JOHN BUSH Is 'Really Proud' Of Upcoming ARMORED SAINT Album: 'It's A Great Record'

In a new interview with the Thunder Underground podcast, ARMORED SAINT singer John Bush spoke about the band's long-awaited ninth studio album, due later this year through Metal Blade Records. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "The record's killer. It's really, really awesome. I'm really proud of it. It kind of expands on [2020's] 'Punching The Sky' and [2015's] 'Win Hands Down', but it kind of has its own sound and vibe to it as well. And the production is just off the charts. Jay Ruston engineered and he mixed it again and just did an incredible job. And Joey [Vera, ARMORED SAINT bassist], he's the orchestrator of it all and did an awesome job. But everyone contributed songs and some lyrics. So it's a great record. I'm really excited about it and can't wait for it to come out."

Asked if the source of the inspiration for his lyrics has changed over the last four decades, John said: "When it comes to writing lyrics, I just try to see what comes to my mind at that time. It really just depends. My goal is to really always challenge myself as a lyricist and to write things that… What's important to me is not repeating myself. That's really important because I've written a lot of tunes in my life, so the last thing I wanna do is do something where I feel like people will say, 'I've heard that from you.' So that's my biggest challenge. But as far as where I draw inspiration from, it could be anything. To me, I've written about people who drive like crap. There's just really no topic I won't tackle. I don't really feel, like, 'Is that metal? Is that within the parameters of a metal song?' I don't care. I really don't care. I also try to write a lot in metaphors. Sometimes I'll start writing a song lyrically and then all of a sudden go, 'Wait a minute. This is really kind of feeling like it's starting to feel like it means more about this.' So I don't really feel like there's anything I can't do. I can't make any changes. I'll do whatever it takes to just feel like the song is to the best it can be. Phil [Sandoval, ARMORED SAINT guitarist] gave me some ideas for some lyrics. He came up with a title of one of the songs, so I was, like, 'That's cool. I'll run with that.' I used a couple of his lines. He sent me a list of some lines. Certainly Joey and I, when we're working together, singing — I sang all the vocals at his house, as I've done for the last few records — he says, 'Why don't you try this? Why don't we put this lyric in instead?' It's a collaborative effort, but the reality is the majority of the lyrics are mine. It's something I love doing, and I feel like I'm still really good at it. Like I said, I love writing lyrics and I don't really feel like there's [anything] I [can't] do."

Bush continued: "I made it a point that I don't wanna go out and tell everybody what these songs are about. I really just want people to come up with their own ideas. So I'm probably gonna be certainly a little bit less helpful to the record company when it comes to doing press. I'll always do interviews, of course, and I love doing interviews, but sometimes what you'll do is you'll do a bio and they'll say, 'What are the songs about?' And it's, like, I'm not gonna tell people what the songs are about. I want people to tell me what the songs are about. So that's kind of my goal on this. And it might be, like, 'Huh?' But you know what?! To me it's more exciting for people to tell me what they get from the lyrics and the songs. So I do think the lyrics are really great, and I think there's some thought-provoking things. And that's what I wanna do. I wanna make people think. I don't wanna tell people what to think. I want people to think, 'cause I'm not here to say, 'Hey, you should think this.' That's not my objective. It's more, like, 'You know what?! Actually, this is kind of making me think this way.' And then I'll start writing. But for you, you might hear it and go, 'I have a completely different state of mind when I hear that.' What's funny is I wrote a song — I won't mention it yet, 'cause we're still waiting to release the name of the record and then the songtitles — but it was funny. The song was done, it was mixed, it was mastered, and then all of a sudden I was listening to it the other day and going, 'Wow, that song, it means this to me now.' It's a completely different topic. And that wasn't my objective going in, writing it at all, and all of a sudden I was like, well, that now is about that. So that's why I don't wanna tell people what the songs are about anymore, because now all of a sudden this song means this to me. Anyways, that's just kind of the way I approach it."

This past November, John told Mark Strigl about the musical direction of the new ARMORED SAINT material: "It's a little continuation of what we've done over the last few records —'Punching The Sky' and 'Win Hands Down' — but it also sounds kind of different at the same time. So, I think it's a big step as far as our songwriting and kind of the sophistication of ARMORED SAINT's hard rock, heavy metal, but sounding different, but still sounding like SAINT at the same time. But [it's] a record that sounds like it's coming out in '26, not a record that is coming out in '85, which I love 1985 — 'Delirious Nomad', our second album [came out in 1985]. It's our [40th] anniversary [of 'Delirious Nomad'] right now, and so we're playing a bunch of songs on this tour from that record. But, again, I don't want to… As much as you look back and I'm down with that, 'cause we all do, and there's a nostalgic connection and I love that, I still want it to sound like a record that sounds like now. So that's always the little bit of the puzzle that you have to form there and the slight dilemma — like, how do we make it sound modern without sounding like another modern band? 'Cause we don't wanna sound like anyone else other than ourselves, but we don't wanna say, like, we're just going back, and going, 'What did we do then? Okay, let's do that.' We don't wanna do that. So it's a combination of looking forward and a little bit of the history."

Last September, John told Chel Evah of Art Paparazza & Chel Shock Photography about what will be a six-year gap between "Punching The Sky" and ARMORED SAINT's next album: "It's a long time coming, but I blame COVID, because it pushed everyone back a little bit, 'cause 'Punching The Sky' came out in 2020. Plus we've toured a lot in the last couple years. So, to do some writing in conjunction with touring, it's not easy. Everyone aspires to write on the road, but it's difficult. But we have a bunch of great tunes. We're really excited. The record sounds awesome. And I'm real fired up and I can't wait to go out in '26 and play a bunch of new tunes."

Bush previously talked about ARMORED SAINT's upcoming LP earlier in September in an interview with Pete Pardo of Sea Of Tranquility. He said at the time: "We went out and toured a lot [in support of 'Punching The Sky']. So, we were able to do that, and did a couple of more tours, and we were really not planning on it. But getting out there and playing was great. And we actually sold so many records and CDs on the road, it was crazy. We actually re-charted because we sold so many records out there. So, kudos to all the fanbase who bought records and CDs and shirts, of course. But it kind of did push things back a little bit. We don't work that quick as it is, quite frankly, but I always said it for years: the quality of the tunes is contrary to the amount, because that's the fact for us. But the new record will be out next year. And I think it's great. It's gonna just kind of build on everything we've been doing."

Circling back to ARMORED SAINT's increased touring activity and how it affected the making of the band's new album, John said: "We toured a lot. We actually put out four videos on the last record. So we've been on the public side maybe more than ever. And really I say this and it's really kind of the truth is ARMORED SAINT's probably bigger than we've ever been. Maybe there was a stretch in 1984 that we were maybe more popular, but honestly we're probably bigger than we ever were. So, we're just riding it. And the new record will be great, and I think people will dig it. And it really kind of shows sophistication in the songwriting, and we really believe in that. We try to kind of bring in all our different influences and styles and use some different instrumentation and take chances with arrangement a little bit. And I'm really proud of it. I think the songwriting is just — yeah, it's built on everything we've done. The origins of the band, our hard rock heavy metal band, but we really kind of feel like we just keep pushing the boundaries. And it's always gonna sound like SAINT. And this one does too. But I don't know. That's my pitch. I mean, of course it comes down to what the fans think."

After Pardo noted that ARMORED SAINT's musical output has been remarkably "consistent" over the group's four-decade career, Bush concurred. "When your band's been around as long as we have, and that goes for all the bands who have a four-decade career, is that usually new music means the opportunity to go take a piss or go get a couple of beers," he said. "But I really feel like people really think our last couple records have been great. And I think for us to keep building on that and keep writing new material that sounds very legit, I think is important. And not everybody can say that. Everybody kind of says it, but how much do you really believe it? And I really believe [it in our case]. I mean, again, it comes down to what the press and what the fanbase says, and they're the ones that make the final decision, really, on it. But at the end of the day, they've been saying ARMORED SAINT's making really great, modern music, so I'm stoked."

In November 2024, Vera told Metal Kaoz about the musical and lyrical direction of ARMORED SAINT's new material: "Every record we've made has been a little bit different than the one prior to it, and this one will be the same case where it will be a little different than 'Punching'. But our number one thing is just writing really great songs. We're not so concerned about trying to outdo the last record or do as good as it is or do the same thing. I always think that it's cool to just see where you are at that moment. And these songs that we've written, just like the last three or four records we've made, they all represent a particular time and place for us. So this these batch of songs, they're a reflection of where we are at a time and place right now. We're in post-COVID, we're coming back out of it, back into the world, and different things are influencing me personally than they were in 2014 when I was writing for [2015's] 'Win Hands Down'. So all those things are at play again. I'm trying to take a few chances as well on this, which we always try to do a little bit."

In June 2024, ARMORED SAINT released a rendition of "One Chain (Don't Make No Prison)". The classic track was originally written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter and was first released by PEOPLE in 1970. Additional covers include THE FOUR TOPS (1974),SANTANA (1978) and THE DOOBIE BROTHERS (1989).

"One Chain (Don't Make No Prison)" was produced by Vera, mixed by Jay Ruston and mastered by Maor Applebaum.

ARMORED SAINT released the "Symbol Of Salvation Live" CD/DVD in 2021 via Metal Blade Records. The release came in celebration of the seminal album's 30th anniversary. "Symbol Of Salvation Live" was a combination live album and video of the band playing the album in its entirety at New York City's famed Gramercy Theatre during its 2018 tour.

In July 2023, ARMORED SAINT was inducted into the Metal Hall Of Fame at the legendary Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California.

In May 2023, ARMORED SAINT's long-awaited documentary, Armored Saint: Band Of Brothers", had its world premiere in the band's hometown at the Harmony Gold Theatre in Hollywood, California.

Photo by Stephanie Cabral