As Papa Roach gear up for 2025’s Rise Of The Roach tour and the 25th anniversary of their breakthrough album Infest, Metal Hammer has teamed up with the band for a world exclusive bundle edition of the latest issue of the magazine, featuring an exclusive Papa Roach cover not available in the shops, plus a unique tie-dyed t-shirt design created exclusively for Hammer. .
In the new issue, Jacoby Shaddix and his bandmates look back over the band’s epic career and get to the heart of just how they survived everything fame had to throw at them, from alcoholism to the fall of nu metal, to emerge on top.
Along the way, there have been some blockbusting collaborations with everyone from The Hu and Within Temptation to the Black Eyed Peas and Pharrell. In this exclusive interview, Jacoby and guitarist Jerry Horton look back on the most memorable P-Roach collabs, in their own words.
The Hu – Wolf Totem (The Hu, The Gereg Deluxe Edition, 2020)
Jacoby: “One of my favourite collabs. It was a tribal warrior call. I wrote my own version of that, cut it. The first time I met ’em was on the video shoot. They didn’t speak a lick of English at the time, but we both knew the language of rock.”
Black Eyed Peas – Anxiety (Black Eyed Peas, Elephunk, 2003)
Jacoby: “It was two worlds coming together that you wouldn’t normally expect to come together. It was on their album, Elephunk, which was the one that they became world-famous with.”
Skindred – Warning (Skindred, Union Black, 2011)
Jacoby: “Benji [Webbe, Skindred frontman] sent me the song the day before. We keep going back from the studio to the pub throughout the day. We had a lot of laughs, got done, then they spilled me into the Tube. I ended up wherever I ended up later that night.”
Pharrell/N.E.R.D. – Don’t Look Back (Biker Boyz OST, 2003)
Jacoby: “Getting in the studio with Pharrell was a great time. What a cool energy, a creative force from a different lane. I do recall, though, that he listened to the music way too loud.”
Mick Mars – Into The Light (Metamorphosis, 2009)
Jerry Horton: “We were on tour with Mötley Crüe. Jacoby put it out there to him, and he was like, ‘Hell yeah, I’ll do it.’ I’m like, ‘It’s an honour really to have you play on it.’ And he was like, ‘I don’t know about all that, but this will be fun.’”
Carlos Santana – Smoke On The Water (Re-Machined: A Tribute to Deep Purple’s Machine Head, 2012)
Jacoby: “Man, this one was so sick. I say, ‘What’s the vibe?’ And he’s like, ‘Man, You gotta be like in the swamp.’ I was like, ‘Turn the heat on this in this vocal booth.’ By the end, I’m sweated through my clothes, I’m a wreck. Carlos is like, ‘Now you know what I’m talking about the swamp!’”
Within Temptation - The Reckoning (Within Temptation, Resist, 2019)
Jacoby: “We did a bunch of shows with Within Temptation throughout Europe. They sent me the track and I loved it. I got on a couple Zooms with them: ‘What parts are open for me to rip? What can I do of my own?’ And they were just like, ‘Bring your flavour to it.’”
Machine Gun Kelly – Sunrise Trailer Park (Crooked Teeth, 2017)
Jacoby: “I was telling a story from my youth, where I flipped my truck and I should have died. My homie was in the passenger seat. I was telling MGK and I’m like, ‘What if that story had a different ending? Be my friend that didn’t make it.’ He did such a great job of telling that story.”
Carrie Underwood – Leave A Light On (Talk Away the Dark) (single, 2024)
Jacoby: “We found out Carrie was a fan and hit her up. She does this song [originally from 2022’s Ego Trip album, reworked for the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention] with so much justice. It was a challenge for me to stand next to her and rip it, but I did.”
Beartooth – Cut The Line (Ego Trip deluxe edition, 2023)
Jacoby: “Love that band. I think Caleb [Shomo] is a force to be reckoned with. We had Cut The Line and we wanted to have a guest on it. He was top of the list. I hit him up, he just nailed it. He’s a great singer.”
Read the full interview with Papa Roach in the brand new issue of Metal Hammer, on sale now. Head over to the Metal Hammer Online Store to order the exclusive bundle edition to pick up the special Papa Roach edition of the magazine and unique tie-dyed T-shirt – but be quick
