"There was a rumour that I had a secret underground water park in my backyard": Papa Roach's Jacoby Shaddix on overnight success, the path to sobriety and the nu metal resurgence

(Image credit: Bryson Roatch)

Papa Roach Frontman Jacoby Shaddix sets the scene prior to the veteran Californian nu metallers playing three 25th-anniversary UK shows in celebration of their multi-million-selling breakthrough album Infest, with support from American metalcore band Wage War.

Back in 2000, Papa Roach spoke about the fortitude of the roach (“cut off its head, it can survive until it starves to death”). How come you’re really still here and selling out arenas?

This was the goal all along. We didn’t just wanna be a flash in the pan. We wanted to be a band that had a career, a legacy. It’s been a journey, and I truly believe 2025 will be another high point.

For a band playing to just thirty people in a New York Club, it’s pretty wild that 2000’s Infest went double-platinum within a couple of months.

It was our time. We had spent several years crafting and honing our skills and refining who we were as musicians and as artists. Infest really struck a chord with the youth culture. Its honesty and vulnerability were received and celebrated.

How did its apparent overnight success affect you as a person?

I had no idea how to handle fame. I just partied my way through it. Eventually the dust settled, and I had to change my ways if I wanted to have a career.

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Will you be playing the album from front to back, or dropping in the songs as you go along?

I have no desire to play the entire album from front to back. But we are gonna go into some deep cuts, throw in some old-school tracks and some re-imagination moments of the old-school era. We definitely want to celebrate it, but we have so much going on now that we want to celebrate that as well. It’s gonna be a journey through the years.

All this time later, how do you think Infest stands up?

It stands like a skyscraper in the Papa Roach landscape of music.

In presentation terms, what kind of a show are you planning in these huge venues?

This will be our biggest show to date. The production level is going to be elevated like Papa Roach fans have never seen before. We are so over-the-top excited.

Tell us about the validity of nu metal.

It got a raw deal at the time, but the charts don’t lie. There were a lot of polarising personalities in that genre. Love it or hate it, it was a massive movement. The reality is we all sounded so different from each other. I’m just so grateful that that era and music is having a resurgence with the youth of today. Not a lot of genres get to have a second time in the sun. Nu metal definitely is having a moment right now. We are definitely going to seize this moment.

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You’ve been sober since 2012. Is rock music wrong to glamourise alcohol and drugs the way it does?

Rock definitely glamourises the self-destructive lifestyle. I was part of it. I’ve lost friends and family members to it. I guess that’s what made me want to change. All I’ll say is that I’m grateful that I put the bottle down back in 2012 for good. My life is forever changed. I was headed down a path to utter self-destruction.

What’s the best rumour you’ve heard about yourself?

There was a rumour that I had a secret underground water park in my backyard. That’s some funny shit right there.

Papa Roach are preparing a twelfth studio album, to be released in 2025. What should we expect?

We’re picking up where we left off with our album Ego Trip [2022], but some of the songs on this new one are a bit heavier.

Might we get to hear a song or two at the shows?

You’ll have to come to the show to find out.

Papa Roach's UK dates include London’s Wembley Arena on February 7, Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena on June 8, and Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena on June 9. Tickets are on sale now.

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Dave Ling was a co-founder of Classic Rock magazine. His words have appeared in a variety of music publications, including RAW, Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Prog, Rock Candy, Fireworks and Sounds. Dave’s life was shaped in 1974 through the purchase of a copy of Sweet’s album ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’, along with early gig experiences from Status Quo, Rush, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Yes and Queen. As a lifelong season ticket holder of Crystal Palace FC, he is completely incapable of uttering the word ‘Br***ton’.