Mark Tremonti suggests new Creed music is on the way
‘I had a whole record on my hands before we parted ways’
Mark Tremonti has suggested that new Creed music could be on the cards, revealing that he had an album’s worth of material when the band last split and even suggesting the path that any new songwriting might take.
The multi-Platinum post-grunge superstars disbanded in 2004 before reuniting in 2009 and releasing the Full Circle album.
They then went on hiatus again in 2012 before getting back together again last year. They’re in the midst of a hugely successful tour but fans are also clamouring for new music – which could be on the cards.
“I had a whole record on my hands for Creed before we parted ways in 2012... If we start over and just dove in again, we could do better," Tremonti told Guitar Interactive.
Watch: Reformed Creed play 'Higher' on GMA
Asked if he hopes to write new Creed material the guitarist – who also plays in Alter Bridge and his own project Tremonti - said: "Yeah, I love writing music and I love doing it in many different ways. I love to be challenged and writing for all these different acts, when you get into it, you're, like, 'how am I gonna differentiate this from my other projects? How are we gonna make this its own thing and not sound like this other band with just a different vocalist on it?'"
Expanding on what direction any new music might take, he added: "I think putting a fresh look, but also realising what people loved about the band and trying to trying to keep that intact and not get too progressive in any way with Creed. We keep that to Alter Bridge and Tremonti and we keep Creed a little more the way it was back in the day.
"The big melodies, just the stuff that worked back in the day. I think on ‘Full Circle’, I think we strayed a little bit from our original sound with that album. So I think it'd be good to try to get back to that original sound a little more."
Gallery: The worst original band names
Naked Toddler (Creed)
The jaw-droppingly atrocious band name was suggested by Mark Tremonti in the mid-nineties after he read a story in the press about an abducted child. Naively adopting it for their first gig at a club called Yanni's, Scott Stapp revealed in his 2012 autobiography that it quickly bombed: "The name didn't go over well. Girls hated it and said it made them think of paedophilia. They had a point." Quite.
Pen Cap Chew (Nirvana)
Having already been a member of Fecal Matter – aka Brown Towel – Kurt Cobain already had a history of hilariously bad band names before starting his new outfit with Krist Novoselic. After trialling a few dodgy names including Skid Row, Ted Ed Fred and, most notably, Pen Cap Chew, they had a eureka moment and settled on Nirvana. Kurt told Rolling Stone in 1992: "I wanted a name that was kind of beautiful or nice and pretty instead of a mean, raunchy punk name like the Angry Samoans." Good choice!
Mookie Blaylock (Pearl Jam)
Huge fans of the New York Jets basketball player Mookie Blaylock, the rockers decided to name their band in his honour. After playing a series of shows as Mookie Blaylock, they renamed themselves Pearl Jam in October '90 after signing to Epic Records. The origins of the name are somewhat cloudy, related either to Eddie Vedder's great grandmother Pearl / seeing Neil Young "jam" live / a naughty euphemism, depending on who you talk to... Mookie himself is said to be a big fan of Pearl Jam's music.
Feedback/The Hype (U2)
After the titular drummer posted a notice looking for band members at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, the resulting group were called The Larry Mullen Band "for about ten minutes" before Bono swept aside the idea. They opted for Feedback, after the screeching sound that came out of their amps, only to switch it for the decidedly pop band-esque The Hype in 1977. Eventually they settled on U2 for its "ambiguity and open-ended interpretations."
Rat Salad (Van Halen)
Originally called Genesis until they found out a certain British progressive rock band was using it, the band redubbed themselves Mammoth – only to discover that was being used too. Still predominately a covers band, the Van Halen brothers toyed with Rat Salad (after the Black Sabbath song) but Dave Lee Roth countered with their surname. Originally worried about it sounding self-absorbed, they were eventually persuaded to adopt it.
Polka Tulk Blues Band (Black Sabbath)
Imagine hearing Tony Iommi's opening riffs on Black Sabbath's debut album and finding out it was by the Polka Tulk Blues Band. Fortunately they abandoned the name in the late 60s with a scathing Iommi telling Ozzy: "Every time I hear it, all I can picture is you, with your trousers around your ankles, taking a f***ing dump. It's crap." Black Sabbath was partially inspired by the Boris Karloff film of the same name, a vision Geezer Butler had, and the work of occult novelist Dennis Wheatley.
Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Formed at Fairfax High School in 1983, Anthony Kiedis, Hillel Slovak, Flea and Jack Irons gave themselves the gloriously ridiculous name Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem. According to Kiedis, the name was intended to reflect the "majestic and chaotic" nature of the band. After two shows as Tony Flow… in November of '83 the group opted for the comparatively normal moniker Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Village Idiots (Nickelback)
Then a covers band that pilfered from Metallica and Megadeth's back catalogue, in the mid-1990s Chad Kroeger, Ryan Peake, Mike Kroeger and Brandon Kroeger called themselves the Village Idiots. Realising it would make them cannon fodder on the bigger stage; they later changed it to Nickelback in reference to the nickel in change Mike often gave his customers while working at Starbucks – "Here's your nickel back."
The Golliwogs (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Originally named The Blue Velvets, when the band recorded some tracks for Fantasy Records in 1964, label co-owner Max Reiss decided to change it to The Golliwogs after the controversial minstrel doll of the same name. Late rhythm guitarist Tom Fogarty said: "I think, at least to Max anyway, 'Golliwogs' sounded sort of British. We always hated the name but Max owned the label and we were new and wanted very much to make records, so we went along with things." Three years later the name was thankfully dropped.
Screaming Abdabs (Pink Floyd)
The music legends are formed from the ashes of a band that had a series of bizarre transitory names. First called Sigma 6 (there were six members including Roger Waters, Richard Wright and Nick Mason), in 1964 they adopted a series of short-lived but gloriously ridiculous names including Leonard's Lodgers, the Meggadeaths and the Screaming Abdabs. A year later Syd Barratt coined Pink Floyd after finding inspiration from the Piedmont blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.
Wicked Lester (KISS)
Ditching their Rainbow moniker when they discovered there was already another band with the name, in 1971 the group renamed themselves Wicked Lester. During their brief existence the folk/pop/rock group played in public just twice before Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley decided to delve into rock and roll and recruit new members. With Ace Frehley on board by Christmas '72 they changed their name to KISS and played their first live show a month later. Find out more about Wicked Lester in our A-Z of KISS.
Rocket Baby Dolls (Muse)
When Matt Bellamy and Dominic Howard's former band Gothic Plague (surprisingly not a death metal group) split following a series of rifts, they enlisted new bassist Chris Wolstenholme and changed their name to Rocket Baby Dolls. Soon realising it was turgid, after just one gig – their triumphant battle of bands performance at Broadmeadow Sports Centre in Teignmouth in 1994 – they switched it for Muse.