“Everything that was done for this record was right, for once in my life,” says Pinnick. “It is like this portal has opened for me. Everything lined up and it resulted in something I am really proud of. “Strum Sum Up” is the realest thing I’ve ever done.”

Helping Pinnick achieve a sense of musical balance is a stellar cast of players: guitarist Walter “Wally” Farkas of Galactic Cowboys fame (Yes, that Walter Bela Farkas immortalized in the King’s X song bearing his name), Army of Anyone’s drummer Ray Luzier, Billy Idol’s six-string guitar wizard Steve Stevens, friend and Hollywood star Hal Sparks, Alain Johannes (Eleven, Queens of the Stone Age), Kellii Scott (Failure, Veruca Salt), Miles Loretta (Zero1), Natasha Shneider (Queens of the Stone Age), and David Henning (Big Wreck).