The first hard rock band out of Memphis, Saliva, made it big with their second album, "Every Six Seconds," released on Island Records in 2000. Since then, Saliva, whose members include lead singer Josey Scott, guitarists Chris Dabaldo and Wayne Swinny, bassist Dave Novotny and drummer Paul Crosby, has received national airplay on radio stations.

Following the release of their newest album, "Back into Your System," Saliva launched a U.S. tour. justArts had the opportunity to interview Josey Scott while his band stopped in Boston to perform Friday, Nov. 14.


justArts: How has Saliva's sound evolved since the making of your first album, "Every Six Seconds"?

Scott: The band has grown and matured since being in the business. We have learned a lot of lessons. We have learned how to be comfortable being ourselves and be comfortable in our own skin. I think that we spend a lot more time together and aren't as scattered as we used to be. When you start out in this business, you are sort of wide-eyed and ambitious, and on this side of the fence you are smarter and sharper. You know what you want and what you want to go after. I think that is the attitude we took with this album. We had a more strategic attack with what we wanted to do.

justArts: The first single off the new album, "Always," is about domestic abuse. How do you hope the song's message will impact listeners?

Scott: I hope it helps young ladies to open their eyes, because I think in this generation women are stronger and more prevalent than they ever have been. I think that maybe the young ladies will take some advice from this song. Maybe it will give them some insight on how to get out of that situation or to handle their business.

justArts: The song "Rest in Pieces" was written by Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue. What was it like to work with him?

Scott: He's spectacular. He's one of my good friends. I met him out in Los Angeles last year and got to spend a lot of time with him. He's an idol of mine; I grew up watching Motley Crue. It's sort of weird now to be his friend and be involved in music with him.

He wrote the song out in Los Angeles with a writing partner of his and he sent it to us. He told me, "This is a song that I wrote for you, it's meant for you to sing it." I was so flabbergasted by that. And, besides him being Nikki Six, it's a great song. We were really excited about doing it because obviously it's a good song, and working with Nikki Sixx is incredible.

justArts: Do you see yourself doing any more collaborations? If so, with whom?

Scott: Yeah, I always like to keep an open mind. I'd like to collaborate with all kinds of different artists. I'd be down with doing something with anybody from Coldplay to Slayer. I have a really open mind musically, and I've always enjoyed a lot of different kinds of music, being from Memphis, Tenn. It's a melting pot of all different styles and genres.

justArts: What do you do to prepare for shows?

Scott: I like to have a lot of quiet time with family and friends. I like to sit on the bus and not be involved in anything, to get into show mode. I just basically relax, and I like to have a lot of time to get ready. It's like a ceremony, you know? By the time I go on stage, I'm ready and focused on the fans. It's all about the delivery. You want to give the fans what they hear on the CD. It's your responsibility to give them a great show.

justArts: When you are on tour, you have to spend a lot of time in close quarters with each other. Have you discovered any quirky habits of your bandmates?

Scott: Yeah, plenty, but none that I can tell you about. I think what makes us such a tight band is that we are all five best friends. We've all be friends before Saliva and were fortunate to come together and be able to play together. When we put Saliva together, we basically just picked out the best guys around, you know? Chris Dabaldo and Wayne Swinny were two of the best guitar players in Memphis. Paul Crosby was one of the best drummers, Dave Novotny was a spectacular bass player and I wasn't so bad myself. We all ended up getting in the same room together, and we are lucky to have each other. I thank God every day for what we have.