Latest / Classic Metal Show / John Bush Spills on Anthrax, Armored Saint, and Metal Glory!

Transcript

John Bush Spills on Anthrax, Armored Saint, and Metal Glory! · Classic Metal Show

0:00
Hey everyone,
0:00
this is John Keeble from Warbringer and you're watching CMS TV.
0:04
How frustrating is it for you that you put together literally a
0:09
super group and it
0:10
SPEAKER_03: just hasn't hit the way I'm sure you guys thought it was going to?
0:16
SPEAKER_01: Well,
0:16
SPEAKER_01: I've always had low expectations,
0:18
SPEAKER_01: which I do about everything,
0:19
SPEAKER_01: because that's just the way I approach stuff.
0:20
SPEAKER_01: But,
0:21
SPEAKER_01: you know,
0:21
SPEAKER_01: the record itself kind of happened really naturally,
0:24
SPEAKER_01: and just out of like,
0:25
SPEAKER_01: hey,
0:26
SPEAKER_01: let's write some tunes.
0:27
SPEAKER_01: And then we wrote a couple,
0:29
SPEAKER_01: and then we wrote a couple more,
0:30
SPEAKER_01: and the next thing you know,
0:30
SPEAKER_01: we had enough of a record.
0:31
SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, let's just make a record.
0:33
SPEAKER_01: So it was kind of...
0:34
SPEAKER_01: To me, it was real honest from that perspective.
0:37
We wrote some killer tunes and it just made sense to record
0:40
them and put them out.
0:42
Just because you're a bunch of known guys doesn't mean you have
0:44
an obvious success
0:46
SPEAKER_01: level that's going to happen.
0:49
SPEAKER_01: There's the whole marketing and trying to convince people, is this a real
0:52
band or what is this is this a project that was a big issue for
0:55
people including
0:57
people internally and it was like look why are we worried about
1:00
this like let's
1:01
just put a record out i mean i know there's the marketing
1:04
aspect from the label and
1:05
the management but but like i'm a musician man my goal is to
1:09
just write songs and
1:10
if they're great we should record them and as simple as that so
1:14
that was my
1:14
SPEAKER_01: approach the whole time
1:16
SPEAKER_01: The record got great critical acclaim.
1:18
SPEAKER_01: I mean, James Hetfield, that was one of his favorite records.
1:21
SPEAKER_01: Can't get better than that.
1:22
SPEAKER_01: So the reality is, is that it just doesn't mean you have a sure shot.
1:27
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, everybody is busy in this band.
1:30
We have a lot of conflicts scheduling wise because everyone's
1:33
doing other things
1:34
SPEAKER_01: because everyone's out of the bands,
1:36
SPEAKER_01: you know.
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is chris aiken presents i of course am chris aiken and today on
1:56
the show one of my
1:57
favorite guys in all of heavy metal as well as one of the best
2:01
vocalists ever to do
2:02
it he of course is john bush he right now has two different
2:06
projects that he's
2:07
going to tell us about he of course has the upcoming tour with
2:11
armored saint which
2:12
starts in about a month i believe or a few weeks as well as a
2:17
few shows that
2:18
we have been talking about for at least a decade that's
2:21
celebrating the songs of
2:22
anthrax his songs from anthrax that is and uh it's going to be
2:27
a fantastic time for
2:28
those lucky enough to catch that as well but let's talk all
2:31
about it with the man
2:32
himself the mighty john bush john how are you man what's
2:35
happening chris how are
2:36
SPEAKER_03: you doing buddy good man it's great to talk to you and um
2:40
SPEAKER_03: I'm just going to say it.
2:41
SPEAKER_03: I like seeing that you're busy, man.
2:43
SPEAKER_03: It's been such a whirlwind with you and Armored Sand.
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SPEAKER_03: I mean,
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SPEAKER_03: I know you guys stay busy,
2:49
SPEAKER_03: but when you're busy,
2:50
SPEAKER_03: you're busy,
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SPEAKER_03: but then you guys always go away for a while,
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SPEAKER_03: and then you come back,
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SPEAKER_03: and it seems like you're busier now than you've been in a long time,
2:57
SPEAKER_03: no?
2:58
SPEAKER_01: Well,
2:58
SPEAKER_01: yeah,
2:59
we really haven't gotten away too much now since since kind of
3:02
like when hands down
3:03
came out and we've been pretty we've been pretty much trying to
3:06
stay in the public
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SPEAKER_01: eye as much as we can.
3:08
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
3:10
SPEAKER_01: sometimes you go away a little bit because,
3:12
SPEAKER_01: you know,
3:13
SPEAKER_01: it makes people yearn to see you again.
3:15
SPEAKER_01: So and we've been recording a record.
3:16
SPEAKER_01: So that's what we've been doing lately.
3:18
SPEAKER_01: And we're in the mix phase of it.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: And it's it's sounding awesome.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: We're real excited.
3:22
And it's going to come out next year sometime around March,
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April,
3:25
springtime.
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SPEAKER_01: So we'll probably be busy again in 26.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
3:29
But,
3:31
you know,
3:31
you want to make people really look forward to seeing you
3:35
again.
3:36
SPEAKER_01: But at the same time,
3:37
we still try to stay somewhat in the public eyes just to let
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people know what we're
3:43
SPEAKER_01: doing and keep people abreast about our lives.
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SPEAKER_01: And I recently joined social media, which I –
3:52
SPEAKER_01: was for a long time avoiding and trying my hardest to not do it.
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SPEAKER_01: But I finally decided to cave and join.
3:59
SPEAKER_01: So I have an Instagram page now.
4:01
And that's keeping people informed about what are we doing and
4:05
what I'm doing.
4:06
And sometimes just daily things that I do,
4:09
like go to a concert or show some clip from
4:13
a few months ago or whatever it is just something that kind of
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says hey john bush
4:17
this is what i'm doing sure do you like being on social media
4:21
or does it drive you
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crazy um not necessarily no i don't actually i refrained for a
4:27
long time but um
4:29
eventually when i decided to do these shows uh celebrating
4:33
these tunes of anthrax
4:34
my agent he was like dude you gotta have your own page right um
4:38
and i was like all
4:39
SPEAKER_01: right reluctantly so
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um i keep it just music related and i don't really need to get
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too much into my
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personal life sure i don't really i kind of like to keep that
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separate that to me
4:50
is important um although i did put a clip on my of my son
4:54
playing hockey and
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getting a rad goal but um you know it we put the hammer from
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motorhead in the
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background so it's nice perfect man well john let's talk about
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the anthrax shows
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SPEAKER_03: before we before we swing back to armored saint um
5:11
SPEAKER_03: Clearly,
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SPEAKER_03: the fans have been wanting this for a very long time,
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SPEAKER_03: and I'm sure you've heard that for the last 10-plus years.
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SPEAKER_03: I know me.
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SPEAKER_03: I've interviewed you three times since you left Anthrax,
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SPEAKER_03: and all three times I've asked you the question,
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and I'm sure that's every journalist that you speak to because
5:28
of the love of that
5:29
SPEAKER_03: music.
5:31
SPEAKER_03: So I guess let's start there.
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SPEAKER_03: What was it that made now kind of the right time for you to do it?
5:38
You know,
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honestly,
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I don't know,
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Chris,
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if there was really a right time.
5:42
SPEAKER_01: There was a little bit of free time.
5:45
SPEAKER_01: And that was something that my agent and I discussed.
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SPEAKER_01: We actually had some shows planned for this summer in Europe.
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SPEAKER_01: We had a bunch of festivals and a couple of headline shows.
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SPEAKER_01: And
5:59
SPEAKER_01: For one reason or another, it doesn't really matter.
6:01
SPEAKER_01: We had to pull out of it,
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which is a bummer because it was like Valken and Alcatraz and
6:05
some pretty big
6:06
SPEAKER_01: shows.
6:07
But maybe that's a good thing because I was still trying to
6:10
finish the same record
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SPEAKER_01: and it might have been conflicting.
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And truth of the matter is probably always a little something
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conflicting.
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I don't think December is,
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quite frankly,
6:19
which is a good time to choose to do these now.
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But,
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you know,
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there may be never a perfect time where there's nothing going
6:26
on.
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SPEAKER_01: And maybe that's good because that means nothing's going on.
6:32
SPEAKER_01: So not nothing is going on, if that makes sense.
6:34
SPEAKER_01: Sorry, it's early years.
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So I just woke up about a half an hour ago and making the
6:39
adjustment to early.
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SPEAKER_01: But yeah, you know, I wanted to do it for a long time.
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It's really just coming down to making it happen and finally
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taking the cheese and doing it.
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SPEAKER_01: So we're doing three shows.
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SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like the beginning.
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SPEAKER_01: That's the first step.
6:56
SPEAKER_01: And, um,
6:57
SPEAKER_01: you know, I try to be strategic about where we're playing.
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SPEAKER_01: So it's L.A., Midwest, East Coast, New York, and St.
7:03
SPEAKER_01: Charles.
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SPEAKER_01: So,
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SPEAKER_01: you know,
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SPEAKER_01: I think there's more to do,
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but it's also going to have to work in conjunction with me
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doing Saint stuff and
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SPEAKER_01: touring with that record that's coming out next year.
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SPEAKER_01: And,
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SPEAKER_01: you know,
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I don't want to bite off more than I can chew because I want
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every show to be
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SPEAKER_01: great.
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And I want it to be exciting and make it really feel
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celebratory because that's the
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SPEAKER_01: whole concept of it and the name of it to really just kind of
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uh honor those tunes from that from that era so sure does does
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the the success of
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the the three shows kind of dictate if there will be more or if
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there will be like
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SPEAKER_03: a a u.s tour or a half tour or a regional tour event for
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you know further down the road for sure i mean success
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determines everything really
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you know if you do well you probably want to do more and like i
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said i was supposed
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to do some dates in europe first and that was something i
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wanted to do some
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festivals and stuff so um you know it's it's really just kind
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of making it yeah you
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know obviously the better it does the more exciting it will be
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and the more
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promoters will be interested and um you know when i was in
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anthrax we did a lot of
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SPEAKER_01: touring we played everywhere europe south america
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Japan many times so I mean these are places I would want to
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play but it has to also
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coincide with you know this Armored Saint record coming out and
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not getting in the
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way of that so it's we'll try to figure it out it'll be fine I
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think we'll find our
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SPEAKER_01: way and it'll hopefully make everyone happy I mean to me
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SPEAKER_01: It took me all these years to do it.
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SPEAKER_01: I'm playing records that are 20 to 30 years old, so it's nostalgic.
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SPEAKER_01: That's what it is.
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SPEAKER_01: It's the truth.
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But I don't think if I don't do something right away after the
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first three shows,
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SPEAKER_01: it's going to go away because,
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SPEAKER_01: like I said,
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SPEAKER_01: it took 20 to 30 years to do it in the first place.
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SPEAKER_03: Right on.
8:58
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SPEAKER_03: Do you, you know, I'll put it this way.
10:02
SPEAKER_03: In the past...
10:05
SPEAKER_03: from watching interviews with you or listening to interviews with you,
10:08
SPEAKER_03: it seemed like you might have been somewhat frustrated that those guys,
10:13
SPEAKER_03: when Joey came back,
10:14
SPEAKER_03: did not do much with your ear of it.
10:18
SPEAKER_03: I mean, every once in a while they covered only, but that's kind of it.
10:22
SPEAKER_03: In hindsight,
10:23
SPEAKER_03: when you look at it now,
10:24
SPEAKER_03: did they kind of do you a favor because they let that music kind of,
10:28
SPEAKER_03: they let the fans grow to want it more by not playing it?
10:33
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's one way of looking at it, I guess.
10:35
SPEAKER_01: I always wanted them to play the songs,
10:36
SPEAKER_01: of course,
10:37
SPEAKER_01: because,
10:37
SPEAKER_01: you know,
10:37
SPEAKER_01: I don't want them to go into obscurity.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: I have done a little bit.
10:41
So I understand and I get why they don't want to or
10:46
particularly maybe Joey is
10:48
SPEAKER_01: reluctant to do it because he has his own material.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: Of course, the old school anthrax stuff, including.
10:53
uh,
10:53
the new records are making,
10:54
they're making a new records coming out next year.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: So they'll have three records since he's returned.
11:00
SPEAKER_01: So I understand,
11:00
SPEAKER_01: you know,
11:01
SPEAKER_01: they have plenty of material from that,
11:02
SPEAKER_01: from that time,
11:04
SPEAKER_01: new,
11:04
SPEAKER_01: new time.
11:05
SPEAKER_01: And also from obviously the 80s stuff.
11:07
SPEAKER_01: So, um,
11:09
SPEAKER_01: I get it,
11:10
SPEAKER_01: but I just don't want it to,
11:11
SPEAKER_01: like I said,
11:11
fade away into nothingness because then it's like that part of
11:15
my life is erased
11:17
SPEAKER_01: almost.
11:18
SPEAKER_01: Right.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't feel good.
11:20
So in the end,
11:22
I guess if they're not going to do it,
11:23
then I mean,
11:24
I might as well do it.
11:24
SPEAKER_01: It's still...
11:26
SPEAKER_01: promoting records that those guys made and music I made.
11:30
SPEAKER_01: And it's music people really dig.
11:32
SPEAKER_01: And let's face it,
11:33
SPEAKER_01: you know,
11:33
SPEAKER_01: as time goes by,
11:34
SPEAKER_01: as you said,
11:36
SPEAKER_01: the more you don't hear it,
11:37
SPEAKER_01: the more either A,
11:38
SPEAKER_01: you forget about it or you kind of really yearn to hear it.
11:41
SPEAKER_01: So I'm hoping and betting it's going to be the latter.
11:44
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, we'll see.
11:46
sure now now choosing the set list and i'm before i before you
11:50
even start it i know
11:51
you're not going to tell me the set list i do i look i would
11:55
love to hear in the
11:56
zone okay that is the tune i would love to hear okay because
12:00
it's probably my
12:01
favorite tune of your of your era is okay i just love that
12:05
whole guitar it is so
12:09
cool and it fits the whole it carries the kind of the whole
12:12
song so yeah there's my
12:13
SPEAKER_03: request in in a zone but um
12:17
for you how do you without telling me because i know you're not
12:20
going to but um how
12:22
did you choose the songs is it strictly out of songs you like
12:26
is it songs that you
12:27
feel like you can still present to the same level vocally
12:32
little of both what
12:34
SPEAKER_01: All of that stuff, I think.
12:35
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, there's the obvious choices of the hits, if you will.
12:40
SPEAKER_01: But I certainly want to go into some deeper tracks as well.
12:45
I have to be considerate of the musicians who are playing with
12:47
me because I can't
12:48
SPEAKER_01: go,
12:49
SPEAKER_01: here's 30 songs.
12:50
SPEAKER_01: Go for it.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: So I want to be realistic about that as well.
12:56
yeah i want to i don't want to just play obvious choices
12:58
because you know that's i
12:59
don't know i just don't want to do that i want to play some
13:01
deeper tracks too but
13:03
you know some of these songs i've never played or haven't
13:05
played in years as well
13:06
well obviously i haven't played any of them in years but um
13:09
well that's not true i
13:10
played a couple of songs with the metal legions guys a couple
13:13
times so um but you
13:15
SPEAKER_01: know the fact is some of these songs like king size from that record and
13:19
SPEAKER_01: you know, catharsis, you know, from volume eight.
13:23
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we just haven't played them in a long time.
13:24
SPEAKER_01: So the reality is they're going to feel fresh, I hope.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: And I want to kind of mess around with the set list.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: I don't want it to be like so obvious.
13:35
SPEAKER_01: So it's a little of that.
13:36
Plus I'm singing these tunes and figuring what songs are a
13:39
little easier than others to sing.
13:40
SPEAKER_01: And,
13:41
SPEAKER_01: Luckily,
13:41
SPEAKER_01: all the lyrics are,
13:42
SPEAKER_01: well,
13:42
SPEAKER_01: I should say all the lyrics,
13:44
SPEAKER_01: but a lot of the lyrics are coming back to me.
13:46
SPEAKER_01: So that's a really good thing.
13:47
SPEAKER_01: That means my brain is still working.
13:49
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it's exciting.
13:52
SPEAKER_01: It's going to sound powerful.
13:54
SPEAKER_01: And,
13:55
SPEAKER_01: you know,
13:56
SPEAKER_01: like I said,
13:56
hopefully it's going to sound fresh because it's just you
13:58
haven't heard him in a
13:59
SPEAKER_01: while.
13:59
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, I'll make a note about it in his own.
14:03
SPEAKER_01: Right.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: Very good.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
14:05
Well,
14:05
John,
14:05
I've read,
14:07
but I'm not clear on it,
14:08
and I'll ask for the clarity on it.
14:10
SPEAKER_03: I've read that it's you with Category 7 opening.
14:13
I've read that it's Category 7 is your band that's going to
14:17
play the Anthrax stuff
14:18
SPEAKER_03: as well as a set of Cat 7 stuff.
14:22
SPEAKER_03: What is it that we're going to be seeing?
14:24
SPEAKER_03: Is it an opener and then other guys, or is it all Cat 7 opening?
14:30
just doing some anthrax songs well no it's going to be both
14:32
actually because i want
14:33
to play two sets okay um um it's it's the cat seven guys uh
14:39
minus jack gibson
14:40
SPEAKER_01: because jack had some prior commitments uh touring wise so
14:44
SPEAKER_01: Unfortunately,
14:44
SPEAKER_01: he can't do it,
14:45
SPEAKER_01: and it's a bummer because I love Jack,
14:46
SPEAKER_01: and he's such an awesome bass player.
14:47
SPEAKER_01: Great guy, actually.
14:49
SPEAKER_01: A mellow, easygoing guy.
14:50
SPEAKER_01: I love it.
14:51
SPEAKER_01: But Joey Vera's going to fill in for him because Joey's my bro,
14:57
SPEAKER_01: and Joey played in Anthrox for a brief period of time,
15:00
SPEAKER_01: so it makes some sense.
15:01
But it made sense to try to kind of piggyback the two things
15:05
together because
15:06
SPEAKER_01: Category 7 really hasn't had the chance to play many shows.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: As a matter of fact, we played one.
15:09
SPEAKER_01: And that was the whiskey in LA.
15:12
SPEAKER_01: So we're going to play that again.
15:13
SPEAKER_01: But we never even played New York, which is where Mike Orlando is from.
15:16
SPEAKER_01: It's a bummer.
15:17
SPEAKER_01: So we're going to play a short set of key FC7.
15:22
SPEAKER_01: And then we're going to come back out with the same guys.
15:25
SPEAKER_01: And like I said,
15:25
SPEAKER_01: if I started a band from scratch,
15:27
SPEAKER_01: I can't imagine any guys who I'd rather have than Phil,
15:31
SPEAKER_01: Mike,
15:31
SPEAKER_01: and Bittner.
15:32
SPEAKER_01: I mean, those guys are just incredible musicians.
15:34
SPEAKER_01: And I know they'll tear it up.
15:36
SPEAKER_01: So it's going to be a lot of fun.
15:38
SPEAKER_03: Sure.
15:39
SPEAKER_03: Now,
15:39
SPEAKER_03: John,
15:40
you've had a couple of tours with Category 7 that have gone
15:43
down because of,
15:44
SPEAKER_03: and you guys have been very honest about it,
15:46
SPEAKER_03: about just saying that it's low ticket sales,
15:48
SPEAKER_03: which I think is a problem most people are having in general now.
15:51
I just think that the concert scene is kind of effed up after
15:56
the pandemic,
15:57
really.
15:57
SPEAKER_03: It never has come all the way back.
16:00
how frustrating is it for you that you put together literally a
16:05
super group and it
16:06
just hasn't hit the way i'm sure you guys thought it was going
16:10
to well i've always
16:12
had low expectations at which i do about everything because
16:15
that's just the way i
16:16
approach stuff but um you know the record itself kind of
16:19
happened really naturally
16:20
and just out of like hey let's write some tunes and um and then
16:24
we wrote a couple
16:25
and then we wrote a couple more and the next thing you know we
16:27
had enough for a
16:27
SPEAKER_01: record so like let's just make a record so it was kind of
16:30
SPEAKER_01: To me, it was real honest from that perspective.
16:33
We wrote some killer tunes and it just made sense to record
16:36
them,
16:36
put them out.
16:38
Just because you're a bunch of known guys doesn't mean you have
16:40
an obvious success
16:42
SPEAKER_01: level that's going to happen.
16:45
There's the whole marketing and trying to convince people,
16:47
is this a real band or what is this?
16:49
SPEAKER_01: Is this a project?
16:50
SPEAKER_01: That was a big issue for people.
16:53
SPEAKER_01: including people internally.
16:54
SPEAKER_01: And it was like, look, why are we worried about this?
16:56
SPEAKER_01: Like, let's just put a record out.
16:59
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
16:59
SPEAKER_01: I know there's the marketing aspect from the label and the management,
17:02
SPEAKER_01: but like,
17:03
SPEAKER_01: I'm a musician,
17:04
SPEAKER_01: man.
17:05
SPEAKER_01: My goal is to just write songs.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: And if they're great, we should record them.
17:08
SPEAKER_01: And as simple as that.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: So that was my approach the whole time.
17:11
SPEAKER_01: The record got great critical acclaim.
17:14
SPEAKER_01: I mean, James Hetfield, that was one of his favorite records.
17:17
SPEAKER_01: You can't get better than that.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: So the reality is, is that
17:21
um it just doesn't mean you have a sure shot and you know
17:24
everybody is busy in this
17:25
band we had a lot of conflicts scheduling wise because
17:29
everyone's doing other
17:30
things because everyone's out of the bands you know demos and
17:33
kerry king and
17:34
bittner played with overkill at the time and shadows fall and
17:37
it's just like we're
17:38
SPEAKER_01: busy and michael rolando is an engineer who records and
17:41
SPEAKER_01: does a lot of engineering.
17:42
SPEAKER_01: So it's not like we had some easy things.
17:45
SPEAKER_01: So we found three weeks in America.
17:47
SPEAKER_01: We're like, we could do this.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: And then maybe some people got cold feet.
17:51
SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
17:52
SPEAKER_01: We should have done the shows anyway.
17:54
Even if there was 100 people at every gig,
17:56
quite frankly,
17:56
we should have done them.
17:57
SPEAKER_01: It was a mistake.
17:58
SPEAKER_01: We should have done it.
17:59
We would have had shows that we're going to do better than
18:01
that,
18:01
of course.
18:02
SPEAKER_01: But we might have had a couple stinkers, as we call them.
18:05
SPEAKER_01: And so what?
18:06
SPEAKER_01: And we should have done them.
18:07
SPEAKER_01: That was a mistake.
18:09
SPEAKER_01: And then South America, that
18:11
SPEAKER_01: that was just a bad idea because we,
18:13
SPEAKER_01: we really didn't have a legitimate person promoting the shows and,
18:18
SPEAKER_01: and,
18:18
SPEAKER_01: you know,
18:18
SPEAKER_01: South America and I love South America.
18:20
SPEAKER_01: It's one of the best continents in the world as far as fan base goes,
18:24
SPEAKER_01: but you still want to do things correctly.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: And if you don't,
18:27
SPEAKER_01: you know,
18:27
you brought up risk of going there and making mistakes and it's
18:31
a long way to go
18:32
SPEAKER_01: and it's,
18:32
SPEAKER_01: you know,
18:33
SPEAKER_01: could be real dodgy.
18:34
SPEAKER_01: So that was a mistake and we shouldn't have done that.
18:37
SPEAKER_01: But in retrospect, it doesn't really matter.
18:39
SPEAKER_01: You know,
18:40
the record is a great record and i'm really proud of it and um
18:44
and you know we move
18:45
on keep going and now we're going to do this thing and we're
18:48
going to like i said
18:49
piggyback with this anthrax thing just for at least these three
18:52
shows i don't know
18:52
what the future holds i really don't okay i'm just going to
18:55
find out what happens
18:56
SPEAKER_01: we're going to
18:57
kind of goal on the way and and see what comes up out of all
19:00
this but um for now
19:01
this is what we're doing and i think the shows are going to be
19:04
great i mean ticket
19:04
sales have already been really great for these shows um you
19:07
know we'll just kind of
19:08
we'll figure it out as we go sometimes i do that a little too
19:11
much and um you know
19:13
it doesn't always bode well but i do like that's kind of the
19:18
way i roll sometimes
19:19
and and you know this one these shows are going to be great
19:23
absolutely man
19:27
SPEAKER_02: It's the album that shocked the world, Judas Priest's Turbo.
19:32
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19:34
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19:37
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19:39
SPEAKER_02: unleashing Turbo.
19:40
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19:42
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19:43
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19:47
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19:52
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19:57
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20:00
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20:03
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20:05
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20:13
SPEAKER_03: Well, let's switch directions a little bit here.
20:16
SPEAKER_03: Let's talk about the upcoming tour with Michael Shanker.
20:20
SPEAKER_03: Obviously, if you're a metalhead, that's a tour you need to see.
20:23
SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's as simple as that.
20:24
SPEAKER_03: That's an easy one for you guys, for Armored Saint.
20:29
And I have been fascinated about this pretty much since you
20:33
guys put the band back together.
20:35
You always seem to,
20:38
90% of the times I've seen you since bringing the band back,
20:43
SPEAKER_03: Has been in an opening slot.
20:45
It's almost like you guys like to go out there and challenge
20:49
other bands to raise their game.
20:52
And I mean,
20:52
I've seen you with a lot of other bands and you guys blow
20:55
everybody off the stage.
20:56
SPEAKER_03: I'm not just kissing your ass.
20:57
SPEAKER_03: I'm telling you, that is a fact for you.
21:01
SPEAKER_03: Is that the goal?
21:02
SPEAKER_03: Is it your goal to get out there early and just mow them down?
21:07
SPEAKER_01: You know, we're all honored when we get a chance to play with anybody.
21:10
SPEAKER_01: Michael Schenker, Wasp, we toured.
21:13
We're actually doing three shows in England with Wasp before
21:15
the Schenker tour.
21:17
And that's why we couldn't do the whole Schenker tour,
21:18
because we already committed.
21:20
SPEAKER_01: to these three shows in England with Wasp at the end of this month.
21:22
SPEAKER_01: And we're real excited about those shows.
21:24
And the Wasp tours have been awesome with us from the States
21:28
the last couple of years.
21:30
SPEAKER_01: Queensryche, we toured with Saxon.
21:33
SPEAKER_01: We're just happy to be able to go out with somebody.
21:35
SPEAKER_01: And usually it's something that our agent finds and says,
21:38
SPEAKER_01: this would be a good tour for you guys.
21:39
SPEAKER_01: Let's go out and do it.
21:40
SPEAKER_01: And so we're like game.
21:42
we'd go and play on our own we did a bunch of headline shows in
21:45
in europe last year
21:46
and um and we're doing a couple actually in conjunction with
21:48
this tour playing
21:50
pomona on our own which is a basically you know just east of
21:53
downtown la and um and
21:55
we're doing el paso which we haven't played in like 30 years
21:58
and vegas again
21:59
because it's vegas so um we still do some headline shows and
22:03
we'll do whatever we
22:04
SPEAKER_01: have to do um it's just if this is a good tour and
22:07
We can make a pretty good amount of money so we can make it
22:10
work and go out and
22:11
support and play in front of a lot of people and hopefully sell
22:14
some merch.
22:15
SPEAKER_01: It makes sense.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: Plus, it's Michael Shanker.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: He's a legend.
22:19
SPEAKER_01: Huge UFO fans from the very beginning.
22:22
um we've toured with michael back in the 80s when he was
22:25
macaulay shanker right um
22:27
we we've done some shows actually in the last five to eight
22:30
years with ufo's
22:31
version of ufo with phil mollog of course one of my favorite
22:35
singers of all time so
22:36
um you know it's just whatever makes sense if it's a good tour
22:39
and we can go out
22:40
and play um we'll do well hey armored saint kicks ass we're
22:43
gonna go out and we're
22:44
gonna do our thing and we're gonna we're gonna go out and play
22:47
our best and
22:48
SPEAKER_01: Hopefully convince people who don't know us and for all the fans,
22:51
SPEAKER_01: hopefully they'll be in hog heaven.
22:53
SPEAKER_01: But,
22:53
SPEAKER_01: you know,
22:54
it's I don't there's no like negative perspective of trying to
22:57
blow somebody away.
22:58
SPEAKER_01: I mean, look, it's a competitive thing.
23:00
SPEAKER_01: And I think deep down,
23:01
SPEAKER_01: everybody wants to be the best they can be,
23:05
SPEAKER_01: but not in some kind of negative way.
23:06
SPEAKER_01: It's more like let's really elevate the show.
23:09
SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of the perspective.
23:11
SPEAKER_01: But, yeah, we're all.
23:13
SPEAKER_01: Honored to be playing with Michael.
23:15
And like I said,
23:15
he's going to be doing all the UFO stuff,
23:17
which is going to be really amazing.
23:19
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure we'll be watching most of the shows every night.
23:21
SPEAKER_01: And,
23:22
SPEAKER_01: you know,
23:22
SPEAKER_01: maybe he'll pull me up on stage and do one song,
23:24
SPEAKER_01: I'm hoping,
23:25
SPEAKER_01: at least somewhere,
23:26
SPEAKER_01: because I know him.
23:28
SPEAKER_01: Nice.
23:33
Any chance that we'll hear even one of the new songs that
23:36
you've been working on?
23:37
SPEAKER_03: Or is that off the table until...
23:40
then yeah i don't think so only because i know the label kind
23:43
of frowns on it
23:43
because then it's released and you know these days with
23:46
everything on youtube if
23:47
you you have something out there immediately um and i don't
23:52
think so but i mean
23:53
it's not going to be too long before the record comes out and
23:55
trust me we're real
23:56
SPEAKER_01: proud of this album i think we
23:58
SPEAKER_01: We took another level as far as songwriting goes,
24:01
and it's just a continuation of some of the great records that
24:06
we've made over the
24:06
SPEAKER_01: last few years with Punching the Sky,
24:08
SPEAKER_01: When Hands Down,
24:09
SPEAKER_01: La Raza.
24:10
SPEAKER_01: I'm really proud of our records.
24:12
SPEAKER_01: I think we've really shown a lot of growth since the 80s,
24:14
SPEAKER_01: and we keep growing,
24:16
SPEAKER_01: and it's going to make people who love Armored Saint happy.
24:20
SPEAKER_03: Sure.
24:20
Is there anything in any of the catalog that has John Bush on
24:24
it that you look back
24:25
SPEAKER_03: at and you're just like,
24:26
I wish I wouldn't have done that or wish I would have changed
24:28
this or whatever?
24:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there is.
24:31
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm not going to divulge that because I've said that before.
24:35
SPEAKER_01: People are like, dude, that's my favorite song.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: Right.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
24:39
SPEAKER_01: You know, I mean, I have my own favorites, too, because I'm a fan.
24:43
SPEAKER_01: Right.
24:44
But,
24:44
you know,
24:45
I think throughout the years,
24:46
I think we've made pretty solid records.
24:48
I mean,
24:49
you know,
24:50
it's hard to say,
24:51
is anyone like perfect from front to back?
24:54
You know,
24:55
I don't know about that because,
24:56
you know,
24:57
I'm pretty hard on myself sometimes.
24:59
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
25:00
But I don't think of them as – I don't really want to put them
25:03
up against one another.
25:04
SPEAKER_01: I kind of think of them as all my children.
25:06
SPEAKER_01: And you don't want to say that's my favorite child.
25:09
SPEAKER_01: Right.
25:10
SPEAKER_01: You would never say that, right?
25:11
Even though maybe you feel it a little bit sometimes depending
25:15
on what that child,
25:16
SPEAKER_01: other child does.
25:17
SPEAKER_01: Damn.
25:18
SPEAKER_01: Damn.
25:19
you know but um to me they're all different and they're all
25:21
just great in their own
25:22
way so from march of the saint deliverance nomad which we're
25:25
honoring 40th
25:26
anniversary this year to symbol mark raising fear to you know
25:30
revelation and la
25:32
raza and win and punch in the sky all the records since you
25:35
know we kind of
25:36
reformed if you will you know they're all great in their own
25:38
way and i think we
25:39
SPEAKER_01: have a lot of killer materials tunes
25:42
SPEAKER_01: So,
25:42
SPEAKER_01: you know,
25:42
headline shows are something that we do want to do here and
25:45
there because then we
25:45
could play longer sets and play a lot of different songs and
25:48
some deep tracks,
25:50
SPEAKER_01: which I like to do as well.
25:51
SPEAKER_01: So,
25:52
SPEAKER_01: you know,
25:52
SPEAKER_01: they're all just different,
25:53
SPEAKER_01: but I think that I'm real proud of all the Armored Saint records.
25:56
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
25:57
SPEAKER_03: Is there one moment in your career,
26:00
SPEAKER_03: whether it's a concert,
26:01
SPEAKER_03: an album,
26:01
SPEAKER_03: a song,
26:03
SPEAKER_03: anything that you personally,
26:05
SPEAKER_03: after all this time in the business,
26:07
SPEAKER_03: you look back and you say,
26:08
SPEAKER_03: yeah,
26:08
SPEAKER_03: that was the peak.
26:10
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
26:10
And again,
26:11
it could be a show or a song or something you did with someone
26:15
else even.
26:16
You know,
26:16
I mean,
26:18
believe it or not,
26:18
I think we're maybe at the top of our game right now.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: I really think that Armored Saints enthusiasm is pretty high.
26:27
SPEAKER_01: I think that we're in a place where...
26:31
SPEAKER_01: you know, we're arguably bigger than we ever were.
26:33
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
26:33
SPEAKER_01: sure,
26:34
you can go back to maybe when March the Same came out in 1984
26:37
and Can You Deliver
26:38
SPEAKER_01: was being played on MTV.
26:39
SPEAKER_01: It was pretty popular at that time.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: And then,
26:42
SPEAKER_01: you know,
26:42
a couple of mistakes were made and a couple of things happened
26:46
and then we kind of
26:46
SPEAKER_01: took a dip.
26:48
SPEAKER_01: And then, you know,
26:49
god dave became sick and he lost his life and that was pretty
26:55
low uh you know
26:56
emotionally for the band and then we made symbol salvation we
26:59
kind of came back and
27:01
that was you know maybe arguably our you know one of our most
27:04
popular records and
27:06
one that's pretty deep and and then we kind of rebuilt and then
27:10
you know then I
27:10
left and joined Andrax and so we take a dip again so there's
27:14
been a lot of ways
27:15
that we've ridden on this on this journey but you know we're at
27:18
a good place I mean
27:19
we those last couple tours we did with Wasp were really awesome
27:23
and we sold more
27:24
merchandise than we probably have ever sold in our history so
27:28
basing it on that I
27:29
SPEAKER_01: think we're at a pretty high level right now so
27:32
um you know we'll kind of try to ride this wave we don't want
27:35
to take another dip
27:35
here if we can avoid that right on man well there's no dip in
27:39
sight as you've got
27:40
two two great sets of shows that are coming up you've got the
27:43
armored saint michael
27:44
shanker tour which starts in october and then of course in
27:48
december you've got the
27:49
SPEAKER_03: um uh celebration of the songs of anthrax
27:52
john where's the best place we should send people to keep up
27:56
with you to follow you
27:57
on instagram or to you know get get merch or get tickets or any
28:01
of that kind of
28:02
stuff well you're always going to go to armored saint.com you
28:05
can go there of
28:06
course um and then at official john bush is the instagram page
28:10
so um that's the ig
28:12
page if you want to look at you know what's happening with me
28:15
on a fairly daily
28:16
SPEAKER_01: basis um
28:18
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's those are the two places.
28:21
And,
28:22
you know,
28:23
we're excited to be going out there and playing some shows.
28:26
SPEAKER_01: Don't forget, in Britain, we're playing with Wasp.
28:28
SPEAKER_01: So that's going to be real exciting because we're playing the old London
28:32
SPEAKER_01: Hammersmith Odeon,
28:33
SPEAKER_01: which is,
28:33
SPEAKER_01: you know.
28:34
Hammersmith Odeon work mostly till Hammersmith and lots of
28:38
bands have played that
28:40
place and it's legendary plus we're playing Newcastle first
28:42
time every time every
28:44
time at any time we've been in Britain we've never played there
28:48
so it's going to be
28:49
SPEAKER_01: the first time we play there and then this
28:52
SPEAKER_01: Shanker tour is only in the southwest of the states,
28:56
SPEAKER_01: so we're sorry for everywhere else,
28:57
SPEAKER_01: but those WASP days were conflicting with it,
29:00
SPEAKER_01: so we couldn't do the whole tour.
29:02
But we'll be back out there in 26,
29:04
and we're eager to see people out there.
29:07
SPEAKER_01: And then,
29:07
SPEAKER_01: of course,
29:07
SPEAKER_01: the December dates,
29:08
SPEAKER_01: you know,
29:09
SPEAKER_01: please come out and make a road trip if you don't live in.
29:11
SPEAKER_01: you know, Los Angeles or Chicago area or New York, come on out.
29:15
SPEAKER_01: I'll make it worth your while.
29:16
SPEAKER_03: Very good.
29:17
SPEAKER_03: Well,
29:17
SPEAKER_03: one more time,
29:18
SPEAKER_03: he is John Bush and it is going to be a great time for the next,
29:22
sounds like for the next year or so to catch John Bush and
29:25
Armored Saint or Anthrax
29:27
SPEAKER_03: music,
29:27
SPEAKER_03: if that's what you are so inclined to get.
29:29
SPEAKER_03: So make sure you get out there and support, support, support.
29:32
SPEAKER_03: So we keep getting more, more tours from the mighty John Bush.
29:36
So John,
29:36
thanks as always,
29:37
man,
29:37
for joining me here on Chris Haker Presents.
29:40
SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Chris.
29:40
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for all the support through all the years.
29:42
SPEAKER_01: We appreciate it very much, man.
29:44
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.