BELLADONNA

The National Student recently conducted an interview with ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. The National Student: Taking a step back to the late '80s, you were, and still are, known for your wide taste in music, especially in hip hop. Do you think the backlash in the collaboration you did with PUBLIC ENEMY helped to form any of the nu-metal music today? Can it still be seen in the industry? Scott: You know, people ask us, do we think we created certain genres of music that the press named after we did what we did with PUBLIC ENEMY. I never thought we invented it. It certainly opened a door, even just a window for people to jump out of. I truly believe that RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE were the band that drove a train through that door; they took the influences in their individuals and came together to make a band out of it. Whereas with us and PUBLIC ENEMY, it's not likeANTHRAX became a rap group and it's not like PUBLIC ENEMY became a metal group, we just collaborated together and did something great. We didn't then become one unit and continue to make music like that. Whereas, RAGE AGAINST were that unit and this is the music that they were creating from their souls which blew up massively on a worldwide level. So I think if anything, whether or not they'd want the credit for it, it's definitely RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE for me that created rap metal, nu-metal, whatever you want to call it. Everything that came after them showed that a direct line had to go back to RAGE. The only thing I can personally take credit for is, there have been guys in bands that have come up to me and personally told me the influence that we bring to them specifically some of the dudes from LINKIN PARK told me years and years ago that the first concert they ever saw was ANTHRAX and PUBLIC ENEMY in Los Angeles. And they left that show saying that's the kind of band we want me to make. I know the guys in RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and I know Tom [Morello, guitar] and he was a fan of ours andPUBLIC ENEMY's and what we did. I'm not saying "Bring The Noise" was a direct responsibility for RAGE, but I know that it's something they are certainly fans of.