Jerry Horton talks Papa Roach European tour

As modern renaissance men Papa Roach hit Europe in support of new album F.E.A.R., guitarist Jerry Horton checks in to let us know what to expect...

After metalcore staked its claim as being the most important scene in heavy music around the turn of the millennium, Papa Roach were one of the few nu-metal bands to survive the aftermath.

While the majority of their peers folded away their baggy jeans once and for all, the Californian quartet remained defiant and refused to become extinct - instead choosing to embrace their own evolution.

We find out what the band have in store for this month's tour in support of F.E.A.R. - their electronically-charged eighth album.

"We've already started playing a couple of the singles, Face Everything And Rise and Broken As Me," says Jerry. "I think we'll end up doing a few more new songs, too, like Warriors and Gravity. It could even be more than that! We're just finding the right balance."

The guitarist recently tweeted a photo of his ears being moulded for a set of in-ear monitors made by Jerry Harvey Audio, which he is looking forward to taking out on the road.

"We've been using Jerry Harvey monitors for quite a while," says Jerry. "We just heard the new Roxanne series and they are incredible - with something like four bass drivers. How do they manage to fit all that into your ears, it's like a full PA!"

And that's not all, Jerry may very well have a brand new Schecter model in his hands by the time the tour rolls into UK towns and cities...

"I have a new signature series coming out," he enthuses. "It's based on their Tempest model but with a flat top and matt white paint job, which looks nice and isn't as flashy as my old model. The neck is matt, so it's plays a lot smoother. And Schecter actually make their own pickups now, so I'm using those, too. We're doing a lot of lower tunings these days, so I went with a modern scale length."

With them, Papa Roach are bringing Japanese rockers Coldrain and London mashup crew The One Hundred: two relatively new bands that seem destined for a bright future. Jerry couldn't be happier with how the bill shaped up...

"We've been following Coldrain since seeing them at Knotfest in November, where they just ripped! And The One Hundred were suggested by our booking agent, and we thought it would be something different for our crowd. It's nice to have young bands that can really bring it live. It makes everybody work harder and step their game up, for the benefit of the fans."