Audiotopsy, the new band featuring guitarist Greg Tribbett (Mudvayne, Hellyeah), drummer Matt McDonough (Mudvayne), vocalist Billy Keeton (Skrape) and bassist Perry Stern, is the result of Mudvayne being on an indefinite hiatus. What with Chad Gray still fronting Hellyeah, it makes it more than five years since Mudvayne’s last release. On its debut release, Natural Causes, Audiotopsy possesses an explosive, modern sounding progressive rock sound that strives to be different from the members’ previous bands. Mr. Tribbett spoke to BraveWords writer Kelley Simms about what he’s striving for with his new band. 

BraveWords: Yourself and Matt obviously are already musically comfortable with each other, but what’s the chemistry like between the members in Audiotopsy? 

Greg Tribbett: “Of course me and Matt have always been like brothers. We’ve known since 2010 that we needed a break from Mudvayne. Billy just came on board and he was already playing with Perry, so they were kind of a packaged deal. As far as gelling as a band, it feels like we’ve been a band forever. We get along great and as soon as we started recording songs, it started gelling right away.”

BraveWords: Your sound should appeal across many platforms of musical genres. What were you striving for? 

Greg Tribbett: “I was striving for, first of all, originality. Second of all, (to) not (be) a metal band, but a progressive hard rock band. I think we’ve accomplished that, especially with Billy singing. He doesn’t do a lot of screaming at all; he sings, and he’s a great singer. That’s what I wanted to bring to the table with him. I don’t think (Audiotopsy) sounds anything like Mudvayne or Hellyeah. My goal is to be very original. When I wrote this record, I wanted it to be fresh and new.”

BraveWords: I understand that the songs on the album came together pretty quickly. How did that process go?

Greg Tribbett: “After I talked to Matt about a year ago, we decided to start doing music again together. So I fly up to his house and we wrote seven songs in two days. After that, we contacted Billy and got Perry in the band, went to Florida and recorded those seven songs. Then we recorded the other three last January. It came together really quick man. This whole process has come together quick and it just seems with these tunes, this band is just ready to happen.”

BraveWords: After recently signing to Napalm Records. What’s your thoughts and expectations of the label?

Greg Tribbett: “The label was very anxious to get this band. We were talking to about five different labels and they’re very excited. They wanted the band and they loved the songs. As far as expectations go, I expect they’re probably going to get behind us 100 percent. Also I think we are a band that Napalm were looking for to break Napalm Records in the United States because they’re much bigger in Europe. So, we’re working together to accomplish that on both ends.”

BraveWords: Natural Causes was self-produced at Laud Productions and The Porch Studio in Florida with engineer Tim Laud. What was it like wearing the producer’s hat for this release?

Greg Tribbett: “Well, it’s not the first time I’ve produced bands. I’ve produced Nonpoint. With my experience and my growth, I know how to write songs. I’ve been in the studio many times, long hours, and I know what goes on in there. But a lot of its just patience and taking direction from other guys and gelling all our ideas together. Other than that, there’s really not much to it.”

BraveWords: The cover art image and the title is pretty self-explanatory, but describe the concept of the cover.

Greg Tribbett: “With the album title Natural Causes, it basically shows what happens in nature. The dragonfly up on the Venus flytrap is basically going to his death and that’s what happens in life. And that’s why we titled the record Natural Causes. We put a lot of time into the artwork and it came out killer.”

BraveWords: The layered vocal harmonies are huge and they remind me of Alice In Chains harmonies.

Greg Tribbett: “We can’t help our influences. I’m old school, classic rock from Zeppelin to Randy Rhoads. All my guitar work I did in Mudvayne and Hellyeah was influenced by Jimmy Page and all the stuff he did. To make it not so much intricate but a variety of tones I can use in different ways. All of our harmonies on the album are Billy and Perry, they’ve been singing together for years. Perry took on the duty of singing backup harmonies and of course there is some layered stuff on there, too.” 

BraveWords: A lot of bands usually say their newest album is always the best stuff they’ve ever done, clichéd or not. But do you think the work in Audiotopsy is your best stuff to date?

Greg Tribbett: “I think personally it is my best stuff to date because I wrote the entire record. This is my baby. This is what I’ve been waiting to do for a long time. There’s not too many cooks in the kitchen, it’s just me. So I wrote whatever I wanted to. It took over a year to come together. It’s been received well and we’ve been getting a lot of positive comments and energy on the record and I’m happy about it.”

BraveWords: “Swim” is a great ‘this world has gone to shit’ song with great lyrics and a mood that strengthens that sentiment. But at the same time, because it’s so infectious and melodic, somehow there’s a message of hope.

Greg Tribbett: “The theme is definitely the world has gone to shit and everybody hates their jobs and hates their lives and you just want to swim away and get your life back. But in the end, you find yourself drowning in the world of misery and you just need to swim out of it. And that’s basically what the song means.”

BraveWords: Every track has a great hook in it, whether it be a vocal line, instrumentation or a chorus. There’s just something about each song that stays with you after its conclusion.

Greg Tribbett: “I think that was inevitable what we were going for, especially with Billy’s vocal style. He came up with a lot of the vocal hooks and of course I had the guitar hooks. We were going for a big, hooky record, that was definitely the idea. In these songs, I wasn’t concentrating on any kind of solo work at all. It was more about tone and melody to me and I love the way the record turned out.”

BraveWords: Are you looking to hook up with a big tour with an established band or take a chance and headline shows on your own?

Greg Tribbett: “I think it’s too early to go out headlining. A lot of people don’t even know who the band is. So we’re definitely looking to go out and support someone and hopefully we can do that in the late Fall/Winter this year. We’ve put out a lot of feelers and we’re just waiting for the right tour to come across for us. I just want to go out and tour and support the record. I want to achieve a certain success with this record so we can continue to put out more records. Who knows when the next one will be, but I expect to be on the road for 18 months on this record and after that we’ll go from there.”