John Connolly of Sevendust and Projected – Interview

2021-05-17

Projected band featuring John Connolly of Sevendust

Projected – Story by Anne Erickson, courtesy photo via Projected

John Connolly of Sevendust and Projected joins Anne Erickson to discuss Projected’s new album, “Hypoxia,” and more

John Connolly is known as one of Sevendust’s two guitarists, along with Clint Lowery, and he has a bevy of other projects, including his band Projected. In Projected, Connolly sings leads, and on the band’s new album, “Hypoxia,” it’s obvious he’s comfortable in the role.

Songs such as “My Addiction” and “Take Aim” show off Connolly’s deep, rich vocal tone, with the kind of power and confidence that usually only comes from seasoned vocalists. The album will arrive on June 24.

Speaking with Audio Ink Radio from Sevendust’s “Animosity” anniversary tour, Connolly discussed two of the album’s standouts: “Stain” and “Scars.” Regarding “Stain,” Connolly calls it a “fun song about trying to save the world and make it a better place, trying to have a little bit of positivity in the mix, since ‘Hypoxia’ is a little bit on the negative tip.” As for “Scars,” it’s “sort of the same thing,” Connolly says, “as opposed to harping on all the negative different things, (this song is) trying to offer the other side of the coin. Instead of everything sucks, it’s, okay, if it does suck, maybe I can hep fix it, whether it be the world, or with ‘Scars,’ it’s more of a personal one-on-one type of situation.”

With Sevendust being on tour right now, Connolly says things are finally starting to feel back to normal, following the global pandemic. “We had a two-year pause that everybody had, but it finally feels normal again. We’re not hunting for our masks, and I’m not worried of any of that stuff that we were worried about on those first couple of tours… It finally feels like we might be, sort of, out of the woods. Obviously, I don’t want to never say never, but it feels good. We’re not thinking about Covid for the first time in a long time, and that’s a good spot to be in. We’re just back to the music.”

As for what’s new with Sevendust, Connolly says, “We’re just writing. We’re in demo mode right now. We’re going to hit the studio in the summer. We’re working up as many new demos as we can. We’ve started working with LJ (to) get the vocal process going. But, yeah, probably July, August hit the studio, and then I think we’re going to do more ‘Animosity’ in the fall. There’s been such a demand for it. I think we’re going to do a third run in September.”

As for the direction, “It’s hard to say. It’s sort of very, all over the place, in typical Sevendust fashion until we really start to hone in and figure out what’s going to make it and what’s not. We’re realists at this point. We know that all the early stuff we work on in the demo stage is ether going to be the first single or it’s probably never going to see the light of day, so some of these songs are just a stepping stone to get to something cooler. It’s always exciting when you’re at this part of the process, because you just don’t know… I would imagine probably in the next six weeks we’ll have a lot more of a shape and sound. but, yeah, the vibe is just a big question mark. It’s a big, wide-open canvas right now, which is good, because we’ve got tons of ideas to fill it with, for sure.”

Anne Erickson
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Posted by Anne Erickson | Features, Interviews, Metal, Music, Rock

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