Saliva frontman, Bobby Amaru, has started off 2017 by traveling around the country giving solo acoustic performances. We were lucky enough to catch him at the Lizard Lounge in Lancaster, PA on Sunday, January 29th, 2017 and were treated to an intimate performance. Before the show, Rock Documented had the opportunity to interview Amaru about Saliva’s latest album, Love, Lies & Therapy and their plans for the rest of this year.
Rock Documented: What was your inspiration behind doing an acoustic tour?
Bobby: Well, I just do, you know, random shows here and there. Different markets and stuff. It’s pretty fun. It’s interesting. Just kind of plan it out. Like in December, just booked some markets, next week I’m in Ohio and then I fly to Nashville. Me and Wayne are doing the City Winery in Nashville. The full band is going to do some acoustic shows coming up. We’ve got some dates booked for that but we’re just kind of doing this right now with down time.
RD: Well, along those lines, it appears that this tour wraps up in March. Musically, what are your plans for the rest of the year?
Bobby: We’re going to do some full-band stuff like summer. We’ll be touring a lot in summer I imagine. We’ll try to do more weekend stuff. We all got kids you know and it’s like, sometimes it can be defeating when you go on tour for you know a month, two months at a time in a bus. It’s like we’re going to try some different things. We’re going to try a different approach so you know a little more weekends, 3-4 nights of shows and then home. Fly in and out.
RD: I understand that the band was primarily responsible for producing the Love, Lies, & Therapy album but along with that, what were your biggest challenges in doing that yourselves and what were your biggest rewards and would you do it again?
Bobby: Well, I ended up doing. It’s a process. I mean, it took a while to get it done because we had to tour. We were touring a lot and then trying to do a record as well. But I think it was a good thing because originally we were like, “alright, let’s go and like you know, let’s do a record in a month.” That didn’t happen. Then there are a lot of songs that got written later on so that was the upshot to that album. But if I had to do it again, we had no choice really, we were on a limited budget and instead of going and hiring a producer we just did it ourselves.
RD: How does Love, Lies, & Therapy album differ from the other Saliva albums?
Bobby: I think, well, you know I only made 2 records with the band so far. The Rise Up record and then that one. And I think the difference between this one and the Rise Up record was that we did have a producer, we were in Nashville, different setting. The way songs were created was a little different. But, I think this record’s got some really good songs on it and the response has been great.
RD: I understand that “Loneliest Know” was written almost 10 years ago? Are there any other songs like that you’ve written and you’re just waiting to produce in the future?
Bobby: “Rx” was another song on that record that was older. You never know, I have a lot of songs just in my past and it was kinda one of those things. Wayne, was like, “Hey man, you should do that song on there. Do this one too. It’s great the way it is, just do it,” and so that’s kinda how those songs became a thought, you know.
RD: It’s been about 8 months since Love, Lies & Therapy was released. Have you started writing new material yet? When do you anticipate another album release?
Bobby: No, we don’t really know. We’re just kinda touring right now. We’re going to tour and still support that a little bit. Maybe next year. We just gotta fix a few loose ends then we’ll release more material.
RD: Describe the band’s process for writing songs.
Bobby: Someone might just come up with a riff or, you know, whether it’s me, or whether it’s Wayne, or whatever. We build off that way and then I just kinda live with it and write lyrics and just hope it doesn’t suck.
RD: The “Make America Rock Again” tour wrapped up at the end of last year where you had the opportunity to tour with several other big names. What was this opportunity like for you and what did you learn from this experience?
Bobby: It was fun, it was cool, all the bands were great. But it was just like party, after party, after party. It was crazy, you know. So I had to give my liver a break when I got home. There was a lot of that. But you know, when you have that many bands and that many people and everyone ends up on your bus at the end of the night, it’s just, they bring all their liquor from their bus and it’s just crazy.
RD: Anything from a musical standpoint?
Bobby: It was really cool to see the diversity but a lot of the bands came from the same era, the same time, you know, just still doing it. Still going out there and playing shows like they never stopped, so it’s cool.
RD: Moving forward, if you could tour with anyone who would it be?
Bobby: I’m not real picky about that stuff, we just like playing shows in general. Performing and being on stage, rockin’ the masses I guess. If I had to like say who I’d love to tour with, I mean, I’d fuckin’ wanna open for Guns N Roses or something, play stadiums. Something just completely crazy, out there, but you know, something like that would be cool.
RD: What is your favorite memory since joining Saliva?
Bobby: Really, all the fans. Just being supportive and cool because it’s not easy to replace somebody. Being able to come in and do my own thing. I think I’ve proven myself too. I still feel like even though I’ve been in the band five years, every night I’m still trying to prove myself and trying to give people a show. Something to talk about and remember. That’s cool, I mean, I don’t have one particular moment. Going over to Dubai and playing the US Air Force Base there, that was cool. I’d say that’s one of the best memories.
You can see our full show review here.
