After a 5 year hiatus and one album with Army of Anyone, Richard Patrick has returned to his musical legacy with the release of Filter's new album 'Anthems for the Damned.' Filter, who last released 'The Amalgamut' in 2003, disbanded while Richard Patrick put his life back together after sobriety and after a brief stint in the rock supergroup Army of Anyone with Stone Temple Pilot brothers Robert and Dean Deleo, Patrick is ready to continue Filter's journey. Although Filter has a new touring lineup, the songwriting continues to originate from Patrick and he has the freedom to write with many different artists and on 'Anthems for the Damned' Patrick is joined in the studio by John 5, former Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie guitarist, former Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland and drummer extraordinaire Josh Freese.
We caught up with Patrick recently to get his thoughts on the songwriting process and how it was to write with different musicians for 'Anthems for the Damned.'
Richard Patrick On The Songwriting Experience In Filter
"The Filter experience for the most part has been, I'm the leader, I do a lot of the writing but I work with who I want to work with. So I use that knowledge of 'Who will I work with. Who do I want to work with?' Josh Freese. Josh Freese is an amazing drummer. I have the opportunity to play with anybody I want so why not work with Josh Freese? Josh Freese came in and within like a couple of hours literally played all the drums for my record. John 5...Wes Borland. I worked with Wes Borland. Have him come in and play some guitar tracks. It was a very freeing kind of experience."
With the first single off 'Anthems for the Damned' being "Soldiers of Misfortune" and other songs like "What's Next", "Hatred is Contagious", "Kill the Day" and "Lie After Lie" drawing inspiration from the current state of the world, Patrick also talked about the album being a way for him to cope.
Anthems For The Damned Way For Patrick To Cope
"I'm embarrassed of what we're doing as a species. I'm embarrassed of what we are not seeing, which is an incredible gift of being alive and intelligent. We're able to point a telescope and see the most distant galaxies in our universe but we can't even deal with not killing everybody. Like we can't seem to stop killing each other. So, 'Anthems for the Damned' is my way of coping, my way of processing being a part of this catastrophe."
So after the success of Army of Anyone giving Richard Patrick the opportunity to be in a band, when did he know it was time to make a return with Filter?
"I was on tour with Army of Anyone and we we're playing 'Hey Man, Nice Shot' and 'Welcome to the Fold' and I just like you know, there's some unfinished business with Filter and I feel like it was the right time to return with Filter."
"Anthems for the Damned" will be available on May 14th. Filter will be performing on FX! as part of Operation: MySpace on April 12. Check your local listings for show times. Filter will then start their tour in support of "Anthems for the Damned" in Austin, Texas on April 24th and the band will be making a much talked about stop in Columbus, Ohio as part of Rock on the Range. Look for Filter to make appearances in Europe this June as well at Rock Im Park and Rock Am Ring.
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