Interview with Bobby of Overkill by Mike (esr@eyesseered.com)

Overkill is back with a vengeance. Their new album "Killbox 13" more than earns the "Kill" in its title, and despite his stroke last year, singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth shows no signs of wanting to slow down. All the way through this interview, he was laughing and joking - frankly, my sides hurt from laughing so much when I hung up the phone. But that's Overkill for you - after 20 years and 13 albums, there's just no fazing these guys. They'll keep going until somebody pulls the plug on them.

I think the first thing everybody wants to know is how you're health's doing, but actually you sound great.
Yeah, yeah, shit's great. I lived through it, which I suppose is a philosophy of mine, always has been. I never think it's about getting knocked down, it's more about getting up again. I think everybody gets knocked down one way or another, I just happen to do it in the public eye. And I think in some cases it becomes a little harder to get up when everybody's asking "How ya doin'?" - Can't talk now, I'm dead!
You certainly did a pretty good job of scaring the shit out of everyone.
Well, the recovery was relatively quick. You know, three months, four months later, I was a hundred percent. I suppose in hindsight, that's a great blessing. So I just try to focus on what was positive about it as opposed to what was negative. I'm doing quite well, and I do appreciate you asking.
So let's talk about the new album. How have the reactions been so far?
Well, so far it's been positive. You know, with so many albums we've done and so many interviews I've done for those albums - it's usually mixed. Some people say "Hey, great", others say "I like this better"... but it seems that with "Killbox", the general feeling is that it's a real positive collection of Overkill, a good representation of everything we are and yet at the same time showing the roots. Taking with us some of the memories of the past and reinventing them. I think it was a surprise for a lot of people, but not necessarily for us, I mean, we do this stuff, so it just seems like a natural progression. But I think the overall response so far has been quite positive.
Did you expect that kind of exclusively positive reaction when you were putting the album together?
No, absolutely not. We've been doing this for so long that to have greater expectations than with any of the other records - it's just not gonna happen for us. We have a certain formula we write with and we go through that formula yearly. When we write, we write. There's no less that went into "Killbox" than went into "Bloodletting". Sometimes you hit and sometimes people don't jive with what you're trying to accomplish. And I think in this case we hit. Some of those elements of the hit are the production, Colin Richardson at the helm all the way through, and Dave Linsk really brought the guitar back for us, he really came of age on this record. When I listen back to it I say everything Dave did on this album made it better. He didn't just do it to do it, he brought the songs up a level with his work. Tim Mallare played the tightest drums he ever played. And this is what I mean by things lining up sometimes. Everything just comes together, and at the end, you look back and say "shit, that kinda worked!"
Since you just mentioned it, how do you write songs then?
Well, I steal them! (interviewer nearly falls out of his chair laughing) I listen to unsigned acts and... you know, I heard Nikki Sixx from Mötley Crüe say that. This was back in the early 90s and he said "You know, I go to hang out in clubs and I watch unsigned bands." And the next question was, are you ever influenced by them, and he said "Hey, I only steal the good stuff!" I think that's gotta be one of the most honest quotes I've ever heard... But how do we write them? Overkill is a circular process and the work never really stops. When "Bloodletting" is put to bed, "Killbox" is starting soon thereafter. DD Verni starts with a riff, and that riff starts forming into a song when it gets funneled through the other members of the band, in this case Dave, Derek and Tim. And then I start getting exposed to it and start maybe jotting down a few words, humming a few vocal lines to it. So it's a longer process with us than most people think. We probably spend four months or so really concentrating on it before the recording. But the reality is that the riffs are born soon after the last record is put to bed. So I suppose it's a very blue-collar work ethic, it's not "I wrote this, let's go in the studio and check it out", it's more of a continuous process. I remember doing "Necroshine", and I was working on the vocals for the mix, with an engineer, choosing effects and so on. DD was in the lounge of the studio, and I walked down there and I said "Hey, why don't you come in and hear this, give me an opinion on this." And he said "Yeah, okay, but... what do you think of this riff first?"(Laughs) You out of your fucking mind? We're not even done mixing! That kind of depicts the way we write. It's always happening to some degree or another. I'm more the one who maybe sits down and finishes the songs, but I'm exposed to them as the other guys are exposed to them. I may have to sit down and actually tighten the nuts and the bolts and say I need four months to get this done. But the full song is being born over the course of all the downtime in between recording, whether that be touring or promotion. I'm sure DD has a few riffs already for whatever the next record is.
So you just write whenever the ideas happen.
Well, it's fun for us too. Sure, it's a job, it's a career, we're involved in a business, but the other end of it is - God, we like this job! There's not really a Hell of a lot of complaints when you like what you do. So it's not really a chore to do this, it's more of a natural way of living as opposed to some amazing thing like, "oh, these guys are always writing." It's just what we do. Some people get up and eat, DD gets up and picks up his guitar. Same with Dave. That's the way these guys are.
Well, that pretty much answers my next question, but I'm still gonna bring it up now. Don't take this the wrong way, but if I've ever heard anyone complain about Overkill, it always comes down to the vocals. Are you aware of that and have you ever thought about changing your vocal style because of that?
This is the first time I've ever heard that in 20 years (Bobby instantly bursts out laughing after this and I'm still not sure if he was serious or not.) You know, I suppose, love me or hate me for the way I sing, you always recognize that it's me. Metal is Metal and it's not made to please the masses. Even if those masses be Metalheads. Someone asked me once what I do for a living, and I said "I irritate people." And that's kinda cool. I do consider myself very blessed to have a unique voice. Something that's identifiable amongst many others. I think in many cases, even talented vocalists have a certain sameness to them. Not all, of course not. Many are recognizable, and many are unique, but I do think sometimes somebody just becomes the benchmark and bands that follow that influence become... let's say... interchangeable. Whereas I never have to worry about that. Whether you love me or you hate me. But really the bottom line is that this is what I do, and I'll be the first to admit that this is all I do and I can do and it would be wrong for me to go in another direction. For instance, back in 88, 92, the Metallica-esque vocals became very popular. For me to try to change to that would be very unnatural. But many bands did at that time. You heard a lot of James on other people's records. I mean, people from Europe were pronouncing words as if they were from San Francisco. My approach to this is that if I can accept what I am, I just have to work with the tools I have. Maybe earlier in my career, this was something I thought about more, but quite obviously, after 20 years, I'm pretty fucking comfortable with the fact that this is it. You don't like it - go put somebody else on.
Well, that's basically the answer I expected. So let's talk about the production. The first thing I noticed was that the bass guitar doesn't seem to be as loud as on previous albums, or maybe it just blends in with the guitars more than it used to. Was that intentional?
It wasn't a forethought. I think as far as the mix goes, everything is a surprise for us. When we took Colin on for this job, the idea, or let's say one of the most attractive things about Colin was his understanding of the cohesiveness of drums and guitars. Of course he's good at the full mix. But Colin is a great guitar-drum guy. That's what makes great Metal records, in our opinion. If the guitars and drums are not working correctly, it doesn't matter where everything else stands. So this is why he got the job. And I think when you listen to "Killbox", you can hear that the guitars are louder than the drums, and the drums are louder than the guitars, and everything else supports that, including myself. And that, to me, is what the impact is about. So the bass is a byproduct of that theory. Where it sits within the mix. I mean, I hear it all the way through, but I'm involved in the mix.
That's not what I'm saying. You can still hear it, but on your older albums, the bass always seemed to be almost louder than the guitars.
Yeah, we've always been known for DD's outfront bass mix. But I think what "Killbox" called for was the result we had based on Colin's interpretation of what a great Metal record is. And that's what we like about Colin. It's probably weird hearing that from a vocalist. A vocalist wants to say, you know, I got this guy because he made ME sound great, heh. But to me, what matters is the impact of the record. It has nothing to do with the way I sound, it has to do with the way everything else sounds around me, and how I can add to that and bring it up a level. So everybody's working in that perspective, and I think that's why you hear a different mix when it comes to where DD sits within it. But we're very happy with what Colin and ourselves achieved on this one. He's a nut. He really has great ears for this kinda music.
Was this the first time you worked with Colin Richardson?
He has mixed for us in the past. But this is the first time we worked with him on the full production. Actually this is the first time in ten years that we've had an outside producer come in. That was awesome too. DD and myself and guys like Dave and our other guitar players have usually been twisting knobs and picking effects and microphones, so it's kind of a double duty. Being able to just go in and concentrate on the tracks I was doing, that was fucking awesome to do that again. I was in there at noon and having dinner with my wife by seven. That was fucking great.
Actually, I was surprised to see Colin Richardson working in Metal again because the last thing I heard was that he was getting really big and he's doing all these big money productions, so he doesn't want to make Metal records anymore.
I think it's about relationship, too. You know, Colin and Overkill have had a good relationship for a long time. I love to tell the story about meeting him. I'd known him for five minutes, he had just flown in and asked for a menu so he'd get some food. Then he said "Hey, can I have an hour in the control room with the engineer so I can hear the tracks?" and I said, yeah, sure. And DD and I walked away and I look back through the glass, and he's standing on top of one of the chairs playing air guitar. And I think to myself, I go "DD, this is either gonna be brilliant... or we're fucked. There's gonna be no in between." But the point is that if this guy can take that kind of enthusiasm into a project, five minutes into it, he's the kinda guy for us. And I think that's where the relationship started. We can relax with him, we can have a few laughs, he becomes part of the family while we're at the studio. He becomes that sixth member of the band, and the results are, you know, when you press play. It's that simple.
Right, so, complete change of subject. I was wondering about the lyrics because I read somewhere that the album is about the Seven Deadly Sins. What can you tell me about that?
I didn't really make it a concept record, I just used that more as a guide. Lyrically, I look internally for the inspiration, it's really about a journey for me. Every record is a few more steps inwards. I don't think I could handle it if I just charged inside because all the shit I'd find would probably be too overwhelming for me. I wouldn't like myself very much when I was done. But a few steps at a time is kind of a good way for me to find out more about myself, and I suppose in a selfish way, since the "Horrorscope" record, I've used Overkill to find out - what makes this motherfucker go? But I find that I'm really similar to other people. I think internally, we're really the same or similar. And what I did this time, as I took those steps inwards, I used the Canterbury Tales and the Seven Deadly Sins as a guide to looking into myself and how it affects me, which parts of myself do I celebrate and which ones are my character defects or the ones that really become obstacles in my life. Um... I find that all of them are. (Laughs) No, not true. Some of them I do celebrate. But some of them become, let's say, the thing that stands in the way. The thing that impedes progress for me. Lyrically, since "Horrorscope", I've always looked at Overkill as something that is perceived negative as first, but if you look into it deeper, it really becomes a positive meaning through a negative package. It's kinda cool to look at it, there was a great weight lifted from me when I was done with this. I actually felt better.
Isn't that the whole point of Metal? Turning what looks like a negative thing at first into something positive?
Well, you can apply that to just about everything. Because there's always two sides to look at. You know, there's very few things in this world that are so black and white that you can only look a them one way. So I always think that's one of the most unique things about being able to write in a Metal band - I always have at least two choices. And that's pretty motivational and inspirational.
Is this the first album you've put out on Spitfire Records?
We did a live record for them last summer. You know, the real idea of moving labels was based on the opportunity we'd have to create a DVD. I think it's available in Europe by this month's end. It was held up for some unknown reason. If you ask me, I think they lost the masters and recently found them. It's been out in the States since November, so it's just kind of unusual - with our whole history of releasing simultaneously, I kinda looked at this and said, you're gonna have to give me a better excuse than "we have problems." But doing the DVD was a great opportunity for us. You know, this is a band that will admit we've never written the perfect record. But we've come really fucking close to doing the perfect live show because we'll take chances, and... we have the balls to do it. That may be self-praise, but the point is, it is a philosophy of ours. We load the guns before we go out there and we plan on using them. So it was necessary to document this band, this band's history. It would be a horrible thing for us in the future to look back and say we never did that DVD. So that was the reason we moved over to Spitfire.
So I take it you're going to tour again soon?
Sure. Germany for instance would be Bang Your Head and With Full Force. I love that European festival season, it's well organized, an awesome experience. We'll also be at Graspop in Belgium. So there's about two and a half weeks worth of shows at the end of June into July. Prior to that we have 40 US shows, another 40 when we come back from Europe, there's a South American tour slated, that's about two weeks, and a full European tour in September and October.
No signs of slowing down, huh?
Yeah. I don't know, this health thing, it just doesn't make any sense, you know. We have to add more shows to it. I get into more trouble when I'm sitting around.
Hey, most people die in bed...
That's right! Fear, that's why I tour so much, it's fear!
Hahaha. Seriously though, do you still enjoy touring after all these years?
Yeah, I think the biggest motivation for me personally is touring. The studio sometimes can become work. Writing the material can become work, occasionally frustrating. In hindsight, it's always a good feeling, but when you're going through it, it can be frustrating. There's nothing more liberating for me than standing on stage for 90 minutes. It's worth waiting the 22 and a half hours to be able to do that day after day for 100 or 120 shows a year.
So is that the whole point of being in a band to you then, playing shows?
I think it is for everybody. I mean, some guys are studio guys. But you have to think that when your first excitement happened, it happened in a garage or in your buddy's basement with his father yelling down the stairs "You gotta turn it down!" And for God's sake, you think you're Bruce Dickinson, you've got your foot up on the monitor and you're thinking to yourself "I gotta get myself some wrestling boots." And then friends come in and they see you. And then the next thing you know you're at a gig. And it may be a shitty gig through a little PA, but the excitement level is awesome. And it's something that you can actually recapture as time goes on. Maybe getting laid the first time is something you never ever feel again. But I tell you something about playing music - it increases and increases, and it grows and it grows, and this has always been my perception of it and I suppose it's one of the reasons Overkill or even myself are still motivated to do what we do.
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