Buckcherry will achieve a career milestone by releasing their tenth studio album, entitled Vol. 10, on June 2. “A new record coming, it’s a very exciting time,” says vocalist Josh Todd. “It’s crazy! When I was dreaming about it as a kid, this is the perfect outcome.”

Vol. 10 begins with a song called “This And That”, which is a unique and intriguing way to start a Buckcherry album, given its clap and stomp retro feel. “We had a lot of different sequences that we were messing with,” recalls Josh. “It was a hard record to sequence because there’s a lot of tempos that are very similar. So, you had to work it in a way where it was a lot of fun to listen to from beginning to end. We started messing around with starting the record with ‘This And That’, and it just stuck. Everybody loved it! Especially Marti (Frederiksen), our producer. He really dug it. And then we kind of tweaked the other songs to make it work. I just thought it was a good way to kind of ease in the record. If you just start out of the gate with a single you know you’re going to drop, that’s pretty predictable. ‘This And That’ is a thumper, once you get into the song. It’s got an Aerosmith type feel, it’s really cool.”

“This And That” certainly does evoke Aerosmith. There’s a funky vibe going on. It’s a 2023 rock ‘n’ roll party with spiked punch from the ‘70s. It really incorporates a lot of different eras and sounds. Vol. 10 is an interesting, and very enjoyable listen. Buckcherry is not resting on their laurels. “Yeah, that’s a good quote. You should write that down. That’s a good way to describe it.”

Producer Marti Frederiksen and Buckcherry have worked together before, specifically on the albums Hellbound, Confessions, All Night Long, Black Butterfly, and 15. They teamed up, once again, for Vol. 10 which was recorded at Sienna Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. “We don’t horse around. We’re pretty efficient with our time; especially when we’re spending money,” states Josh. “Prior to getting into the studio to record the actual record, Marti and I, and Stevie (D, guitarist), got together and did a songwriting session for nine days in Nashville. We worked around the clock. We wrote eight songs in that time-period; and they all made the record. Then we took a couple of songs from the Hellbound sessions and revamped them - ‘This And That’ and ‘Turn It On’ were the spillovers, and that was it. We had written a lot of other songs as well that didn’t make the record, but that’s how it came to the ten songs. Once we wrote all those songs, I already had keeper vocals on it, so my vocals were pretty much done. I did a few little touch-ups on some of the songs, so my time when we actually go in to record the record is very short. Maybe, collectively, five days of recording. Then the other guys would come over and do their parts. It collectively took, maybe just under two weeks.”

That’s similar to the 15 album. Hence its title, as it was done in 15 days. “Yeah, the 15 record, Hellbound was the same way. I told Marti, I said, ‘We could write and record a record in two weeks, as long as we don’t take any days off.’ This is on the Hellbound record, I mentioned it to him. He goes, ‘No, we need days off.’ Then we come back to do Vol. 10. And after we did songwriting for nine days, he was like, ‘You know what? We can do this in two weeks.’ I go, ‘I know, I told you.’ I don’t think that Marti’s ever done songwriting that efficiently with any other act; it’s pretty special.”

It was previously reported that Buckcherry wrote 25 songs for Vol. 10. “I think it’s pretty close, yeah. Let’s see… we had probably 12 written before we went in with Marti, plus the eight, that’s 20. Then we had the spillover from Hellbound. So yeah, maybe it was 25 songs that we were picking from, but we probably wrote about 20 songs freshly for this record.”

Does it hurt to throw away those other songs that didn’t make Vol. 10? “No, no. They didn’t make it for a reason. We have a great record. When I did revisit a song like ‘Turn It On’, I said to Marti, ‘I really like this chorus, but the rest of the song isn’t popping. So, if we could rewrite the rest of the song, we could make this amazing.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, let’s look at it.’ So, we rewrote it, and everybody loved it. And it made the record. ‘This And That’ – I was singing it in a higher octave, and it was just too much for me. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it live. So, we just changed the key. We kept the arrangement the same, and that was that.”

“Turn It On” contains some poignant lyrics: “I ain’t special or insane, I just think that all the good things come to me when I’m in pain.” Josh elaborates upon that line. “I just think… when I wrote that I meant that I’ve had so many breakthroughs from being in a lot of discomfort. I think that’s just growing. If you don’t have that, as an artist or an athlete; or anything that you’re doing – starting a business. You’re going to have those moments where you’re terrified, you’re pushed to the limit, you’re on the edge. And that’s when you find a whole new level, that you didn’t even know existed within you. Doors open and things happen; it’s like miracles happen. That’s been the Buckcherry journey. A lot of peaks and valleys in this story.” Everything from member changes to break-ups and reformations. It’s been a long and winding road – to borrow a song title from The Beatles. “To a severely changing rock ‘n roll atmosphere. Everything, everything you can think of,” counters Josh.

“Feels Like Love” from Vol. 10 is an emotional song, complete with orchestration. Obviously, that’s more than just five guys jamming in a garage. “Well, I said to Marti, ‘I’m obsessed with Def Leppard’s Hysteria. I want Buckcherry’s Hysteria. Give me some music that sounds like that.’ He and Stevie locked themselves up for a few hours, and then they sent me that song. I’m like, ‘This is amazing!’ Marti scatted this melody over it, and I was already writing my own melody. Although they were really similar, his was a little better, and I wrote words over that melody. It’s such a great song! Wait ‘til you see it live. It’s a really amazing part of the set now.”

Visually, Vol. 10 features a photograph of the band on the album cover, as opposed to a piece of artwork. With the exception of the live album, Live & Loud 2009, it’s the first time the guys’ faces have graced the cover. “Yeah, it’s just time. This lineup is really special, and we get along really well. It’s the best lineup BC’s ever had – musically, the songs, everything. Just wanted to do something like that. We haven’t done it in a while, like you said. It was just fun.” And the Roman numeral X tapped onto the bottom of the y in Buckcherry; what a great little touch, indicating that this is the tenth studio album. “Yeah, that’s Francis Ruiz. He’s a really amazing artist. He designed all that. He’s also our drummer. He’s a lovely human being, on top of it all. He’s a total package. We’re so happy to have him.”

“One And Only” is a very current song lyrically. It’s so in tune with what’s happening in 2023. The line “I think that things are going to change, everyone’s playing the blame game; we’re at the end,” speaks volumes. “Yeah, that’s the way I feel. I think that society is at a tipping point for sure,” admits Josh. “That’s what came out. I’m not into writing a lot of songs like that, but that one had to be on the record, and it’s kind of dark in nature. I love the chorus! The chorus hits really hard. We had a different chorus for that song, and I’m like, ‘Marti, we can make a better chorus. This needs to pop more.’ We wrote that right at the end. We changed the chorus for that song, and it finally came together. That’s one of my favorite songs on the record.”

Josh is very critical of his own music. It’s never a situation of, this is good enough, it’ll do. “Absolutely. You do what’s best for the song. You’ve got to be honest with yourself. You can put a song down, and then you sit with it for a couple of days. When you revisit it, if it’s not making you feel like, ‘Oh, I want to hear that again.’ If you don’t have that feeling, then you don’t have a good song. You’ve just got to continue to write. If there’s so much of the song that you really love, then you’ve got to fine tune it and make it… sometimes it’s as simple as the transitions need to be better, the chorus melody needs to be better, or you need to add a bridge. Stuff like that. You just tweak on it, and finally get to a place where everybody is vibing on it. Then you know you’ve got something.”

As mentioned, “One And Only” is unusual for Buckcherry being that it’s a darker song, more political. However, it’s followed up with the opposite side of coin in “Shine Your Light”. A song of hope that’s also a kick-ass rocker. Total yin-yang scenario happening there. “Yeah, you know, ‘Shine Your Light’ is about having that one person, whether it’s a lover or a friend, just somebody that you can be your authentic self around, without being judged. You feel like you can tell them anything. I think everybody needs somebody like that. It’s pretty gnarly out there. You don’t want to talk about anything you’re going through because people will just chew you apart. Everybody has something to say about everything. You have to be very careful, and you need some people that you can confide in.”

Guitarist Stevie D is ripping it up all over Vol. 10, but especially on “Shine Your Light”. That solo is incredible! He’s on fire. “Yeah, Stevie’s a really talented guy! He’s been in the band since 2004. He never got a real opportunity to showcase his talent because of the politics in the band during that time. For him to finally get to shine, it’s really great. We’re writing the best records of our career right now! It’s pretty cool.”

Buckcherry certainly has their own sound. However, “With You” has a distinct Scorpions guitar chug to it. “That’s exactly what I said when I heard it! They sent me the music to that song, and I’m like, ‘This is like Buckcherry meets The Scorpions.’ And I love it. It’s got the dueling guitar thing, the harmonics. They really love that song in Europe, it’s a trip.”

“Pain” is an epic song if ever there was one. It’s a piano ballad, accented by orchestration. It’s such a massive piece of music, so much is packed into four minutes. “Yeah, that’s all the brilliance of Marti Frederiksen right there. I’ll tell you how that song came about. When we first went to Nashville to start writing songs, we went to Marti’s house to kind of pow-wow and have a meeting, listen to demos, and just get a game plan of where we wanted to go when we started the writing process. He had a piano there, and I said, ‘Hey, when did you get this piano?’ He goes, ‘I just got that thing.’ I said, ‘Listen, I want the saddest song that you can come up with on the piano. I want to write, maybe a hidden track, with just vocals and piano.’ He’s like, ‘Ok.’ And that was it. We had that little, quick conversation. Cut to we’ve written so many songs. ‘Feels Like Love’ came in right at the end. I’m at the hotel writing lyrics to ‘Feels Like Love’, and it’s taken me two and a half hours to write the lyrics to that thing. 

“I’m exhausted. I sang all morning I wrote lyrics all night. I’m just ready for bed and Marti’s like, ‘I’ve got something for that piano track you were talking about.’ I said, ‘Ok, send it.’ He sent it to me, and it was just piano. That’s it. I’m like, ‘This is amazing!’ I was in the right place to write that song. I didn’t want to do anything, and I’m trying to go to sleep. I’m like, f*ck! I’m going to tackle that song right now. I’m just in the mood. I was cranky, and I was kind of in my head. That song is very personal to me. It’s about my inner child, and that’s what came out. It came out so well.”

“So, the next day, I was recording ‘Feels Like Love’, recorded the whole song. Then at the end, Marti’s in the control booth, I’m in the vocal booth, and I said, ‘Hey Marti, I’ve got something for that piano song. I want you to hear it. See if you like it.’ He put it up, and I sang it. We all just looked at each other – Stevie was in there, and Marti. I’m like, ‘This is f*cking amazing!’ Marti goes, ‘Listen, just stop. Let me take it home, program some drums, put my stuff on it, and make it a song.’ I said, ‘Ok.’ Cause we only had two parts. I came back the next day and he goes, ‘I think this is Buckcherry’s ‘November Rain’.’ He played the track, and he had added the mid-section, and the end part with that painful guitar chord. The whole thing was like this epic masterpiece. ‘Wow! Marti, this is way bigger than I ever thought it would be. This has got to be on the record now.’ I wrote a little bridge melody that you hear, and just finished all the words. That was it. That’s how the song came about. And it made the record. It wasn’t going to be anything but a little hidden track. Now it’s this massive song that we do live. It’s such a moment in the set.”

Ending the album is a cover of one of the biggest Canadian rock songs of all time – “Summer Of 69” by Bryan Adams. That came out in 1984, and Josh clearly remembers the first time he heard that song. “I do. I lived in Orange County, California. I think every artist has a song that they wish they would have wrote, and that’s one I wish I would have written. It’s undeniable. Bryan Adams was on such a roll at that time. He couldn’t write a bad song, he had so many hits. To me, that song encompasses summer. Summer in Southern California was the best time of my life. I had so many great summers. And when that song hit, I’m like, ‘Man, this thing is amazing!’ Everything that he says in that song, I’ve been through in my youth, and it reminds me of all of that. I sing it with such passion because I wish I would have written it. So, we sped it up a little bit, and put our little flavor on it. And it sounds like a Buckcherry song, that’s what I love about it. That’s the thing with a great song – you can speed it up or slow it down, and it’s always going to sound great cause it’s well written.”

The first video from Vol. 10, for the song “Good Time” is the Buckcherry summertime party – girls in bikinis, in a horror movie! “Well, you know, when we were kids, we took a lot of LSD. We would roll into parties – when you’re a kid and you’re partying, you’re using drugs and alcohol. Sometimes somebody will give you a pill, or something. You don’t know what it is, and all of a sudden you’re hallucinating. That was kind of the whole take behind it. Just a couple guys coming to party, and they start tripping out. They’re having a good time, but every now and then they’ll look at somebody’s face and it will contort into a demon or a monster. It was fun, and it reminded us of… when I was a kid, that’s what we did. We went to house parties in Orange County. Those were the first places I played as a youth because I was too young to get into the clubs, so we played house parties. We would pool our money together, we’d get somebody’s older brother or sister to buy a keg of beer, and we would charge $3 at the door, and let everybody in through the backyard. We’d set up in somebody’s living room or backyard and that was it. We’d make money. We would play and it would be madness. We would play until the cops broke it up.”