The seven deadly sins is by no means a groundbreaking theme for an album — but few bands are as worthy as to tackle it. Discovered in the depths of the Sunset Strip, the Hollywood rock band has been making records about getting loaded since the ‘90s and their sixth studio album (which was released on Feb 19.) continues the trend. However, this time around vocalist Josh Todd dug even deeper into his troubled past to make “Confessions” the most personal album to date.
Todd opened up to Reverb about the personal experiences that inspired the concept album, including his father’s suicide, and his latest venture—making movies.
Buckcherry is currently supporting Kid Rock as special guests on the Rebel Soul tour through April 6, with additional worldwide tour dates to be announced. No Colorado date has been announced.
Reverb: A lot of bands have done the seven deadly sins thing before. How did you take that concept and make it your own?
Todd: Itap just been done so many times, but Keith (guitar) and I have been wanting to do it for a couple years now and make it into an LP. I came up with the idea of ‘seven sins and four elements’, thatap where songs like “Water” came from, and then I was writing a screenplay on my own at the time. I condensed it down to a short film, and thatap where it just slowly started becoming more of a theme concept where the record was the soundtrack for the movie and when you saw the movie it brought you back to the record. Itap a great script. We have the casting, we have the director—we’re just trying to get the funds together right now.
Reverb: Will you make a cameo in the film?
I play a Catholic priest.
Really?
Yeah. The story’s about a kid who comes home to find out his dad committed suicide. During the grieving process he acts out the seven sins and he needs help from this Catholic priest at his dad’s funeral. This tattoo-covered Catholic priest is a recovered drug addict and alcoholic who found God and finds comfort in him.
Why did the band choose “Gluttony” as the first sin and first single off of “Confessions”?
We wanted to lead with a sin, of course. You need an up-tempo song to start out with, ya know—you don’t want to start out with a slow song. It was just the best up-tempo sin.
“Gluttony” is obviously about excess and thatap definitely something Buckcherry is known for. Is this song about your lifestyle in the past or are there still excesses in your life right now that inspired this track?
I mean, people struggle with one if not all the sins throughout their lifetime. They’re timeless and itap such a fun subject to dive into, especially from a lyrical standpoint. I had a lot of fun tackling it and bringing it out in song. But at the end of the day we just wanted to make a great rock ‘n roll record—a great Buckcherry record.
Was there one sin in particular that you were the most excited about tackling?
My favorite ones on the record are “Greed” and “Pride”. I’m really happy with the lyrics and I feel like they really serve the sins. All the sins are great but I think those two are really poetic and cool.
“Sloth” covers a more sensitive subject. Is this the first time you’ve written about your father’s suicide?
I’ve done it before but none of the songs have reached the public. It was just the right time, ya know? Itap our sixth record and it was the time to tell my story. I had to go back to that day, that was really tough for me, but when I hear the song I really love it. When I was doing research on the sins I found that the most ‘slothful’ act was suicide so I’m like, all right—I’m going to choose this day and this time in my life and go for it. I really have no boundaries and I think its all right.
I saw that Buckcherry is headlining three shows at the Viper Room in March. How do you feel about going back to rooms like the Viper Room?
Well, ya know we’ve just done so many stages—clubs, arenas. We’ve done it all. So to go back there is really cool because itap where it all began for us. We really started a big movement there and thatap where we got our record deal. Itap gonna be f##king crazy—thatap why I wanted to do it.
Is the live set going to pull a lot from the new record or are you mixing it up with the old stuff?
Well, we have six albums of material to pick from. We’ve already put in 122 shows since we finished recording “Confessions.” We’re a fine oiled machine right now. This is what we do—we play live. Thatap the only place to make a living any more in rock music.
Are you finding these projects, the film and the album, cathartic for you?
Absolutely. But you know, every Buckcherry record is personal to me. I put a lot of my own experience into all of our songs but this record was really, really personal. I also think its one of our best and it was a lot of fun to do. People are really digging it and thatap what matters.
Follow our news and updates on and our relationship status on Or send us a telegram.
Paige Montgomery is a Denver-based freelance writer. Check out more of her work on Ի.
