On a cold tour bus in the middle of America, Chad Gray is trying to sound courteous and enthusiastic despite being interrupted every few minutes by a spluttering of sniffling and coughing. Having spent the past few weeks on the Masters Of Horror tour battling the flu, it sounds for all intents and purposes like his body is about to finally crumble. He is, nevertheless, remarkably amiable, no doubt because our current topic of conversation is the band’s upcoming spot on the Big Day Out, a tour which holds many fond memories for the vocalist following Mudvayne’s stint on the 2001 bill.

“What do I remember about it? Drinking! Dude, we drank the entire time we were there. We had so much fun. You’ve got to understand, at that time we were still living in Illinois, and January in Illinois is frigid, freezing cold. And here we are, going to Australia in the summer time, three and a half weeks, six shows, it’s summer, we were just living it up. When we were in the Gold Coast, we were on the beach, just chilling out. And the after-parties are just amazing. And hanging out with Queens Of The Stone Age, that was pretty fun.”

Gray’s enthusiasm is also fuelled by the band’s most recent visit to Australia in June last year. The shows were, he says, the best the band have played since the release of latest album Lost And Found. But then, given that he’s talking to an Australian magazine, he would say that…

“No, not to blow smoke up your ass,” he chuckles, “but they were the best shows that we have played on this record, out of anywhere.”

Gray is also quick to list last year’s Ozzfest as a highlight of 2005, despite the gruelling nature of the tour and the fact that each show was engulfed by a heatwave. It was, courtesy of the Ozzy Vs Maiden egg-throwing incident at the LA show, also one of the most notorious Ozzfests in years. Did Gray find himself taking sides?

“We didn’t really witness it, so I don’t actually talk about it, but it was just a big bunch of ballyhoo. You almost have to wonder if it was staged just to get some publicity going for the tour. It happened in LA, that’s the biggest show there is, 50,000 people there or whatever, the power’s getting shut off, people are telling people to piss off, it was crazy.”

With sold-out shows around the world and a ringside view of the Ozzfest madness, it’s no surprise that Gray reflects on the past 12 months fondly. For all the touring, though, it’s the band’s third album, Lost And Found, of which he remains most proud. A more straight ahead effort than either of the band’s first two albums, it also represented a step-up in songcraft, resulting in Lost And Found becoming the band’s fastest selling album ever.

“All our three albums sit in the same place, around seven or 800,000 albums in the States, but this one got there in like half the time,” explains Gray. “I think that’s a testament to the workmanship of the band, it’s a testament to the hard work we’ve done, and it’s a testament to Mudvayne fans. We’ve been working really hard for a long time, we’ve been touring our asses off, writing records, recording records with virtually no downtime… I know it looks glamorous from the outside, but it’s a really hard life. And when you look at Lost And Found getting to the success level of the other records in half the time, it’s a true testament to the dedication of the fans and the band.”

Do you still enjoy it?

“Absolutely. You can’t have the good without the bad, you can’t have the bad without the good. My job is very fulfilling and rewarding and it’s creative and I appreciate those aspects of it. It’s unfortunate we have to be gone 364 days a year when we’re touring, but it’s still a good situation. Things could be worse.”