JOHN BUSH Says His Split With ANTHRAX 'Could Have Been Dealt With A Little Bit More Honestly'

A new 29-minute audio interview with former ANTHRAX and current ARMORED SAINT singer John Bush which aired in May 2008 on "The Classic Metal Show" is available for streaming in three parts below. An excerpt from the chat follows.

Q: How did the news come down to you about the "reunion" [of the classic ANTHRAX lineup, featuring Joey Belladonna on vocals] and do you secretly smile to yourself that it didn't last?

John Bush: "No, actually, I was kind of surprised that it didn't last longer, to tell you the truth. I was a little surprised about that decision that it ended. You know, there was grumblings. It wasn't handled in the greatest of ways and that's the classic some of the ANTHRAX things that we, as a band and I say 'we,' 'cause I'm not immune to it, but some of the business dealings were never done in the best of ways. Comunication was crap sometimes. It could have been dealt with a little bit more honestly and straight-up, but you know, I understand that, too. It's kind of like, basically, insinuating that, 'Hey, I'm gonna break up with you in a month and start seeing my old girlfriend again.' It's not so easy to do that, especially if you care for somebody. [Laughs] But you know, in all honesty, at this stage of my life and then, they probably could have dealt with it better and just said, 'You know, we're entertaining the idea of doing that.' And then it was like, 'Well, we want you to do it too.' [referring to the proposed tour that would feature Joey Belladonna and Bush singing material from each vocalist's respective era Ed.]. And I was like, 'I can't do it too. I don't wanna do it too. But if you've gotta do it, you've gotta do it. But I don't wanna do it.' Like I said, it's probably one of those things that is never gonna be handled that delicately, but it probably could have been handled a little bit better. We did a South American/Latin American [tour], which was the last thing I did [with ANTHRAX], and everyone had known at that point, so it was a little awkward doing interviews and people are asking Scott [Ian, guitar] and Charlie [Benante, drums], and they're like, 'What are you talking about? We haven't said anything about that.' And it's like, 'But everyone knows.' I'm sitting there going, 'Well I mean, duh!' So it was a little bit like, 'C'mon. We don't need to bullshit the people.' It was a little awkward. That a killer tour, and it was actually a great way to end my run in ANTHRAX we did some killer shows in Brazil and Peru and Mexico."

As previously reported, ARMORED SAINT has been confirmed for this year's Rocklahoma festival, which will be held July 9-13, 2008 at the Catch The Fever Festival Grounds, four miles north of Pryor, Oklahoma. SAINT will play on Friday, July 11 on the main stage alongside KINGDOM COME, NIGHT RANGER, EXTREME and the original lineup of TRIUMPH.

ARMORED SAINT's last CD, "Revelation", came out in 2000 on the Metal Blade label.

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