3 Doors Down - Topic

In order to know where you’re headed, you have to recognize where you’re from. So when it came time to begin working on their sixth full-length album, Us And The Night [Republic Records], Grammy Award®-nominated multiplatinum Mississippi rock band 3 Doors Down channeled a familiar feeling.

“We all missed the excitement of making our first album,” says singer Brad Arnold. “As you continue creating records, it can become sort of mechanical, and you start taking everything too seriously. However, for Us And The Night, we were all on the same page about just wanting to have a good time in the studio. That created a great vibe. I don’t think we’ve ever felt this unified as a band in our entire career. That’s why the album sounds like it does.”

In late 2014, 3 Doors Down—Brad Arnold [lead vocals], Chris Henderson [lead and rhythm guitar], Greg Upchurch [drums], Chet Roberts [lead and rhythm guitar], and Justin Biltonen [bass]— wrapped up a marathon of touring that included the cycles for 2011’s Time of My Life, which debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200, and The Greatest Hits, a year later. Along the way, they welcomed Chet and Justin into the fold in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Us And The Night would make for their first studio experience together and formally open up a new chapter for the group.

“The creativity between the five of us hadn’t been tapped yet,” explains Chris. “That made the whole process really interesting because everybody was bringing different ideas to the table. The boundaries totally opened up. Chet and Justin kept pushing and pushing, and none of us wanted to stop.”

The guys holed up in Chris’s own Rivergate Studios in Nashville, TN and dove into extremely collaborative sessions—which even saw Greg writing for the first time. As a result, the sonic palette started to expand with producer Matt Wallace [Maroon 5, Train, Faith No More] behind the board.

“Matt was a great coach,” continues Chris. “We got out of our comfort zone and started to approach the music from a different angle. We’d use synths or try different styles of riffs. That made everybody a little uncomfortable in the best way. It really worked.”

“This couldn’t be just another 3 Doors Down record,” adds Brad. “It needed to be an album that made people take a second look and listen.”

That’s exactly what the first single “In The Dark” does. With a raucous, raw, and rowdy riff, the track shows an unexpected and undeniable side of the band, culminating during the chorus, “