Anthrax’s Scott Ian has spoken out about the current state of music, noting that fans no longer have the same connection with albums as they used to.
As the co-founder of one of the world’s biggest metal bands, Anthrax’s Scott Ian has done it all and seen it all. Now, with the guitarist in Australia to kick off a series of spoken-word dates, he spoke to The Moshpit Backstage podcast (via Blabbermouth) about a number of topics, including the state of music.
As it stands, Anthrax have spent most of the year supporting Slayer on their farewell tour, marking the first time that one of the ‘Big Four’ of thrash metal has called it quits. However, Scott Ian isn’t sure whether any new bands will be able to step up to fill the hole left by the metal giants, because the music scene is such a different beast today.
“The world is such a different place than it was in the ’80s and the breeding ground for bands and how bands become big and how bands, you know, bands used to sell records,” Ian explained. “Bands don’t sell albums anymore. It’s all touring. It’s a different thing. It doesn’t mean that bands can’t be big.”
“Sure, there are bands from the last ten years that have gotten big, but will they ever be like Iron Maiden or Metallica?”
“The reason why we can still go out and tour whenever we want and do things the way we want to do them and call our own shots is because people have such a connection to the records we made. I think part of that is lost now. Even the people that stream music, however you get your music, it’s great.”
“Truthfully, I don’t give a shit how people listen to music these days, as long as they listen,” he continued. “But I just don’t feel like in the last ten years that people make the same connection with albums, even my albums, or Iron Maiden albums, or Metallica albums, because it’s been so diminished, the fact that basically people are listening for free.”
“The whole experience of going to a record store and buying a record and saving your money for that and living with that, the experience meant a lot more. There’s a bit of passion that has been lost because of the death of the record, so, I don’t know. I don’t know if anyone is going to ever get that big.”
“Twenty years from now, maybe five bands will prove me wrong, but it’s hard for me to imagine, let’s put it that way.”
Scott Ian’s One Man Riot tour kicks off tonight in Adelaide, with the rocker also taking the opportunity to explain how his spoken-word shows came to be.
“About five years ago, I got asked to do a show in London to get onstage and tell stories,” he revealed. “Out of just curiosity, I did it just to see if I could because I just kinda took it as a challenge.”
“Yeah, I just easily could have failed and hated the experience, but, I loved it. I really, really enjoyed it. I told my agent immediately ‘We got to do more of these,'” he noted. “It’s something I really enjoy doing. I think I could safely say the audiences enjoy it as well because I can judge it by the fact that everybody laughs in the right places. I kind of think people are getting it.”
While Scott Ian also noted that Anthrax are set to begin work on a new album sometime in the new year, there’s no word as to if we’ll be hearing new music when the band hit up Australia in March for the 2019 Download Festival.
Check out Anthrax’s ‘Caught In A Mosh’:
Scott Ian ‘One Man Riot’ Australian Speaking Tour 2018
Wednesday, September 26th
Goldfields Theatre, Melbourne, VIC
Tickets: Eventbrite
Saturday, September 29th
Metro Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Tickets: Ticketek
Monday, October 1st
The Tivoli, Brisbane, QLD
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Download Festival 2019 Lineup
Ozzy Osbourne
Slayer
Judas Priest
Alice In Chains
Ghost
Rise Against
The Amity Affliction
Anthrax
Halestorm
Behemoth
Me First And The Gimme Gimmes
I Prevail
Converge
Frenzal Rhomb
Luca Brasi
Code Orange
Andy Black
The Fever 333
War On Women
High Tension
Outright
Ruins
Alien Weaponry
Plus Loads More To Be Announced!
Download Festival Australia 2019
Saturday, March 9th, 2019
Parramatta Park, Sydney, NSW
Monday, March 11th, 2019 (Long weekend)
Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, VIC
