Overkill – Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth

Overkill are one of many thrash metal bands from America’s east coast to dramatically influence the rise of the Trash Metal movement throughout the 1980’s. Overkill return in 2012 with the release of their sixteenth studio album, ‘The Electric Age’ via Nuclear Blast Records.

Metal Obsession’s Anwar Rizk has to pleasure to sit down with vocalist Bobby Blitz, to discuss Overkill’s latest thrash metal masterpiece [The Electric Age] and the process from writing to recording.

Bobby Blitz: Hey Anwar. How have you been?

Metal Obsession: I’ve been good thanks, mate. I hope everything is well in your neck of the woods?

BB: Everything is good here. Obviously we’re promoting the new album [The Electric Age] which is kinda cool. I mean 16 albums later. Its quite amazing.

MO: Indeed! I was given early access to the album and I have to say that’s fucking amazing. ‘Ironbound’ was one thing. ‘The Electric Age’ just blows everything out of the water. The wall of sound is just immense.

BB: Thanks man. We set up Peter Tägtgren early on. He actually did ‘Ironbound’ with us. We set him up very early last year to do ‘The Electric Age’ and he thankfully said yes. Then six weeks later he called me back and said, “I’d rather not”. So we said “Ok! Lets look for someone else”. We then came across Greg Reely, who has worked with Machine Head and Fear Factory. He’s also worked on a couple of pop albums as well. I believe Sarah McLachlan is on his résumé, which I believe is kinda unique. You have a guy who is a drummer and has worked with the likes of Machine Head, Fear Factory and Sarah McLachlan. This could be a really interesting mix.

I have to agree with your statement. There is a thick wall of sound on this album that has a great relationship with both the drums and the guitars. Its a much bigger album in terms of sound compared to ‘Ironbound’.

MO: Looking back at the recording process in DD’s studio. Its quite hard to fathom that Overkill could produce such a wall sound which such a simple studio setup.

BB: Its a mix between half old school and half new school. In terms of old school. We use a big old dusty sound board with patch cables all over it. Its not necessarily a protools setup, but we took advantage of both technologies on the new album. I think the whole “x factor” behind the album is all thanks to DD and his studio. The record was eight months of assembling, so if we’re doing drum tracks back in June and we’re delivering the record in January. We have to time change something if we want to, without worrying about it to much. That is the real luxury of time in a studio these days.

In the old days I would have been the enemy of everyone because I’d over think things to much. After doing 16 albums you can’t over think it. You just want to make it better. I think when we have that amount of time…I mean I was recording vocals up until the 11th of January. If I came across vocals that I didn’t like, I would have the luxury of going back and changing it within a few moments. So its pretty cool for me that shit is changing and making certain things a lot easier. Its not so much about immediacy, its rather a question of “Can we make this better?”.

Behind the scenes studio diary of ‘The Electric Age’.

MO:  Do you still have a tendency to procrastinate over the music?

BB: No, never! I don’t want to say we’re comfortable. The album doesn’t say “comfortable” on it. It says “immediate”. The thing I’m most proud of is we don’t over think  a situation. We’re always going about bringing something highly energetic to the table, so I never was really thinking in those terms. When I first started hearing the riffs and the songs develop on ‘The Electric Age’, I said to myself, “No one is reinventing the wheel here”. Its Overkill. It is what it is. But I did hear a difference in it. For me personally, the new album packs a little more power than the last one. Its got a different personality and a certain immediacy that lends itself to controlled chaos, which I believe ‘Ironbound’ was lacking. Personally, ‘Ironbound’ was less chaotic in terms of its personality.

MO: I sense you lived and breathed the entire album.

BB: Are you familiar with the song ‘Save Yourself’? It starts off with a drum intro.

MO: Yes, I’m familiar with that track.

BB: I heard that fucking thing in my sleep for six fucking weeks. [laughs] Every night I’d wake up and my wife would be saying “What are you doing?”. I’d say “I got something else for that track”. Every night I’d be like “I fucking hate you, Ron!”. [laughs] Obviously, yes! [laughs]

MO: [laughs] Do you think a lot of bands are abusing protools these days?

BB: Its all about how you use it. One of the advantages of a band like us, who has been around forever, is we know how to play. I mean there are times when you can get live performances as good as record quality. I think if you use what’s at your disposal to the best of your ability, but still have ability to perform in any situation, it can be a great asset. Its a great time saving tool. In my case I record outside of DD’s studio. I record at a studio close to my home and then get together with DD Verni once a week and we start dropping stuff into the mix. Then I go back to that other studio where its all protools. I think its a very positive way to use that technology. Its also about how you perform and not so much someone just saying “can you use the auto tuner here, please?”. [laughs]

‘Electric Rattlesnake’ taken from Overkill’s latest release, ‘The Electric Age’.

MO: In some rare cases bands are taking an very “old school” approach to releasing and recording their material.  Would you ever consider going back to the analogue process for that sense of nostalgia?

BB: I always say “If its not broken, don’t fix it”. I think to a certain degree that we have kept an old school principle to our music in regards to our recording. That could be along the same lines as sweating it out in the same room with the other guys. On a personal level, I don’t see any reason for us to change anything.

We’re getting great results. If we were some Avant-garde metal band. Saying “I want a much warmer tone in relationship to an analogue sound”, that could be necessary for us to do. We don’t want a warm sound though. We want to be irritating to some degree. [laughs] We want harsher tones, not necessarily so harsh, but harsh enough to display what we write. What we write works well with the process we have. At this point I wouldn’t want to do anything dramatic to fuck anything up.

I mean I’m not the kind of guy to rest on one thing, because there isn’t such a thing. People change their minds all the time. I don’t necessarily think there will be a seventeenth record, however there is a sixteenth. Which I’m quite happy with at the moment.

MO: Speaking of Avant-grade. A lot of people have displayed their disapproval  towards Metallica’s collaboration with Lou Reed. What are your thoughts towards the Lulu project?

BB: I’ve always been a fan of Lou Reed. I grew and went to the university in New York and use to hang out at Max’s Kansas City. I’m even old enough to know it existed and I’d always see Lou Reed around. With regard to him being involved in a genre I’m “loosely” involved in. [laughs] I think it kinda cool. However, from a head banging perspective, it doesn’t work so well. I mean you’d see me around town with a safety pin in my face, trying to get into Johnny Thunder and the Heartbreakers or even the New York Dolls before that. You’d see Lou Reed down there all the time. I have a couple Velvet Underground vinyls. I can admit to being a fan of him.

I think its kinda cool what he did with Metallica. That he can transcend so many generations and genre’s with the amount of time that has passed.

MO: Its no secret that your vocals play a large role in Overkill’s music. Have you found it difficult in recent times to continually belt out your trademark vocals?

BB: I am what I am. I’ve always known that. Much like Popeye, right? He would get into a fight and say “I am what I am and that’s all I am”. Personally, its never failed me. One major thing I have noticed is it has lost its sharp edges. My trademark was more a piercing or irritating edge. Those razor sharp edges have sadly been rounded off. Its just age. I haven’t done anything outside of my regular routine to change my vocals in any way. Perhaps it may have come from the amount of singing I did during the ‘Ironbound’ touring. It honestly hasn’t failed me yet and I don’t do anything to fuck with it. I mean there are moment when I try and place the vocals in the back of my throat or in my chest. I think that “nails on a chalk board” irritating aspect of my vocals is still there, but new aspects have been instilled over time.

MO: I’m guessing your love of cigarette’s hasn’t affected you yet? [laughs]

BB: I’m lighting one right now. You have to take care of yourself. [laughs]

Its about 6pm here at the moment. We have a 90 pound Germany Sheppard we take care of who was walking around behind me during the last interview, putting her paws on my back, saying “You have to feed me!”. I’m like “Ok! Let me get a Heineken and a cigarette and I’ll feed you between the interviews”. [laughs] Some shit just doesn’t change. No matter how much time goes on Rock N’ Roll or Metal doesn’t change much either. Its really about the presentation, really about living it and the passion you have for it.

MO: Metal has always been an outlet for social and political commentary. I couldn’t help but notice a political tone on ‘The Electric Age’.

BB: Yeah, there is a bit of satire on there. There is a newspaper here called the New Yorker which always has political satire in it. To be honest, its just one line of text with a cartoon drawn above it. I wouldn’t say the new album [The Electric Age] is anything more than that. I don’t believe its my right to tell people how to think. I think that’s ridiculous. All I did was outline a problem which is closer to me than a lot of people think on the track ‘Good Night’.  I mean I live three doors down from someone who is about to lose their home. Its not so much a solution to the problem, rather a satirical point of view about the American dream being pissed on by the greed of a small group of people. All I’m saying is “Could you please just fucking stop!” [laughs]

MO: I take it your not the biggest fan of President Barack Obama at the moment?

BB: I’m a republican. It works for me. [laughs] My father always told me “If you want a large government and your “fair share”, go democrat. If you want a small government who gives you what you actually deserve, you be a republican. If you want to work for yourself, you be a republican.”. I’ve been working for myself my whole life. Does that mean I don’t care for other people? I most certainly do! However, when it comes to working I’m much more of a republican.

MO: I wonder what Randy Blythe [Lamb of God] has in store if he ever becomes President of the United States of America?

BB: That’s why I love Randy. He always says whats on his mind. Because that’s just the way he is. I’m more of an emotional person. Randy Blythe seems to say what is pissing him off! [laughs] He’s a great guy because of that. That’s his vibe. Do I think in those terms? I certainly do not.

MO: I take it you wouldn’t try your hand at politics anytime soon? [laughs]

BB: I think this is one life to live. I’ve chosen my path. [laughs]

Back in the 80’s there was a certain blood oath taken. You’d be sitting there on a corner street in Brooklyn after seeing the first Megadeth show and you’d be having a beer with Dave Mustaine, Dave Ellefson and DD Verni. There was that kind of blood oath that you were in it for life, you know? It was rarely unspoken, but you were in for life! I guess to some degree we all meant it. At the end of the day this is it for me. I’m happy with what I’m doing and where my life had lead me.

MO: A few months ago there was a debate about SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) which has seen several incarnations under different names and is now sitting on the political back burner. If this policy were to go through. Do you believe it would fundamentally fuck up the music industry?

BB: I work on another side of the fence here. I’m a firm believer in this is a great community and the community that we happen to be playing in is probably the most supportive of all music. The people who support this want a piece of it. They want to possess it and hold it. That is why a band like Overkill can make records. Because those people exist. But with regards to what happens to music in terms of downloading. Say you were in a band and someone come up to you outside of a show and asked you to sign a blank CD with your downloaded music which you spent a lot of time creating.  You have to have a little bit of class. [laughs] I’m obviously torn with the decision. Sometimes copyrights are abused when it comes to a situation like this.

MO: Where are you hoping ‘The Electric Age’ will lead Overkill this year?

BB: We actually did a lot of touring for ‘Ironbound‘. We even came down your way which was really awesome. I remember sitting there, thinking to myself “We’ve been touring for some 26 years and have never been to Australia”. That’s some fucked up math when you think about it! [laughs]

There are people down here who absolutely love this shit. We’re trying to push for that whole Pacific Rim region and getting back to you soon. There is a few places opening up at the moment, like China and Korea for example. Through the band’s entire life span we have never once been to China or Thailand, and I’d love to bring Overkill to those places if there is a desire for it.

We’ve been to Korea and Japan. We have gotten offers from Malaysia and Indonesia as well. From there we can just pop right over to your sunny snake filled island and do what we do. I really want that to happen. We start in the States this April and it will also bring us into the European festival high season. Then a European tour during September and October. So we’d hopefully like to get back to you sometime in your spring.

MO: Any famous last words?

BB: Thanks for the support. We hope that everyone in Australia enjoys, ‘The Electric age’ as much as we do. I’m sure a lot of people can appreciate a band like us, who can still be contemporary after sixteen albums. We hope we can share the album with all the head bangers down there and look forward to seeing you all soon.

Overkill’s latest release, ‘The Electric Age’ is now available in Australia via Riot! Entertainment. Buy the standard or limited edition versions via the links below.

Overkill – The Electric Age (Standard Edition)

Overkill – The Electric Age (Limited Edition CD+DVD Bundle)