Page 78 - Issue 39

But they found their formula. since then, Godsmack has unapologetically
churned out hit after hit, making them unarguably one of the most
commercially successful hard rock bands of the past twenty years. the
formula stays true even with their most recent release, 1000hp. Godsmack is
sully erna (vocals), tony rombola (guitar), robbie Merrill (bass) and shannon
Larkin (drums). rat rod recently caught up with guitarist tony rombola
to discuss future plans as well as the various side projects each member is
currently involved with.
After what most bands would consider an already extensive career,
Godsmack has shown no signs of slowing down. their latest release, which
was aptly called 1000hp contained some of the bands fastest songs, drawing
a little more from a punk rock influence than previous records. the band has
taken some time off but came to Minnesota for a one-off show at Moondance
Jam. According to tony, the band rehearsed just one day prior to playing
the show but pulled it off
“When you love flawlessly. the lack of touring
would lead many to believe
what you do, that the band was taking

it’s not work a well-deserved summer
off. But in speaking with
anymore. It’s a the band, it became very
obvious that “taking time off”
gift and a joy.” meant anything but sipping
margaritas on a beach.
After speaking with tony,
it became glaringly obvious that his love for the guitar stretches far beyond
the confines of Godsmack. When tony and his bandmates aren’t on tour
or writing a new album, they immerse themselves in various other musical
projects, all of which differ drastically from the staple sound of Godsmack.
sully recently released a solo acoustic record. tony and shannon jam almost
every day as tony explains, “Me and shannon had a funk band, a punk band,
we’ve got a bunch of different projects we’re always playing with and we like
to play different styles. so with each one we eventually write some songs,
get a singer and make a band out of it. i lived in norwood, Massachusetts
my whole life until about six years ago, i moved down to Florida to live near
shannon [Larkin] and we don’t take time off. if we’re not out with Godsmack,
we have a studio and a jam room and we’re there six days a week and that’s
all we do… every day i wake up and i can’t wait to play guitar. When you love
what you do, it’s not work anymore. it’s a gift and a joy.”
One of the aforementioned projects that shannon and tony have been
working on will be releasing its debut album this summer. the band is
called Apocalypse Blues revue – tony explains how the band came about,
“shannon, actually, when we were writing songs for Godsmack, we would
mess around with some blues stuff. he thought i was good at it. that was the
music i dug, i always played that stuff before Godsmack – Gary Moore and

78 Rat Rod Magazine issue thirty-nine

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