Corrosion of Conformity's Bobby Landgraf on Aftershock 2026 Band Evolution, Double Album, Tour Life

0:04 Hey, you're listening to Adventure on W4CY Radio. This is the Pipe Man here on the Adventure's Pipe Man W4CY Radio and I'm here. With Bobby Landgraf from Corrosion of Conformity. Nice. Fuck yeah, I like The first time I ever saw you guys, I had talked to Woody about before. And in previous times, I talked with Mike before. It was at the Sun Valley Sportsman's Lodge. Oh, yeah. Do you remember what that show was? That was like the first crossover show.

0:46 It was me. I know you weren't there. Right. Maybe you knew about it. It was the first crossover show ever where you had punks and metalheads in the same. United Forces. Yeah, yeah. And then, like, so, of course, COC, that was pre-Pepper, so it was hardcore punk. And it was one of the craziest shows ever in my life, and I've been to a lot. Right, right? So, how's it feel in 2026... The COC is still such a thing. And it's a big deal for me, not only because I'm a new guy, right, and I get to play in the band now, but I also played with Pepper and Down. Oh, well, there you go. So I played lead guitar on the last Down record, not this new one coming out, but the one 2015.

1:32 And so Pepper knew that we could jam together, write together, and I, you know, I've been with Pepper for a while. See, that's important, though. Yeah. You know, because if you're not gelling with your bandmates and you're not on the same page, it's kind of hard to please us. Right. You know? Absolutely. You hit it spot on. Plus, as far as the dynamic goes, you know, I've been on the bus with Pepper for about 10 years, went down and everything. So there's so much working in my favor. Yeah, exactly. And I think when you're on the bus with somebody and you're doing all this stuff all the time, I think it's more important that you get along than be good musicians. At that point. You can't do that. You can't be in the band.

2:14 Right. Right. I know, like, if I was with people that I didn't like, I'd be like, fuck this. That's a tough day. I'm done. Yeah, it's a tough day. You know? Yeah, yeah. So I love the passion that you guys have, and I think that's why you're still relevant and still around. You know, I've got to agree with you, and I know it comes through on the new record, too, because we really got into each other's heads, and we had plenty of time to pre-produce and get ready for it. And so we were all just on top of our game for this one. And so tell us a little bit about... For people who haven't heard the new one, what they can expect that's different, what they can expect that's the same. The best answer I think I have for that is that people have been coming back and telling us that this record is almost like a best-of record from all the seasons of Corrosion of Conformity.

3:03 Nice. It's a double record, so we have two different records to listen to on it. And, yeah, we go into so many different planets. I like to call it planets, and I know everybody listening knows what that means. Right. People, their feedback is that, man, this song is from Deliverance, and this song is off Blind, and this song would have been on, you know, and it just criss-crosses back and forth like that. And some of them are just like, for this record only, places that Pepper and Woody hadn't gone yet. And that's important. Me and Stanton Moore, the drummer on the record, was able to help us go anywhere we wanted to, because he could do anything.

3:44 See, that's cool because I think as an artist, when you're doing it as long as you guys have, you kind of have to have something that gives you a little motivation. Absolutely. You know, instead of doing the same old thing. Right. You know, so it has to be exciting and new. It's kind of the way I look at, like, my youngest daughter, she'll call me up before every festival and she'll be like, so dad, are you excited for this festival? I love doing it. It's great. But, I wouldn't say exciting because I'm doing it every weekend and it's the same festival. So you're used to it. Yeah. First time I did incarceration, which was at the Shawshank prison.

4:26 Then I called her up. I'm like, now I'm excited. I'm at the, I'm calling you from the prison yard of Shawshank. Wow. You know, and that's another Wimmer festival, but it's different because all the Wimmers are different. Okay. So there's where the excitement comes from, which is why I'm relating to what you're saying is it's something new. It's something different. You don't want to write the same album over and over again. No, and you seem passionate enough. You have genuine questions. You really want to know what's going on in our heads, and that's great, man. You're just as passionate as we are. Well, thank you. So, one story, good or bad, in your whole journey in music. What's the one that sticks out in your mind most? A story? Yeah. Geez, I don't know. I think my story with these guys started on a down bus. And I think that my favorite part of when I started working with Down was that we went on tour with Ronnie James Dio, Black Sabbath.

5:22 Wow. And every morning, Pepper and I would go watch the Black Sabbath. Tony Iommi would be on stage by himself playing guitar for hours. Wow. And we would just watch that, you know. And I think that was like a big, big moment for me. Like, wow, I'm out with these guys and Down and I'm out with Black Sabbath with Dio and watching... watching this happen night after night. So that was big for me. I think it's pretty amazing. That's one of my most memorable concerts was Mob Rules Tour. Ah, missed that one. And man, it was back in the day where you camped out for tickets. Yeah. And I was like right up front with some dudes like, hey man. Get my tickets for me, and I'll smoke you out at the show.

6:06 Okay. I was a teenager, so, like, that's enough for me. Sure. Okay. Right. He had some, like, Maui Waui shit that was making me hallucinate. And as soon as Dio came over to Mike, I thought Dio was gone. He was. That's because he was. Right? You know, I've got to bring up a second one. That's funny, because that one goes all the way to my beginning with, let's just say, with Pepper. And the most excited I've been was when we started touring with COC with me and the band. We were out with Judas Priest and Alice Cooper. Wow. Yeah, so we had our set before them, and every night me and Pepper and Woody would just jump to front of house because we were so excited. We were 15 years old again watching Judas Priest every night.

6:49 Yeah. Exactly. So that's another one I want to throw in the mix. I love that. I feel that way too, but I also feel that way about COC because of what I said. I go back to 13 years old, and it is the nostalgia there, and that's where your fans, they do want you to write the same stuff over and over again. Sure. But I think we are getting better at that bands like you can write new stuff, do it differently, and we don't have people talking shit like they used to. Okay, all right. We're passionate about what we did, so we put everything we had in it. So it wasn't just, there's no throwaway songs on there. Exactly. And I think that's maybe what you're getting at. Exactly. Yeah, so just the love and the passion that was put into it, now we get to bring that on deck.

7:35 And we're thrilled about it. Exactly. Now Stan Moore couldn't do the touring because he's too busy in New Orleans, but we got a special drummer. His name is Nick and he's fantastic. And he's just stepping up really tall. I love that. And I'm doing the best Mike Dean that I can do. There you go. Plus, I got to play my own parts on this new record. So I'm passionate about, A, playing Mike Dean's songs. I've been such a fan forever. And I get to do that, and then I get to play songs that I had to do with writing on this record, so... Do you. Feel like you're channeling him when you're playing his songs? Yeah, I don't know about channeling. I'm giving it hell. I'm trying. Right, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I am. He came out to one of our shows, so I was pretty nervous playing in front of him, but... No, I've been a friend of Mike's and the band's for so many years, which is another reason it's so easy to put me in the band, because... You know, when they play a show in Austin where I live, it's like I'm on the bus with them the whole day before the show. And, you know, it's just, like we were saying before, there's so much love amongst us fellas that it was easy to bring me in.

8:39 It's just an easy fit. Yeah. You know? Music is one thing, but living together is the other. Oh, a whole other thing. So they're all moving parts. So now here's something, too. I always think of, I have mad respect for musicians like you that are here at a festival playing two sets. Well, now Pepper is. Oh, well. Yeah. Pepper's doing his COC and then down right after. Right. Yeah, man. I'm like, wow. I know. How the hell do you do that? You just, if it's what you love to do, it's not hard. Right. I always think about the switching gears, too. Like, it's like you got to go from COC mode to down mode. Right. You know, it's like sometimes you would maybe have your...

9:22 head in one space like you almost have to program yourself for each set yeah you're right that sure. Think of it this way with pepper with coc he's the leader he's the singer he's the front right and in down he gets to be the guitar player and he's not he doesn't have to you know philip's doing all the All the singing and crowd work. So for Pepper, I think it's easier to do down after COC than it would be to do down and then COC. That makes sense. Yeah. It does. And I think what you said also makes sense, too, because it's a different role. I think there's a different level of stress to it. Yeah. Or, you know, it is like you're doing something different.

10:04 Sure. You know? I mean, speaking for Pepper, which I can say is that he's Pepper Keenan no matter what he does, right? Yeah. He's not really changing into somebody else for the other show, right? I mean, each of those guys in Down bring their, it's not Crowbar, it's not C.O.C., it's not I Hate God, it's not Pantera, but together it becomes that thing. Exactly. Well, that's one thing I do love about when musicians do different projects, because to me a musician wants to evolve, wants to experiment, and that's the best way to do it. Like, you can do something totally different. Yes. And, you know, it's very incestuous, too, this little world we're in. Crowbar, I Hate God, COC, Down. And we're going to really have a good time with that in about a month in New Orleans at the NOLA, the big festival in NOLA.

10:56 Really? Because that's going to be Crowbar, I Hate God, Down, COC, Pantera. Wow. Black Label. Oh, my God. All of us together. Two days. It's a two-day festival. Look it up. It's next month in New Orleans. I actually have one of my radio studios is in Hammond, Louisiana, so I definitely am going to look it up because I didn't even know about that one. That sounds pretty badass. I like every single band there. Yeah, everyone. Oh, my God, that's incredible. Just all of us, and we're in each other's bands anyway. There you go. What is it that really first got you into music, that moment that you knew that this is what you needed to do?

11:38 I think for me, it was when I heard Tush on the radio. Nice. And I heard that, and it really spoke to me as a kid. And all I ever wanted to do was just learn how to play that. So once I learned how to play that, I thought I was some pretty king shit. There you go. I just took it from there, man. I love it. But honestly, yeah, it was ZZ Top that drew me in. That's pretty cool. And you almost have the same beard. Almost. Almost. Almost. It needs a little more. I know, I know. Yeah, yeah. And my chops need to get a little better. There you go. But no, I would say it was that for sure for me. So, also, I always like to ask, how does Danny Wimmer treat you guys as an artist at his festivals? I think fantastic. You know, I'm new to the band, but I mean, the guys got nothing but great things to say about it.

12:25 Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I think that's so important. That's why I asked that question. Sure, sure. You know, because... The. Less stress you have as an artist, the better it's going to be for us as the people attending and watching your set. Yeah, man. Because it's a lot better when there's no stress with loading and sound check and stuff like that. The crew got their own stress to make everything right. But for us, man, we just have a good time hanging out with each other. There it is. Meeting fellas like yourself. There it is. Just talking our shit. I love it. That's what it's all about. Yeah, man. Is there anything else you want to tell the listeners about what's coming up for COC that they need to know about? We're going out in November. We're going to be out with the Sword. Nice. Yeah, that'll be a good run. So that's the month of November. And then in January, we got Australia with Clutch.

13:13 Very cool. Yeah, and then after that is March in the U.S. with Clutch. You guys match up pretty good with Clutch too. You know what we do? And the crowds, we did some Clutch shows, a bunch of them this year. And man, as soon as we're done, they love Clutch. And they're waiting, they're watching us. No one's leaving. That's cool. Everyone's just loving both bands. Two different bands, but still, the crowds love them both. There you go. So we have a really good time with that. Well, we love you, and thank you for being here at Aftershock. Aftershock. And thanks for being on the Adventures of Pipe Man. Brother, I'm so glad to. All the love to you. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipe Man on W4CY Radio.