OVERKILL Frontman Talks About THE CURSED Project

Debby Rao of KNAC.COM recently conducted an interview with OVERKILL frontman Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

KNAC.COM: Are you in the studio recording a new OVERKILL album?

Ellsworth: Well vocals are next. Drums, guitars, bass are done. I go in within four or five days, actually right before the tour. Then I go out on the tour, come back and then finish the vocals. We are looking for a springtime release that will put us in favor for the European festivals. That is always a blast to go over there. Every weekend there is two or three festivals. It is mass exposure over that ten-day period. I really dig it.

KNAC.COM: You have been really busy. You have another new project in the works called THE CURSED.

Ellsworth: The album is just completed. It is going through the mastering stages right now. If you go to www.the-cursed.net, there are a few little 90-seconds clips of what to expect off the record.

KNAC.COM: Yes, I heard it. You have a little bit of a Steven Tyler vocal thing going on there. I like the different approach.

Ellsworth: Oh really. Well you are just saying that because you are from Boston. (Laughter) I am from The Bronx, you know.

KNAC.COM: Yes, I know, but it is a good thing, I think…to be compared to Steven Tyler.

Ellsworth: Oh sure, and quite obviously, it is flattering to hear somebody compare my presentation on THE CURSED to someone as great as Steven Tyler. This was a fun record for me. I suppose, everything I do at some degree for me is fun. I don't have a lot of fuckin' complaints. A guy came out to me one day and said, "Oh my God, OVERKILL is still around?" and I said, "How is the day gig going?" (Laughter)

KNAC.COM: That is what the fans love about OVERKILL. You are so direct and tell it like it is, Bobby. That is too funny.

Ellsworth: THE CURSED record was put together by Dan Lorenzo of NON-FICTION fame, and HADES fame. He is a riff monster. Also, he is a good friend of mine. We had NON-FICTION on the road with us in 1993. I thought they were just an absolute fantastic band. Dan has been hassling me to play with him for years. I did on a few riffs about a year ago, and wrote some lines for it. It just started taking off. We got Job The Raver from MURDER 1 and Mike Cristi, also from NON-FICTION fame. Screaming Ferret Wreckords became interested in THE CURSED. We said, "We know it is going to be say different from OVERKILL. It is way different from Dan's project HADES and NON-FICTION. Screaming Ferret Wreckords were real interested in seeing what happens, and gave us more that a development deal, in order to see us get going. They said, "We want what you guys come up with." So we said, "Oh my God, it has actually turned into something." It was obviously started just for fun. It was a garage band, taken to the next level, like most bands start. For me to do it, as an absolute side project, it feels really good because it is not OVERKILL by any means. There are similarities with regards to vocals in some cases. The approach and the songwriting are taken from a much more rock and roll perspective. For the first time in my life, I was able to write lyrics about the softer sex. I don't think I have written a song about a woman in OVERKILL. I found out THE CURSED have written eight songs on my perspective on the way I feel in different ways and what I have witnessed. So it really becomes, in all senses, fresh material for me. The lyrical content, the subject matter, the approach to the singing, the type of songs that I am singing, too are much more melodic and just a hell of a lot of fun. It still has that dirty, "Don't-play-it-for-your-mother" kind of feel, behind the presentation of the record. THE CURSED has been a lot of fun for me. We look forward to THE CURSED spring release, "Room Full of Sinners".

KNAC.COM: Do you think you will do a tour with THE CURSED?

Ellsworth: I was talking with Dan and said maybe we ought to do a last appearance of THE CURSED and have it also be our first one. The final appearance of THE CURSED and then we will book it in New York in some sleazy 500-seat kind of a club. We are thinking of possibly doing something like that. It is too early to determine. I have tons of commitments from OVERKILL, which has always been my focus. It is something that I ever take lightly. I can't do everything.

Read the entire interview at KNAC.COM.