Mark Tremonti said there are 13 ‘good’ Creed songs in the vault that could someday be used for a new album if the demand is there for the band to reunite in a new interview with Jamey Jasta (transcribed by Ultimate-Guitar).
Do you get asked a lot about Creed these days?
“Very, very little. When people ask me questions about Creed, they always apologize first. Like, ‘Sorry, may I ask you some Creed questions?’
“I think of that as the band I was in when I was a kid. I feel like we were college kids when we were in that band.”
Does it feel like ancient history?
“It feels so old. When we went back and did the reunion [in 2009], we did one night with the first record and then the following night with the second record.
“When we played that first record, it felt like I was a child when I played those songs. Everything was so simple and so old-school. It felt kind of weird playing it on a guitar because it was something I wouldn’t play now.
“But, I wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for Creed. I’d probably be some accountant or something because I was going to college for finance so I don’t know what the hell would I have done.
“I appreciate everything we did with it. But there’s just that legacy thing where people either love it or hate it.”
Do you get offers for Creed reunion these days?
“No, I just think people know that our schedule’s booked through the end of next year. There’s no way we could do a one-off little tour. People say, ‘Is it done? Is it over? Is there new music coming out?’ I’m sitting on an entire Creed album that hasn’t got…
“When we were together doing the reunion tour, we put a lot of music together and I have like really sketchy little demos of probably 13 songs. I listened to them maybe a year ago and they’re good songs.
“It’s just, there’s no time. Is it good enough for me to put everything on the back burner that I’ve been working on for the past 14 years? No.
“Is it good enough to maybe 10 years from now or 7 years from now… or some big resurgence happens or there’s an anniversary where everybody’s like, ‘We want to see Creed and the world demands it like they used to.’ I wouldn’t say no.
“Look at a band like Bon Jovi. They were massive, they disappeared, and now they’re absolutely massive again.”
When is Alter Bridge going to get back on track?
“I’ve been going through all the stuff I’ve been working on. I need to organize stuff and send it to Myles [Kennedy, vocals]. We just have to work over Skype and stuff now.
“But we’re scheduled to go into the studio in like March and April. Our manager is here right now and I’m like, ‘You’re out of your mind.’ I’ve hardly been able to put my head together to think about the next Alter Bridge record because I’m still learning to perform these songs off of this [latest solo] record [‘A Dying Machine’].
“I don’t want it to be anything but the best record we’ve done. Hopefully, we’re ready by then, but they have us slotted for March/April. And then I tour after that with Tremonti over the year again while they’re setting up that record. And then we come back and tour late 2019 with Alter Bridge.”
So you’re already booked throughout 2019.
“Yeah. We go home, we go out in the States, then we come back here in November. Then we go home for the holidays. Then we go back out in the States. And then we have a gap of time where we can go to South America or Australia or something else.
“And then we hit the studio, finish the Alter bridge record, and then go back on tour, hit all the big summer festivals with Tremonti over here while learning the new Alter Bridge record to tour on as soon as I get off.”
