In a new interview with That Metal Interview, SALIVA singer Bobby Amaru spoke about the experience of replacing the band's original frontman Josey Scott nearly two decades ago.
He reflected: "I think it's a blessing and a curse at the same time, 'cause anytime you replace a singer, there's always gonna be doubters or haters or whatever.
But now that it's been almost 15 years, I feel like the band has evolved so much.
And I still give credit to what the band was in the early 2000s and what they ended up doing." Amaru continued: "I don't think it was possible, without the Internet, to do this kind of stuff.
'Cause you remember when bands would change singers, and MTV and radio was still a thing, it's almost like everybody would just give up on the band.
But I think now that you have the Internet, you have social media and stuff, you can find new fans.
You can also rekindle with old fans because your songs are right in their face.
They can see it or hear it." Amaru went on to discuss the challenges of being a lead singer replacement in rock bands, citing MĂ–TLEY CRĂśE's 1994 self-titled album as an example.
He explained: "I saw MĂ–TLEY CRĂśE with John Corabi [back in 1994], and I love that record.
And it's crazy because I feel like on the Internet, anytime I see anything about that record, there's not one negative comment about it.
Everyone goes, 'Dude, that's the best MĂ–TLEY CRĂśE record.
I love that record.' But where was that in '94 or '95 when they needed that support or whatever it was, and they didn't get that." Amaru acknowledged that there are many bands today with different lead singers.
He noted: "I feel like there's a lot of bands today that have different singers, man.
It's a lot more common than it used to be, is what I'm getting at.
And even when I got in, in 2011, that was still kind of weird." Amaru has been SALIVA's frontman for over ten years and was featured on the band's most recent releases.
He also discussed the passing of SALIVA guitarist Wayne Swinny earlier this year.
The "Come Back Stronger" video was notably filmed just days before Swinny's death, and was dedicated to him.