Hollywood Undead is a hardcore rap metal sound based out of Los Angeles. They just released their second studio album, American Tragedy with a new lead singer after their first singer, Deuce, left the band in early 2010. The album hit number four on the Billboard 200 chart and number one on the hard rock chart after its release. They have recently toured with some of the biggest names in rock Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour.

 

Amy spoke with Jorel (J-Dog) before their show in Cincinnati at Bogarts in preparation for Rock on the Range. They discussed everything from the band’s famous masks to spending large amounts of time in close quarters with lots of band members.

 

Amy: Do you prefer playing venues like Bogarts with your core fan base or do you guys prefer to play festivals like Rock on the Range?

 

Jorel: I prefer to play smaller venues because the energy is way higher and it’s more fun. You can hear the kids singing back to you and stuff like that. Festivals, I’d say are fun just because you get to watch other bands and you’re in a wide open place. You get to walk around. It’s not like you’re confined to one little building. I prefer, show-wise to do venues. We did a whole tour with Avenged, Stone Sour and New Medicine. I love the tour because it was big arenas and it was awesome. But we did one off-shows and it was a small venues where the kids are right up on you. I had so much fun. I loved doing this. I love playing smaller shows. I think every band does. It’s just not always feasible. You have to do the other stuff sometimes.

 

Amy: I caught you on the Nightmare Before Christmas Tour right before Christmas at the Lexington show. It was a great tour. What was one of your most memorable or crazy stories from that tour?

 

Jorel: Probably in Detroit because we played in the arena where the Pistons play. It was cool to be where a major basketball team plays. When Avenged was playing, I went to the very top to look for somebody, one of my friends and I was at the top of the whole venue looking  down and didn’t realize how many people and was like, “Holy shit! This is fucking amazing… This whole stadium is like completely full.” I think the show was sold out. I was like, “This is insane. I can’t believe how many people are here.” It kind of tripped me out.

 

Amy: I think there were lots of people at Rupp as well.

 

Jorel: Yeah, there were a few of them that were really crazy.

 

Amy: So you guys wear these masks. And I have to be honest with you, the masks trip me out a little bit. I don’t love masks and whenever I’m photographing it, my heart kind of races.  I fight through it but I have that reaction to it and so I’m a little interested in the masks. Do you guys make your own or make your own design?

 

Jorel: We design them. They’re too hard for us to make on our own because someone has to mold our face into the plastering and all that stuff. But we design them.

 

Amy: They’re making me nervous because they are right over there on the table.

 

Jorel: They are kind of creepy. When we do a signing or something and a kid will be staring at us in line with a mask on for like 20 minutes just staring at us. And that’s kind of creepy for us as well.

 

Amy: From the other side?

 

Jorel: Yeah. Like it’s creepy you’re staring at me with the mask on. It can be a little kid but it just looks creepy because you don’t know what’s under the mask.

 

Amy: But you guys take them off during the show, right?

 

Jorel: We take them off during the show. I think photo-wise it looks cool. We could take the masks off for photos but we just look like every other band. So with the masks, I think it adds a cool element to it.

 

Amy: I really liked it. I was looking at the photos again today. I think I got the most photos of Johnny because he just happened to be in the front and there was good light because you guys play and it is kind of dark. The guy playing the electronic drums, Da Kurlzz also caught my attention.

 

Jorel: He loves the camera too. He’s not shy. Usually I’ll play the guitar in the first few songs with the mask on and if I’m in the front, people start bumping into my guitar and getting it out of tune so I stay in the back. So not many pictures of me with my mask.

 

Amy: You guys have so many members… Are there any issues with being together a lot on the bus? Is it crazy or do you guys keep your own space?

 

Jorel: We get along really well. We all grew up together but we do fight a lot. There are stories about bands that have been around for 20 years that can’t stand each other and hate each other until they get on stage. We’re not like that. We get along really well. We get into fights all the time but that’s what happens when you’re in close quarters with anybody. It’s like having a bunch of girlfriends that you can’t have sex with because you have to agree on everything and fight about everything. So it’s pretty normal. Every band fights. Bands break up all the time.

 

Amy: There are some bands where each person has their own bus and hotel room.

 

Jorel: Yeah. That’s healthy in a sense. If you can afford to do that, then you should. You shouldn’t be around someone like that constantly. It’s not how humans are built. You’re supposed to have space. To be around someone 24-7, you’re going to end up fighting even if it’s your girlfriend or whoever the fuck it is.

 

Amy: At least you’re not in a van anymore. At least you’re in a bus.

 

Jorel: Yeah, I can’t really complain. I’m fine with it and we actually have two buses now.

 

Amy: What’s the biggest life change for you guys since you got the record deal?

 

Jorel: Just being gone from home. People think we made it big time. Not really, we’re not rich or anything like that. We’re not making crazy money. We’re doing the same thing everyone else is doing but we’re not at home doing it. The biggest change is actually leaving. If you leave home for two or three months at a time, it’s a very strange thing when you get back. It’s like “Holy shit.” Things are different, especially where I live out in LA. They’re building so rapidly, I’ll get back home and be like, “Fuck dude,” and there will be four new buildings on my block. It’s all sorts of shit.

 

Amy: What are you looking forward to at Rock on the Range?

 

Jorel: I hope that we are playing the same day as Avenged Sevenfold. I’d like to see those guys again. I don’t know what day they’re playing or what day we’re playing.

 

Amy: What music are you listening to right now?

 

Jorel: I’ve been listening to Kid Cudi.

 

Amy: He’s an Ohio person. He’s from Cleveland area.

 

Jorel: Oh I dig him. I’m into him right now. Suicide Silence, they’re an urban metal band. I don’t know. I don’t really come across new music too much. I like this rapper called Yellow Wolf. I really like him. Other than that, I don’t sit on the internet looking for music so if I happen to come across it, I’ll listen to it and like it. But it doesn’t really happen that often.

 

Amy: Did you guys get here early enough to do anything in Cincinnati today?

 

Jorel: We were actually here yesterday. We had a day off yesterday. I went to some pub called Bagpipes or some shit and got hammered all day. Then I went to Benihana for dinner. I had never been there before. That was cool.

 

Amy: No, never seen the flaming volcano?

 

Jorel: Weird tricks and shit like that. I was walking around here right now. It’s a trip out here because everything is mashed together.

 

Amy: The school’s right here. The University of Cincinnati is really big. This area has all been torn down and rebuilt, even the college campus. I moved here ten years ago and it’s totally different. It’s all brand new.

 

Jorel: Then you go a few blocks over and it gets pretty ghetto.

 

Amy: Yeah. It’s definitely not the safest neighborhood at times.

 

Jorel: That’s what I was wondering. You see it’s bad here and then you see college kids walking around. I just found this on the ground out there, it’s a live bullet on the sidewalk. It’s just crazy and trips me out. Half the buildings are abandoned it looks like but people are still living in them. Looks like a fire went through them but people are still in them. It’s just crazy.

 

Amy: Like I said, it’s 100 times better looking in that direction than it was just a while back.

 

Jorel: Well I heard there was a shooting here. I don’t know if this has anything to do with it. (He holds up the bullet he found on the street.)

 

Amy: You just stole the evidence. You’re just holding up the bullet.

 

Jorel: I remember there was a bar I went to I think was on this block that was really cool.

 

Amy: The Holy Grail?

 

Jorel: Yeah the Holy Grail.

 

Amy: It’s attached to this building. It would be good to go there after the show because all the fans go there.

 

Amy: Back to the masks for a minute, you just got new masks. Did you just re-do the masks or get new designs?

 

Jorel: Yeah, they’re new. They light up now. They have fiber optics or some weird shit in them. I don’t know how they work. It’s all science. You just press a button and they turn on. It looks cool on stage. They light up and kids go crazy.

 

Amy: What’s the best thing about being in a rock band?

 

Jorel: Traveling, I’d say.

 

Amy: Seeing the cities?

 

Jorel: Yeah. If I was never in a band, I probably would have never left LA. I would have been to New York to see my family. But other than that I don’t think I would have ever gotten to see anything. I’ve been to Japan, I’ve been to Europe. We’re going to Australia soon. I wouldn’t have gotten to see any of those places if I wasn’t in a band. Even though we aren’t getting rich or anything off of it, it’s definitely worth it because we get to travel. Everybody wants to do that, they just can’t afford it. So, I say just getting to see stuff. Finding bullets, telling the story tomorrow. Hopefully it doesn’t go off in my sleep.

 

Amy: You have had controversy with the band with Deuce leaving. It’s come back to light recently. Do you guys talk about that or just let it go?

 

Jorel: I just let it go. Personally, I don’t care. He left the band. He didn’t want to be in it anymore. It was his choice. We tried to get him to stay for a bit and he wasn’t happy. He didn’t show up for tour one day and basically saying he quit. He wanted to do a solo record. He wanted to stop doing Hollywood Undead and take a break to do a solo record. We said, “No”, and we’re not willing to do that. So he finally just left. That was that. He can do whatever he wants.

 

Amy: Do you guys stay in touch with him at all?

 

Jorel: No, none of us talk to him. He hates us for whatever reason. I don’t give a shit. He just sits on the internet talking shit. It doesn’t bother me. I don’t care. We’re still doing our thing. I’d rather stay positive and just do what we do and he can do what he does. I don’t really care.

 

 

Amy: I’ve had a lot of time to listen to the album. I really like the album. Before the Avenged tour, I hadn’t really heard much about you. I actually became new fans of New Medicine and you guys that night. But you guys had a lot of music to pick from to put on the album. You had a ton of songs. So how did you narrow it down? How do you pick songs that you think are going to be good?

 

Jorel: We all just kind of vote. I think every band writes more than what they need. And when we’re done, we all agree for the most part on six to eight songs or maybe even more. It’s always the last four or something that people argue about. We go into a room and beat the shit out of each other. Whoever wins, wins, their song gets on the record.

 

Amy: No cohesiveness test is used?

 

Jorel: No, we just fight.

 

Amy: I was talking to Coheed and Cambria the other day, and they have all that underlying science fiction story behind their music. And they try to keep…

 

Jorel: Is that why they have all that trippy artwork and stuff?

 

Amy: Yeah. It’s based off these science fiction characters Coheed and Cambria. It’s personal stuff they are writing about but they put it in the context of these weird characters so it’s a little easier to write about. It sounds like a therapy session almost. But it’s all around these stories so everything has to flow and be about the characters in the story.

 

Jorel: Yeah, one of the dudes in our band likes them. I never really listened to them. I just wondered why they had all that crazy science fiction stuff going on.

 

 

Amy: I guess the main guy who writes it is his interest. The guy I talked with do it together. So it’s interesting. I always hear these crazy stories.

 

Jorel: That is cool. It is cool to have an imagination.