ANTHRAX's SCOTT IAN Vows To Keep Making New Records, 'Whether Or Not People Wanna Hear 'Em'

October 17, 2014

ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian says that artists today don't need to make new albums in order to go on tour, but insists that releasing fresh music is an essential part of why ANTHRAX is still a band.

Asked by Canadian rock journalist Mitch Lafon of the "One On One With Mitch Lafon" podcast (Facebook page) if there is still a reason for ANTHRAX to keep recording albums three decades into the group's career and if they could be just as successful on tour playing nothing but the old catalog stuff, Ian replied: "Yeah, you could, for sure. But it's what we do. We love writing songs. As long as we have something to say, we're gonna record it. We're a band and we love doing that. It's all a part of why we're still a band. It's not just the touring, it's not just the songwriting, it's not just making a record — it's all of it. We feel like it's still the whole package, whether or not you need to make a new record; we really don't give a shit about that."

He continued: "I look at lots of other bands, and it's very easy for me to say, as a fan, 'Why bother making a record? People only wanna hear your greatest hits anyway.' But as a guy in a band, I understand why bands still make records. Because I still wanna make records. Whether or not people wanna hear 'em, I wanna make 'em, and that's really all that matters."

Ian added: "I mean, look, we're not blind to the fact that [2011's] 'Worship Music' put us back on the map in a big way, and there are a lot of people around the planet that wanna hear new ANTHRAX songs. We know that to be true. You know, we're not just making a record in a vacuum and nobody's gonna hear it. We understand people still wanna hear new songs, but the idea is out there. It is true that these days you don't need a new record anymore to go on tour. It's not like it was in the past."

ANTHRAX is working on material for a new album for a tentative late spring 2015 release.

The band issued a live-in-concert DVD "Chile On Hell", on September 16. The effort was filmed at the Teatro Caupolican in Santiago, Chile on May 10, 2013 and features ANTHRAX performing an extended set that featured songs from the band's entire catalog.

Find more on Anthrax
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).