SEVENDUST drummer Morgan Rose released his debut solo EP, "Controlled Chaos", on November 27 via Rise Records. Morgan co-wrote the EP with SEVENDUST bandmate Clint Lowery. With Clint on guitar and Jason Christopher (COREY TAYLOR, PRONG) on bass, Morgan tracked six songs in less than ten days at The Lair in Culver City, California.
Asked in a new interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio if it was nerve-racking releasing his first solo EP and doing all the vocals himself, Morgan said (hear audio below): "Yeah. I'm pleasantly surprised that people really liked the first [single from the EP, 'The Answer']. It was so not a big deal to me. It's like the Internet to me. I'll get a thought in my mind, and I've gotten better at this, but I used to get thoughts in my mind, and I would say something on Twitter, and then, all of a sudden, it's, like, people are just coming after me left and right. And I'm, like, these people don't even follow me. Who are these people? You think that you're just kind of thinking out loud, or thinking to yourself, and really, it's coming out, and people are hearing it. So, that was the same thing with this record. I was, like, 'I'm just gonna do the record for me. No big deal.' And then, I was, like, 'Oh, wait a minute.'"
He continued: "There's gonna be plenty of people that hate it, because that's just the way society is these days anyway. If they hated it before, they could hate it in their house. Now they're going to tell me they hate it on the Internet. So, you're gonna have to deal with the criticism, which really doesn't bother me at all. I mean, the whole idea from the start was I'm not a singer; I'm a drummer. But I do write â I write vocals, and I write melodies and lyrics and stuff. So, I was able to do it on my own in that aspect. And it is a little nerve-racking, but it is what it is. People will love it; people will hate it. And I know that the people that are loyal to this band will appreciate it, I'm sure."
Rose began his career over 25 years ago as a founding member of the Atlanta-based metal band SEVENDUST. Morgan's stickwork with the band has been nationally recognized, being named the number one metal drummer by Modern Drummer magazine, as well as one of the top 100 drummers of all time by Drum magazine, Hit Parader and Drummerworld. Rose, in addition to his work with SEVENDUST, is known for his contributions to projects CALL ME NO ONE with Clint Lowery of SEVENDUST and METHODS OF MAYHEM with Tommy Lee of MĂTLEY CRĂE. With an impressive three million albums sold, Rose has proved a powerhouse alongside SEVENDUST, helping the band earn four RIAA gold-certified albums.
SEVENDUST's 13th studio album, "Blood & Stone", was released on October 23 via Rise Records. The follow-up to 2018's "All I See Is War" was once again tracked at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida with producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette, who has previously worked with ALTER BRIDGE and SLASH, among others.
