On May 13, 2008, Filter released their first album in almost six years. Founder and sole remaining member of the band, vocalist Richard Patrick, certainly had his fair share of life experiences during that time period. Following a critical stint in rehab, a reinvigorated Patrick teamed with the DeLeo brothers of Stone Temple Pilots fame to form Army of Anyone, who released their self-titled debut LP in late 2006. The album met with some success, its first single, “Goodbye,” climbing all the way to #3 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. A conversation Richard had with his brother, actor Robert Patrick, however, convinced him that he needed to return to his roots. He needed to make another Filter album.

The Gauntlet: After such a long break why did you decide to do a new Filter album?

Richard Patrick: It was actually based on a conversation I had with my brother. My brother Robert has been a massive fan in my life. He kind of looked at me and was like, “You know, Rich, I love Army of Anyone, and I’m glad you have friends. But I don’t understand why you hate Filter so much. I don’t know why you’ve betrayed Filter.” I realized that I’ve abused Filter. I hurt Filter. I fucked with it. I was always drunk. It took me ten years to do three records. Filter has been the abused child in my life. I started listening to some of the records again, and my brother was just like, “It’s time man. You quit Nine Inch Nails for this shit. You went off and showed the world that you have this ability, and you quit this huge band to pursue Filter.” It is time. If I do something musically from here on in, it’s going to be Filter.

After making up his mind to write a new Filter album, Richard needed two things: Some inspiration, and some new musicians to help make it all happen. He found the latter in the form of participation from the likes of guitarist/songwriter John 5, former Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland, and acclaimed session drummer Josh Freese. As for the former, on the surface it appears that the inspiration for the album lies in the Iraq War, but according to Richard, it is so much more.

The Gauntlet: The overall theme for the new album seems to be the Iraq War…

Richard: Well, that’s really just two songs. That’s what everyone’s kind of grabbed onto. That’s what the cover is about , so it seems like it’s the whole record. The whole record is really about humanity. It’s about energy, pollution, humans, waste, hope, it’s about all kinds of things. The focal point that people will react to is my obsession with the Iraq War, and how fucking retarded that was. You know, the Bush administration’s complete mismanagement. I wrote “Soldiers of Misfortune” in 2002. I wish it had come out then. This is all stuff that we all kind of know now, so now it’s more like a tribute to the soldiers. It’s more of a protest against the Bush administration.

The Gauntlet: So what do you really want people to take away from the album?

Richard: I wanted to make a great record for my fans. The reality is that it just goes back to the same old stuff that the rock music that I listened to was inspired by. The same things that Bono, John Lennon, Joe Strummer, and Sid Vicious were all inspired by. That music is a protest, that music can be inspiring, that music can be hopeful. It can be anything. It can be the voice of a generation. I truly believe that it’s a mouthpiece for all of us. I think there’s not a massive focus on “bling” or “cribs” or monster trucks. It’s time for this singer to beg humanity to get back on track. The ultimate thing is that we can all make a difference and it’s all in our hands.

The Gauntlet: What are your relationships now with the old school members of the band?

Richard: I stay in constant contact with [former bassist] Frank Cavanagh because I’m horrified he’s going to get hurt over in Iraq. Geno Lenardo [former guitarist], I haven’t really talked to him in a long time. I talked to him about working on this record. I was working with some newer people in my life, and it just never happened. Steve Gillis [former drummer], I’ve worked with him in the past, but I just decided I’d change it up with Josh Freese. The reality is that Filter is kind of like Queens of the Stone Age. As long as I’m at the helm, the personnel can change.

Richard is not particularly fond of the direction the music business has taken in the years Filter has been on hiatus…

Richard: Everything that we’ve got, especially music right now, is based on people being good and doing the right thing. 95% of the people out there listening to music got it illegally. They fucking downloaded it from their friends. Someone bought the CD and gave it to 9 people. They dumped it in their computers and burnt fucking mp3s. I was at an eye doctor and he was giving me an eye exam, and he was like, “Yea, I love music, do you think it’s too late for me to play guitar and put out a record?” I said, “Doc, imagine if I could get online and just double-click and get Lasik surgery.” He’d go out of business, right? It’s fucking horrible. Thousands and thousands of people have lost their jobs. Everyone is prepared to completely move on. It’s really sad. No one new is hearing the music. I don’t believe it. How do you gauge that? By how many people come to the shows? Ticket sales have gone down everywhere as well, unless you’re STP on an 8-year reunion with 25 top 10 hit singles. No one is making money anymore. U2 had millions and millions of dollars invested in them. They spent a million dollars on Bruce Springsteen’s third record. You think that would ever happen today? No way. There’s no artist development anymore. There’s a million fucking hip-hop guys, but rock is expensive. You need a fucking studio, and you need equipment. All you need for hip-hop is two turntables and a microphone. Case and point I was in the fucking A Room for 8 months. The A Room is like 300$/hr at a studio. Eminem was not in the B Room or C Room, he was in the D Room. He had his computer going, and was the #1 record and made 40 million dollars. With Filter, every single note is carved out and crafted. He can just dump out some computer stuff and grab a beat from an endless supply.

The Gauntlet: What do you think the record industry can do to save itself?

Richard: It’s in people’s hands not to steal. If I buy a CD and someone says, “Rich, give me that CD real quick,” I gotta look them in the eye and say, “Dude, that’s my CD.” They’d look at me like they get it, but they don’t really get it, you know? People have to do the right thing. Will they? Probably not. I don’t think people are aware. They see shit on TV, and they think that bands roll around in these fucking million dollar busses. I made my last record for $40,000. I’ve cut my expenses back to barely anything. My video was less than $20,000.

The Gauntlet: What kind of budget did you get back in the day to make a record?

Richard: A regular album probably cost somewhere between $300,000 and $400,000. I had a lot of people on staff, a functioning studio in Chicago. Now I just do everything on ProTools, and I’ve cut my costs down. It’s great though, because I can put out records cheaply and quick.

Perhaps the biggest change since the last Filter album is Richard’s newfound sobriety. He was very candid in sharing how it has changed his life…

The Gauntlet: How has your life improved inside and outside of the band since you got sober?

Richard: You can wake up and do some vocal exercises and go on stage and sing a perfect show pretty much all the time. I could never have done that sober. Hangovers are so angst ridden, your nerves are constantly shot. I haven’t had a cigarette in four years. I listened to The Amalgamut to sort of learn some of it again. I remember thinking to myself that those lyrics are so incomplete. They’re not up to my standards now. I remember [producer] Ben Grosse saying, “Come on, get in here and fucking rewrite this shit.” And I was just like, “Fuck you! I’ve got beers to drink!” I hear some of the stuff today and he was right. It’s like, what does that mean? I’m just a way better person now. I love everyone in my life so much more. Obviously I couldn’t have been married, I couldn’t have had a kid. I have this beautiful daughter named Sloan. My money’s tighter. When you’re an alcoholic you’re nuts, man. You’re literally in the upper echelons of mental illness. We think we’re special because we’re the drunks. There’s always this sense of entitlement when you’re a drunk. Like “What do you mean I gotta fucking work?” Alcoholism is a total disease. Addiction’s a disease. It’s not a drinking disease, it’s a thinking disease. You get done with drinking and now you’ve gotta fucking gamble, or obsess on your health and become super pumped up. Sobriety is a mainstay in my life. I’m standing on stage at the age of 40 singing the best I’ve ever sang in my life. I’ve got a smaller waistband than when I was 31 years old. The reality is that when you start drinking you stop developing mentally. I literally feel like a 25-year-old kid, because I started drinking when I was 20. I feel like this young person, and I feel like “What happened to all these years?” Literally I’ll see videos of myself and be like “Who is that fucking guy?” Sobriety is the only way I can survive. I will kill myself if I drink again. I will unfortunately perish.
The Gauntlet: Is there any temptation?

Richard: I was really, really lucky. It happens when it happens. There is no good time to get sober. On September 28, 2002, I looked in the mirror, and I could not recognize who I was. I saw some other person staring back at me. It scared the shit out of me. When your liver starts going, the elasticity in your skin starts going, and you just become this melting, weird-looking dude. When I checked myself into rehab I was done. Recently, I had some dear friends of mine from Chicago over and I was like, “Hey, do you guys want anything to drink, there’s beers up there and Cokes?” And they were like, “You keep beers on the bus!?” And I was like, “Yea, I’m not like a rabid dog, it’s been almost 6 years.” They were traumatized. I put those guys through so much hell. When you’re in the using phase of alcoholism, you can’t have alcohol within 6 miles. We’ll fucking climb mountains for that shit. It’s a fucked up disease and I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy. It’s absolutely destroyed gigantic chunks of my life, but in certain ways it’s enhanced who I am now. The beautiful thing about being in recovery is that I get the opportunity to help people. There’s a 17-year-old kid who contacted me on MySpace and was like, “I’m incapable of having only one drink, and I drink by myself.” I was like, “I’ve got news for you, you’re an alcoholic, I’m an alcoholic too. If you don’t change your ways right now, you’re going to end up in jail or in a graveyard or just insane on the side of the street.” He’s changed his life so much that he’s literally just moved into his college dorm. He has a full scholarship. He’s a total genius and he’s going on to be a doctor, so how many people have I helped by helping him?