Clint Lowery may not be a household name yet but there’s a good chance he will be with the release of his new solo album, God Bless the Renegades. You’ve probably been singing Clint’s lyrics and humming his riffs for years, without even realizing it. He’s released four solo EPs under the moniker Hello Demons… Meet Skeletons and he’s toured with multiple bands, including Korn. He’s got his own custom guitar and in his 20+ year tenure with Sevendust, he wrote some of their most poignant songs, notably, “Angel’s Son” and “Skeleton Song.” Earlier this week, I had the honor of sitting down to speak with him about the new album and his upcoming solo tour.
“Kings” is an epic single. Is it the first song you wrote for the album?
No it was kind of in the middle of the process, which spanned about two years. I’ve been writing for it for a long time. The first draft of “Kings” was actually more of a hip-hop thing, the beats were all electronic. There weren’t any guitars on it at all. It was just this melody. I wrote it, then took it to this producer/songwriter/great guy Drew Faulk. Together we kinda shaped it into that and then when I brought it to Elvis, from that point on it became this big “We Will Rock You!” kind of song, so it had many stages of development.
Birth of an anthem!
Yeah, every rock record needs that anthem song; I guess that’s kind of the one.
What’s behind the title, God Bless the Renegades?
It’s a nod and a showing of gratitude to people who think outside of the box, the true pioneers, people who do something different that changes things, even though, at the beginning, they’re met with resistance. It can be a thought or an expression or a statement that someone is bold enough to make and that isn’t met with acceptance but needs to be said, it needs to be done in order to make things change. When you see someone say something that just makes your head tilt, like, “I wish I woulda thought of that! You said it. You said what I wanted to say,” God bless those people. I’ve known a few of those sorts of people throughout my life. So I say, “thank you so much for being unafraid and doing something different, away from that sheep mentality.”
I know that most of your previous solo work was released under Hello Demons… Meet Skeletons. Was there something that changed and finally inspired you to make this the Clint Lowery Album?
It was a lot of working through insecurities. There’s something about hiding behind a name. Trent Reznor did it with Nine Inch Nails. Now he uses his own name for his film scores. But he’s earned the right to do whatever he wants. There’s something cool about being able to do both… I didn’t think my name was cool enough for the longest time but at the same time, I might as well just throw it all out there. Nothin’ to hide behind, no one else to hide behind, it’s just my name, for better or worse. I love my other projects, going strong with Sevendust. I just wanted to build my name, announce myself as a solo artist. I didn’t want there to be any confusion as to what it was that I was presenting to the world.
Your 2020 solo tour is with Alter Bridge, that seems like such a natural choice — Your bands have been friends for decades, haven’t they?
All those guys, we’ve got a lot of history, like you said. I’m already a little nervous about going out on my own, even though I’ve got these two amazing guys I’m gonna play with, but it’s still… with Alter Bridge, it’s almost like having a security blanket. You’ve got this really cool band and crew that you know and you’re comfortable with— it’s not like you’re out there with strangers, it already feels like you’re home. I feel more confident just knowing all those guys are back there. They’re taking care of me and I’m trying to make their tour as good as it can be. I’m very thankful to them for taking me out. It’s just gonna be a great way to break the ice. Every night will be fun.
It’s funny that you have so much humility because, as a musician myself, I’ve always felt that having your own custom instrument is the pinnacle of fame and admiration. So, when you got your PRS Signature were you like, “That’s it. I’m officially a rockstar”?
Hah. You know, it’s one of those things where, if you woulda told the 22-year-old version of me that that was happening, my mind would have exploded but by the time it was finally happening I was kinda bitter. (I’m joking!) When it did happen, it was surreal. It’s such a process with Paul Reed Smith guitars especially. They’re very meticulous about how they put the guitars together— there’s a lot of things that go in. It takes about a year for that to happen, so when it finally arrived, it hit me and I got emotional one day driving around ‘cause I’d seen a picture of the final draft and I was like, “Wow, this is happening!” And this is absolutely on the bucket list. If it all ends tomorrow, that will be one of the Top 5 things that— I did that. It happened. It was a dream.
You’re like, “Proudest accomplishments: my kids… and the guitar”
Yeah, kids first. The guitar is a close second though. It’s definitely a big one.
I’m sure fans and friends have sent you pix of them playing the custom guitar. Favorite one?
There’s this whole underground following that sends me pictures all the time: that’s a huge thing. I can’t like it enough. It was a limited run. It’s not a tremendous amount of people who got ‘em, so, the ones that did, I can take five seconds out of my day to just say, “Thank you.” It means a lot.
Last year I was at a Myles Kennedy show where he said that he always feels shocked and honored when fans have tattoos of his lyrics — have you had a similar experience? I’d imagine songs like “Angel’s Son” have inspired people to get permanent reminders of things that you’ve written.
A lot of people don’t realize, with Sevendust, I write a lot of the lyrics — “Angel’s Son” and “Skeleton Song”— those are the two that really stand out, as far as people tattooing lyrics – that’s the most humbling thing for me, when I see people do that, I think, “that affected them on such a deep level.” It’s the ultimate payoff. Every time they look down, they see those words… that’s a tremendous nod to get from anybody. Success can be defined in a lot of different ways. In my mind, giving people a bit of hope is the greatest thing that you can give.
Is there a gig you’re particularly excited about on the new tour?
Booking a solo tour while Sevendust is still super active, I knew it was gonna be an undertaking, but I try to find the balance in there. I’d like to slow down on touring but there’s a part of me that wants to strike the iron while it’s hot and there’ll be a time in my life when I’ll look back and miss the road, so as long as I can stay in contact with my family and my kids regularly, I don’t want to lose that. I think there’s a way to balance it. You’ve just gotta make the effort.
I’m sure you’ve already done a ton of interviews for the new album, so is there one question you haven’t been asked yet that you’d like the chance to answer?
Hmm, Yes. “Why now? Why do you want to do it now? Why do I want to step into that front man position?” Ultimately the answer for me is, I’ve written words that Lajon has sung beautifully and really connected to people— he has a gift in that way. I just wanted to have that feeling, selfishly. I wanted to be the messenger. I want to be the one who is looking at the audience and having them sing it back. I want the emotion, to share it with their lives. That’s all I want. I don’t need any stroke on the back for my work. I would just like to look and have that beautiful, real connection between the fan and the artist. It’s such a cool thing and I want to have it before my career is over.
Ok! Back to my questions. Ha. What is the overarching message of the new album?
A lot of the songs are about self awareness, calling out your narcissism, calling out how easy it is for us to get caught up in ourselves and not care about anything else. I’m guilty of it. Everyone is. I think a lot of these songs say, “let’s look at our motives. What are we doing with social media? Why are we only putting out the best parts of ourselves and the highlight reels? Why don’t we talk about our depression and real life stuff ‘cause I think that’s inspiring too.” If you’re gonna use socials, be honest. It’s like that, picking up the mirror and looking at yourself and really asking yourself, “Am I genuine? Am I caring? Am I selfish? Am I this and that?”
What’s the song on this album that you feel most connected to?
There’s a song at the very end that’s completely out of the realm for what I usually do. It’s really uplifting. It’s a song called, “Do We Fear God?”— I wasn’t gonna put it on the record ‘cause it’s poppy, inspirational, almost like Christian Rock— It’s actually a song about not being willing to trust that there’s a God, whatever your definition of that is. I don’t really lean on religion but I’ve been connected to this God in my life. Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it’s bad. Sometimes it’s weak. Sometimes it’s strong. It goes back and forth. The song is just a really honest assessment of where I’m at with that. It’s the deepest song to me, emotionally. ‘cause it’s calling me out, calling out all our shallow tendencies as people, when we should really be digging deep and becoming these connected people with other people and God or whatever your thing is, whatever your belief system is. The song moves me because it is, in essence, a spiritual song
I can’t believe I have to wait ’til January to hear the album in its entirety. It sounds like this is going to be an album that reaches a ton of your goals, ‘cause everything you’re putting in to it is what we’re going to get out of it as fans.
Awww. I hope you’re right. It was a success already, just making the record and getting it out there creatively and to get any kind of positive feedback is just a bonus to this thing. It’s already a win for me!
Thank you for your time and your heartfelt answers.
Happy to do it. This has been a pleasure!
By I’m Music Magazine Contributing Writer Sabrina Stone
Pre-order your copy of God Bless The Renegades:
https://RiseRecords.lnk.to/renegades
