Interviews

Jasen Moreno - Drowning Pool - "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor"

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

Apr 3, 2016

7 min read

Metal titans Drowning Pool have joined one of our favourite labels Nuclear Blast and released stellar album ‘Hellelujah’ in February this year and are celebrating with their first Australian tour in twelve long years. With a long list of vocalists during the band’s career, we tracked down the band’s current decibel destroyer Jasen Moreno who has recently experienced his sophomore writing and recording experience with Drowning Pool.

Despite a strong feeling about previous album ‘Resilience’ back in 2013, Moreno believes that ‘Hellelujah’ is the album where the band got into a groove. “We’re really proud of the record as any band would be, but I know the guys have been wanting to release an album like this for a really long time” he says proudly. “It’s enabling us to get back into markets like Australia, and I know the guys speak highly of their time down there and have been wanting to get back for years.”

Obviously, given the several lineup changes, it can take some time for a band to develop a comfortable level of cohesion. “When I joined the band, it was a whirlwind, everything happened so fast and we were just learning each other’s weird quirks out, but eventually we became brutal with each other on this record” – but in a good way the singer exclaims.

“We were pulling punches with each other, and that ensured that only the strongest ideas made it through to the record; it wasn’t always an easy process but it was worth it for the record that we created.”

With numerous anthems coming through from Drowning Pool over the years, Moreno has had to manage the delicate craft of imitating the vocals through the back catalogue whilst creating new music autonomously and with his own personal flavour. “I figured I was hired to be me, not the signature sound specifically, and so I think I’ve done that especially on ‘Hallelujah’ more so than on the ‘Resilience’ album without a doubt.

“In terms of looking back on the back catalogue, I don’t try to put any of my [own sound] into that at all, I try to sing the songs just the way they were recorded and the way they want to be heard, kind of a fair to fans.”

The upcoming tour in July will be Moreno’s very first journey down under and he has some curiosities to address. “A lot of people have told me that Australia is very similar to Texas in some ways – but it sounds like Australia has more crazy critters that can kill you” and as the Texan says “eat your ass up!”

In terms of what fans can expect from the shows, it seems like it’ll be a trip down memory lane. “We touch on all the records in the back catalogue and we’re also playing about you know five songs off ‘Hallelujah’, that being said, we tend to gauge the crowd and give them what they want.”

“We try and cater to the crowd depending on how they react to the heavier track, or determine if they want radio rock Drowning Pool, so either way they’re going to get all the hits but we always try to be mindful of what the people want to hear so we do our job, and that’s to entertain.”

The vocalist reckons Aussie fans better gear up because they’re going to ‘let the bodies hit the floor - “you can expect to see Drowning Pool firing on all cylinders, no half measures, it’s all or nothing; that’s a promise.”