Sevendust

The Hall Of Fame might not be banging on their door right now, but they’ll soon be banging on the HOF’s.

Atlanta’s Sevendust are a year away from their 25th anniversary. “I only just realised that bands are eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame after twentyfive years,” says singer Lajon Witherspoon. “We’re gonna be standing outside next year, banging on the door and going: ‘Let us in!’”

The modern-metal veterans show no sign of slowing down on their latest, twelfth album, All I See Is War, a record that tackles turmoil both global and personal head-on. Witherspoon tells Classic Rock that the band still have plenty of fight left in them.

The album’s opening lines are: ‘I’m no stranger to this thing called war.’ What do you mean? Obviously, war is something that’s on people’s minds with everything that’s going on in the world. It feels like everybody is about to go into battle. It might be soldiers, it might be my uncle on the New York City bus. And Sevendust have been to Afghanistan and to Iraq, so I feel like we’re not complete strangers to it.

You played for the troops out there. What was that like?

It was the craziest, scariest, most exhilarating experience you could imagine. You’re in Mosul, in a tank with a gunner sergeant over the top of you and a medic in the same vehicle, going to play for three hundred troops living in a blown-up building. You might see some kid who said: “I saw you at the House Of Blues in Chicago. Thank you for being here and bringing a piece of home to us.” It’s a great experience.

Did you ever consider signing up for the army when you were younger? Every Saturday he [the recruiting officer] would come to my house and try to make me join the Marines. I said: “I think I want to focus on being in a band.” And he said: “You know, Elvis Presley was in a band.” “Yeah, he was, but he was already the King Of Rock’N’Roll when he went in. That was a little different.“

Sevendust’s line-up now is the same as when you started. What’s the secret?

I guess it’s because we grew up together. We’re brothers. If anyone can call us douchebags and get away with it, it’s us.

There must have been some tough times along the way, though?

Oh, sure. You’re touring the world, playing to thousands of people, then at the end of it, all you have is a T-shirt and a Chick-O Stick, and some guy that works for you is driving a Hummer and has a boat. It’s like: “Uh, what just happened?” If I could give advice to anyone getting into the music business, it’s stay true to your art, but always be a businessman or businesswoman. We learned that the hard way.

“Playing to troops in Afghanistan was scary and exhilarating.”

You collect antiques. What’s the most you’ve ever paid for something? [Laughs] I’m a ‘mantiquer’. A lot of the things I have have been gifted to me from fellow mantiquers. One of the coolest things I have is this really old globe with a light in it – it’s so old that the world looks a little bit different. I have all kinds of stuff. I have a bunch of Sam Cooke memorabilia, everything from his Hollywood Walk Of Fame star to the first record deal that he signed. And I have a Lynyrd Skynyrd platinum disc given to me by Ronnie Van Zant’s daughter. That’s in my bar in my house – it’s where Ronnie would have wanted it to be.

All I See Is War is out now via Rise.