinking to yourselves, "Here we go again ... ?"

[Laughs] Not really. All of these bands, us included, have been pretty hard at it consistently for the past decade and beyond. I mean, look at Metallica or Ozzy … I say kudos. [laughs]

Is Fred Durst still pissed at you guys these days? And what do you think of him today?

I sure hope not because that would just be silly. I just watched [Limp Bizkit] on [The Tonight Show with Jay] Leno today actually and wish them the best.

[Editor's note: In 1997, the then unsigned Taproot sent their demo to Fred Durst looking for a record deal, who at the time was working for Interscope Records in addition to being a member of Limp Bizkit. After negotiations, Taproot eventually signed with Atlantic Records instead. Durst proceeded to leave a profanity-ridden rant on vocalist Stephen Richards answering machine. The story for whatever the reasons was well known at the time.]

What was the state of the band after being dropped by Atlantic Records and how did you eventually get signed with Victory Records?

We found ourselves without a label and decided to partner up with our management to release our fourth album, Our Long Road Home, which I think is a fantastic album by the way. After we toured in support of that album, we had to decide what our next step would be. We then met and signed with Victory to release this album, Plead the Fifth.

Most bands refuse to give us any dirt on this, but is there anything outrageous or any bizarre story you can share with us that happened to Taproot while on tour?

When we were out with the Deftones, there was basically a giant snow storm in the mountains preventing our buses/gear to get to what I believe was the last show of the tour in Portland. They asked us if we'd be willing to fly with them to Portland, rent some gear and put on the show. We agreed and it turned out to be the most laid back night ever and we all ended up playing together onstage. Very cool.

Tell us about the making of the video for "Fractured (Everything I Said Was True)." Why was this song picked for the first single from the album?

"Fractured (Everything I Said Was True)" was actually the first song written for the album. It just kind of had all of the elements that we wanted to have to lead off with. The video was fun. We just packed up our gear and headed a few hours to Gary, Indiana, spent a few hours shooting and that was that. I think it turned out great.

And finally, tell us about the upcoming/current touring plans for the band.

We are on tour now until the end of June. After that, we will see. Check us out at myspace.com/taproot to stay up to date and for the full list of dates.