SCOTT IAN: 'This Is By Far The Best Version Of ANTHRAX That We Have Ever Had'

Amy Harris of CityBeat recently conducted an interview with ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

CityBeat: What has it been like having Joey [Belladonna, vocals] back the past few tours with the band?

Scott: It's been like two and a half years already. Hopefully that answers the question. It is obviously been going great. We couldn't be happier with the record we made. We couldn't be happier with the way shows have been going. I think this is by far the best version of ANTHRAX that we have ever had.

CityBeat: You became a father last year for the first time. Has this changed your perspective on writing music or life in general?

Scott: I haven't really written yet since he was born because we have been in touring mode. One way that my perspective overall has changed is now having this person in my life that I love beyond anything I can comprehend. It makes me hate the human race even more because of all the pressure that comes with raising a child and wanting to protect him. People ask, "What do you have to be angry about?" and there is plenty to be pissed off about now. Look at what happened in Colorado last night with the guy shooting people in a movie theater. It sickens me to the pit of my stomach for a million reasons. What if that was my child in the movie theater?

CityBeat: It is terrible and it is beyond my comprehension how that can happen.

Scott: Up until he was born, I had my wife and close family but they are adults and are responsible for themselves. Now we have this person that is 100 percent helpless and relies on us to take care of him, so there is this protective instinct that showed up as soon as he was born. I think that will have a big impact on my writing in the future when the time comes.

CityBeat: What has been your craziest fan story over the past few years?

Scott: The craziest audiences in the world are in South America in Chile with the craziest fans overall. We do a signing every day at the Rockstar Energy Drink tent and we get to meet a lot of fans every day on this tour. Anyone who would get anything ANTHRAX-related tattooed on their body is amazing to me. I can't really call it too crazy because I have Gene Simmons [KISS] and Angus [Young] from AC/DC tattooed on me. I understand that point of view of being such a fan that you would be willing to make that commitment but being the guy in ANTHRAX and seeing an ANTHRAX-related tattoo makes you feel great because I know the commitment and I know how much ANTHRAX must mean to them.

Read the entire interview from CityBeat.