WORLD GONE COLD – AN INTERVIEW WITH TIM “YOGI” WATTS
By Ralph Beauchamp
Tim “Yogi” Watts of the newly formed group, World Gone Cold, was kind enough to sit down with AMP to discuss all things band related. World Gone Cold is comprised of five illustrious and renown members. Their pedigrees are electrifying. Besides Watts (Demon Hunter) on drums, the band includes Mark Anthony (The Letter Black) on guitar and Ryland Raus (Attack Attack!) on vocals. Add Traa Daniels (P.O.D.) on bass and Andrew Stanton (Disciple) on guitar and you have the makings of a “Supergroup”.
World Gone Cold have recently dropped a series of singles in advance of their upcoming self titled first EP on Rockfest Records being released on March 17th. Their songs boast powerful riffs, dynamic basslines, massive percussions and unsurpassed vocals. The three singles showcase the band’s brazen songwriting and hypnotic rhythms. “Opposites Attract’ boasts edgy guitar licks, sonic vocals and a driving tempo. “Apology” is both melodic and heavy with an indivisible cadence. “Burn” is intense. The whole feel is huge. All three tracks highlight the fierce nature of World Gone Cold.
AMP: You are being billed as a rock “Supergroup”. Do you think that label fits?
TIM: The word “Supergroup” makes my stomach turn a certain way. They use the term a lot with this band and people can say what they want but that did not come from us. Nobody in this band ever used the term “Supergroup” to describe what we have going on. This is a serious group. It’s not a side project for any one of us. We feel very strongly about it. There are already 30 songs written and our EP is done. They can label us as anything but we just want to play our music.
AMP: Can you briefly tell us the band’s origins?
TIM: Mark Anthony was (and still is) in a band called The Letter Black with his wife. He had some songs written that didn’t fit the band’s style. Travis Wyrick, a producer out of Knoxville, worked with Mark. He also worked with P.O.D. and a bunch of really cool bands. He thought sending Ryland (Raus) the demos would be a great idea. After hearing the material, Ryland was in. They decided they needed a band to pull this off.
It seems Demon Hunter was one of Mark’s favorite bands and he really liked my drum style. Traa Daniels (P.O.D.) was their primary choice for bass. Andrew (Stanton) wasn’t touring with his band and he also was a perfect fit. Every single person said yes. Something was brewing. Something larger than it seemed. The band has become extremely important to us, especially these last few months.
AMP: Your new songs are quite powerful. Can you give us some insights into the tunes?
TIM: Ryland is the lyricist and I wish he was here to answer this question. I can say what Ryland does really well. He writes these songs from a personal perspective. He’s trying to express certain stories with his words but the best thing is the fact that our songs are opened to the listeners’ interpretation. Everyone has different life experiences. They can interpret our songs with their own distinct insights depending on their individual viewpoints. That’s the beauty of it all. Our music is subjective and that’s the way we want it.
AMP: The EP drops later this month. How stoked is the band?
TIM: Oh my God! Over the moon! When everyone heard these first few songs, we knew this is real. We now feel we have a solid band. And we have so much awesome material still to come out. It’s really a rush releasing songs you feel so strongly about.
AMP: Can you describe the band’s creative process?
TIM: It usually starts with Mark. He’ll write a song or come up with a riff. Then he will demo the song the way he sees it. He sends it to Ryland and Ryland works on the vocals and lyrics including the melodies. He then sends it back to Mark, who may or may not change things up depending on what he hears. Then that decent sounding demo gets sent to the rest of us. Even though the demo may have the drum, bass and guitar parts included, we all add our interpretations which may or may not include Mark’s ideas.
That’s one of the amazing aspects of World Gone Cold. We all put our egos aside and do what’s right for the band. Mark is now getting the idea on how I play my drums and how the rest of us present our instruments in the mix. The newer songs are much closer to the way we all play our respective parts. After we all lay down our individual sections, Mark sprinkles whatever fairy dust he deems appropriate and “Bam”, a song is born.
One other thing. This band uses all our individual influences to mesh something new and fresh. We take reggae, R&B, metal, gospel, hip hop and other genres to create something singular. We try to be as diverse as possible in order to incorporate all our roots. The band is blending an organic sound. It’s a melting pot of all our influences.
AMP: Any plans for an extended tour?
TIM: An extended tour, no. Shows and a limited tour, yes. We have released three new singles to date. We want to see what happens. If people like it and we get radio play, then we know we have something special going on. Once that happens, we will explore bigger tours with extended dates.
AMP: If the band could collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why?
TIM: I can tell you honestly, we would love to do a song with Jelly Roll. He started out as a rapper but has morphed into this huge country/pop/rock artist. I’ve met him a couple of times and he’s a phenomenal human being. We have mutual friends. He’s just a real dude. Also, he’s a big boy like myself. We feel he would be great to work with.
AMP: On more of a personal note, when did you realize you wanted to be a musician?
TIM: I don’t know if I ever knew I didn’t want to be one! My family are musicians. My dad is a drummer and my mother is a piano player. They play for the church. In addition to my sister, they were and still are music ministers. I never took a lesson. I just picked it naturally since the drums were always around. My dad is my biggest inspiration. Not in the fact that he ever taught me but he instilled a love of music in me. I always knew I was going to be a musician. There was no other choice.
AMP: Any advise for young musicians?
TIM: They may roll their eyes but I genuinely believe that making music as a career is difficult. If you could be content doing anything else, I would say go do that because there will be times when you will question your choice. The percentage of people who can sustain themselves just making music is really slim. You have to understand that even many successful musicians need to supplement their income with non musical endeavors.
I can say that early in my career, I toured for 12 years but delivering pizza payed the bills. Now luckily, at 45, I’ve built up such a reputation that I can work as a full time musician. If I knew that anything else could make me happy, I probably would have quit in my 30s. It led to a lot of depression and soul searching. My advise is to make sure deep in your heart this is the life you want. The picture looks exciting but the reality is fraught with pitfalls.
AMP: What’s next for the band?
TIM: We are booking shows as we speak. We have a festival lined up and some headlining club shows. If you can catch us early on, please do. Once our songs hit the radio, I’m not sure how many smaller venues we will be playing. I can see our trajectory not being a slow and steady climb but getting shot out of a cannon. You have 5 dudes who have spent a combined 150 years in the music industry and sold 13 million records worldwide. We believe totally in the band and are executing our plan for maximum exposure. We are making music for people to enjoy and be happy. I know we are about to unload magic upon the masses.
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