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.

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