Clint Lowery Interview: PRS Guitars, Cold Day Memory and Music as a Weapon

By: Dr. Matt Warnock

Fans that caught the first few shows on the Music as a Weapon tour might have been a little surprised to see that Brad Kochmit and not Clint Lowery was playing guitar with Sevendust during their shows. After taking a break from the band between 2005 and 2008, there might have been a little concern that Lowery was taking another break, but this is definitely not the case. Brad was filling in because Clint just had his first baby, and took two weeks off to spend time with his family and get used to their new addition.

Clint will be back on tour with the band this week, and though he’s worked on other projects in the past, he says his focus is firmly on Sevendust right now, something the band’s fans are very happy about. With their album Cold Day Memory doing well, and a new record already in the writing process, the band looks like they’ve fully gotten past the dark days a few years ago when they were essentially bankrupt. Having fought through this difficult time in their lives, Sevendust is better than ever and are ready to move forward with a strong focus on getting to the top of the Modern Metal world.

Guitar International caught up with Clint to talk about his new baby, Cold Day Memory and why he plays PRS guitars.

Sevendust Photo: Jeremy Adamo

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Matt Warnock: Congrats on the new baby, what’s it like becoming a dad for the first time?

Clint Lowery: This is my first baby, but I’ve kind of been a professional uncle up until now because everyone else in the band has children. I’m 39, so kind of a late comer to the baby party. It’s awesome but a big adjustment.

I’ve had the opportunity to be home for a little while, to get adjusted before heading back out on the road. It’s been great and everything everyone said was true, it really changes your life that’s for sure.

Matt: You’re taking some time off from the Sevendust tour right now to be with your family. Did you know in advance that you’d be staying home for this part of the tour or was there a frantic phone call one night tell you to come home because the baby was on the way?

Clint Lowery: We had a significant amount of time off before the tour. We took off from mid-November through the holidays and we knew the due date, but we did induce a week early. I told the guys before we did the Music as a Weapon Tour that I would like to be off in January. Normally January is slow for touring, so it was a good time to have the baby for us.

Once we got the opportunity to do this tour, I knew it was too good of an opportunity for the guys to miss on my behalf. So, I told the guys that Brad (Kochmit) would be a great replacement, and they should do the tour, then I’d join them two weeks into it. Two weeks will fly by. I’ll be back on the road before I know it.

Matt: You’re headed back out on the road this week to join the band. Are you excited to rejoin them or are you going to miss your family? What’s going on emotionally as you get ready to meet up on the tour?

Clint Lowery: I’m excited to get back out because it’s a big tour to be on, and I have a history with Korn and Disturbed, so it’ll be a fun tour to be on. On the other hand, it’s hard leaving my wife and kid at home right now, it’s going to be challenging. But it’s my job, I’ve got to get back and she understands that. I’m definitely excited about playing. I’m always excited to play. That’s the great thing about what we do. It’s a fun job.

Sevendust Photo: Jeremy Adamo

Matt: How did Sevendust become involved with the Music as a Weapon tour, and how did those four bands become picked to be on the tour together?

Clint Lowery: When they were planning this, obviously Distrubed is the head of the tour because they started it. We have a friendship and history with those guys so I think that helped. Then they had the opportunity to get Korn and make it a co-headline thing, which I think is smart to do. Korn and Disturbed fans may differ a bit, but they’re still in the same realm of music, and in this day and age they wanted to have two really big headline names, which is great for the fans.

I think we fit in great because we’re not big enough to be a co-headliner, but we’re big enough to bring immediate support to the tour. For this particular slot on this tour we’re the perfect band. We’re not big enough to fill these places on our own, but we fit nicely into the shows and the fans dig it.

In This Moment has a strong following as well, so I think they went through a bunch of possible scenarios and then chose the lineup they thought was best and we were on it. I fell lucky to be on this tour with these three great bands.

Matt: Cold Day Memory is your first album with Sevendust after you went on hiatus from the band from 2005 to 2008. How did it feel to be back in the studio with the band, had things changed or did it feel just like old times?

Clint Lowery: It was different but it absolutely felt just like old times. I gained a whole different appreciation for the band and the sound of the band. I felt like it felt when I first joined the band.

I joined the band last when we were based in Atlanta, and there was an energy to it back then that I felt again on this record. I felt a bit like I had something to prove and I really enjoyed the process of doing this album with the guys. I’m excited about doing another record because that honeymoon feeling is still there this second time around.

Matt: You worked with Johnny K on the record with some of the production stuff. What did Johnny bring to the album and what was your experience like working with him on this record?

Clint Lowery: It was cool. We did a lot of pre-production before the record, me and my brother Corey did a lot of work down in Atlanta before the recording started. The demos turned out great so we ended up using a lot of that material on the album.

Johnny had a lot of stuff going on at the time so he was kind of distracted on some days. But when he was really focused he’s very particular about how things sound, he was really on top of us and his mix was really the best. It really brought out the best sound from the band. I think that’s where he was most valuable, during the mixing phase.

Sevendust Photo: Jeremy Adamo

Matt: Do you think you’ll work with Johnny on the next record or are you looking to switch things up a bit to get some different ideas and feedback from another producer?

Clint Lowery: I wouldn’t be opposed to working with Johnny again. For this next record we have a defined idea of what we want to do, and I’m not sure if Johnny’s the right guy for this sound. I wouldn’t be opposed to working with Johnny on future Sevendust records, but for this next one I think we’ll try some different routes.

Matt: Where are you in the songwriting process for the next record?

Clint Lowery: Right now we’ve talked about concepts and directions a lot. That’s what we always do when we start a new record. John (Connolly) has a bunch of new ideas together, and I’ve got a few ideas that I’m really happy about. Everyone keeps saying it’s going to be a heavy record, but I think it’s going to be heavy in a different way.

I think we’ll try more technical riffs, more in-depth music than traditional arrangements, more intricate arrangements, like “Splinter” from Cold Day Memory, that kind of vibe. We always have a vision, whether it plays out like that or not is left to be determined. I think the musical ideas we have going so far are incredible and it’s going to be a fun record to make.

Matt: With everything going on can you give us a status update on Dark New Day? Is the band on permanent hold, are you going to come back to it in the future? What’s the status of the band as far as you’re concerned?

Clint Lowery: As far as I’m concerned it’s in a very dormant state and I don’t see it happening in the next few years. Unless everyone is free, which is hard because you have five guys that need to be available to do it, I just don’t see it happening. I had a fun time with that project and those guys are great, but I don’t see anything going on with the band in the near future.

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Matt: You’ve worked on a number of projects in the past, do you think that you’re now going to focus solely on Sevendust going forward?

Clint Lowery: My focus right now is Sevendust. I’ve been doing a lot of co-writing with other bands, and did some production work with a band called El Nino. I really like working with other bands on songs when I’m idling between Sevendust records. I would really love to go into production.

I have another project called Hello Demons Meet Skeletons, an acoustic project, and we just finished the second EP for that. It’s really cool, I hired some guys to help me with programming to expand it from the first EP I did. I would like to transition into other things because I know I can’t tour forever. I like the energy with new bands, so that’s where I would like to move to in the far future.

Matt: Are you still playing your PRS Custom 22 guitars?

Clint Lowery: Yeah, I have a couple single-cuts and a Custom 22 that I’ve been playing forever. I still use them, they’re great man.

Matt: What drew you to PRS and inspired you to play them over say Ibanez, Jackson or Gibson?

Clint Lowery: Initially it was the quality of the instrument. They put a lot of time and craftsmanship into their guitars. They play well, they stay in tune and they’re a classy guitar. I like to put a couple nicks on them to give them a little character when I get them, because they’re so shiny and perfect. [Laughs]

They’re reliable guitars and I can trust the quality of them from the bottom of the scale to the top of the scale. PRS has been very good to me and they’ve supplied me with some amazing guitars. I have tried other companies out over the years and PRS just seems to fit me the best.

Matt: Have you had a chance to try out the new PRS amps? I know a lot of guys love them and switching to them, have you played through them yet and if so what are your thoughts?

Clint Lowery: I haven’t. I’ve heard that too, that guys love them, and I think it’s cool that they’re trying to make a transition to amps because they’ve always been known for their great guitars. It’s something I want to check out, they keep telling me to try then so I know I will pretty soon and I’m looking forward to it.

Matt: You have a black PRS nicknamed Bruce Lee, where did that nickname come from?

Clint Lowery: I’m a huge Bruce Lee fan and someone gave me a cool black and white sticker of Bruce that I put on the back of the guitar. It’s my go to guitar. I just love it. It plays great. The sticker has fallen off, but it’s still my favorite guitar and it plays like he fights, so that’s why it’s called Bruce Lee.