It’s been over six years since the members of stadium filling hard rockers Creed went their seperate ways and, without notorious frontman Scott Stapp, went on to form hard rockers Alter Bridge. It’s now 2009 and Creed have put their past issues behind them to reform with their troubled frontman and, with a new album just out, are ready to prove they’re still relevant in 2009.
Planet Loud – Hey Scott, how’s it going?
Creed – Good thanks, I’m just at home now hanging out. We’re ready to put Creed on hold for the Christmas holiday and are just sorting things out for 2010.
Planet Loud – What’s been going on with Creed then?
Creed – We’ve just finished a two and a half month US tour which was amazing. There was a lot of old fans and new fans and it was a chance to dust off some of the old songs which was quite nostalgic.
Planet Loud – Yeah? How did it feel?
Creed – It was amazing playing those songs again, songs that we wrote that we haven’t played for years. It was incredible and the reaction from the fans was really satisfying too. A lot of new fans were telling us that they were fans of the band but never got chance to see us the first time around while the older fans said it was still as good as they remember it.
Planet Loud – Was it good for you?
Creed – Yes. It was just so good being back on stage together. If we’d have been having this conversation a year or so ago, I’d have said the idea of us getting back together would have been a none-starter but now it felt right to put aside our differences, put right the wrongs and, when we heard that Scott had been sorting out his issues and problems, it just felt right to do something together again.
Planet Loud – It’s been a long time since you guys broke up..
Creed – Oh definitely but the thing is that three out of the four of us went on to form Alter Bridge which I think made us become tighter, not just as musicians but as friends as well so, when we heard Scott had a new outlook on life and music, we started to open up to the idea of working together again.
Planet Loud – What were the original meetings like? Was it like opening up old wounds?
Creed – Not as such. The first meetings were just general chats and, to be honest, we’ve all grown up as people so we didn’t go in there and start pointing fingers at each other and accusing each other of saying this or that. It wasn’t like that. We just talked about things and we all realised that we’d grown up as people. I think I’d describe those first meetings as cautiously optimistic.
Planet Loud – What did you learn in those six years?
Creed – A lot of things but mainly that the small things aren’t that important. We realised how important communication is and how talking to each other stops things building up and eating away at you. That’s one of the things we didn’t do and, who knows, if we had talked to each other all those years ago, we probably wouldn’t have split up.
Planet Loud – Like you’ve said, you formed Alter Bridge which, unfairly, was dubbed as Creed Without Scott. Did that frustrate you?
Creed – It did a bit yeah because that was never the intention. We just wanted to write and play music we enjoyed. To be honest the first Alter Bridge album did sound like Creed but after that we started to write more about the music we wanted to.
Planet Loud – And what about the new Creed record? What did you want to achieve with that?
Creed – We wanted to write a record to show that we’re still relevant in 2009. We wanted people to realise that, even though we haven’t written or recorded together as Creed since 2002, we could still write a great record that was relevant in 2009.
Planet Loud – What was the writing process like?
Creed – It was really quick to be honest with you. The thing about Mark is that he is always writing whether it’s Creed or Alter Bridge so we had millions of ideas we could look at. 99% of them were great so we just sat with him contributing our ideas and eventually it came together to make the record that is out now.
Planet Loud – Now the album is out and you’ve done the live tour, does it feel like the reunion has been cemented?
Creed – Oh yeah, definitely. I think when we first started the plan was to do the tour and just see how it went. Then we wrote a couple of new songs, then four or five and then, well, we couldn’t just stop there so it ended up becoming an album and, from there, we’ve got all sorts of things lined up for next year.
Planet Loud – How or does Alter Bridge fit into those plans anywhere?
Creed – Yes. Alter Bridge isn’t ending, it’s just on a break while we do Creed stuff. We’re very excited about the next year and Alter Bridge is a big part of that. We’re up for the challenge of doing two bands so hopefully everything will pan out as we hope.
Planet Loud – And what about the future beyond this album?
Creed – I’d definitely say to everyone that we’re going to give this a good go. We’re hoping to tour for a good six or seven months next year so after that then there is no reason right now why we can’t do another record.
Planet Loud – Excellent, thanks for your time Scott..
Creed – No problem, good talking to you, thanks for the support.
Interview by Graham Finney
