Anthrax guitarist and a legendary metal icon in his own right, Scott Ian is returning to Australia for a series of spoken word shows as well as some exclusive appearances at this year’s Comic Con Australia. It was 4 years ago that we last saw him sharing some great stories from over the years in Anthrax and more and so we caught up with the guitarist again to find out what we can expect this time around.
Anthrax were currently on tour with Slayer’s final run of shows when we spoke on the phone and while Scott’s own thoughts on Slayer retiring are probably being asked on a daily basis, the answer was pretty straight forward given the scale of the news and the tour itself. “I don’t really have any thoughts because we are just out here in the thick of it right now and it doesn’t feel like the end in any way, shape or form“, says Scott. “We’re just playing giant metal shows every night so maybe after a few years when they are gone and there’s a void and no more Slayer, then I’ll have thoughts about it but right now I don’t really have any thoughts.”
Andrew: It’s good to see you coming back to Australia, we saw you doing similar shows about 3 or 4 years ago with the spoken word thing and it was fantastic stuff and some great stories that you had shared with the fans. This time around will this one be based around anything else like the latest book?
Scott: No not necessarily. I mean when I did it last time there I only did like an hour so that’s like barely scratching the surface of my normal talking shows because I did those shows with [Chris] Jericho so I couldn’t do two and a half hours like I normally would do. So no it’s going to be very similar to that I think just on a bigger stage and just a lot more content.
Andrew: And you are still doing the Q&A with the fans and giving people a chance to ask you questions after the show?
Scott: Oh yeah for sure, and not after the show but during the show.
Andrew: Oh yeah absolutely that’s great to have that interaction with the fans like that in an intimate sort of setting. What’s the most common question you get from people these days?
Scott: When’s the new album coming out or what do I think about Slayer retiring. Those have been the most, over the last few months certainly that have been the most common questions.
Andrew: Well you have built up such a great career and done so much and you obviously keep yourself quite busy, what’s the motivation to keep doing these type of shows? Do you feel the need to share a lot of your history and your career with the fans?
Scott: No it just kind of fell into my lap this time around. I wasn’t looking for a reason, in general I don’t look for reasons to leave home when I’m not touring with Anthrax but I do like doing these talking shows a lot. I got an offer to go to Australia and do the Brisbane Comic-Con and the Sydney Comic-Con and I thought that seemed really interesting because I did a bunch of that here in the United States and I was like, ‘Wow I can go to Australia and do Comic-Con? Well that sounds like a lot of fun’. But then I realized that the Cons were on a weekend I was going to have the whole week off in between which seemed like a really long time to be sitting on my ass in a hotel room, watching Netflix or something because I’d rather be home! So then I asked my agent maybe we could see if I could get some talking shows in the week between because then it would make sense for me to go do this and lo and behold these promoters, Dinner For Wolves were very excited about bringing me down to do the talking shows. So I was able to kind of double down on the fun factor of coming to Australia and that’s how it all worked out.
Andrew: Well it’s great to have you back and Australia has been a country that’s really embraced you and Anthrax and everything that you do. What is a story that you could maybe share here from some of the things you have done in Australia over the years?
Scott: Nothing has ever happened in Australia [laughs].
Andrew: Oh really!?
Scott: That would be the surprising answer right? What’s the craziest thing? Absolutely nothing! Nothing has ever happened, we’ve seen nothing and done nothing. But no I mean I could count on one hand I think, first time we were in Australia was 1990 and now is 2018 so if I’m doing my math correctly it’s 28 years and how many times have we been there? 6 times maybe, maybe more so it’s not like we get to go there very often. That’s another one of the reasons why when I got that offer to come down, even just for Comic-Con I was like, ‘Well yeah I want to go, it’s Australia!’ We never get to go to Australia and it’s still this really new, magical, rad thing because it’s not like other places that I’ve been to a hundred times. It’s still Australia, holy shit I get to go to Australia? That’s really cool. So yeah we’ve had amazing times every time we’ve been there whether it’s just as simple as going out to bars in Melbourne or just stupid tourist shit like going to the beach up in the Gold Coast or holding a Koala Bear for the first time. I mean even dumb stuff like that I would still do again and we’ve done twice in my life, it’s just a completely different vibe going there, everything looks different. I’m also a kind of nerd when it comes to sci-fi and horror and that kind of stuff and the fact that the Matrix was filmed in Sydney, like I’ll still go walk around Sydney and look at locations where the Matrix was filmed because I’m such a nerd over that movie.
Andrew: [laughs].
Scott: I just love it over there! I don’t know Australia, that’s probably why. I’ve been to other places so many times, even Japan. I think I’ve been to Japan like 25 times or something so as alien as Japan is, I actually know Japan way more than I know Australia so Australia is still this mysterious place to me so it’s just super exciting for me to get to come there.
Andrew: Yeah definitely and I hear a lot of the same thing from people who come here to this part of the world and I guess because of the distance and it’s so far to get here that it makes it difficult for people to come here on a regular basis. So I think it’s appreciated that you are not only bringing your show here but spending a bit of time here as well.
Scott: Oh yeah and of course Mad Max was made there too [laughs].
Andrew: Oh yeah!
Scott: And Wolverine is Australian too!
Andrew: Of course, Hugh Jackman is obviously a big deal too. With Mad Max, did you ever get around to watching the new Mad Max movie?
Scott: Fury Road?
Andrew: Yeah the latest one.
Scott: Yeah of course, I probably saw it 6 times!
Andrew: What did you think? Was it as good as the older ones?
Scott: Well I didn’t see it 6 times because I disliked it [laughs].
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah that’s true!
Scott: I loved it, I thought it was amazing.
Andrew: So if you have any down time at all while in Australia this time around, do you have any plans to see something in particular that you may have missed the first few times you’ve been here?
Scott: I don’t have that much down time when I’m there so I am excited that I’ll get to be at these Comic-Cons so I’ll get to check those out. During the week I’m pretty sure I do have a day off in Melbourne and a day off in Sydney so I haven’t made plans yet but I definitely plan on more than just sitting in my hotel room let’s put it that way.
Andrew: When you do these types of tours in other cities and countries, do you try to cater the show to that particular region or area at all or do you do a show that you have already planned out for that tour?
Scott: No I mean unless there’s something specific that I may come across while I’m there like I see something in a newspaper or on television. That’s happened, I can’t tell you specifically but I know it’s happened like when I’ve been on tour before doing these types of shows in the UK. I feel like I remember being in Canada like in Ottawa, something was going on and I remember talking to the crowd for about 15 minutes and I don’t even remember what it was but it was something local news oriented that I thought was kind of ridiculous. But yeah who knows, something I may come across while I’m down there that I feel will be worthwhile and funny to talk about with a local crowd but obviously I can’t plan on that.
Andrew: Sure well we are looking forward to it. Before I let you go, do we have any updates on what Anthrax are up to now? Are you guys planning to go back to the studio at some point this year or next year at all?
Scott: Oh definitely next year because after I come back from Australia we have a few more weeks off and then we go to Europe with Slayer in November and December. Then after the new year, I don’t know when specifically but it’s safe to say that not long after the new year we’ll be in a room where we will start arranging some new songs for sure.
Andrew: OK cool looking forward to that as that last album “For All Kings” was just amazing stuff, one of the best albums you had done in a while so looking forward to some new material from you guys.
Scott: Yeah man we haven’t even been to Australia for ‘All Kings’ yet which will hopefully happen at some point in the near future.
Andrew: Yeah we definitely miss you guys here, I guess you were here last for Soundwave Festival a few years ago I think.
Scott: Yes I believe that was the last time.
Andrew: Well we look forward to seeing you back in the country for sure. Thanks for your time Scott, really appreciated and we will see you in September!
Scott: Great man, thank you.
ONE MAN RIOT TOUR DATES
Monday, September 24: Dunstan Play House, Adelaide
Wednesday, September 26: Goldfields Theatre – MCEC, Melbourne
Saturday, September 29: Metro Theatre, Sydney
Monday, October 1: The Tivoli, Brisbane
Tickets on sale Thursday, July 5
www.dinnerforwolves.com/one-man-riot
VIP Packages Available From
www.scott-ian.com
OZ COMIC CON
September 22nd/23rd – Brisbane
Tickets: www.ozcomiccon.com/sydney/guests/scott-ian
September 29th/30th – Sydney
Tickets: www.ozcomiccon.com/brisbane/guests/scott-ian
