With stints in Snot, Amen and (hed)pe, Sonny Mayo has acquired somewhat of a reputation as a guitarist-for-hire. Now, however, he’s hoping that he’s found a permanent home in Atlanta metallers Sevendust, who he joined just prior to the recording of their latest, self-titled album.

“Will I be moving to Atlanta?” he asks from his Los Angeles living room. “Nah, everything’s working out just fine being where I am…”

How would you compare releasing an album with Sevendust as opposed to (hed)pe or Amen?

“I’ve been a lot more busy, a lot more involved than I usually have been in the past with other bands. The last band I was in, (hed)pe, I wasn’t actually a member of. I did do a press tour in Europe with [vocalist] Jahred, but this is a more hands-on kind of feel. This band is more of a band than anything I’ve ever been involved in. All five members are involved on all levels.”

Are you hoping Sevendust will be your home for a while?

“I really hope so. I don’t want to go anywhere. I am exactly where I want to be.”

How much of a fan were you before you joined?

“Huge. I’ve known these guys for upwards of nine years. We met when I was in Snot, we did some touring back together in ’96/’97 and formed a friendship, and have continued that friendship on, and I’ve always been a fan of the music, so it really works out for me.”

When was your first show with the band?

“The first show was April 6, 2005, in Tampa Florida, at a place called Masquerade. The thing is, we went in and wrote and recorded an album and tracked it before I’d played one single show with them. So when we went into rehearsal, I’d been in the band for two months before we even played a song as a full band. It was definitely interesting. And the first show was amazing. I’ve been welcomed into the band with open arms by the fans and everyone else.”

How did you come to join Sevendust?

“January 19, 2005, I got a phone call from [drummer] Morgan Rose. And Morgan says, ‘Sonny, I don’t know what you’re doing, but I hope it’s nothing, because we want you to join Sevendust.’ He said Clint [Lowery] left the band, they just got off TVT Records, they’re going to go and fund their own album, self produce it and shop for a deal while they’re recording it, and they want me to be involved. So I didn’t play a single note with them and I was in the band. I didn’t audition, there were no other guys that auditioned. They called me and said ‘We want you’, and I said ‘I’m ready’. I think after he said we want you to join Sevendust I might have said, ‘Hold on for a second’, and pulled the phone away from my end and yelled some kind of expletive, and then came back on the phone and said, ‘All right, dude, let’s talk some more about this.’”

What were you doing at that point?

“At that point musically I was writing and producing an artist called Ashby, he’s a funky keyboard playing, Stevie Wonder in the year 3000 kind of guy. So it was really something different for me. I was playing bass and guitar and writing music with him and producing in LA. I had not been in a band for about a year, I had played some shows with some local guys and kept my chops up, but I was basically ready. I had auditioned for Nine Inch Nails actually in November, and I didn’t get a call back – thankfully, because I got the best gig I think I could have gotten.”

Was it daunting going into a situation where the band had no label?

“It definitely was daunting. That’s the word for it, I think. It was a case of, we’re throwing the chips to the wind, we’re just going into it balls out. The band’s been around for this long, the band’s had this much success, there was faith in the music, there was faith in the longevity of the band, so we went for it.”

What state was Sevendust in when you joined?

“There was definitely some upheaval. But the people that are involved are really focused and are concerned with the longevity of this band, not just, can we write this hit song and get a top 10 single and sell two and a half million records, because what do we have after that? This band’s been around for a lot longer than many bands who have had more success than Sevendust, in terms of record sales. So even though it was a little chaotic, we were all still focused on the same kind of goal.”

What do you think you bring to Sevendust?

“From what I’ve heard, I bring a positive attitude. That’s really what my life is about now. It’s about, let’s go, let’s keep going. If something happens, okay cool, what’s the solution? You don’t fight reality, you go with reality. If this is happening, how do we get through it? Not how do we get over it, but how do we walk right through it.”

And what does Sevendust give you?

“Unity. Total unity. Bands are bands, and guys that are musicians are a little bit flakey, but this band is more focused than any band I’ve been in, as far as all five members going for the same goal. So that’s what I’ve really gotten out of it.”

Did you play much of a role in the songwriting for the new album?

“Yes, I did. Basically all the songs musically had been demoed by the band, and we set up a Pro Tools rig in John Connelly’s dining room – let me give thanks to his wife Laurie for putting up with us for a while – so we were in there, we were calling it Dining Room Productions. We had the Pro Tools set up, the mics set up, I brought all of my journals, like anything that I’d written over the last however many years, and what we did was, we’d find a lyric for the verse and the chorus of each song, and kind of move on. And meanwhile I would take that song and write the second verse or the bridge part and continue on. By the time we were tracking vocals, I got to write a lot of lyrics.”

Sounds like the band had a lot of faith in you given that you’d only just joined…

“Yeah, the thing is, we’re really similar. The stuff we write about, the topics of inner turmoil, inner strength or whatever, that’s what we write about, and I definitely have some words to say about that.”

Are there any specific events that shaped the lyrics on the new album?

“Sure. Alcohol and drug addiction, for me, that was something big. I’m a recovered alcoholic, so that’s why I was able to bring the positivity. If there’s a message that this album is conveying, it’s that when things seem like they’re falling apart, they’re probably just falling into place. So roll with it and do what you can do. From inside, you can achieve what you want to achieve.”

Is that the mantra you live by?

“[Sighs] Over the last three years, 10 months and…what’s today? Nine days.”

Is that how long you’ve been sober for?

“Yes it is. And just through experience really, that’s where it’s coming from, experiencing these things and walking through fear. When we walk through fear that’s when we gain courage.”

How does that attitude fit into Sevendust? For a while there they had a reputation as one of metal’s biggest party bands…

“Hey, I helped them with that reputation! [Laughs] We’ve known each other for years, we toured together when I was in Snot, and we definitely did not hold back. We consumed everything that we saw. We were like, ‘What is that? I don’t know! Let’s do one! What’s that powder on the table? I don’t know! Let’s find out! What’s this pill? I don’t know, let’s eat it and see what it does.’ [Laughs] That’s the attitude we had. And thankfully we’re all still alive… some of our friends are not. I’m glad that I am still alive, cos I get to continue to do what I do, which is make music.”

What do you reckon you’d think of the new album if you weren’t a member of the band?

“I’d be really impressed. [Laughs] I guess that’s easy to say. I would be happy for them, cos as an objective listener, I’ve only been in the band a little while, but it sounds more true to Sevendust than any other record I’ve heard – besides the first one, that was really true to them. Not to say the other records weren’t good, but there were a lot more outside influences involved. And nothing against any other producers they worked with, they’re really talented guys, and they’re artists as well, Butch Walker and Ben Grosse. But I think it was an appropriate time for Sevendust to self produce a record, being the fifth album, and the fact that over the years Sevendust has been co-operative with label requests to work with this producer or go in a certain direction.