Papa Roach Biography

As it generally does with most big bands, the story starts out in a small town in Northern California called Vacaville. A few high school chums decided to start a rock group, and in early 1993 Papa Roach was born. Members at the time included Will James on bass, lead vocal Jacoby Shaddix, David Buckner on drums, and Alan Dan Pease on the trombone. This was a band that derived its influence from elite Bay Area phenoms that included Primus and Faith No More. Their first non-paying gig was seen at Vacaville High School where they covered Jimi Hendrix’s Fire in the school talent competition. Soon after this, Jerry Horton on guitar replaced Alan de Pease making the four piece lineup complete.

While rehearsing in the standard garage days kind of way, it did not take long for Papa Roach to explode the music world in Vacaville with their unique blend of hardcore, funk, and hip-hop. After they spent the standard time of paying their dues in coffee shops, pizza parlors, and keggers, they soon became headlining acts at the San Jose Cactus Club, Sacramento Cattle Club, and the infamous Berkeley Square.

Potatoes for Christmas was their first EP, a 7 track record released in 1994. Jacoby Shaddix led the band in their live shows with his unmitigated power and unpredictable antics. With this, the younger demographics leached onto Papa Roach and exploded the band into unprecedented success. This key demographic following enabled them to support other up and comers the Deftones, Incubus, Human Waste Project, Snot, Downset, Fu Manchu, and Far as key show openers.

In 1996, Papa Roach recognized that necessary changes were required in order to move beyond their current status in the music industry. With this realization, Will James was replaced with Tobin Esperance as the new bass player. This 16 year old had been an avid follower of Papa Roach since their smoky beginnings and slipped easily into James’ spot to enable James to pursue religious commitments. The next big leap for Papa Roach was adding Bret Blair to the team as full-time manager for merchandise, bookings, and promotions. With these two key changes, Papa Roach launched their first full-length album.

The album was recorded for a mere $700 in the Pittsburg, CA studio of E.S.P. and Old Friends from Young Years was released in February 1997. The CD is a 13 track set including “Orange Drive Palms” and “Liquid Diet”. Following the launch of this album, college radio and independent stations latched on to the Papa Roach sound and stations in Sacramento, San Jose, and Chico all added Papa Roach to play lists. It was not long before Papa Roach became the number one requested band for five weeks strong at California State Sacramento. Following this, Papa Roach produced a series of release shows for their album at Vacaville, Berkeley, and Sacramento, with appearances that accumulated almost 1500 attendees.

It did not take long for promoters to start realizing the exploding popularity of Papa Roach. Bookings as openers for large nationals began pouring in. 1997 marked the year Papa Roach worked as the opening band for Suicidal Tendencies to a Sacramento crowd of 1,000. Other major dates they headlined included Powerman 5000 and Sevendust.

April 1998 saw the release of their second EP “5 Tracks Deep” which is just as it is called, a five track album. This record sold 1,000 copies within one month of release and personifies their growth and proficient song writing capabilities. Their hit “Revenge in Japanese” exemplifies their signature hip-hop sound with true Papa Roach raw energy that appeals to a wide range of listeners. With this EP, Warner Brothers started listening to them seriously, and there was talk of a 5 track promo/demo CD, but Warner Brothers chose not to conclude the project.

In 1999, their last EP Let ‘Em Know was created, and emphasized their mature sound. This caught the attention of Dreamworks Records and a recording contract was born. The debut of their album Infest in 2000 launched Papa Roach into the mainstream with their hit “Last Resort” and 30,000 copies being sold within the first week. International tours were next on the lineup for Papa Roach taking them to the United Kingdom and Japan. In 2002, their second album with Dreamworks lovehatetragedy was released and managed to out climb their first album on the charts.

2003 saw the release of their third major label album, Getting Away with Murder under the production of Howard Benson and a new label Geffen Records. This album came with a soft sound signifying their first change in music styles, and hits included “Take Me” and “Scars”. Since its release, the album has gone platinum with over 1 million copies in record sales.

After extensive touring, Papa Roach released the The Paramour Sessions with Geffen Records in 2006 using the Paramour Mansion, home of the silent film actor Antonio Moreno, as inspiration for the album title. “To Be Loved” was their first hit off this album, with this album showing a more alternative rock sound launching them to #16 on the Billboard 200. 2007 saw the launch of “Forever” off this album as the second single and their video for “Forever” shortly followed.

Following this, the band experienced some personal problems when David Buckner dropped out of the 2007 tour due to “personal matters” which included a brief jaunt in rehab. Drummer from Unwritten Law, Tony Palermo, is currently sitting in for Buckner.

Currently talk of an acoustic album featuring their biggest hits are in the works, however Shaddix has indicated the band is waiting for fans to show readiness for an acoustic move.