Interview with Overkill front man Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth

Being a fan of Metal, one of the biggest perks of being part of AATR is that you get to interview some of the bands that you love, that were part of your youth and one of the reasons you got into the metal world in the first place. Some interviews can be a disappointment though and that’s the downside, people you thought were cool prove they aren’t and others rise way above your expectations because they are down to earth, open and simply put fucking cool. Interviewing Bobby Ellsworth from Thrash veterans was exactly that, a pleasure to interview and an awesome guy.

So hey Bobby thanks for taking the time out for us
Hey man you’re welcome

I saw you last year at Sheffield you played an awesome gig.

Thanks man, we wanted to play more and this is the first time in a long while we are back in Manchester, you from here?

Yeah born here, Manc through and through

That’s cool, it’s good that we’re connecting more with people over here, its been a long while, especially for Manchester

At this point I started recording and Bobby went on to explain how he records snippets of melodies and then drafts the lyrics in later

How do you choose the lyrics?

I choose to write what we know about, I can’t sing about what politicians do but I can deal with what effect they have on our community you know? (the metal community) Our songs are still about standing up for what we believe in and taking no shit y’know? For me it has to be true.

How’s the new album coming on?

I have two more songs to do one complete and one with a few bits left, we’re actually doing another two but we’re unsure of how they’re gonna surface, whether it will be with a single or with  a version of the album, and you’re actually the first person to hear this but we’re doing a cover with Mark  ( Tornillo ) from Accept, Nazareth s  “Miss Misery”

Wow, that should sound awesome!

Yeah, He’s a Jersey guy and we’ve known each other for years, I just rang him up and said hey dude you fancy this and he was like “yeah sure”.

The last album was amazing, and gonna be hard to beat, It was easily on a par with Years Of Decay and that was and still is one of my favourite albums.

Thanks man that means a lot especially the fact they’re like 20 years apart.

How do you manage to stay so true to your music and your formula, Overkill for me are one of the few bands that haven’t succumbed to the commercial forte like say Metallica

We just do what we do, love us or hate us  and just concentrate on what we want to achieve, but you can’t knock Metallica they still achieved an amazing thing by changing what they did

That’s true, watching you guys at sound check you can see you like to have a laugh with each other and there’s a good vibe within the band

Yeah were all cool, we like to give each other shit – (sticks middle finger up). You have to enjoy it you know? That’s what we still do it. You have to have that.

And how’s this leg of the tour going?

Well, its just five dates then the album comes out in july and in fall we will tour again

Yeah you put the tour back didn’t you?

Yeah we have loads of songs and as its been so long over here we didn’t need to bring out a fresh record

So where will you tour then?

Europe, the states and hopefully come back over here

Any festivals?

Yeah we hope so

You seem to have been on the road lots over the last year

Yeah we have but the Testament tour floored me, I developed Pneumonia , and I’ve had to take it easy the doc told me rest for year so I should’nt be singing but hey man that’s life it throws these curveballs at ya,its old age (Laughs)

Lol, I know that feeling, so now you’re older do you guys have a more focused and determined aim for what you deliver?  A more considered approach?

That’s a good question, we were part of all this when it started, we didn’t start it but I have to say we were part of that community, it was all going on around us and we grew with that, it was amazing to be a part of what was going on around us, so we embraced it, and at times it was like total chaos – Now it’s just controlled chaos (smiles) we know when we want to push it, both in the studio and live and if we want to use new sounds, stuff etc we know when to. Live it’s more a more controlled approach, now I know when to throw the grenade!

Or when to be the silent sniper?

Yeah man fucking exactly! Pick em off, one by one! (Laughs)

So what can people expect tonight?

It’s business as usual, we’ll get out there and kick your ass (smiles)