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The World, 03.13.02 They have that thing. Last year at this time Drowning Pool begins touring their debut album "Sinner." About a month later they open Ozzfest 2001; first show, second stage, first band. 6 weeks after it’s release, "Sinner" goes platinum. By the time Ozzfest 2001 wraps, Drowning Pool has played the main stage on several dates and has moved up to second headliner on the second stage. Fast forward a year, Drowning Pool is headlining the Jagermeister Music Fest, appearing on several movie and wrestling soundtracks and finds themselves in regular rotation on both radio and music television. So what is that thing, anyway? We sat with drummer Mike Luce before Drowning Pool’s March 13th gig at The World in NYC. More than anything we wanted to know how they were handling the nearly overnight success, if there was a downside to it. "It’s going really good (but) if there was an unfortunate side to it, it would be that it did explode so fast and (from) a band member perspective you kinda want that slow steady climb. You always hear about that you’re right out of the gate, boom, you’re all over the place and you fizzle out real quick. And we don’t want that." It’s like this thing that you can’t actually put your finger on... Admittedly still "green," we found Mike to be down-to-earth, humble and appreciative. One of our favorite interviewees to date, he wondered aloud about the intimidation of maintaining success, about still learning the industry and the business and the differences between opening for somebody else and headlining. They may be "green" but they’re also aware, grounded and working their asses off. They understand who they are, what the fans want and how to bridge the gaps. When they were offered an opening slot, they jumped on it. When fans were unreceptive to new material, they pulled it. They get that they’re no longer the underdog, that they’ve moved on to phase two. The pressure’s are different, the approach is different, the expectations are different. Is it bigger than a break box? But don’t worry about Drowning Pool, don’t worry if they can handle it or not. Some bands have it, some bands don’t. They can. Because Drowning Pool has it. |
