JOHN BUSH
Anthrax vocalist
Ex-Armored Saint vocalist
www.anthrax.com

Live Anthrax pics

(Spring 2003) by George Dionne

It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly 20 years since Anthrax subjected itself to the metal world. Over the years they’ve unleashed their own brand of speed metal, flooded with heavy guitars, and aggressive vocals. Anthrax covered many serious issues in their music, but also found time to be comical. It hasn’t been an easy road. The group faced a vocalist change while at their peak, but were able to fill the void with ex- Armored Saint frontman John Bush (who gets my vote for one of the best heavy metal vocalists). Anthrax also faced many label changes, not because of their performances, but because the labels all folded. A flux in musical trends didn’t help either, but many others from their era had similar issues. And how could we forget what happened after September 11th? That’s all in the past! After a five year hiatus, Anthrax have returned with their latest Sanctuary Records release, We’ve Come for You All (read CD review). A release packed with 15 tracks of brutal, but sometimes melodic metal fury. That’s not all. Anthrax tossed in a few goodies for the U.S. release; never before seen photos and an ‘enhanced’ section that features a two song bootleg live concert performance. Currently on tour with Motorhead, I sat down with vocalist John Bush so he could bring us up to speed on the return of Anthrax.

RIL: What was the band's goal on the new CD We've Come for You All?
JB: Well, I don't know if we had a major goal. I think it was for us to re-establish the fact that we're back. We've been away for a while. Some of that has been out of our control, some of it self-inflicted; things that happened that led to delays, but for the most part we're back with a new record that we strongly believe in and we feel the music speaks for itself. It's amazing heavy metal music for 2003; it's a great Anthrax record for 2003. We want people to just take an hour with no preconceived notions and just listen to it, and get into it. I think they'll love it. As far as goals, our concern is really about having a certain standard of quality in the music, in the record, and in the songs. That's probably the main goal.

RIL: The new CD was released overseas in February and in the states in May. What steps did the group have to take to curb illegal downloading?
JB: We probably couldn't take too many steps at all. I'm sure a lot of it has happened. We couldn't do anything about it. Our record deal in America was a mess. Luckily the company we were with, who we didn't want to put a record out with, had licensed the record in Europe through Nuclear Blast. We feel really confident with that label. JVC was a separate deal we had in Japan. So both those companies were extremely cool and patient in waiting for us to sign our American deal, which was a nightmare. Finally, Sanctuary came back and gave us 'sanctuary'. It's the label we always wanted to be with, but we had to go through some labyrinths to get there to make it happen. In the end, they were the label that put the record out in the states and that's all we really wanted. As far as what we could have done, we asked people to be patient and wait for the record, some people still download the record, but these are things that are out of our control. I will say this, the artwork on the record is phenomenal, it's amazing. The lyrics are there too, and if someone doesn't have it, if they only have a ten cent CD they downloaded with 'Anthrax' written on it, then they don't have the whole record. The whole record is having the packaging and the lyrics. To us, that's 100% of the record. So if you don't have that, you're really only getting 50% of the record.

RIL: Revolver Magazine called We've Come for You All, 'one killer comeback'. Is this really a comeback?
JB: It's a comeback in the sense that we've been gone for five years. I think that's a cool thing to say. We've done things over the last five years, with Anthrax and without Anthrax, but at the end of the day it's five years. These days bands will make a self-titled record and break-up in five years. Peoples' attention spans are shorter, so five years is equivalent to fifteen years, fifteen years ago. It is a long time, we felt it, we felt the void. In a sense it is a comeback and I take that as the ultimate compliment.

RIL: There's a rumor that Anthrax will be on the upcoming Iron Maiden U.S. Tour. Is that true?
JB: That rumor is incorrect. Motorhead's touring with Iron Maiden, that's why they're leaving the tour. We were supposed to do a whole four weeks, and they're leaving about two and a half weeks into the tour. They're doing the tour, and as of now, we are not.

RIL: Will you be doing a headlining tour?
JB: We're going to Europe in June. We finish the last show on May 29th in L.A. Four days later we're going to Budapest, playing with Iron Maiden for some festivals in Europe. We're doing a bunch of headlining shows in Europe, but we are not touring the states with Iron Maiden right now, that is not the plan.

RIL: How has Rob Caggiano affected the writing, recording and performing with Anthrax?
JB: It affected us a lot. He's a young, very exuberant, spirited guy, who has a ton of energy. He loved Anthrax growing up. He's an amazing producer, incredible guitar player, so he's given us a strong injection of energy. I think he's done amazing things for the group. He's a fun guy to be around. He makes us laugh constantly. He's given us some new blood, and that's what we need.

RIL: Will there be another attempt to have Joey Belladonna share the stage with you and Anthrax, like you planned a few years back?
JB: It's not in my plan. We did try to do that, we thought it was unusual. We tried to do something different in the name of rock and roll, which Anthrax is always looking to do. For whatever reason, we were unable to make that happen. I think a lot of it was [Belladonna's] decision making that influenced what we decided in the end. That's not where my mind is. This is Anthrax, I'm the singer, this is the band, that's where I'm seeing it. Unless they have a different frame of mind than I do, which I don't believe is the case, I doubt it.

RIL: Besides the song "Ball of Confusion", which appeared on Attack of the Killer A's, where there any other songs you recorded with Belladonna that are on the shelf somewhere?
JB: No. That was it.

RIL: What was the worst thing that happened to the group, or yourself, as a result of the 'anthrax scare' after September 11th?
JB: Nothing really, in any major way. It was an unusual time in rock and roll. I really believe with all the weird things that happened in the name of rock and roll, that was one of the weirdest. For the first couple of weeks when it was all going down, our fears were the same as anyone else's fears; are we all going to die? Is it going to be an epidemic that's going to kill thousands of people? Not taking anything away from the five or six people that died, any person who dies is a tragedy. I don't believe this person or persons had anything to do with Al-Qaeda, I think they were an opportunist that was taking advantage of a fearful nation. It was probably someone who was intelligent, especially in science, to create anthrax. You just can't do that in your basement, you gotta know what you're doing. I think we felt all those same feelings. When the waves started happening, various publications started coming to us; Fortune Magazine, Wall Street Journal. For us at that point it was like, wait a minute, these are not music magazines, they don't want to know what we really feel, and they will probably create some ugly slant to us. Then we created the press release. That was when Scott [Ian] made the JOKE about 'Basket Full of Puppies', and then it was on CNN that we were changing our name to Basket Full of Puppies. We were like dudes, it's a joke! It says that in the press release that we put out. It was a time to not have a whole lot of faith in CNN, as a good journalistic source you can believe in. Luckily it kind of subsided. Even though, in the press today I guess they found some biological thing on wheels in Iraq, and they think it was making anthrax. It's still there, and it's probably something we're going to contend with for a while. Hopefully, no one will lose there life in regards to this, and for the most part when people think of Anthrax, they'll think of the band.

RIL: On the same day We've Come for You All was released in the U.S. (May 6th), Metal Blade Records released a special three CD reissue of Armored Saint's Symbol of Salvation. Were you aware that it was going to be released the same day?
JB: Not until two weeks before that. Somebody told me, and I was laughing, 'really?' I knew it was coming out, but I didn't know it was that day.

RIL: Were Armored Saint involved in putting together the repackaging?
JB: Yeah. It was fun to do. We knew we were going to re-release this thing, Brian [Gerwitz] wanted to do it, and we were like, 'cool'. We did an interview talking about all the old memories tied to that record, that's one of the discs. The other disc is the demos for all those songs, which I think just about every song has Dave [Prichard] on it. So that's really cool. It's a fun thing for the fans. The packaging is really neat.

RIL: Is there going to be a new Armored Saint CD in the future?
JB: I'm not even thinking about that right now. All my focus is on Anthrax.

RIL: Are there going to be more reissues?
JB: There's going to be a greatest hits record that comes out next year, with like twenty songs. EMI is putting it out actually. Other than that, all my attention and all my energy is in Anthrax.

RIL: Who had better stage outfits in the eighties, Armored Saint or Manowar?
JB: (Laughs) Well, Armored Saint WORE them, Manowar is still WEARING them. It's funny, I look back on that with a chuckle and with fun, and that's why I think I'm so anti-image these days, even to the point with Anthrax. Sometimes these guys will go 'you kinda need to be this', but I'm the ultimate anti-image. I think it was from a backlash of what happened then. We were a band who took this image, we thought it was cool for the time and it was, for a couple of years, and then it was the thing that everybody focused on. It was never really that important to us. We were into Road Warrior, we were into Excalibur, and we thought it would be something to separate us from the pack, but it was always about the music. We were more of a garage band than anything. I think because of that I have the negative feeling towards the image, not to be able to look back and laugh, cause I can do that. I look at the pictures and it makes me smile. You know, Hammerfall's wearing all that. I find it comical, certain people like it, but I would never do that again. The outfits were smelly, dirty, and stinky. I would sweat like a pig on stage. They would never dry, especially in the winter.

RIL: Did you know that VH1 Classics are playing some of the old Armored Saint videos as part of their 'Metal Madness' programming?
JB: I heard that they play "Can You Deliver" on occasion. It's cool that they're doing that. I think that they even play "Only" [Anthrax]. To me it's all one big family tree of metal. It all starts with [Black] Sabbath and it trickles down from there. People ask me, 'what do you think of the new bands'. Well, there's some cool new bands, and there's some new bands I don't like. They all go up the family tree. They go up to Anthrax, and they go up to [Iron] Maiden, they go up to Motorhead. It's all positive. I may not be the biggest fan of Linkin Park, but if someone buys a Linkin Park record, there's a good chance maybe, eventually, they'll buy an Anthrax record. It's a good thing. Better that than Britney Spears, because if they buy a Britney Spears record, they may never buy an Anthrax record.

RIL: What do you think about MTV bringing back Headbanger's Ball?
JB: We just did the show with Godsmack. We did the show in Cleveland, which is I think is the second episode they're going to show. It's great. It's a long time coming. I think a lot of people are really excited, especially older people. Headbanger's Ball was their only outlet for metal at the time. Who knows what it could do? It could be really super-positive, we'll see.

RIL: What's one of your favorite Anthrax songs to sing live?
JB: Well, we have a new record, and everything is about the new songs. I love playing the old songs. For me, old is anything that's not on this record. People ask me, 'what old songs do you like?', to me "Only" is an old song. "Inside Out" is an old song. It's all about the new ones right now. "Only" is an amazing song live, so is "Bring the Noise".

RIL: Do you get as much satisfaction singing the [Joey] Belladonna-era Anthrax material, that you do your own material?
JB: I've never felt that "Caught in a Mosh" is not my song. I never really felt that. I just thought of them as songs I don't sing. To this day I feel the same way. Maybe it's because I've injected my own personality into those songs. I try to stay true to the original version of the songs as well. Joey just has a little higher voice than I do. As I've gotten older [my voice] has gotten lower, so it is challenging.

RIL: What do you think about Metallica touring with Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit?
JB: I think it's a strategic move, quite honestly. It's something to capitalize on the successes of those groups, and show them who the boss is realistically. They probably will, because Metallica is still one of the greatest live bands ever. It would have been cool to have one 'old school' band on that bill, just one, so be it. Metallica's too easy of a target for me to diss, and I don't want to do that, especially for people who come from that time. Again, somebody buys a Metallica record; chances are they could buy an Anthrax record. My whole thing with Metallica is, as long as they follow their heart, and that's not for me to decide if they've done that, it's up to them to decide, but if they follow their heart, my attitude is they should be able to do what they want to do. Those songs, those records Load, Reload, they're not my favorite records, but that's where their mind was at that time. If that's the stuff that they wanted to play and write, then I say they're being honest. The worst thing is to try and make a record like Master of Puppets and come up really short, because your heart's not in it. I think this next record will be a challenge for them because every one says this record is heavy, heavy, heavy. Well, okay. I think if people are expecting Master of Puppets they're going to be disappointed, because they're not going to make it.

RIL: Are there any newer hard rock/metal bands that have made an impact on you musically?
JB: Queens of the Stone Age are one of the ones that stand out. I love that band. I think they're really unique. To me, it's a record I really enjoy listening to. I really love this band The Datsuns. They're really fun, it sounds retro, but new. I listened to WAAF [107.3 Boston], because we just did an interview with them, and some of the bands they play, they all seem to blend into one another. Those two bands that I just named are bands that stick out.

RIL: Do you see any bands around today having the longevity that Anthrax has had?
JB: We'll see. Like I told you, sometimes if you're five years old, people think you're old. To make it around ten years will be a challenge for a lot of bands. Yeah, there's band that will. I think heavy metal music is always going to be something that's kind of underground, and it's always going to be loyal. If bands are loyal to that, then the fans will be loyal back. As you get older you slowly move out of this music for whatever reason, that's why it's always going to be driven by the youth, and that's a good thing. We want you kids to come see Anthrax, that will rejuvenate it. I think it's something that will always be inspired by older bands, but newer bands are going draw from it. Like Sum 41, you'd never know by listening to their records, but they love Anthrax. They give huge props to Anthrax. That's very, very cool of them.

RIL: What does the future hold for Anthrax? What's next?
JB: I don't think we have any giant long term plans. For everything that's happened to us, we're taking things one day at a time. The record's been out for a few days. My theory is, let's evaluate it a year later, and then we'll see where we stand. We'll see what we want to do at that point. As long as we're true to ourselves, and genuine to ourselves, the music will be there. It will be powerful and it will speak volumes.

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