Longevity & Notoriety:
decades later, Papa Roach
is still rocking out
Jacoby Shaddix talks self care, social media re-brands, and what’s next for their legacy.
In October 2020, 24-year-old Jeris Johnson covered Papa Roach’s 2000 nu-metal classic Last Resort on his TikTok account. The classic track, instantly recognizable by its pounding intro “Cut my life into pieces, this is my last resort / Suffocation, no breathing,” garnered millions of views on Johnson’s page. Weeks later, Papa Roach and Johnson were in the studio, recording Last Resort Reloaded, a new version of the song.
“The evolution of [social media] has been exciting but terrifying for new artists. They come around and they have a song that goes viral, it’s like go! Go get it,” Jacoby Shaddix, frontman of rock group Papa Roach, said in the green room after the band’s most recent show in Syracuse, NY.
However, indulging TikTok audiences feels contradictory for a band like Papa Roach, given their inception. Founded in Vacaville, California, in 1993, the hard rock band shot to success with their first major-label album release, Infest in 2000. Birthing alternative metal classics like Dead Cell, Between Angels and Insects, Papa Roach is best known for their unmistakable single Last Resort – its popularity helping the band’s debut album get certified 3x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2001.
Two decades later, Papa Roach’s green room looks different than it once did. Backstage at the Syracuse amphitheater, refrigerated water bottles replaced handles of vodka and cigarette butts.
However, indulging TikTok audiences feels contradictory for a band like Papa Roach, given their inception. Founded in Vacaville, California, in 1993, the hard rock band shot to success with their first major-label album release, Infest in 2000. Birthing alternative metal classics like Dead Cell, Between Angels and Insects, Papa Roach is best known for their unmistakable single Last Resort – its popularity helping the band’s debut album get certified 3x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2001.
Two decades later, Papa Roach’s green room looks different than it once did. Backstage at the Syracuse amphitheater, refrigerated water bottles replaced handles of vodka and cigarette butts.
Shaddix has noticed this apparent contradiction firsthand: “Back in the day, when I was 16, I’d get so excited [before a show] I would puke and go on stage,” Shaddix said. How would 16-year-old Shaddix describe his current self? He’d call the new version a “fucking clown. He ain’t rock ‘n’ roll.”
This is a fair discernment – it’s hard to argue that Shaddix’s music career began in swanky green rooms. Papa Roach’s formative years were spent touring up and down California, relying on word of mouth from friends and concertgoers. Clad in sagging Dickies pants, ash-stained JNCOs, goatees, and middle-parts, the band often spent their time stapling fliers to promote their shows and opening for other Californian metal heavyweights like Deftones. For performances, Shaddix stated it was simply a process of smoking a joint and sipping on a bottle of vodka before heading on stage.
Although Shaddix recognizes the allure of a career defined by substances and groupies, he also renounces that lifestyle as antithetical to the longevity he now craves for the band.
“I wanna be a career musician. I wanna do this until I can’t do it anymore.”
While a lifetime spent partying in the GA pits of northern California is no longer in the cards, Shaddix is still dedicated to bringing the same energy and vigor to shows as his 16-year-old self did. At 47, Shaddix consults with vocal coaches, regularly works out, and has been abstaining from alcohol to ensure Papa Roach can still maintain the “let’s turn the fuck up’ spirit” from decades prior.
A clean-shaven, leathery rockstar appearance is another manifestation of
Papa Roach’s maturity– although they still maintain the high and spikey hair of
their youth. Now, Shaddix dons mostly all-black outfits, like his fit at the Syracuse show that included shiny wax jeans and a thin leather vest to allow him to be as nimble as possible on stage. Backstage, he picks up a new pair of black suede boots off the ground, showing off his DIY barbed wire motif on the boot’s vamp, drawn in silver Sharpie.
A clean-shaven, leathery rockstar appearance is another manifestation of
Papa Roach’s maturity– although they still maintain the high and spikey hair of
their youth. Now, Shaddix dons mostly all-black outfits, like his fit at the Syracuse show that included shiny wax jeans and a thin leather vest to allow him to be as nimble as possible on stage. Backstage, he picks up a new pair of black suede boots off the ground, showing off his DIY barbed wire motif on the boot’s vamp, drawn in silver Sharpie.
“That vest is like freedom. It’s everything. These pants just stretch right,” Shaddix described. By fusing practical agility with classic punk-adjacent flair, Papa Roach’s ability to freely move across the stage is a hallmark of their performance style. Although they may not be posting fliers to promote local shows anymore, Shaddix and Papa Roach are still dedicated to having as much connection and interaction with fans as possible.
“I like that rowdy energy, that’s what our show is built for…There’s a magic in being able to match the energy around you,” Shaddix said. A longing connection with fans has proven to be the most sustainable part of Papa Roach’s appeal.
“The passion is tangible in the air when Jacoby sings,” said 34-year-old Jakob Dodd, a longtime Papa Roach follower since 2003. Dodd commends Shaddix for his charisma and engagement with fans, mentioning his tradition of hopping off-stage to give hugs, high-fives, and sing with the audience. “He is seriously the most charismatic person I ever met,” Dodd said.
“The passion is tangible in the air when Jacoby sings,” said 34-year-old Jakob Dodd, a longtime Papa Roach follower since 2003. Dodd commends Shaddix for his charisma and engagement with fans, mentioning his tradition of hopping off-stage to give hugs, high-fives, and sing with the audience. “He is seriously the most charismatic person I ever met,” Dodd said.
Evolving over decades has paid off for Papa Roach. Besides the long-term fans continuing to come back, crowds have gotten younger, according to Bryson Roatch, the content creator and social media strategist for Papa Roach and younger brother of Shaddix. “It’s always been a goal of the band’s and ours to keep the crowd young…if you get the young crowd, you get their dads, their families, and it just doubles the crowd,” Roatch explained from the band’s packed tour bus.
Maintaining relevance as a band has taken other forms for Papa Roach. With the band’s beginnings coming at the precipice of the creation of social media and internet culture, Papa Roach was able to embrace this new frontier and began to create a new, personalized level of engagement with fans worldwide, including projects such as Last Resort Reloaded with Jeris Johnson.
“If something needed to be talked about, you would try to get it in Rolling Stone or Spin magazine. Now that we have social media, you have a fanbase that’s all about you; the band,” Roatch said.
Maintaining relevance as a band has taken other forms for Papa Roach. With the band’s beginnings coming at the precipice of the creation of social media and internet culture, Papa Roach was able to embrace this new frontier and began to create a new, personalized level of engagement with fans worldwide, including projects such as Last Resort Reloaded with Jeris Johnson.
“If something needed to be talked about, you would try to get it in Rolling Stone or Spin magazine. Now that we have social media, you have a fanbase that’s all about you; the band,” Roatch said.
Rising above the crowded sea of California teenagers trying to stand out in the 90s metal scene, Papa Roach managed to beat the odds and leave a permanent mark on the genre. Defined by their commitment to youthful energy and ability to constantly shift, like an indestructible cockroach, the band has ultimately met their goal of longevity, not only notoriety. As Shaddix concluded his present-day conversation with his 16-year-old self, “‘you fucking did it. You did what I said we were gonna do.’”