James Durbin Talks Idol, Pro Wrestling Lore, and New Album Screaming Steel

By Noah Wade

James Durbin, a skilled and variegated vocalist from Santa Cruz, CA, struggled to find his footing as a rock and metal singer in a music industry that, simply, just wanted him to go pop following his stint on what was, arguably, the most competitive season of the original iteration of American Idol back in 2011. Vigorously pushing his mantra, “Give metal a chance!,” he finished in fourth place.

2021’s The Beast Awakens was a statement… a return to form. His newest album Screaming Steel, out now, sees Durbin fully engulfed in the theatricality and musicality of the genre. It is, simply, a testament to his work ethic and unyielding faith in himself and the music he loves.

This interview was the long-awaited first meeting (via Zoom) between Durbin and a young man who, at 14-years-old, saw himself in Durbin’s grit and determination while watching him on the show. 13 years later, the young man is fully engrossed in his own music industry journey, but was, in that moment, humbled and grateful. The two left no stone unturned in what was an impactful, honest conversation.

Durbin’s first album post-Idol, 2011’s Memories of a Beautiful Disaster, featured hard rock-leaning tracks like “Higher Than Heaven,” “Outkast” featuring Mick Mars, and “Liberate,” but was still significantly watered down for what he intended. “I did fight… to try and make it as heavy as it is,” he said. “If I had been in full control, it would have been a lot heavier. But, I understand what they were doing from a business acumen coming off of Idol and not wanting to alienate a number of the target fanbase from the show.”

When Memories… didn’t meet the desired commercial success, the label, at first, seemed disinterested in the overall direction of his next project Celebrate. They soon came to an unfavorable final decision. “They decided they wanted to push me pop,” he said. “They had me work with Scott Stevens who was, and is, a master of songwriting and producing active rock. The dude produces hits for Halestorm and Disturbed and this huge list of artists. I was like, ‘Why did they make me do pop with the rock guy?’” Outside of “Louder Than A Loaded Gun” and a handful of others, Celebrate is, by all accounts, a traditional pop album with rock elements scattered throughout.

“I don’t know if this is to my detriment, but… I wonder ‘Where would I be if I did actively play those songs?,’ he said, unsure how to categorize those records as part of his catalog. “I’m doing something completely different now.” After 2018’s Homeland, a low-key Americana project, Durbin dropped his first name from his two most recent, and exclusively metal, albums, The Beast Awakens and Screaming Steel.

The Beast Awakens, as a title, was born from an article on Japanese wrestler Jushin Thunder Liger. “The article was about how there was this sub-character of Liger,” Durbin said. “How, when someone removed his mask… with the intention to humiliate him, they didn’t realize that the mask was containing, ‘the beast within.’ In a way, because I had been singing for Quiet Riot for the last two-and-a-half years’… I was removing that metal mask from myself and was releasing the beast within.”

Though Quiet Riot was not on the agenda, Durbin veered into it himself and maintained a lighthearted yet realistic approach to the topic. He was with the band from 2017 to 2019, but, due to creative differences, it was not a fruitful collaboration. “I’m very, very, very, very grateful for the fact that I did get to experience… that,” he said with a smile, wanting to solely express gratitude but was unable to do so without, as longtime fans have come to expect, lampooning it. “Just for the hindsight and knowing that that’s. not. what. I. want.”

Following his stint with QR, Frontiers, the label backing them at that time, decided to proceed with Durbin as a solo act. This, in turn, resulted in these last two DURBIN albums. “With The Beast Awakens and Screaming Steel, I wrote every single riff,” he said. “They all came from my mind, through my guitar. Through my hands. I wasn’t confident that I could write that kind of music on my own. A lot of Beast… was me thinking and song ideas and guitar melodies in my mind. Then I’d sing it into my phone, go home and transpose that to guitar.”

Creating the basic fabric of a record almost solely by his own hand was, at times, a struggle. Overcoming writers block which, he said, could last for weeks, was a factor in the development of the record. “Everything was garbage… all these unfinished ideas,” he said. “Then, I put on this drum loop and just played the most basic first thing that comes to mind. That became the title track, ‘Screaming Steel.’” Basic or not, it effectively sets the tone for the record. A compatible, almost foolproof riff.

Paying homage to his influences within the genre was also a piece of the puzzle. Finding those reference points and applying them to specific songs such as “Blazing High.” “It has one of my most favorite ‘heavy’ sections… it kind of reminds me of the middle section of ‘Victim of Changes’ by Judas Priest from their Sad Wings of Destiny album,” he said. “I really love playing ‘The Worshipper 1837.’ It’s the most different… it’s more doom metal. A bit more Black Sabbath… the basics of metal.”

Track wise, Screaming Steel is highlighted by “Hallows,” “Power of the Reaper,” “The Worshipper 1897,” and the potent and cinematic closer “Rebirth.” Durbin admits that, like on The Beast…, there is “a lot of truth to the fantasy” on this project as he incorporates vivid lyrical imagery of life, death, Harry Potter (yes, really), and more atop beds of more vicious yet accessible heavy rock instrumentals. “It’s fun when you’re able to get all the pieces together,” he said. “This is the kind of music I’ve always wanted to be able to make and contribute to this genre. I have a vision for it, so it’s cool for my vision to be seen and heard.”

On this record, Durbin utilizes his voice, and the many colors, tones, and passages of it, near capacity. He searched for inspiring melodies, both instrumentally and vocally, to guide him to this final product. On each challenging vocal melody, his diction is clear and decipherable. Keeping the highest, most piercing screams at a minimum on this project, he focuses on his mid/slightly upper chest mix range to be able to easily slip in and out of a more theatrical, almost ringleader-type sound to a grungy, muddier one. In the decade plus following Idol, dipping in and out of pop, Americana, and metal, along with more frequent vocal breaks, has allowed his voice to remain, for the most part, extremely healthy.

“I think I’m… I mean, obviously I’m the oldest I’ve ever been,” he said with a smirk. “My voice has age. I use my voice a lot more these days. I’m in six working bands. I’m singing all the time. There’s a yacht rock band I play with called Mustache Harbor. It’s Toto, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Journey, Foreigner. I get to dig my heels in. Singing runs, singing low, singing high. Singing soulfully… with character, with attitude, with sass… everything. I get to use all of my tools.”

Not once expressing a need for this record to be a commercial or critical smash, Durbin instead focused on speaking at length about loving where he is at right now, personally and professionally. Though he did not and does not have to, he repeatedly expressed gratitude to the Idol machine for giving him the platform and stated that for him, now, it’s about the love of music, life, and family.

James Durbin (photo credit: James Durbin Facebook)

“I saw an interview of mine from 13 years ago pop up recently,” he said. “The thing that I said… was that my goal has always been to be a working musician, support myself and my family doing what I love and the only thing I’ve ever known how or ever wanted to do and that’s making music and singing. In the last few years, I’ve really figured out what my intentions are for wanting to continue this as a ‘career.’ I wanted to make music. I wanted to be in all these bands, have fun, make money, enjoy myself, and not stress. I’m already booking into 2025 with these bands… that keeps me busy. A lot of the time I’m able to drive home after. My kids have their dad at home when they wake up.”

Open discussions regarding the struggles of touring, both pre-and-post COVID, were had in length. He repeatedly referenced his Homeland record as both a get-out-of-jail free card vocally and as an easy, inexpensive-ish way to tour on his own… to get out in front of his fans in some way. He teased making another one like it to be able to do that again. Beyond that, he is living the dream, but still working towards the next thing. “It has all come true,” he said. “That dream changes. I want more. I’m still planning things, whether they happen or not. I’m striving for more… building on what I do. Trying to be better each day. But, I’m in a really good place. Better than I’ve ever been before.”