Remember when we covered the American Idol contestant that sang nu-metal classics with Carrie Underwood during his audition a few weeks ago?
After trying out for the show with Korn‘s “Freak on a Leash” and then singing Drowning Pool‘s “Bodies” as a duet with Underwood, Insite got the golden ticket and made it to Hollywood. It’s not often that you see metalheads sing on a nationally televised competition show, but we were stoked about it.
“I had no intentions of auditioning for American Idol until one of the casting directors randomly reached out to me and asked if I wanted to,” he told Loudwire in an exclusive chat. “After going through numerous Zoom auditions and interviews, I finally got the green light that I’d be auditioning for the judges.”
Insite got into metal around age 12 after hearing Slipknot‘s “Psychosocial” come on a randomized YouTube playlist. Hearing Alice In Chains‘ “Man in the Box” further solidified his love for heavy music.
He was aware that it was a bold move to bring rock and metal to Idol, and admitted he was nervous during the audition. Thus, when he received a “yes” from all three judges (Underwood, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan), he was completely shocked.
Insite Audition – ‘American Idol’
Insite was eliminated from the competition after singing Alice In Chains’ “Rooster” during the Hollywood round, and believes that the producers doctored his performance to get him off the show since he didn’t fit the classic American Idol mold.
“They made me cut the song. I was only able to do half of the verse, half of the pre-chorus and half of the chorus,” Insite explained.
“While some of the others contestants’ performances were around two to three minutes, mine was cut short to nearly 60 to 90 seconds with only about 20 to 30 seconds of it being aired… I think by making my Hollywood week performance look bad, it’s the easiest way for them to get me off the show without it seeming like my audition was a gimmick.”
If he had the chance to do it all over again, he still would’ve chosen to sing “Rooster” because it’s one of his favorite Alice songs, although the band’s beloved Jar of Flies ballad “Nutshell” was his runner-up for the Hollywood round.
Plus, he was confident in his ability to sing “Rooster.”
“I’ve performed and practiced ‘Rooster’ more times than I can count. There’s even videos up on my social media where I’ve done ‘Rooster’ and it sounds good,” he affirmed.
Insite Sings ‘Rooster’ on ‘American Idol’
READ MORE: The 8 Most Controversial TV Performances in Rock + Metal
At the end of the day, Insite isn’t bitter about his time on American Idol. Instead, he looks at his ability to make it through to the second round as an achievement.
“Being the first contestant in all the seasons to have gotten a golden ticket doing this kind of music feels like a huge accomplishment to me,” he reasoned.
If anything, his time on Idol put him on the radar for other heavy music fans around the world. He just recently shared his debut single “Breakaway,” which is available on all streaming platforms.
“American Idol missed the fuck out,” someone wrote in the comments on one of his social media posts.
Check out the track below.