Recording its latest album, "Getting Away with Murder," seemed to inject new life into the California-based aggressive-rock band Papa Roach [ tickets ].

Once-volatile lead singer Jacoby Shaddix--who is known for beating his forehead in concert with a microphone until his head trickles blood--lost 30 pounds by eating healthier and stopping alcohol consumption. Meanwhile, bassist Tobin Esperance dropped 40 pounds and the entire band began working out.

"We just wanted to try and get in shape," said guitarist Jerry Horton, who rounds out the lineup with drummer Dave Buckner. "Not only do they look better, but we're all feeling better on stage. It helps us put on a better show.

"It's just that we're lighter people so we can move around a lot easier on stage," he added with a laugh.

Although it has its cynical and angry moments, "Getting Away with Murder" shows a new side for Ozzfest veterans Papa Roach, who begin a major U.S. tour in mid-October.

"It's really a lot more positive on this one. We're in a better place mentally and physically and I just think that we're really hungry and we're really determined to get out there and prove ourselves on this record. We've really never been as excited and focused as we are now."

Horton talked with liveDaily about "Getting Away with Murder," the songwriting process and working with producer Howard Benson.

liveDaily: You recently finished a club tour of the United States. What was it like to go back to small clubs?

Jerry Horton: It was awesome. It was just a chance for us to get back to small, intimate places and get really up close to our fans. It was a good place for them to preview the new material.

How was the response to the new material?

We played four new songs. The response was awesome--especially on [the songs] "Getting Away with Murder" and "Take Me." Kids were singing along with songs on the first listen. It was awesome.

What was it like to work with producer Howard Benson on the new album?

It was really cool. He spent a lot of time with Jacoby, and that was the biggest reason that we picked Howard. He kind of shares our view that vocals are obviously a really important part of a record and a song, and they're what makes people connect with the song and the music. So he really focused on getting great performance out of Jacoby. For me, I learned a few things from Howard. Obviously, there was a little tension, a little argument here and there. I think, in the end, it was all for the best.

What did you learn from him?

I learned kind of to play to the character of each song. We actually recorded three or four songs two to three times over, just because we needed to get it right. It was really important to kind of bring the feeling and the vibe across the music so that the vocals could really carry that home.

Describe the songwriting process with Papa Roach.

Jacoby writes most of the lyrics As far as the music goes, Tobin writes a lot of it; a lot of the basic stuff. And then I write some of it. Really, what happens is we each kind of write stuff on our own and bring it to the band. Then we'll work on it--whatever we feel is good. [Sometimes] we see a vision for a song or somebody may already have parts put together. We'll just put it together and finish the song part of it, and hand it over to Jacoby. He'll put vocals on it.

So generally the music comes first?

Yeah.

Is that the way you've always written?

Pretty much. There are some exceptions where we'll jam stuff out. But that's kind of the way it is most of the time.

The song "Not Listening" takes a strong political stance against the president as an open letter to the commander in chief.

Yeah, it's a little more political. We're really just kind of trying to educate ourselves, and really mainly just encouraging kids to vote 'cause that's a right that we have and we should use. I'm going to vote. It's really important. You can't complain about the results if you didn't take part

I understand that you had a hand in the packaging for the album "Getting Away with Murder."

Greg [Patterson] was the main person. He's the one who designed it. We just told him what we liked and what we didn't. I did the headshot photos in the record. I have done photography casually by myself as a hobby for a little while. So I just decided to go ahead and try to save us some money and do it myself.

You mentioned that the band members are working on a healthier lifestyle. When did that begin? Before you started working on the album? After?

When we started writing--and kind of at the end of the last tour, before the record,--we started getting into a better head space. When we got off the road, we took a month off from each other and didn't talk to each other, didn't look at each other for about a month. Then we started getting back together. I know for Jacoby, he didn't want to write a self-pity record like the last one. He's got a different outlook on life and it's more kind of an active role and a positive role, you know? It's just to basically say that life doesn't control you. You should try and control what happens to you. It's just better all the way around.