Alter Bridge’s Mark Tremonti Talks Pawns & Kings, Writing with Myles Kennedy, and a Potential Creed Reunion
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The post Alter Bridge’s Mark Tremonti Talks Pawns & Kings, Writing with Myles Kennedy, and a Potential Creed Reunion appeared first on Consequence.
When Alter Bridge officially formed in 2004 as Creed broke up, the band had no idea it would be going strong for nearly 20 years. But here they are in 2023, having recently released a seventh album, 2022’s Pawns & Kings.
“We didn’t know if we’d be doing Alter Bridge two records later at that point when we first started out,” Mark Tremonti admitted to Heavy Consequence when we recently caught up with the guitarist. “Thank goodness we survived and made it this far.”
Featuring three Creed members (Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips) and singer Myles Kennedy, Alter Bridge have become one of hard rock’s mainstay groups over the past two decades. They’re currently headlining a North American tour with support from Wolfgang Van Halen’s Mammoth WVH, and have just added a new spring leg featuring special guests Sevendust. (Pick up tickets via Ticketmaster or StubHub).
Pawns & Kings features the soaring melodies and anthemic choruses upon which Alter Bridge were built, but the album also veers into new territory with some dark, edgy numbers.
One of those darker tracks is the single “Sin After Sin,” which at more than six minutes long is one of Alter Bridge’s most epic tunes to date.
“For ‘Sin After Sin,’ I wanted to write a heavy, slow, groovy, dark and doomy kind of song, because I was listening to music like that at the time,” Tremonti said. “So, I broke out my guitar and wrote that riff out of the gate, and that riff was the seed planted for that whole song. I spent a month playing that drum loop and writing parts and parts until I felt I had the main parts. Then, I had to go through 60 different parts, and I said, ‘I can’t get rid of this!’ That’s why it’s a six and a half minute song. I didn’t want to eliminate parts. When people ask why we write long songs or what’s the different approach, I think it’s us being possessive about these parts we’ve written and not wanting to cut any.”
Even though the music on Pawns & Kings is heavier and darker than previous Alter Bridge material, that doesn’t mean it was influenced by the pandemic.
“I don’t think the album was influenced by the pandemic too much, because for me, I was already on tour with [my eponymous band] Tremonti and we did a whole album cycle, and I was writing during that tour,” he explained. “So, I was out in the world, and the pandemic didn’t really effect this record, but maybe the Tremonti one.”
Another standout on Pawns & Kings is “Season of Promise.” With inspiring lyrics and upbeat riffing, it has a very old-school Alter Bridge feel.
“That was the last song that I wrote for the record,” Tremonti recalled. “Myles and I would each turn in songs right up until the end, so that song was the last track that I demoed for the album, and I liked the vibe it had. It made me feel good. I think Myles did a great job writing the lyrics to that chorus, because the melody moves so fast. I loved the melody, but I was worried it would be hard to put lyrics to it, and he killed it.”
“I think that song is necessary, because the rest of the record is heavy and edgy, so that’s a breath of fresh air,” he added.
After years of writing together, Tremonti feels that he and Alter Bridge vocalist Myles Kennedy have become more alike when it comes to songwriting for Alter Bridge.
“In the beginning, we filled in each other’s gaps,” Tremonti explained. “I was the heavy metal guy more, and Myles was more the bluesy and atmospheric guy. You put that together, and it formed the Alter Bridge sound. As time went on, we got more and more like one another. My producer joked about not being able to tell who wrote what. I think you just start writing for the band, so we have become more in tune with one another.”
Scott Stapp on Creed’s Breakup: “I’ll Take the Blame About That”
As for Creed, the band did reunite for a 2009 album, Full Circle, and subsequent tour, but they’ve been inactive since 2012. Singer Scott Stapp recently took the blame for the band’s initial 2004 breakup, admitting that his rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle played a major role in the split. “I got mixed up in some things I shouldn’t have … And that, I’m sure, was a major part, because had I not developed those issues, I think we probably could have worked through everything else.”
Tremonti revealed to us that a Creed reunion remains a possibility but that he’s not sure when the guys will have time to make it come to fruition.
“We have to make sure we have a good block of time to put behind it,” he said. “I have so much going on right now, that it’d be hard to do it in the next year. Who knows when it will happen?”
In the meantime, fans can catch Alter Bridge on their current North American tour. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster (using the pre-sale codes BLACKBIRD or CHORUS for the new spring dates) or StubHub.
Alter Bridge’s Mark Tremonti Talks Pawns & Kings, Writing with Myles Kennedy, and a Potential Creed Reunion
Anne Erickson
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