Overkill
Honest Explosion of Energy

23.03.2010

Back in the days when a metal gig in Russia was a unique event that had high chances of never to be experienced again, Overkill were one of the first U.S. thrashers to come over and perform for the Moscow crowd. Eight years later (in 2008, to be precise) we did have a chance to experience that again, but like all things that happen to you for the first time, that February 2000 gig at the legendary DK Gorbunova is the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear the name Overkill. Naturally, that was also the thing to start our conversation with Overkill singer Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth, but of course, we later moved on to other subjects – Overkill’s newfound contract with metal giant Nuclear Blast Records, a new album aptly called “Ironbound”, Bobby’s cooperation with some of the wonderful people on the metal stage and his passion for stagediving.

In 2008 you played in Moscow for the first time in nearly a decade, your previous and first ever gig here was in February 2000. In your opinion, how much did the city and the fans change over this period of time? Which show did you like better?

I think that fans don’t necessarily change, the excitement level is always at the high level. I remember the first show in Moscow, there was snow everywhere, and we stayed just outside the Red Square. The latest show was very quick for us – in a hotel for a few hours, then we’re gone, so we didn’t get to see much of the city this time. I enjoyed more of Moscow the first time. But I don’t notice any changes with regards to the support of the band - there’s always a really enthusiastic kind of explosion when this band plays. I do remember the first show as being bigger, as opposed to the last show, and that was very memorable. But the last show had a very special feel to it, too.

You have toured the world consistently over the past 25 years, and many musicians say that touring gets very tiresome after a while, because you have to travel for 10-15 hours a day to spend just two hours on stage. How do you keep your passion and your interest in touring alive?

It’s like a drug. It depends how you look at the touring, I look at it as something that I crave, something that my body needs, something that my mind needs… Sure it’s hard – you show up at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, get no sleep and do the show at 8 o’clock, but would I rather not do the show? Of course not! It’s about getting my drug in me, and my drug’s being on the stage. I really don’t have a problem with it, what’s most natural to me with regards to being in Overkill and being in a band is being on the stage. So it’s never been an issue.

You will tour the United States in April 2010, and this tour will be a celebration of Overkill’s 25th anniversary. There will be six other bands on the tour, including Vader and God Dethroned, but how were they chosen? Did the band choose the openers this time, was it a management decision or something else?

The choices all went through. They were put together by their availability through our booking agent. There’s also gonna be Warbringer and Evile on this tour, so it’s a good package all the way through. What we wanted to do for the 25 years is truly make a good package, make it event-like. For some of these bands it’s the first time over here, and as to Vader, they’re a constantly touring European band, and over here it’s not so often, so there’s a lot of interest in them. It gives the tour a better profile. The decisions were made for us, but for sure their viability was presented to us through our agent.

Will there be anything special on that tour to celebrate your 25th anniversary? Maybe you plan some guest appearances, some jams with members of the opening bands, or anything else like this…

I’d like to think that the best way to celebrate is to do business as usual. Overkill is about energy - you’ve seen the two shows that we did in Moscow, and I can’t really say there’s a huge difference between them, because they all feel high energy to them. I think that is a testimony in itself, that’s a pretty huge celebration for being there for 25 years – we’re not just standing around and nodding our heads, but there’s 90 minutes of violent movement on that stage. (laughs) Еhat’s what Overkill is about with regards to celebration. We will eventually do a show, one specific show that celebrates 25 years since the release of “Feel The Fire”. But this tour, as I’d like to think, is business as usual surrounded by good bands.

Let’s now speak about your new record “Ironbound”. In America it’s coming out on E1 Records, and in Europe it’s on Nuclear Blast. But what happened to your cooperation with Bodog Music? Did if fail to work out the way you wanted?

We were on tour through Europe when they told us they had problems with their arm of the U.S. label, which was run by Jon and Mary Zazulas, who signed us to Megaforce back in 1984. We got an e-mail saying, “Having trouble, will let you know,” and 10 days later it was, “We’re no longer working for Bodog.” For us the Bodog deal was based on the Zazulas. No Zazulas – no deal. We weren’t going to work with the company that made their money on gambling, not on understanding metal bands. The Zazulas were people who understood metal bands, so without John and Mary it was going to be a lost effort for us. What we did was immediately trying to get the contract voided, based on losing the Zazulas, and we won the right to negotiate the deals.

It seemed like the right thing to do. One of the things that are special about “Ironbound” is that it’s a really authentic version of what Overkill’s about - rooted in the old school, but at the same time, a contemporary offering. To be at Bodog at this time could be disastrous for that release. But to be with a label like Nuclear Blast gives us the opportunity to have that presented to all the metal fans throughout the world. I think it’s a much better deal.

I went to Nuclear Blast a few weeks ago, and everyone’s wearing a metal t-shirt there. You know that you’re in the right place – as you walk through the doors you hear metal, you see metal, nobody has a suit and tie on. That’s a huge bonus. It’s always great to have a deal, it’s always great to have a good deal, but hey, the bonus is that the people who are inside the walls of the building are so into this, this is their passion, this is their life. You get the meeting of two passions – that of the writers of “Ironbound” and that of the people who want to market that.

“Ironbound” was mixed by Peter Tagtgren of Hypocrisy/Pain. Peter is famous for death metal and black metal productions, but there are not many thrash metal bands he has worked with, I only remember Destruction. Why did you choose Peter? Did you want a heavier sound for the new album?

One of the things that we take into account is not necessarily the fact of who’s doing thrash. We want to be able to create something new for ourselves with regards to mixing and try to break a formula. Andy Sneap did a lot of thrash bands and has a great talent behind the board, but he has “the sound”, you can tell it’s an Andy Sneap’s record by listening to it. Peter is adaptable, more communion-like, and his involvement gave us the opportunity to be outstanding with our own Overkill/Peter Tagtgren mix, it could stand up on its own as opposed to being characteristic of the persons who did it. Peter is an old-school fan, and he has a great talent behind the board in interpreting what he hears. Obviously we gave our input, but it’s still an interpretation. I think he gave us a very unique contemporary-type offering with regards to the mix.

Almost every Overkill album has a title that is a statement in itself - “From The Underground And Below”, “Taking Over”, “Immortalis”, and now “Ironbound”. How do you choose album titles? What message did you want the new album title to convey?

First of all, we try to get something that reflects music. With regards to “Immortalis”, for instance, it has nothing to do with our own immortality, it deals more with the immortality of what the scene was, you saw it regenerated at that time, regenerated through the influence of younger thrash bands and younger thrash fans. And older thrash bands are standing immortal to some degree, transcending through the generations. I suppose, “Ironbound” is a reference to the tests of time we had been going through. The word “bound” in the English language can mean “tied to”, and “Ironbound” for us means “tied to the scene”… by metal ribbons! (laughs) This is no longer a career, but life. The revolution started in the 1980s, and many of us, if not all of us, are here for life. Overkill is one of the few that remain. (laughs) Therefore we’re ironbound!

You probably know that “Ironbound” leaked to the Internet prior to its release, and a lot of people downloaded it illegally. In your opinion, how serious is the problem of downloading for a band like Overkill?

Oh, it hurts. I turn a blind eye to it, because it is just a characteristic of the time, this technology vs. passion. And I would see it on the website how people could justify the download – there will be a statement like, “Yes, I’ve downloaded the record, but I’ll buy it when the record comes out, because I’m a big supporter!” Obviously a download by that person doesn’t really hurt the band. The other side is that there are so many fucking metal bands out there right now (laughs), that a part of me says, “It’s logical that they want to find out what they’re buying before they go and do it. “ You can’t support every one of these bands, there’s just no possibility. So I have a mixed emotion about it - I don’t mind it when if’s done by those who support the band, and if somebody downloads it and says, “I don’t wanna buy it now because I don’t like it,” I can agree with that also. I don’t agree with the persons who say, “Wow, I have 7,000 free downloads, and I didn’t pay for a single one!” (everybody laughs) That’s when it bothers me. But I’ve never subscribed to Lars Ulrich’s book of – “Let’s go get them!” (laughs)

More about present-day technology – it was recently announced that Overkill will be included in the new video game “Brutal Legend”. What is the form of your involvement? Will they only include your music, or also images of the band and cover artworks?

This is really simple. They got in touch with us and said, “We’re doing “Brutal Legend”, it’s gonna be a metal-based musical game, we’d like to involve you.” We said “yes”, they paid us. (everybody laughs) This is as simple as it was. We weren’t asked to give any images or do anything else, the game was primarily done, the prototypes of the game were done, they were just asking for music.

What do you think about this recent fascination with rock-oriented video games such as “Guitar Hero” or this “Brutal Legend”?

I think it’s a reflection of the time. We’ve talked about the resurgence of this thrash thing, this music has transcended at least three generations, if not four, and it’s amazing that it happens – there are fathers and sons at shows. I know a guy who comes to our shows, and he is a grandfather. He plays our stuff for his grandson! He loves us! I see that the value of it is huge. The revolution was 25 or 30 years ago, and when it started, we were part of it. We loved this music because it was a great reflection of the social and political situation of that time, it was the antithesis of what popular music was, it was the antithesis of what popular American metal was at that time. It happened in New York, it happened in San Francisco, it happened in Germany and other parts of the world simultaneously – that shows a great value to me. And when you see these video games, they reflect that value. These are businesses that wanna make money, and they could see that there’s value in this, bands and fans are committed on high levels.

What worries me is that in the past the kids who loved music used to pick up a guitar and learn to play, but now they pick up a keyboard and mouse, not a real guitar…

Yeah, but that’s the other separation between the two. I think if a person that is pre-disposed to talent, that immediately bores them. The kid who plays a Black Sabbath riff on “Guitar Hero” to play in perfect time with them is just sharpening his hentai coordination, he’s not playing anything. A real guitar player will be bored with that quickly. If you have it in you, you say, “That was a lot of fun, now where’s the real meat?” (laughs)

We’ve already touched upon the revival of the U.S. thrash metal scene over the past six or seven years, but looking at it from the outside, I get an impression that it’s mostly centered around older bands, such as Exodus, Death Angel, Slayer or Overkill. Do you know any young bands in this genre of music that you consider worthy of attention?

I think primarily the reason for this resurgence is the younger bands - the younger bands have rallied the younger fans. There wasn’t so many fans prior to this with regards to thrash, the new influx of fans is from the younger bands that have gained popularity – whether it be Airbourne, Gama Bomb, Suicidal Angels, Bonded By Blood or… I mean, the list goes on. Warbringer – we are taking them with us to the U.S. Hopefully we’ll take Suicidal Angels or Gama Bomb with us in Europe. You can see that it’s where the new influx is, and because of that they do deserve notoriety.

When you form a new band, you obviously start by celebrating your influence and keep that with you through your career, but somewhere you get off the road and cut your own path through the woods. That’s what separates you from your influences and makes you original. I think many of the young bands right now are still based on influences, but they will have value in time to come, when they walk off the path that’s already there to create their own. But I still think it’s great to celebrate your influences, and it’s them who are specifically responsible for the thrash revival.

Overkill members have had various side projects over they years – D.D. Verni has The Bronx Casket Company, Dave Links has Speed / Kill / Hate, but the only side project you have ever had is The Cursed. How did Dan Lorenzo (guitarist of Hades, Non-Fiction) persuade you to join it?

He’s incessant, he never gives up his destinations, he’s been asking me since 1993 when we were touring with Non-Fiction. (laughs) I just saw a Non-Fiction reunion three weeks ago in New Jersey…

How was it like, by the way?

Oh, it was killer! It was like being in a time warp. I was standing with Dan’s wife and I said, “Isn’t it funny how in 1993 when we took them on the road, he was ahead of his time, and now he’s retro?” (laughs) But it was a great show! Most of the stuff from the records tampered with Black Sabbath and old rock’n’roll covers – it was really good play for a couple of hours.

The Cursed was fun, I’ve always liked Dan’s riffing, and that’s part of it. Dave’s the one guy I’ve ever played with who can think what he wants to play and then play it. He doesn’t have to work it out, he’s just like, “Oh, I know what I’m playing!” - and he just does it! He never hits a wrong note, it’s a direct transfer from his brain to finger and from his amplifier to my ear. I think that’s a pretty unique quality. And I’ve always wanted to do something rock’n’roll, it’s always been a part of me, I’m classic when it comes to what I like in music. My heart and head have always been with thrash, but I’m going to different places to stay abreast of what’s going on. When I was a kid I was listening to the Rolling Stones or The Who.

You said that The Cursed WAS fun. Do you mean that the band is over?

You know, The Cursed was about four middle-aged guys going into a room with a few beers and looking at pictures of pin-up girls in the middle of magazines as if we were in our teens again. That was the beauty of The Cursed. It was never anything serious except for a trip to the fantasy land, of being a garage band. I’ve never had the intention of releasing a record. Once we got together, it was supposed to be for us and only for us. And I think that’s what made it special. But as the songs developed, we all saw that there was something there that was more than just a garage band. But I never thing of The Cursed as an active band, I always think of The Cursed as something that was a great time. I know I’ll get together with Dan again, I enjoy his company too much.

In December 2008 you appeared at the anniversary concert of German singer Doro Pesch, and performed the song “Always Live To Win” with her. How did you get an invitation to this gig? And why did you appear on this particular track?

She picked the track. She had a lot of guests, and she was trying to pick tracks that fit the person, and that obviously does fit me much more than a lot of the other tracks. Putting me on the track that Udo sang with her (“Dancing With An Angel”) would be a wrong thing. (everybody laughs) It was up to her, and I said, “Oh, I get the one that actually has teeth!” With regards to my invitation to the show, we had a booking agent that works with her very closely, almost like a management or assistance, and he books us. I remember that on one of the tours we had to go to Dusseldorf, Germany, and we got stuck waiting for amplifiers and cabinets to show up. We were gonna have to be stuck there overnight till the next day, but there was nowhere to park, and then a friend called Doro who was working in the studio she owns, and she said, “Bring the bus here!” We ended up bringing the bus, and there stood a bunch of American guys standing outside, drinking beer, eating sandwiches, and she stayed inside doing her recording. (laughs) Then she went out and we went hanging out. Through time, from that point on, whenever she’s around and we’re around, we stop and say “hello”. The thing I like about her is her sincerity. She met my wife at one of these meetings, she came to the show we were doing. She said, “Hi, glad to see you!”, kissed me on a cheek, and then went straight to my wife and says, “This must be Inga, I’ve heard so much about you!” I thought, “Oh my God, what will my wife think?!” (everybody laughs) I’ve always loved her for that reason, I think she’s truly a metal queen, sincerity and purity is what she’s about, and I was really honored that she’d asked me to come to the show.

She’s definitely a fantastic persons, I’ve met her on a few occasions, and she’s always so great!

I’m married but I think I have a crush on her! When I look at her, I’m always like a 16-year-old schoolboy going, “Wow!” (everybody laughs)

On the previous Overkill album you also had a guest singer – Randall Blythe from Lamb of God. How did this cooperation happen?

We were doing a tour in 2006, and at the time we were doing it, the songwriting was in process for “Immortalis”. We’d actually recorded drum tracks prior to leaving, and I was working on the track “Skull & Bones” as we were touring. I think it was the second day of the tour, and I was in the catering, and this guy goes up to me, and his look is always changing – sometimes he has a shaved head and a beard, sometimes he’s got long hair and glasses – and he says, “Hey, I’m Randall Blythe from Lamb Of God.” I said,” Nice to meet you” and so on, and he said, “Listen, what’s that that song you do second to the end?” I said, “That’s the song called “Old School”” He was like, “Oh, that’s so punk! I like it! Can I go up and sing it with you tonight?” I said, “Do you know how it goes?” “I’ve got it, I bought it off the Internet, and I learned the whole thing! So I said, “Let’s set up a microphone!” This was the second show, and he never missed a night through the whole tour. At all the soundchecks we made sure there was an extra mike around for Randy. He would stop interviews saying, “Oh, I’m sorry, but Overkill’s on, and at the end of their set I’m expected to do “Old School” with them!” And the interviews had to wait for him! I thought that was really cool.

Somewhere down the road I was working on “Skull & Bones”, I played him a little of it, and he goes like, “Oh, this is fucking badass!” I said, “Do you wanna sing it with me?” And he was like, “Just tell me the time!” It was just that simple. We’d never had a guest, but he became closer to us every day, as we became closer to their band and really friendly. With Randy there was no contract, there was no “pay me this much”, none of that! “Gimme a plane ticket, and I’ll be there! As long as I’m not busy, I’m in!” I was impressed with that.

By the way, do you have any guests on “Ironbound”? Maybe Peter Tagtgren sang or played anything?

No, that’s all me. Even the death metal stuff is me. (laughs) I learned that death metal stuff by doing The Cursed, that was one of the fun things of The Cursed, and, I think, one of the really unique parts of “Ironbound”. I think it shows that each of us is not afraid to learn. We can be rooted in the old school and still reinvent ourselves. As soon as you stop learning, you’re done! Dave Linsk for instance did some of the best guitar work I’ve heard in ages on this record, bow to fucking none when it comes to this. Dave made this record progressive with his guitar work, and I think that’s due to the fact that he has no fear of learning, he wants to learn. I think that’s one of the unique qualities that “Ironbound” has, it shows the chemistry we had at that time, and all the things we learned to reinvent that old school feel.

Everybody who has seen Overkill live has seen a big blue tattoo on the right side of your body. Does it have a special meaning?

It’s not real, I put it on every night!

Indeed? It looks very real! (everybody laughs)

OK, I’m joking! It actually does, but it’s a very private meaning, I’d really rather not explain it exactly. It was the end of a chapter in my life, and it’s really that simple – it’s the beginning of something new. The choice of the color blue is based on my skin tone, I’m very light-skinned, and especially when I sing, every vein in my body pumps out, so I almost look blue anyway. (laughs) That’s why the color was chosen, and the fire burns upwards and outwards, which a fire doesn’t do. A fire doesn’t burn in a V, much more so in an upside down V. The idea of this was to make the impossible happen. That’s a generalization of what the tattoo’s about.

You often end up an Overkill show with jumping into the crowd. Has this experience always been safe for you?

No, of course not! (laughs) But as it becomes so common, I do it less and take less chances. I used to dive festival stages, and I’d never have a problem, and I think the first time we played at Wacken the reason why they moved the barricades back the next year is that I made it over the whole photo pit.

Wow, that’s a long distance!

They had a little of what they call catwalk at the front, something like the tongue of the stage, and I made it. But there’ve been other festivals where I landed on the barricades and broke my ribs. There was one festival where I hit the monitor with my foot and came down with my head against the barricades. In Switzerland, we played at a festival held at a hockey arena, and they covered the floor with plywood. I had to start from behind the drums to get enough speed, and when I hit the monitor I thought, “Hey, I’m gonna make it! Oh, this is fucking great!” I was up there so high, and as I looked down, the whole crowd separated… I hit that plywood so fucking hard, man, and I bounced and bounded, because it was a wooden floor, and I was coming at it at an angle. I had pieces of wood stuck in my back and in my shoulders. So I was laying on the ground trying to get someone to give me a hand and get up because I thought I had broken a rib, and this guy threw beer on my face. (laughs) That’s the last time I dived in Switzerland.

Bobby, what keeps you doing this? It’s not safe, and I heard people telling wild stories about this. Roger Miret from Agnostic Front told me he once stagedived at a Madball gig and broke his back…

If I only have those stories that I remember over 25 fucking years of doing this, it’s relatively pretty safe. (laughs) Of 3,000 shows, if I’ve been hurt in 10 or 12 of them, I think the percentage is way in my favor. It’s an exciting moment for me, and why I sometimes choose not to do it is because I don’t want this to become something like, (in a calm voice) “Oh that was exciting he did”, but rather something like, (in a great surprise) “Oh, why didn’t he do that?!” (laughs) If the audience sucked that night, why do I need to jump into it? I just get excitement from playing - you’ve seen us play before - and I think it doesn’t matter what goes on before and what goes on after, it’s about us claiming the stage for 90 minutes. Sure mistakes can happen, sure shit happens, but that’s what makes it exciting. And again, it’s a drug, I’ve never been this high in my life as when I’m onstage. No other things can compare to it. And when you’re on top on that excitement, when you’re drug high, when all the adrenaline is pumping through your body, things can happen. (laughs) It is the attractive nature of Overkill, because it’s a very pure and honest explosion of energy.

You turned 50 years old this year…

(interrupts) That’s another reason why I don’t diver this much! (everybody laughs)

Do you keep in contact with any of the people you grew up with as a kid? If yes, what do they think about your occupation?

I met some guys who were with me in my first year at school, when I was 6 years old. I’m still in touch with four of them. We did each other’s 50-year-parties this year. One is one of my greatest supporters, always has been. He’s the guy who got me into music, I bought my second guitar from this guy and played in a band with him. He’s a lawyer, we’re quite different with regards to what we do, but he’s one of the biggest supporters I have. Yeah, I am in touch with people whom I’ve known for that amount of time, actually 44 years. It’s funny – I got a card for my birthday that said, “Bobby, after 43 years I’m still your biggest fan!” (laughs)

What are the targets you set for yourself for the next, say, 50 years? Many people would think you have achieved everything, but you probably have a different opinion…

With regard to metal and to Overkill the only way to achieve is first 25 years of doing this professionally is by living in a day, not necessarily living into the future. When it started, we had no idea what it was, it was new – music was new, the scene was new, and how big it was gonna be, nobody knew. And if they said they knew, they would be lying. (laughs) And I learned how to live in a day. When we talk about the energy Overkill has onstage, or the energy I have, whether it’s a dive, or not a dive, the drug I chase on the stage, it’s because I’m living in that moment. It’s one of the things that the first 25 years of doing this have taught me. To change that philosophy, I think, would be really wrong, because it’s given me more that I’ve even dreamt about. It’s given me – let’s not call it a career, but a life’s work. This is the thing I’ve done the most in my life, and probably will be until the day I die. The reason that happened was because of that day-to-day attitude and living in the present as opposed to living in the future. I’m not gonna even guess, I think that’s against my nature to do so.

Overkill on the Internet: http://www.wreckingcrew.com

Special thanks to Yury “Surgeon” (Irond Records) for arranging this interview

Roman Patrashov
December 3, 2009
© HeadBanger.ru