Hollywood Undead has a sound all their own. The mask wearing band consists of six Los Angeles area friends, Johnny 3 Tears, J-Dog, Charlie Scene, Funny Man, Da Kurlzz, and Danny. They reached gold status with their 2008 debut album, Swan Songs. Their second album, American Tragedy, is in stores now and is currently at No. 4 on the Billboard album chart. Hollywood Undead is also currently on tour around the States. TheCelebrityCafe.com’s Michelle Vaccaro spoke with Johnny 3 Tears about the band and their new album.
TheCelebrityCafe.com: How did you guys choose the name Hollywood Undead?
Johnny 3 Tears: That was the name…we were growing up in Hollywood...that we used to call the shady stuff that goes on there at night…you know, like the prostitutes, and drug dealers and stuff. It appears to us that they never slept so we called them undead. So when it came time to name the band, we decided that it was a good name for us.
TheCelebrityCafe.com: Where did you get your stage name from?
Johnny 3 Tears: 3 Tears was the name of our first band before we formed Hollywood Undead. I was the lead singer in that band so it was Johnny 3 Tears.
TheCelebrityCafe.com: What does your mask represent?
Johnny 3 Tears: It has the three which I have in honor of the band and butterflies…I just have a bunch of butterflies tattooed on me and stuff so they represent a lot for me. So that’s why I picked that for my mask.
TheCelebrityCafe.com: Who are your musical influences?
Johnny 3 Tears: Band-wise, I’d say Nine Inch Nails, Tool…I really like Deftones, just regular rock bands.
TheCelebrityCafe.com: People have a hard time describing what Hollywood Undead’s music is. How would you describe it? What type of genre?
Johnny 3 Tears: I couldn’t…honestly, I’d have just as hard of a time as anybody else. It’s just Hollywood Undead. There’s nothing else like it…so they haven’t really made one, but I mean if I had to pick a genre, I would just say rock music.
TheCelebrityCafe.com: Tell me about your new album, American Tragedy.
Johnny 3 Tears: It’s our second record. It’s definitely different than Swan Songs. It’s still very Hollywood Undead, but on this record we kind of experimented somewhat. We have softer material and heavier material. It’s definitely got a darker vibe to it because I think a big part is that we recorded it in the middle of the night usually and that kind of added to it. It was an interesting process...
TheCelebrityCafe.com: The release of was pushed back a bunch of times. Why was that?
Johnny 3 Tears: Just scheduling conflicts mainly. That’s all label stuff. They deal with that and who’s releasing what and when. You want to coincide it with tours…that’s not really my forte, I just...I’m used to it.
TheCelebrityCafe.com: Would you like to clear up any of the rumors on Deuce’s departure?
Johnny 3 Tears: I’m not sure what the rumors…not really. I mean it’s not something I want to touch on you know, it’s old news for us so I don’t like discussing… It’s a boring subject for me.
TheCelebrityCafe.com: Do you guys think your bad boy image helps or hurts your career?
Johnny 3 Tears: I’m sure it does both. I know people know that we drink and drug stuff or whatever it is that they think, but I think it’s appealing for some people, but certainly tougher for parents and stuff whose kids like Hollywood Undead so I think it can do both.
TheCelebrityCafe.com: You guys like to sample some of your songs as free downloads. Why do you want to do that?
Johnny 3 Tears: Well, people in this day and age, people are going to buy the record or they’re not going to buy the record. They can get it free either way so I think it’s a better relationship from band to audience for us to give it away as opposed to someone else doing it. Might as well do it ourselves.
TheCelebrityCafe.com: Are you guys going to go on tour?
Johnny 3 Tears: We’re on tour right now. We’re actually in North Carolina as we speak.
All of our tour dates are on HollywoodUndead.com or Myspace or Facebook. We post them up constantly so kids can find out through those sites.
TheCelebrityCafe.com: What can fans expect from the tour?
Johnny 3 Tears: We put on a heck of a show. We’re a really good live band. There's a lot of instrumentation. We’ve got cool lighting and all of that stuff. We go all out for the fans when we go live.
Hollywood Undead will be hitting the stage at LA's The Wiltern on April 30 as part of Revolt Tour 2011 featuring 10 Years, Drive A, and New Medicine. Tickets can be purchased at LiveNation.com. For other dates, check out the band's tour page.