Former ANTHRAX Guitarist ROB CAGGIANO Says He Misses JOHN BUSH

ARTISTdirect.com editor in chief Rick Florino recently conducted an interview with former ANTHRAX and current VOLBEAT guitarist Rob Caggiano. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

ARTISTdirect.com: When was the moment you felt like you became a part of VOLBEAT?

Caggiano: It was about two weeks into the recording [of VOLBEAT's latest album, "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies"]. That's when they approached me and asked if I'd consider joining the band. You've got to understand too. I'm friends with these guys, and I've known them for a few years now — ever since THE DAMNED THINGS went on to with VOLBEAT in, like, 2010 or 2011. We stayed in touch and all of that. It definitely took me by surprise when they asked me. Coincidentally, it was right around the time we hadn't started tracking guitars yet. [Laughs] So, it actually worked out perfectly.

ARTISTdirect.com: Was it an easy transition from going to producer to guitarist? Or, are producing and playing two totally different mindsets?

Caggiano: Producing and playing are two totally different things, but at the same time, I've been blurring the lines with that stuff for a long time now. One thing for me is when I finally said, "Yes, let's do this. I want to be the guitar player", it changed my approach to the record. Basically, I'm going from the mindset of looking at this thing as a producer, getting the best takes out of the guys, and pushing them to now, all of a sudden, I'm the guitar player and I've got to push myself and asking, "How am I going to put my stamp on this record?" It changed my thought process a little bit. We ended up actually doing things in a really cool way on this record. Basically, my guitar's on the left speaker, and Michael's [Poulsen, guitar/vocals] is on the right speaker. That's something they've never done before because it's always been Michael playing all the guitars on the previous albums — rhythm guitars at least. For this one, it's me on the left and him on the right. There are obviously a million overdubs and solos. There's tons of guitar playing on this album. I really had a blast when we were in the studio. It was totally a lot of fun recording this thing.

ARTISTdirect.com: What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of [ANTHRAX's] "We Have Come For You All" [album]?

Caggiano: The first thing that comes to mind is, "I miss John Bush." I haven't spoken to him in years now. He's such a cool guy, and I respect him so much as a vocalist. He's amazing. That record was a lot of fun to make. Obviously, it was my first with the band. It was right around the time my producing career was developing. It was a really cool and special time for me.

Read the entire interview at ARTISTdirect.com.