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ANTHRAX Guitarist SCOTT IAN To Release ‘I’m The Man’ Autobiography In October

Manos Spanos
On October 14, Da Capo Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group, will publish "I'm The Man: The Official Story Of Anthrax", the long–awaited and vastly entertaining autobiography of Scott Ian, a founding member of legendary, ground-breaking and influential thrash–metal band ANTHRAX. The official book-release party will be held October 10 at Largo in Los Angeles. In this fast-paced, humorous, and revealing memoir from the leader of a band that proved to the masses that brutality and fun didn't have to be mutually exclusive, Ian will tell his life story, starting with his upbringing as a nerdy Jewish boy in Queens, New York, and evolving through his first musical epiphany when he saw THE WHO on television and decided he wanted to play guitar. Not long after, Ian saw KISS at Madison Square Garden and realized what he wanted to do with his life. The book will chronicle his adolescence in a dysfunctional home, his escapism through the turbulent world of heavy metal, and the complete history of ANTHRAX, starting with the band's formation through the present day reinvigoration with the return of vocalist Joey Belladonna, the release of "Worship Music", and their triumphant performance at Yankee Stadium with the Big Four of thrash: METALLICA, SLAYER, and MEGADETH. The book will also feature eye-popping full-color autobiographical comic book inserts. For "I'm The Man", Ian will be working with Jon Wiederhorn, co-author of the books "Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History Of Metal" and "Ministry: The Lost Gospels According To Al Jourgensen". Wiederhorn is a senior writer at Revolver and a regular contributor to Guitar World, Noisey.com, eMusic.com, and Yahoo Music! He has also worked on staff at Rolling Stone, Guitar, Guitar.com, and MusicPlayer.com. Speaking to ChicagoNow.com, Ian stated about "I'm The Man": "I am working with Jon Wiederhorn. But I am doing quite a bit of the actual writing. That's kind of one of the reasons why I haven't done one yet. For years I would get asked about doing a book but I couldn't commit because I couldn't say 'yes' and then take seven years to write it. But I know Jon so well and he's written things based on interviews that I've done with him — he's literally written things that are my voice. He could write in my written voice. So I just knew that it would work really well together with him and obviously that takes a lot of the load off of me. So we've kind of broken it up into who's gonna do what." Ian recently told Lithium Magazine about his his memoir is going to be different form other rock and roll autobiographies out there: "What makes mine different is that it doesn't take the usual story arc that most of these rock/metal biographies and autobiographies do. That arc is usually the rise to fame, the fame, the crash and burn and then some sort of redemption. I don't have that story arc. I don't know what you would call my story genre, but it's more about coming from nothing and being able to do all that I have done. I think it's about being able to show anybody that no matter where you come from, whether you're a scrawny kid from Queens [New York], you do have the opportunity to make something of yourself. I am the living proof of that. And you don't have to take the normal road that's portrayed in these books. You don't have to take the MÖTLEY CRÜE road." Da Capo executive editor Ben Schafer made the deal with Jim Fitzgerald at the James Fitzgerald Agency.
04 min read

ANTHRAX’s SCOTT IAN Says It’s ‘Idiotic’ For Fans To Film Entire Live Shows With Their Phones

Manos Spanos
Elliot Levin of the NY Hard Rock Music Examiner recently conducted an interview with ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. NY Hard Rock Music Examiner: You've been touring as part of a band for over 30 years. Is it an adjustment to tour solo [as part of your "Speaking Words" spoken-word tour]? Scott: Well, from a production standpoint, it's obviously much different, because I'm just out here by myself with a tour manager who also doubles as the merch guy and driving, and we're in a rent-a-car and we're driving out right after shows. So from that standpoint, yeah, it's a huge adjustment. I'm used to getting on a tour bus after the show and having a beer and going to sleep in my bunk. There's a level of comfort when I'm touring with the band. But at the same time, I embrace this. All the responsibility is on me, it's just me out here, and I enjoy that as well. The fact that I'm doing something that's outside of my bubble, and still outside of my comfort zone, and it's a new skill set for me and I love that I'm learning how to do this after all these years. NY Hard Rock Music Examiner: I'm surprised that there's not much leaked video of your show on YouTube yet. Do you prefer it that way? Scott: Yeah. That's because I take it down when people decide that they're going to put my content on YouTube for free. Call me crazy, but I'm one of those crazy artists that thinks you shouldn't give your content away for free. I know that's a crazy way to think these days but I come from the old school. Where you used to buy albums and videos. And I still do, I still buy my music and DVDs. So I feel like if I have enough respect to do that, then everyone should have enough respect to do that. NY Hard Rock Music Examiner: Do you feel the same way about live ANTHRAX videos on YouTube? Scott: I think it's idiotic. I think the fact that someone would come to a show, spend the money to come to the show, and stand there holding their freakin' phone over their head for 90 minutes is pathetic. It completely defeats the purpose of coming to a live show. I think it's a joke. I've seen Bruce Dickinson [IRON MAIDEN] go off on audience members for doing that. Granted, he's in IRON MAIDEN and they're big enough to say that to their audience, but I think it's idiotic and I don't understand that mindset at all. You're standing at a live show and you're watching it through a screen on your phone. NY Hard Rock Music Examiner: Do you think there's longevity in this spoken-word thing? Would you want to do it again? Scott: My attitude towards this is, I'm having fun doing this and that's why I'm doing this. I'm at a point in my life where I'm not trying to leave home anymore. I'm not looking for reasons to travel. I get enough of that with my band. I just want to be home with my family. But this is something that I've really been enjoying, and I do want to keep doing, for sure. I've even talked to the band's agent about when ANTHRAX starts touring again later this year or next year, when we have a night off in a city, if I can try and get me a talk show when we're there. Read the entire interview at NY Hard Rock M
03 min read

ANTHRAX’s SCOTT IAN Says 12 Songs Have Already Been Written For Next Album

Manos Spanos
Greece's Metal Kaoz recently conducted an interview with ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below. Asked about the progress of the songwriting sessions for ANTHRAX's follow-up to 2011's "Worship Music" album, Ian said: "We're in the middle of writing right now. That's just basically all we've been doing, is working on songs. We're just hard, hard, hard at work, with the goal — hopefully — of before the summer, before we go to Europe to start playing festivals, we would love to be able to go into the studio and start recording it. "We're going to Europe in the summer to play shows, and then maybe [we can get the] album [out] sometime later this year, but we don't have any definite schedule yet." He added: "We're just gonna keep writing until we're happy, until we're ready. We're really happy with where we're at right now, and we've got about 12 songs written. Because it's going so well, we figure, why stop? We're gonna just keep writing, and if we have too many songs, then we can just pick what we wanna put on the record." Regarding whether guitarist Jonathan Donais (SHADOWS FALL) — who joined ANTHRAX in January 2013 following the departure of Rob Caggiano — has been involved in the creative process so far, Ian said: "He hasn't contributed to the songwriting at this point, but he's writing leads, that's for sure." ANTHRAX was nominated for a "Best Metal Performance" Grammy this year for its cover of AC/DC's "T.N.T." The track was featured on ANTHRAX's eight-track EP that pays tribute to the classic songs by some of the band's favorite acts from the 1970s. The CD was released in North America on March 19, 2013 (MRI/Megaforce), and on March 22, 2013 in Europe (Nuclear Blast). "Worship Music" has sold more than 110,000 copies in the United States since its September 2011 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Interview (audio):
02 min read

ANTHRAX’s SCOTT IAN On Next Album: ‘Where We’re At Musically Right Now, This S**t Is Just So Killer’

Manos Spanos
ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian spoke to Metal Insider about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2011's "Worship Music". "It's really coming along," Scott said. "It's crazy to think that we're already in January of this year; it seems like we just finished touring in August and we said decided to start writing again. "We decided not to take a break and we're jumping right in because everyone felt we could. "We're sitting here right now with 12 songs musically arranged and really focusing on lyrics now. "At the end of the month, after the NAMM show, is the next time we're getting together at [producer] Jay's [Ruston] studio to work on vocals. "I like to think at the pace we're going we would be ready to start recording maybe in April. "I hate to ever put a stamp on something like this, because you just never know. But where we're at musically right now, this shit is just so killer. It's not like we have that far to go. "Sometimes as a band when we're writing — and I'm sure this happens to other bands too — you could sit down and listen to where you're at and think 'this stuff is good, but maybe there's too much mid tempo stuff, or we don't really have an album opener yet.' There are just certain ways you listen to it in the context of how are to sequence and pace it, things like that. "I think we've got all our bases covered and we're ready. "If we come out with some better shit in the next couple of months, that's awesome, but the 12 things we have musically so far we're really happy with. "Things came together really fast for us and I think that has a lot to do with the fact that we just came off such a good run with 'Worship Music'. We were all really excited about getting back in a room and writing songs together, and it was the first time in a really long time that we weren't going into writing a record coming off a really shitty time. [laughs] So for us to have come off such a great run with 'Worship Music', we were all really excited about it and I think it really shows in the music." Asked how he would compare ANTHRAX's new material to "Worship Music", Ian said: "It's hard to compare. That, to me, has always been the hardest question and it's something I just don't like to do because to me it's just all ANTHRAX. I would just tell you anything we've ever done is ANTHRAX, so I don't know how to compare it to 'Worship Music'. "If you liked 'Worship Music', you're gonna like this. The one thing I can say is that it definitely has more thrash elements. It definitely hearkens back to more of who we were in the '80s, yet at the same time sounding like us now in present day, which is what a lot of people said about 'Worship Music'. I think this one hits even harder and faster, more brutal with crazier riffs. "We were all super inspired coming in and working with Charlie [Benante, drums] and Frankie [Bello, bass] in the room, and then having Jay in the room with us as well, has been amazing because he really pushes us. He pushes us hard. Like when we may get stuck on something in an arrangement or where to go with a melody, he will really push us and make sure we're not just saying, 'Alright, that's good.' He's like, 'No, that's exactly what to do. It's just good, now work harder.' We all trust him so much, so it's great having him in the room there to push us." ANTHRAX's next album will mark the recording debut with the band of lead guitarist Jonathan Donais (SHADOWS FALL), who replaced Rob Caggiano in January 2013. Regarding whether Donais is now officially an ANTHRAX member, Ian said: "For all intents and purposes, he's in ANTHRAX. He's going to be there for everything we do moving forward. As far as how you title it, yeah. As far as I'm concerned, Jon is in ANTHRAX and will be playing leads on the record and will be touring with the band starting at the end of May 2014."
04 min read

ANTHRAX Guitarist SCOTT IAN To Write Memoir For Fall 2014 Release

Manos Spanos
Da Capo Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group, announced today that it has acquired world rights to publish a book by musician Scott Ian, co-founder of the iconic thrash metal band ANTHRAX, entitled "I'm The Man". Da Capo executive editor Ben Schafer made the deal with Jim Fitzgerald at the James Fitzgerald Agency. "Why a book? Because I think my story can connect with anyone and, if I was able to make the life I wanted for myself happen, then anyone can," Ian says. “I'm really excited to be writing a book because the idea of getting forty-something years of stuff out of my brain and onto the page seems very therapeutic. Plus if I didn't do it now, I'd start forgetting and wouldn't be able to share all these killer stories with you, my friends!" In this fast-paced, humorous, and revealing memoir from the leader of a band that proved to the masses that brutality and fun didn't have to be mutually exclusive, Ian will tell his life story, starting with his upbringing as a nerdy Jewish boy in Queens, New York, and evolving through his first musical epiphany when he saw THE WHO on television and decided he wanted to play guitar. Not long after, Ian saw KISS at Madison Square Garden and realized what he wanted to do with his life. The book will chronicle his adolescence in a dysfunctional home, his escapism through the turbulent world of heavy metal, and the complete history of ANTHRAX, starting with the band's formation through the present day reinvigoration with the return of vocalist Joey Belladonna, the release of "Worship Music", and their triumphant performance at Yankee Stadium with the Big Four of thrash: METALLICA, SLAYER, and MEGADETH. The book will also feature eye-popping full-color autobiographical comic book inserts. For "I'm The Man", Ian will be working with Jon Wiederhorn, co-author of the books "Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History Of Metal" and "Ministry: The Lost Gospels According To Al Jourgensen". Wiederhorn is a senior writer at Revolver and a regular contributor to Guitar World, Noisey.com, eMusic.com, and Yahoo Music! He has also worked on staff at Rolling Stone, Guitar, Guitar.com, and MusicPlayer.com.
02 min read

ANTHRAX’s SCOTT IAN Has Flesh-Ripping Good Time In New Episode Of ‘Blood & Guts’ (Video)

Manos Spanos
The second episode in the third season of "Blood & Guts", the Nerdist YouTube channel web series hosted by ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian, can be seen below. Join Ian as he goes behind the scenes of Universal Studios Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights with John Murdyand Chris Williams and has a flesh-ripping good time with Larry Bones of Boneyard Effects. The clip includes a cameo appearance by Danny Trejo. Following two successful seasons, "Blood & Guts With Scott Ian" has returned to theNerdist Channel with Season 3. A new episode will debut every Thursday, leading up to the season finale on Halloween. "Blood & Guts" is hosted by Scott Ian, guitarist and founding member of legendary metal band ANTHRAX. Ian, a longtime horror aficionado, gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at how some of the all-time greatest practical effects artists create the gore and monsters that genre fans love. The series differs from typical behind-the-scenes shows due to Ian's infectious excitement and curiosity, coupled with the clever ways the effects are integrated into each episode. Ian is often the one in the makeup chair, experiencing squibs, gore appliances and complex character makeups with rare enthusiasm. "I've been into horror longer than music, longer than comics. It was my first true nerd-love," says Ian. "And that love affair still burns hot all these years later. Horror has been a huge influence on my music career, my writing, and now I get to actually be a part of it by hosting'Blood & Guts'. It's my dream gig." Previous guests on the show included the likes of seven-time Academy Award winner Rick Baker, "The Walking Dead"'s Greg Nicotero and frequent Guillermo Del Toro collaboratorsSpectral Motion. Season 3 of "Blood & Guts" ups the ante with an original creature created by Joel Harlow exclusively for the series, unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the creation of Universal's Halloween Horror Nights and an episode with Tony Gardner that includes a surprise visit from a legendary horror character, reprised by the original actor. "Blood & Guts With Scott Ian" is produced by Chris Hardwick's Nerdist Channel as part of their partnership with YouTube, with episodes premiering online alongside All-Star Celebrity Bowling and other Nerdist content. The show was originally launched with Fangoria's involvement, but Nerdist has taken on full production duties for Season 3. The dedicated crew remains the same, with Jack Bennett directing and producing each episode.
04 min read