Bobby 'Blitz' Ellsworth (Overkill)
September 2007
2007 sees Overkill on a brand new label Bodog Music. How come?
Spitfire went away. They've sold their company. They sold it to a non metal label. It's more in the vein of country western music and their main office is located down in Nashville, Tennessee. So, it was necessary.
Maybe you should have just changed to playing country music...
(Laughs) Two Step Kill. (Laughs) Cowboy hats and shiny boots and everything. I don't know if that's me. (Laughs) But seriously, I don't think we were gonna be picked up anyway by the new label, they were just buying catalogue. We've been good friends with Spitfire and they told us that this was coming, so we started looking even while we were promoting ReliXIV. We went to SPV and we talked to our European label Regain who has opened a division here in the States. And then we decided that even though we had deals better for us to keep promoting and did the Gigantour with Megadeth. And when we finished that tour the amount of deals doubled on the table and they were all better. Johnny Z from Megaforce fame and his wife Marsha have recently got involved with Bodog Music International and that seemed the right place for us to be. We had prior experience with them, we trusted them, they got us into the music business.
What sort of memories you have of working with the Zazulas?
Exciting. I mean we were younger kids at the time, we were in our early 20s, and we were given a record deal. I remember those days were confusing because when we were introduced to it we really had no prior experience. But the other side of it is that they knew what they were doing at that time. We followed more advise than anything else but I do remember it's been a really exciting time: big tours, a lot of record company involvement, videos. If we felt the record wasn't right they would come up with more money and remix it. It was really about the quality of the product at that time. I think due to the downloads and due to the file sharing over the years, since those days, record companies come up with a budget and say, "Do this, that's what you get" and who cares if it's not enough to do a proper recording. So, yeah I think the early Megaforce days were very exciting for us. And I hope to some degree, I know I can't relive every moment, but I can relive the philosophy they had with regards promoting records and I know it's gonna be a very exciting time for Overkill.
Have you been in touch with John and Marsha over the years?
Sure, we had. A couple of parties. Been to their place a few times. At mutual friends' weddings. I think I sat at the same table with them as well as other people from Anthrax at one of the weddings of a good friend. So, we've obviously been in touch all the time. We have left Megaforce 17 years ago and we've probably seen them at least once a year over that period of time.
Do you have any sales figures of the two albums you did for Spitfire?
Approximately 50. 50 thousand, not 50. (Laughs) My family and friends bought them. (Laughs) The reactions for these albums were mixed. I think both records were very good offerings of what we were about that particular time. We're going through a transition with Tim Mallare ever before recording the ReliXIV record. That always makes a record harder to make if everyone is not thinking in the same direction. But I think the general reaction was that it's a good record even though it's not our best record. I was a big fan of the Killbox record, I thought at the time it was one of the best. I just thought it was a good, solid, hard piece of rock. I think the press received that very well. With ReliXIV it was a little bit different. We tried to do an old school production on it and some things I would do different today, but we were satisfied with both records at the time.
As you mentioned Tim has left the band right before the tour in 2005. What happened?
Well, Tim was unsure of his position in the band due to a change in his life. He's got married and there was children involved, so it started another business. It was a personal change and it's huge. When a man or a woman commits to a lifetime of living with someone they obviously commit to it and in Tim's case I don't think it was possible to do both because there's just too much time on the other end. And because of his other commitments there were festivals being cancelled in Europe, there were shows in the States being cancelled. I spoke to him about it and he said that there's nothing he could do because these are things he had to be at. So, I told him that we're gonna look for a drummer to fill in based on him cancelling. He said that it would be fine. I said that it's not gonna be a complete change but somebody to fill in when you can't do. And when we found Ron he worked out just fine and he and Tim had a beer in the dressing room a club in New York, told a few jokes and hung out. And I think this gave Tim the opportunity to say, "Okay, these guys now have a drummer, so I don't have to do this anymore." And I think that once Ron had done one show with us Tim said, "Okay, good, I'm done. Good luck, I have other things to do." So, it was really that simple and it was based on Tim's personal decision.
Are you still in touch with him?
No, he's actually not in touch with us. We were at the beginning, he started the business and then just kind of disappeared into the dark. I have no idea of what he's up to. And it's not just me, it's not DD or Dave, no one has been in touch with him. We called a few times and numbers have been changes, so I don't know what the situation is, if it's personal. But I mean my concern is Overkill. Sometimes decisions are not easy to make but they are necessary to make. This decision was taken out of our hands and put more so in his. He was the one that made the decision and from where we sat we were very honest and we felt that's the most fair we could do. We're not gonna end of Overkill because somebody gets married and says "Sorry, I can only do half of the shows you have booked." It's just can't work like that. And besides this being the love of ours it's also the business of ours and this business of ours is very important to us and it has to sustain us and it pays bills not just me and all the other guys. So, we just can't stop based on a third party input, so from our perspective this is what had to be and it was Tim who made the decision.
Was Ron the first choice to fill in?
Yeah, we didn't even audition anyone else. Again it wasn't an audition and it wasn't gonna be for a replacement. It was going to be someone to fill in, so this person had to be talented enough. When you do open auditions you're looking for more than just talent. You're looking for personality, you're looking for how this person fits with the rest of the group. So, I think in Ron's situation we saw immediately that he has a talent. We knew that this guy is the one we ere looking for. He was the only guy we looked at upon the recommendation of Dan Lorenzo. He brought his kit down and we set up in the studio, he learnt a dozen songs and we thought he was good enough right away. He came back a month later playing another dozen songs and he played them just perfect just as on a record and i gave us the opportunity to not have to worry about how we're gonna handle the situation.
He was involved in Hades along with Dan Lorenzo. Is that band no more?
At this moment it seems it's no more. Dan and I've been close friends and this is just a separate thing. My wife and I and Dan and his wife were out on a dinner and he said, "Don't look any further, I have the guy. If you run into anymore trouble, can I have the guy?" He said that Ron can do it even thought what he played before it's not even close to Overkill. And Dan was right, it made it a lot much easier.
So, how did that first tour with Ron go?
It went good. Obviously it's different playing at a rehearsal as it is playing in front of people. It's a whole different world. That whole extra element of people is what makes this something that we've all done for a long period of time. I think he did as much work as he could, I think he even had little notes written down on his knees on top of the drums. (Laughs) In 5-10 shows he was playing the songs fine. He was playing them a little different than we used to because each drummer has his own personality with regards the way he plays, but we knew it was gonna go somewhere. When we did the mixing with DD in the studio we really said that we have a great talent behind the drums. He's got great hands, great feet, tantastic amount of creativity. From the first tour to the new album it was a huge change, but the first tour was more than doable. It was a good tour.
Then the next year you've been asked to do the Gigantour. Were you surprised to find yourself on the bill?
No, we've been bothering Dave for a long time. (Laughs) We've known Dave for a long period of time and we've been in touch all these years since we toured together. When Gigantour first started in 2005 it was Dream Theater, Megadeth as co-headliners and we wanted that and we went after it through the management. And Dave got word of it but it was really put together. And when he was putting together the line-up for 2006 we started again, "Hey, let's get something together like in the old days." And he said he'd like nothing more but he had to talk to the management. DD and I were in Los Angeles one day and we had a coffeee and a few laughs and we mentioned about it to him. And yeah, Dave is one of the guys in the industry who is always means what he says, he does like helping bands that are friends of his and that's why this worked out. I've always thought that the way he progressed in the business was really outstanding. So, yeah, we're really happy to do that tour but not surprise, it was just a lot of work to convince him.
Speaking of Megadeth, both bands, Overkill and Megadeth were around at the same time in the eighties. What could be the reason that they went really famous while Overkill stayed at a lower popularity level?
I don't know. It's the Gods of Metal. It's so hard to say. Why is one baseball player come better than another one playing in the same league? Some people rise to be stars some other people with the same quality don't. It's just that simple. Overkill has always just been a very hard working band that looks of things differently. It's a philosophy we have and sometimes our philosophy hurts us. Dave Mustane has always been a very talented songwriter and in my opinion right from the beginning, not because he gave us the Gigantour, I've said this in interviews before the Gigantour, that was the best songwriter in Metallica. In my opinion the best riffs came out of him at that particular time. That's a great talent.
What were your best and worst memories of the Gigantour?
There's no really bad memories of this. It was done really simple and done really professionally. I think the longer you go on... I mean if you put together how many shows Megadeth and Overkill did over the years, there's no problems, there's no bad memories. On this tour we played really bigger sized venues that we haven't done in years, so when I think about Gigantour I can only think positively. Sometimes Overkill does tours that I wake up in the morning and I know the show that night is gonna be great. I'm waking up in the morning and I'm looking for coffee and walk into some city I haven't been every ten years look for coffee and a toilet. (Laughs) With the Megadeth tour it was different. Everything was much more organised and well done and everyone was realxed and the tension happened more on the stage. The bands wanted to show their muscles all the time. This happens on the stage when you've done this for a long period of time.So, my memories have been positive. Probably the best memory is the fact that the band Lamb of God profounded us... they grew up on Megdeth and Overkill and Slayer... they were really excited about touring with us. And at the second or third show their singer was out on stage with us singing the song Old School. He loved the song and he knew it. This was a good memory, yes. And then Randy guesting on our new album in our opinion a great testimony that the respect that a younger band would have for an older band.
Well, now that you mentioned, let's talk about "Immortalis", your new record. Did you involve new lad Ron in the writing stages?
Well, it's hard to not involve a drummer in the writing because of his interpretation. You can't tell a drummer exactly what to play, you just can't. So, he's been involved but more from an interpretive point of view than sitting down and figuring it out on paper. He's probably the least involved at this point but that's only because he's the newest member.
Did you have any idea of what the album's direction would be before you actually started writing?
You never really do because it's just a collection of riffs in the beginning and they evolve into songs. So, it's really hard to pick the way it goes. DD starts with the riffs and I start putting the songs together and from that I start adding melody lines to it and rhythmic parts. It starts dictating which way it's going. The cemented concrete has already been poured because it's been a few months of work on it. When there's a riff attracts to you, you say it's a good riff. It doesn't necessarily mean it's gonna be a great song, it has to develop into that. So, when you start developing that into a song that's when the direction of the record starts to take shape.
How would you describe your new album as far as the music go?
It's a nice combination of what we do and what we've done. Again it's a little bit of history and a little bit of contemporary at the same time. We're very happy with it.
And how about the lyrics?
I always write internally. I collect my moments of pain and aggressiveness between records. I usually stay away from social commentary but at the same time it can inspire lyrics. I really think it's more important that some else interprets it when they hear it. That makes it a lot more fun. If I'm a Sabbath fan or an Alice Cooper fan and I'm picking up Schools Out or picking up Sabotage I read what the lyrics are about before I have the record that ruins it for me. (Laughs) And it's really the way I've always written. I write from what makes my heart beat faster, what makes me angry, what makes me fearful and when I think I need to change, but usually that has to do it with me as opposed to a generalised subject. I think a lot of these subjects I touch on obviously a comment to other people who listen to this music. And when you're listening to the song and getting your meaning from the lyrics that is the correct meaning because it's what it means to you.
Are there any songs on the album that you like more than the others?
One of the neat things about this record is that it feels like a whole record. It's not a collection of songs but it's one complete record, it's one 50 minute offering from start to finish. It has a cohesivness from one song to the next and that's why I know the record is gonna be successful. But when it comes to individual favourites I'm very fond of Hellish Pride, I thought that was a heavy kind of a pounding song. It almost had a poppy type of vocal line in the chorus. Skull and Bones was really funny doing because Randy Blythe was guesting on that track with me. I loved the way DD opened the record with Devils in the Mist. I thought that had a punch in the face. I think these three are my favourites. And I do like Overkill V of course.
There's a tour already announced for the US. How about Europe?
Yeah, we're working on that right now. We're waiting for confirmation to be in an opening position before Christmas. It's not 100% confirmed so I'm not gonna say who the band is it. And then we're talking to two different bands for a European headline tour in March 2008. We're talking to Heaven Shall Burn and Dismember at this point. It would be great to coming back to Hungary. We've been there twice... at Pepsi Island and at a club. Pepsi Island gave me the opportunity to meet more people because we were there for a full day. I remember coming into the city and thinking "This is like a polished jewel", it was a really really beautiful thing to see. When East opened up for touring, and obviously this has been for over a 10 year period now, then it was a brand new experience for me and I always liked that. And Budapest was one of the first bigger Eastern European cities that I saw. My experience was very memorably with regard to what I took in through my eyes.
For closing, let me know about your health. Hope you are doing fine...
I'm talking in from a hospital bed... (Laughs) My health is fine. It's just that every person has something to go through. Mine happened while I was on the road at one time and the first time I had a problem with my health I just had to quit that tour and cancel another tour because of it. I never think back on it. I still live my life the same way. A friend told me the other day as we were talking about somebody's passing, "Well, isn't it funny everybody has to die of something". And I said, "Yeah, I guess that's true, isn't it?" (Laughs) So, I never really think about it. I just move on and do what I've always done and still happy that at this point I can still tour and tour at a high energy level, so everything is fine.