Godsmack&#8217;s Sully Erna Interview &#8211; New Tour, New Music + More

On Friday (May 1), Godsmack released their latest live album, Live at Mohegan Sun, which captures the final show of the band’s original members onstage together. Sully Erna joined Loudwire Nights on the night of the album’s release to celebrate it — and to discuss Godsmack’s future.

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

“I always wanted to do something of this nature, but more importantly, to keep the younger generations in tune with real bands that play their instruments,” Erna told Loudwire Nights‘ Chuck Armstrong about Live at Mohegan Sun.

“There’s nothing cooler to me than real bands like the Foo Fighters, Metallica…they’re on stage, they play their instruments.”

Live at Mohegan Sun certainly succeeds in that goal, but it is also a powerful piece of Godsmack’s history as it is the final show with Erna, guitarist Tony Rombola, drummer Shannon Larkin and bassist Robbie Merrill playing together.

“It’s emotional,” Erna admitted.

“You’re looking at four brothers that spent three decades together and went through life, they’ve been the biggest part of my life for so long. And you can see it in the show, especially when it comes toward the end, you can just see the emotion starting because I’m going, ‘Oh my god, the song’s about to end, this is the last one.'”

As emotional as the show was, Erna is proud of Live at Mohegan Sun and is confident it will have its place amongst other great live rock albums.

And, as proud as he is of it, he seemed just as excited about what the future holds for the band he helped create in 1995.

“We have a whole new burst of energy so we’re going to go hit it just as hard as we always do and take the thing to another level and just see what we can do,” he shared.

“This thing could taper off and fade or this thing could go to stadium level. We’re just here for the ride, like we’ve always been.”

That ride includes The Rise of Rock tour with Stone Temple Pilots and Dorothy, but it also includes the potential for new music. Though Rombola and Larkin have retired, Erna and Merrill are looking ahead.

“I don’t know everything, you can never say never,” Erna said.

“But I do feel like we completed that part of our lives. We’re onto a new chapter. So there will definitely be new music coming at some point. It just won’t be with the original members … It’s going to be good. I’m even interested to hear where we go with the new music.”

What Else Did Godsmack’s Sully Erna Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

What else runs through his head when he thinks about Godsmack being 31 years old, starting a new chapter: “Let me tackle one thing at a time here and complete it and do the best I can with it. I don’t know what’s coming up, I just know right now we have a world tour starting and I’m grooming these two new guys [guitarist Sam Koltun and drummer Wade Murff] to get them ready. And that’s the focus right now, to go out there and be as strong, if not stronger than we’ve ever been. That’s the focus at the moment.”
What fans can expect from The Rise of Rock tour: “We’re coming with a big show. We’re going to deliver, we always do. And these other two bands, they’re phenomenal. I’m not even kidding. I’m not just pushing it because it’s on our tour. They’re solid and I love it because it’s all in the same wheelhouse but it’s all different music, right? But it’s all good hard rock music. I think people are going to leave there, if they see all three acts, not fatigued and burnt out from it, but with a very well-rounded kind of show event in total.”
How he came up with the name for the new tour: “We’re back on the rise. Enough of the pop stuff that’s been dominating the charts for 20 years. It’s time, it’s cyclical. Rock and roll never dies, it always coms back.”