OVERKILL Frontman: Nothing Left To Prove

OVERKILL frontman Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth recently spoke to the Wormwood Chronicles fanzine about the differences between U.S. and European metal crowds, the early days of the New York metal scene, the proliferation of reunions and more. An excerpt from the interview follows:

Wormwood Chronicles: Your philosophy has always been not to look too far ahead. The band is obviously a well-oiled machine that's going to continue for quite some time. But at some point, there will be an end. Have you thought about that day and what would come after?

Blitz: "You know, I think I'll just go out and start selling myself on a street corner. (laughter) Quite obviously over the years, we haven't been so stagnant as to not have other business interests. So everybody's OK and it still gives us the opporttunity to use the philosophy we have. Which is, sure, we're a well-oiled machine and when a moment or an opportunity presents itself, we eat the motherfucker! (laughter) We squeeze the living shit out of it! One of us sneaks up behind it, hits it with a bat and the rest of us devour it. It's always worked for us. What happens when those opportunities don't present themselves anymore? I don't know. Maybe we just roll the tank into the garage, put a cross over it and say, 'Ah, she was a good girl!' (laughter) But there's a lot more than meets the eye going on with the band. Believe it or not, OVERKILL is an enterprise!"

Wormwood Chronicles: Yeah, "Overkill Inc.!"

Blitz: "It's funny. I stopped drinking 10 years ago and D.D. [Verni, bass] was always a business-minded person and things just develop when you're clear-headed. More opportunities present themselves. If they stop presenting themselves, I know I'll be able to go out with that same kind of ghoulish grin that you said I had. (laughter) That 'I have a secret' kind of grin."

Wormwood Chronicles: Do you have anything left to prove to the metal world?

Blitz: "Hmmmmm. (long pause) Boy, that's a good question. Do I have anything left to prove to the metal world? I don't think so, I don't think so. I think we're more of a standard than anything else. To be a standard is not necessarily to prove. We don't take it lightly when we walk out on stage. But what you see when we walk out on that stage is that standard we have set. Maybe the metal world has something to prove to us! I don't think we have anything to prove to the metal world, but I still think there is value in what we do and it is relevant to what is happening today."

Read the rest of Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth's interview with the Wormwood Chronicles at this location.