Page 25 - Black Velvet Issue 95

BV95 pg24-27 Papa Roach Interview_BV95 pg25 19/12/2017 23:40 Page 2

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Dodge and Burn
Dodge and Burn

needed it. It feels good to do that kind of They grow up thinking something is one mind have the mission statement ‘Compas-
stuff.” way when it’s really another. Systems and sion is Genius’. The Re-mind website, over
institutions that are in place are there to at www.re-mind.org, says that Jacoby em-
t’s been a tough year as far as hurri- sort of preserve themselves and not neces- bodies the mission statement because ‘he
Icanes go. They’ve battered certain sarily help people. It’s sort of an intro state- believes in the best of people. Standing on
countries and states leaving people home- ment, we don’t like to get too preachy in the the world stage, he brings his own lived ex-
less, with no roof to call their own. We can’t music, but it’s something Jacoby felt that perience of the challenges of mental illness
begin to imagine how awful it is to have lost he needed to touch on a little bit.” and is a voice for people who are generally
everything, even hope. A fan commented on the video, ‘Come misunderstood’. Jacoby himself began life
And while there isn’t a song relating to my classroom please’. Jerry says, “We homeless. His family lived in a tent and a
specifically to this on Papa Roach’s latest haven’t been to schools as a band, but we van for a while. With that in mind, Jacoby
album, ‘Crooked Teeth’, due to the fact that do try and do things to help music pro- has supported his local homeless organi-
the album was written before then, it does grams in school. We obviously think they’re zation, Sacramento Steps Forward, even
have some socially and politically con- very important, especially in the U.S.; spending a night out on the street as part
scious songs, including ‘American they’re getting rid of a lot of those pro- of their Winter Sanctuary program to raise
Dreams’, which Jacoby wrote while looking grams because they’re extracurricular and funds. These days he has a loving home
at the political climate. In the ‘American they don’t help the test scores and things with a wife and three children, although he
Dreams’ video, Jacoby goes into a school like that, so the funding is getting cut. We still sees dark times. The song ‘Help’ on
classroom to talk about the American do try to do fundraising to keep it, because Crooked Teeth’ came about after Jacoby
Dream. Does Jerry think kids are being it is important.” said to producers RAS and Colin Brittain, ‘I
taught the right thing in schools now? feel like I need some help’. We ask Jerry
While it’s a big topic that would take us a he longer Papa Roach has been a how he feels when he hears songs from Ja-
long time to fully discuss, he replies, “I feel Tband, and the more success they’ve coby where he reveals that he needs help.
like it’s one of those life lessons that people had, the more they’ve wanted to help oth- “It can be difficult sometimes because
really have to get out there and live to fully ers. The members have supported various we wanna be there for him, but then I feel
understand and grasp. And as far as the charities and organisations, with Jacoby like his darkest times just coincide with
American Dream goes, it’s hard to change most recently becoming an ambassador for those periods when he’s not with us, so…
people’s perception of how things work. Re-mind, a mental health organization. Re- that’s how sometimes those songs are

PAPA ROACH