Stevie D Discusses Buckcherry, Josh Todd & The Conflict and More

May 19, 2017 | By Shawn Thornton More

Stevie D from Buckcherry recently made a post on the bands official Facebook confirming that Buckcherry has parted ways with guitarist Keith Nelson and drummer Xavier Muriel. I had the opportunity to speak with Stevie yesterday about this and the new album from Josh Todd & The Conflict, which is he is also a part of. Josh Todd & The Conflict recently signed a deal with Sony/Century Media Records and will be releasing their debut album titled “Year Of The Tiger” this September. Stevie also speaks about his love for photography, and more! Enjoy!

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LRI: Hey Stevie! Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.

Stevie: Hey!! You’re welcome.

LRI: A lot of things have been going on with Buckcherry recently with the announcement that Keith and X are out. What lead to that?

Stevie: Yes! We already had some shows booked between now and the end of the year. A couple months ago, I got a call from Josh saying that Keith is not going to be playing those shows. Then I got an email from X saying he wasn’t going to be joining us for those shows either. So as to why, you are probably going to have to ask them. So, what I had to do was find a couple guys to do the shows. ‘Josh Todd & The Conflict’ was already going on, so I just asked Sean Winchester if he would be interested in learning 90 minutes of Buckcherry songs (laughs) because his drums are already set up in the studio. For guitar, we could have asked anybody, but what I wanted to do was get a guy in there that I knew that we could already get along with and be comfortable with. So, we asked our long time, dear friend Kevin Roentgen. He was in a band back in the day signed to Elektra Records, a band called “Soul,” and later on after that he was in another band on the Wind Up Records label called ‘American Pearl.’ He’s been carrying the rock and roll torch here in Los Angeles for years and years. We all go back a long way. Myself, Kelly, Josh, and Kevin all used to drink together back in the early 90’s. So it just made sense for us to ask him to lend a helping hand.

Buckcherry 2017

LRI: Ah, ok. Very cool. You already did a Buckcherry show with this new lineup. How did that go?

Stevie: Yeah. It was a festival in Las Vegas called “Rock into Spring.” We debuted over there and the band slayed!!!! I love and miss the other guys, but the band has never sounded better.

LRI: As a fan of many bands who have had members replaced, for whatever reason, it always sucks to see some people go.

Stevie: Yeah, of course! Look, I see what’s going on online. There is a small percentage of people that are really upset, and you know what? I get it! If the “Ankh Warrior” was replacing the “Space Man,” I’m sure that would have upset me back then. You know what I mean? So, I get it. I am glad people have connected with the band. This was beyond my control. It was either stop playing or keep going…and I LOVE music.

LRI: I totally get that too. Ok, so onto “Josh Todd & The Conflict.” The debut album comes out this September?

Stevie: Yes! I produced it along with Eric Kretz from Stone Temple Pilots. We have Gregg Cash on bass from a band called “Dorothy” and Sean Winchester who used to play with Everclear and NOFX. He is the go to guy in the punk world. We just got a deal with Sony/Century Media Records. The album is called “Year of the Tiger” and it comes out September 15th. The way that it’s different than Buckcherry is that Buckchery is more based in blues and 70’s rock, where this is more based in Josh’s upbringing, which is punk rock like Toy Dolls, Minor Threat, etc. It’s not punk and hardcore, but it’s kinda got that feel to it. It’s just heavier.

Josh Todd & The Conflict

LRI: You guys just shot a video the other day. Can you tell me a little about that?

Stevie: Century Media wanted us to do street tracks. We have a single coming called “Rain.” That’s going to go to radio, but before that we’re going to release a video so you can see and hear a clear difference between Buckcherry and Josh Todd & the Conflict. Because some people online are like, “Why are you replacing Buckcherry with Josh Todd & the Conflict…? And we’re not! Buckcherry will keep playing as Buckcherry. We’re only going to play the dates that were booked earlier this year to fulfill those commitments, then it’s going to take a rest for a while. Then Josh Todd & the Conflict are going to play for the next year and a half.

LRI: Oh ok. So we could see new Buckcherry material after that wraps up?

Stevie: Yeah, we’ll probably do an album a couple of years from now.

LRI: You mentioned how Buckcherry is completely different than Josh Todd & The Conflict. You also did the Spraygun War album last year. That was something else that was completely different.

Stevie: Yes. Spraygun War was electronic based. That was me and Josh recording in hotel rooms, parking lots, my laundry room, all over the world; just me, Josh, a laptop, and a guitar. We like a lot of different music. We like Rock, R&B and Soul, Electronic Music. That was just our way of being creative. We made an E.P of music that we enjoyed playing. We were told that Buckcherry had over-toured. When we got that news, we were told that we should come off the road and take a break and let the demand grow. So, we all decided collectively that we were going to take a break. Then Josh and I said, “Lets diversify and do something else” because we still wanted to do music. That was Spraygun War. Since Buckcherry was taking a break, we decided that instead of focusing on electronic music, let’s make a heavy rock record. Not like Buckcherry, but just a heavy rock record. Then our agent said it would be a lot easier to sell if we went with Josh’s name because we would be able to book shows faster. So soon thereafter, we did 20 or 30 demos and then Eric Kretz from STP heard it and he wanted to record it with Ryan Williams (Engineer). We did a showcase over at the Viper Room and Don Robertson (President of Century Media Records) heard it and signed it on the spot.

LRI: That’s awesome. Looking forward to hearing that. Now let’s talk about another passion of yours and mine. Photography! Are you still into it?

Stevie: I am! Since I was writing and recording all the ‘Conflict’ stuff, it took a backseat. But yeah, I am still shooting. I was shooting a lot of editorials. At one point, the magazines started asking me for different styles than I wanted to do. I already had a day job which is music. I didn’t need the money. I wasn’t shooting editorials for the money; I was shooting because I love photography. So when they started asking for other styles, I said, “You know what? I’m only going to shoot for me!” And that’s what I’ve been doing.. I just don’t publish it, ya know?

LRI: Right. I can understand that. What are you shooting with these days?

Stevie D: I am shooting with a small Rangefinder and Nikon S2.

LRI: Very cool. I am a Canon guy, but I never get involved in the whole Nikon Vs Canon discussions because they are both great manufactures.

Stevie: Right. For leisure, I shoot with a Fuji x100s and I love it. I am not as prolific as I used to be, but I still shoot.

LRI: Chris Cornell passed away last night just a few short hours after performing here in Detroit. Any thoughts on him as an artist?

Stevie: He’s somebody that really changed Rock. I really feel bad for his wife and kids, especially. It’s such a shame. He was such an immense talent. He really set the bar high with songwriting and singing. He could do it all. He could do rock, he could do soul…covering Prince songs…doing James Brown songs. Again, he could do it all. Tons and tons of people are going to miss that guy.

LRI: I totally agree. Some of my favorite stuff of his was his was the stuff he did with Audioslave.

Stevie: Yes! As a matter of fact, I just got asked to do a tribute to Chris Cornell at the Whisky next Tuesday, May 23rd. I am going to do “Show Me How to Live” with a guy named Hal Sparks. Hal is an accomplished actor, but he is an amazing singer in his own right. He just me texted me right before I talked to you and asked me to do that with him. So, I am going to do that. I am such a huge Morello fan. I am glad that I get to play with Hal, and I am glad that we’re doing this kind of music, but I’m sad for the reasons why were doing it. It’s a tragedy.