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Poised to release their next album, Faceless, and ready to take on the world, Entertainment Today talks with Godsmack guitarist Tony Rambola and bass player Robbie Merrill

Ushered into a hotel room on a Thursday in late January by Godsmack�s management, I take a seat on the bed lead singer Sully Erna slept in the night before; and am handed a pair of headphones so I can listen to the band�s new album, Faceless, to be released in early April. In the other room, the four members of Godsmack sit on a couch and are interviewed by another local press outlet � I hear talk about the band�s new video, for Faceless�s first single, �Straight Out of Line,� which they just wrapped up; and Erna�s personal battle with drinking, something he�s, as of late, tried to pull back on.

In my ears, the heavy music�the kind I haven�t often listened to since my high school days�blares, rocks and, to my surprise, becomes quite infectious. These guys are good, certainly and, quite possibly not unlike a modern-day equivalent to the Metallica and Slayer albums I used to listen to when I was young.

No wonder the kids love Godsmack, I think. This thought is reinforced a week later when, on the way to a friend�s house, I hear the band�s single hit the KROQ airwaves � it�s a BIG tune, the kind that makes you feel great to be alive, angry and disenfranchised.

The little heavy metal band from Boston with the Wicca�something he�s caught flack for which is ridiculous if you at all read anything about the Earth-based Pagan religion�lead singer have come a long way since they formed in the mid-�90s, going multi-platinum with their self-titled debut and gaining a Grammy nomination this year for their contribution to the Scorpion King soundtrack.

Back at the hotel room, Godsmack has wrapped up their interview and are now being photographed. The music ends, the bulbs stop flashing and I am taken past a gargoyle sitting on the common room table and into the hall where I am introduced to guitarist Tony Rambola and bass player Robbie Merrill. Here, we have a surprisingly nice�these are good people, utterly thankful for their success�conversation about the music industry, the comeback of guitar solos and drinking on the road, among other things. And, by the end of it, I�m sure the band is poised to take on the world.

Entertainment Today:  You guys are in town working on a video? How�d that go?

Tony Rombola:  It went great.

Robbie Merrill:  Tuesday and Wednesday we shot. It�s mostly a performance video. 90 percent of it (is us playing).

ET:  For what song?

TR:  �Straight Out Of Line.� It�s the first single.

RM:  Do you like it?

ET:  Yeah, I haven�t heard a guitar solo in a while.

RM:  (pointing to Rombola) He�s the man.

TR:  We had them on other records--on both records.

RM:  How many did you do on this record?

TR:  I don�t know � about the same as Awake. Awake had like five or six, and I think this has five or six � or half. Which is kind of new. I mean, it�s old-school.

RM:  But you know what, if the songs call for it, it�s done. If it�s not called for, we don�t do it.

TR:  That�s kinda how it works. If it seems like a decent section to jam and do a little something there, I mean, then we�ll add it. But some songs, like �I Fucking Hate You,� where it�s real straightforward... It has a lull section, but it didn�t really call for a solo. It�s more of just a jam thing, you know.

ET:  You guys got huge pretty quick.

RM:  It�s been eight years.

TR:  It seems slow to us.

ET:  Was it like one day you were just a little heavy metal band from Boston and the next day you just got kind of huge?

RM:  No, it�s been a slow, nice climb up.

ET:  So it wasn�t scary or anything?

TR:  What happened was we started getting support from a local radio station. And it started blowing up our live shows and we started selling CDs on our own and from there it just kept going and it hasn�t stopped since.

ET:  So, it wasn�t like, �There�s just too many people here! This is just too scary?�

RM:  No, it�s not like Linkin Park. What�d they sell on their first record � 6 million? 8 million? That�s like, right out of box � boom! It�s taken us a little bit of time.

ET:  Is it still overwhelming to play for thousands of people at Ozzfest? TR:  I think it is.

RM:  Yeah.

ET:  Do you throw up before shows or anything?

RM:  I do.

TR:  I don�t get nervous that way.

RM:  I used to. I haven�t been out on the road for a year, so we�ll see. I�ll let you know in about a couple of months. But, you know what, it�s more just anxiety, just getting ready to get out there. Plus, you have the big crowd�

ET:  Can you tell me a little about the new album? Did you work in a different way?

TR:  Yeah, we did. (They look at each other). Well, I�ll go a little while and then you take over when we get down in Florida. We had a long time off, so we kind of rode on our own a little bit, then we all started getting together here and there. We ended up renting a house down in Florida for four or five months.

RM:  August through December.

TR:  Yeah, we lived down there together and we rehearsed within a mile from there. So, we lived and wrote together and rehearsed everyday. So, it was different where the other records we were on tour and we weren�t able to just get in a room all day, you know? It was here and there and the soundchecks. But with this one, we had a lot more time to get together and write together.

RM:  We recorded at the Hit Factory in north Miami. We used David Bartrell who did �I Stand Alone� for us and did the soundtrack to The Scorpion King. He has great drum sounds and bass sounds, and he did the two records for Peter Gabriel. So, we used him and we�re pretty much happy with what�s going on. It sounded pretty good.

ET:  How long did the process take?

TR:  We were only in the studio like six weeks, I believe. And then they had to mix and master a few more weeks after that.

RM:  We just finished it last week.

ET:  Do you miss anything about the days when you first started out?

RM:  I miss my mom�s cooking.

ET:  She doesn�t cook for you anymore?

RM:  Not when I�m on the road.

TR:  In a way, this is more than I would have ever had anticipated this band going. So everything�s a bonus, now, you know? I mean, we were happy just to write good songs and play a few shows and have some people show up and it grew into this. We�re pretty psyched.

ET:  Is there anything you don�t like about the record business?

TR:  Interviews. Me, personally, I�m kind of a to-myself-person� I like being alone. I�ve learned to do it in time. That, and videos � videos, to me, it�s not one of my most favorite things. It�s not, like, music. That�s what I got into this whole thing for is like, playing guitar and all of the music. That�s kind of weird�that part of the business�where you got the fake-playing and you�re kind of playing your guitar. It�s a little weird, but it�s all part of it, right? I�ve learned it and now I do it.

ET:  Do you ever get pressured to be role models?

RM:  I�m not pressured by it. I mean, I try to respect people and people respect me and if I�m a role model, I�m a role model. But, I never really thought about being a role model.

TR:  Yeah, same here. I never really considered it a whole lot.

ET:  Do you guys drink on the road a lot?

TR:  A little bit. I mean, here and there.

RM:  We did. We�ve come a long way with that and promoting that. When you�re on the road, you can�t drink every night because you get too tired, too burnt out the next day. Hungover, playing onstage. After awhile, you�re like, �this isn�t working.� Your body can�t take it. It says �no.� For us, if somebody�s gonna go out and spend 30 bucks on a ticket, we want to give them the best show that we can. During show days, there�s no drinking going on.

TR:  There was for a long time.

ET:  Sully was talking about his battles with it.

TR:  It was knowing when to say no, you know what I mean? We�re good enough musicians where we can drink and play. I even got in the habit of drinking a little bit before every show and I wasn�t even a drinker. But, I was doing it because it was like a party and you get a little buzzed. I�m a good player so I can play buzzed, you know, and it didn�t really affect my performance, but I felt like I was more into it. I�d be like, yeah, I want to get buzzed before I get out there, and then I got into the habit of that where, then if I didn�t do it, it felt weird, so now I got away from that completely� I just smoke weed now.

ET:  You�re not joking.

TR:  No, I�m not. So, I don�t drink as much onstage and it�s cool.

RM:  We don�t drink, period, onstage.

TR:  We got away from that.

ET:  Are you excited about your Grammy nomination?

RM:  The day of the nominations, I was like, �man I can�t wait til next year.� I didn�t even think that we were going to be nominated. Then, we were flying out to New York and Sully goes, �Congratulations, you�re nominated.� I was like, �What?� I had no idea.

TR:  We relatively did nothing all year. You know, we wrote a song� �I Stand Alone� was out there, but it�s on a soundtrack for a movie, so we weren�t like, �Oh our record�s out there� when I was doing it. It�s just a song we did for a movie, so we didn�t expect it.

RM:  I�m happy just to be nominated. We can go in there and have some fun and I have my little award saying �Grammy-nominated.�

TR:  Yeah, I can show my friends at home.

ET:  You guys are going to tape an episdode of Mad TV this week too?

RM:  We were supposed to go home tonight or tomorrow morning, and (the record company) told us about this and she asked us if we wanted to do it, and we were like, �Do we want to do it? When is it?� So, we�re pretty happy to do it.

ET:  If you guys have the opportunity to work, you work?

RM:  Oh, yeah. We�re workdogs. That�s what we do.

TR:  We�ve always been like that.

RM:  When we were down in Miami, we rehearsed everyday.

TR:  We owe it all to Paul Gary.

RM:  Paul Gary, he�s the man right there (points at him) If it wasn�t for him� He�s our manager. That�s why I�m standing right here right now. TR:  We�re a good team. Everyone that�s been involved with us� we�re very focused.

ET:  Are they any unexpected influences your fans might not know about?

RM:  As a bass player, as a fan, I can�t play like them. I�m influenced by the band, by us, when we get in there. I come up with a riff.

ET:  Who does most of the writing?

TR:  Mostly Sully.

ET:  So is he the boss?

RM:  He�s the chief.

TR:  That�s, I think, why we�ve been so successful.

RM:  We�re team players. Sometimes it does suck, and I can say to myself, �This sucks, I didn�t get to write anything on the record.� I tried, but it just didn�t work. But, we�re team players. I wouldn�t be here without everybody. You gotta give up that.

ET:  Do you guys ever get in arguments?

TR:  Not in a long time.

RM:  We�re all a little older, so, we�re not like 19 anymore.

ET:  So we don�t have to expect a big breakup in the near future?

TR:  Actually, we get along better now than we ever have. We lived in a house together for five fucking months without killing each other. Not once did anyone have a problem with anyone, if you can believe that. We were happy. We were down there and everyone got into their little routines, and then we�d do our music thing at a certain time everyday. We�d play one until 7 (p.m), 8 (p.m.) at night, and that was our routine everyday. We�d go out to dinner afterwards or go home � whatever you wanted to do. From there, we kind of went to our rooms, maybe hung out a little bit. But most of the time, we would like go off and just keep to ourselves for a little while and have some alone time. We were doing it six, seven days a week, so it was pretty relentless.

ET:  What�s the upcoming touring schedule like?

TR:  We�re not touring til May.

RM:  We�re going to Europe at the end of February to do some showcasing over there, and then we�ll come back, May, June�I think we�ll go back to Europe a couple of times in the summer and then come back to the States in the fall.

ET:  How did they like you in Europe?

RM:  We�re new right now, so they�re starting to know about the name.

TR:  Our last run over there we did well. We played with Limp Bizkit and I thought we had our best run. We played some great crowds, and then we ended up having to go home early, for about a week or so, but I thought it was our best experience, our last one.

ET:  Do you guys get annoyed by the Wicca questions?

TR:  Ever since people used to ask Sully about it, they�d ask us were we all Wiccan, so no one ever asks me. He keeps it pretty private. It�s public news, but we don�t talk about that. I mean, only amongst the band. It�s something he keeps to himself, for the most part. Our bond is music. We get together and we�re usually talking about the band or music. Not religion, so much. He brought it out because it�s part of him, but he didn�t want anyone to think it�s part of the band or anything.

ET:  Do you want to add anything?

TR:  Check the record out. We�re pretty psyched.

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