“After DURBIN [The Beast Awakens] I didn’t have as much metal juice creativity to songwrite for [CLEANBREAK]”

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Photo Credit Enzo Mazzeo

James Durbin made himself known to the musical listening public as a contestant on Season 10 of American Idol in 2011. He finished in the Top 4 and was able to share the stage with one of his idols, JUDAS PRIEST, for the finale.

James went on to release a couple of, what some would call, ‘mainstream’ solo albums. Durbin fronted QUIET RIOT from 2018-2019 before signing as a solo artist with Frontiers Music. 2021 saw the release of James Durbin’s first true Heavy Metal release The Beast Awakens under the DURBIN moniker.

It wasn’t long before Durbin got the itch to be part of a band again. With the help of Frontiers Music, James teamed up with some of his childhood rock idols to form CLEANBREAK. Joining James in the group are Perry Richardson & Robert Sweet of STRYPER, Mike Flyntz of RIOT V, and Frontiers go-to songwriter/keyboardist/producer Alessandro Del Vecchio.

CLEANBREAK’s debut album Coming Home was released on July 8, 2022. I had the chance to speak with James Durbin ahead of the album’s release.

Highlights include:

-Discussion of their debut album Coming Home
-How the supergroup formed
-Their songwriting process
-Putting his Emo phase to rest
-Impact of Sad Wings of Destiny by JUDAS PRIEST
-Selling out of the new album well before its release
-CLEANBREAK vs. DURBIN
-Live show options
-His love of wrestling
-Top AEW wrestlers
-Cody Rhodes’ performance at WWE Hell in a Cell
-AEW vs. WWE
-And much, much more

www.jamesdurbinofficial.com

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