MetalSucks recently had a chat with WALLS OF JERICHO guitarist Chris Rawson at the Long Island, NY stop of the Rockstar Mayhem Festival. Rawson shared his thoughts on performing in front of large audiences, the band's new album The American Dream his thoughts on METALLICA and his other influences, including Motown and JOHN MAYER.

An excerpt from the interview follows:

Q: So you guys have had a big year already. You put out an acoustic EP, Redemption, and now you've put out a new full-length, The American Dream. For a hardcore band, an acoustic EP isn't something you see a lot.

A: "On all of our records, there has always been a mellow track. When we play our own show, no matter what, there will be kids who yell to play those mellow songs even though it's one per record. We've only played one live once. There are always people who want it and there are always people who are like 'I hate that shit. I wish you guys would only play the brutal stuff.' That's a part of us. We don't just listen to hardcore or just listen to metal. If you're somebody who does listen to just one form of music, it's like you're so closed minded that you're missing out on a lot of stuff that'll expand your palette. I've been inspired by stuff that people would just laugh at."

Q: Any examples?

A: "I love John Mayer and Motown. My mom loves Motown, and when I was a kid and started getting into hardcore and metal, that was all I listened to. I was like 'Fuck this shit. I hate everything that's not heavy.' I was 15 years old and if a band started to expand their sound or go somewhere different I was like, 'Fuck them man. They're selling out. What are they doing?' I remember when Metallica put out the Black Album. I heard 'Enter Sandman' and was like, 'Fuck this.' I was mad. I was so bummed out... I was like, 'Why is [James Hetfield] singing like that? It's not fast. What the hell are they doing?' As you get older you realize that Metallica is influenced by more than just metal. Part of what makes them unique and makes them what they are is that they are able to be influenced by other shit and not just metal. If they were just influenced by metal, they would sound like every other band. They don't. They have their own sound because they were influenced by bands like QUEEN.

There are chords on our new record that I straight stole from John Mayer, and you'll never be able to pick them out. There's so much distortion on it and stuff, and I'm playing his chord and I'm like, 'Man, this is the coolest fucking chord ever,' and then I'll put it in a breakdown. There is shit like that that some other random kid could pick up on that and just be like 'Oh this is cool. This dude came up with this weird shit,' not knowing that I really fucking stole it from John Mayer. Music should be... you should just have an open mind to everything."

Read the full interview at MetalSucks.