Drowning Pool's Ryan McCombs Wishes Social Media Never Existed—But He Still Uses It

Ryan McCombs—frontman of Drowning Pool and SOIL, master of growls, occasional philosopher—has thoughts about social media. Big ones. Messy ones. The kind that make you nod along until he throws in a time-travel fantasy about stopping Zuckerberg in his tracks (we’ll get there).

In an interview with The Underground Australia, Ryan got candid about the double-edged sword of digital life. Social media? Great for musicians. Keeps them connected with fans, spreads the word about tours, and (let’s be honest) keeps them out of day jobs. “Without it, we’d be selling shoes,” he said. (Picture that for a moment: Ryan McCombs at Foot Locker. Awkward, right?)

But—oh, and it’s a big but—he also hates it. “I hate what it’s done to society,” he said. And by “society,” he means us. All of us. Staring at our phones. Swiping, scrolling, ignoring the real world. (Yes, he knows he’s guilty too. He’s got emails to check, tours to plan, yada yada.)

Still, there’s this nagging thought: What if it all just… never happened? No Instagram. No Facebook. No endless arguments in the comments section. “If I could go back in time,” Ryan mused, “I’d stop the people who created it.” (Zuckerberg, this is your warning.) Forget the usual “kill baby H1tl3r” scenario; Ryan’s putting his time-travel energy into saving us from ourselves.

Now let’s not pretend he’s completely ungrateful. Social media has been good for business. Drowning Pool’s latest single, “Revolution (The Final Amen),” got the spotlight it deserved (video shot at Speaking Rock Entertainment Center in El Paso, by the way). Fans know where to find him, when to catch the next show, how to stream the new track. For all its faults, social media makes that happen.

But beyond the band stuff? He’s over it. “It’s a false world,” he said. People chasing likes, living for shares, treating Instagram like it’s real life. And don’t even get him started on the negativity. The political memes? The endless criticism? “It’s just exhausting,” he added. (Same, Ryan. Same.)

His least favorite part? The lack of face-to-face connection. He painted a bleak picture: families at restaurants, everyone glued to their phones. Silent. Disconnected. “It’s like we’ve forgotten how to talk to each other,” he said. And honestly, he’s got a point.

But here’s the paradox (and isn’t there always one?): Ryan McCombs needs social media. Loathes it. Uses it. Relies on it. How else would you know about Drowning Pool’s latest tour? Or SOIL’s upcoming plans? Smoke signals? Flyers stapled to telephone poles? Come on.

So where does that leave us? Ryan McCombs is frustrated. (Aren’t we all?) He sees what social media has done to the world, and he’s not impressed. But he’s also not deleting his accounts. Not today. Not tomorrow. Because for all its faults, it’s still the bridge that connects him to his fans. And let’s be real: fans will always matter more than algorithms.

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