SCOTT IAN: 'I Don't Want People Coming To ANTHRAX Shows Looking For Political Analysis'

Scott Mervis of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently conducted an interview with ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On why Joey Belladonna was the right singer for "Worship Music":

Ian: "I think all you have to do is listen to the record and it answers that question. I'll let the album speak for itself."

On the tumultuous four-year process of making "Worship Music":

Ian: "It is what it is. We write and we record records and sometimes roadblocks get in your way. It's really no big deal."

On "Earth on Hell"'s lyrics, which have Belladonna singing, "Taking the streets occupied!" while on the final track, "Revolution Screams", he wails, "Revolution! Whose side are you on?!":

Ian: "I wrote the lyrics to these songs close to four years ago now. I'm not saying I had a crystal ball or anything, but I definitely was able to feel that something needs to change on this planet. When [stuff] started to kick off in Egypt, it was weird, because I was like, 'I kinda wrote about this three years ago.' I've been waiting for this to happen. People can only take [crap] for so long. That's the way I look at it.

"I'm not saying I back either side. I'm just saying I've had enough, and I'm sad to say, but I really truly believe, it's actually going to take blood running on the streets of America until maybe some of these government officials will actually wake up and stop toeing the party line and start actually trying to get something done."

On whether he will participate in any political demonstrations himself:

Ian: "Am I gonna go down to Wall Street and sleep in a tent? No [expletive] way. I learned a long time ago, I'm gonna worry about myself, and my family and my friends and keep a small circle around me. You can control your own destiny in a very small circle, whereas if I'm gonna try to take on the world ... it's not going to happen. Bono can't take over the world, and he's in a lot bigger band than I am. The way I look at it is, I'm in a band 'cause I love to play music, I love to write songs, I love to go on tour, I love to entertain.

"I don't want people coming to ANTHRAX shows looking for political analysis. It's about coming to a show and forgetting about all this [B.S.] for two hours and shake it off, and come out feeling better about things 'cause you're able to get so much of this energy in your system out at the show."