Scott Ian’s Got Several Situations Going On4

by Blogbot

Scott Ian, the driving force behind Anthrax (and SG’s Food Coma columnist), has a lot of situations going on right now, so we thought it high time we checked in with him. Just before Christmas he released a new album, Ironiclast, with The Damned Things, a supergroup he formed with Rob Caggiano (of Anthrax), Keith Buckley (of Every Time I Die) and Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley (of Fall Out Boy). The band are currently on the road with the Jägermeister Music Tour (which also features Buckcherry and Hellyeah) and are also doing a select few headlining dates.

In addition, Anthrax, alongside Slayer, Megadeth and Metallica, are scheduled to bring The Big 4 Tour, which made some major noise in Europe in 2010, to America. The four monster metal bands will be taking over the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, CA the weekend after Coachella for the first ever Stateside Big 4 Festival (to be held on Saturday April 23rd).

We hit Ian up via email to find out more.

Scott Ian: Joe Trohman and I met about 5 years ago through a mutual friend and we hit it off. Out of that we started writing songs together and eventually decided the material was good enough to commit our time and energy to. From there it just kept growing, Andy Hurley on drums, Keith Buckley singing, Rob Caggiano on guitar and Josh Newton on bass. We recorded the record last year and it (Ironiclast) came out in December of 2010. So far the response has been great. We’re currently out on the Jagermeister Music Tour in the U.S. having a blast.

SG: What’s the latest with Anthrax? And how are you balancing your workload between the two bands?

SI: We’re heading into the studio to re-record 3 songs for our almost finished record. Once those are re-recorded, Joey Belladonna will start recording all the vocals. We hope to finish the record in the next couple of months and release it later this year. Balancing the workload hasn’t been too difficult. Schedules have been working out to make it easy.

SG: Tell us about the Big 4 Tour.

SI: We were asked early last year if we wanted to be a part of it and of course we said yes. We did the seven shows in Europe, which were all incredible. The show in Bulgaria was recorded/filmed, and the DVD from that is already double platinum! I’m really excited about having the opportunity to do more shows with the Big 4. Getting to share the stage with such great bands and great friends is pretty much as good as it gets.

SG: The Big 4 Festival date in Indio is being dubbed The Metal Coachella. Is it likely to be an annual event?

SI: I don’t know if it will be an annual event. It should be! There are Metal festivals like this in Europe all the time. It’s about time the U.S. has them as well.

SG: It’s being described as a metal extravaganza – what can fans expect?

SI: Fans can expect the best show they’ve ever seen.

SG: Any other situations your fans should know about?

SI: Sure. I’m writing my second comic for DC, The Demon. Hope to have it out in the fall. Check me out on Twitter [@Scott_Ian] for all the latest and greatest.