3 Doors Down – Interview [2000]

Interview: 3 Doors Down
Guitarist: Chris Henderson!

How is the road treating you?

Really good, can’t complain these days.

What is it like now to be the band that every other band wants to tour with?

It’s pretty cool. When we first started we toured with Creed that was cool because we got to see how things operated. They took us under their wing and that is what we have done with bands that come out with us. It’s a great feeling. We get to show them how to be, if they want to be like us and we show them how not to be.

You are married right?

Married with children.

That must make it tough to tour.

It is tough, but my wife comes out every two weeks. I bring my kids out one at a time, I have three kids. It’s cool because we get to hang out. We try to make it a family affair.

That’s really breaking the mold of what people think of rock stars.

Absolutely. We like to have a good time, but we keep it real. We could act like everyone expects us to act but our bodies couldn’t handle it.

Was there anticipation or was there worry about working on the sophomore release?

We were excited. We tried not to worry about the sophomore slump and we kept telling ourselves we weren’t going to feel the pressure. But there was no way not to feel the pressure considering how big the first album was. We used it to our advantage and that is how the song “Away From The Sun” got written. The song was written during that time of anticipation, worry and uncertainty of the future. All that brought out the song and that is why we feel that song is our masterpiece. It came from us and from where we were at.

What’s it like being at a show and everyone knows the songs?

It’s kind of cool. We did a radio show with bands like Godsmack and all these other heavy bands. We watched the crowd before us and they get wild for the heavier bands. So we figured it was going to be tough but as soon as we started playing “Kryptonite” the crowd started to sing. I looked over to the side of the stage and everyone is amazed at how many people are singing and then I’m amazed. It’s a beautiful thing we are doing here.

Could you ever imagine these songs would touch so many people?

It’s amazing. To write a song now from this point to know what you write, people will hear it. When you were a kid in your bedroom writing songs you never expect anyone will ever hear it. Now whatever you write is going to be heard by someone at some point. It’s a dream come true.

Do you write about your day to day life?

Definitely. Not necessarily things that effect me personally, but also things I see going on around me.

Is there anything you never expected once you got signed?

Ummmm. You know, I don’t know. I expected everything that has happened so far. It is a lot of work and it might be more work than we expected.

How has your life been effected?

It’s like the rest of my life is, well, not put on hold, but this definitely takes all of your time. It’s not a forty hour a week thing. This is 24/7.

I saw the email address for the band inside the cd tray card. Do you ever get back to fans?

Oh, yeah. We try to read as many as we can. That is really fun. I like to read what people have to say.

+ charlie craine