Legendary US Metal band Armored Saint have just released their first live album in almost 30 years. Lead singer John Bush spoke excitedly to Mick Burgess on its release about the album and the forthcoming UK tour.
You’ve just released a new live album, Carpe Noctum. Are you excited now that it’s out?
I am, it sounds awesome. I’m very proud of it. It sounds like an Armored Saint live record should sound. Unfortunately it’s only got 8 songs so it’s short and sweet but we’ve had some complaints about that but it was only really intended to be part of a Pledgemusic campaign and wasn’t originally intended for general release.
Where was it recorded?
One show was a headlining show in this great club in Aschaffenburg, a village outside of Frankfurt but the other was at the Wacken Festival. We used the best performances from these two shows. We recorded the show in Munich not long before the other shows we ended up using. It was going to be audio and video but for some reason something didn’t work. We were very disheartened but we were really pleased with the recordings of the two shows that we did end up using.
Carpe Noctum is an unusual title but makes perfect sense in translation, Seize The Night. Who came up with that title?
I think Joey came up with that. We all liked the idea of a Latin title and we came up with a few different ones. I do say Carpe Diem at the start of Win Hands Down, so maybe he was basing it on that. I try to live my life according to those words. This is today and this is what matters especially with my life with my family and the business I run with my wife. Life is hectic for many people so I think that title applies.
It’s been nearly 30 years since your last live album, Saints Will Conquer. Why is the time right for an Armored Saint live album now?
Sometimes live records buy you a little time so there’s a little bit of that in the back of our minds but really Armored Saint have always been a killer live band and Saints Will Conquer only had 7 tracks so that was also short so I think we were due for one but one day we’ll put out a full length live album and live DVD. In fact I think we may do the live DVD next. We just wanted to capture ourselves live at this point in our career as we are playing so well together. I think there’s nothing better than seeing Saint live.
The crowd sounds pretty lively. Did they know at the time they were being recorded?
The crowd knew we were recording and I tried to get them more pumped up than they’d normally be so I absolutely let them know we were recording.
Did you ever get into anyone’s live album when you were a kid?
I did go to the recording of the KISS Alive II shows at the LA Forum. They played three nights on the Love Gun tour and I was at one of those shows. How much of the album is actually live that remains to be seen. I remember they made buttons saying “I was there” and had that for years. Me, Joey and Gonzo went and Cheap Trick opened and they’d just released the In Color album. It was such a great memory.
As live albums go there’s been some gold plated classics over the years. What are the live albums that really made a mark on you?
KISS Alive, Strangers In The Night by UFO, Thin Lizzy’s Live and Dangerous and Unleashed In the East, I just lived for those records. They just don’t seem to make live records like that anymore. Cheap Trick Live at Budokan is another great one. They just don’t have the same feeling as they had in the ’70s and ’80s. Deep Purple Made In Japan too, there’s so many great ones.
You’re doing a pre-sale through Pledgemusic. Why did you decide to do that?
The primary reason for doing it with Pledgemusic is that it help fund our recent tour with Queensrÿche because quite frankly to be able to come home with more than $5.00 in our pockets we had to find a way to fund it so I could justify it to my family that I’m leaving and I’m coming back with some money. We’ve never made a ton of money so it’s good to not go into the red after a tour.
You’ve got signed stuff, handwritten lyrics sheets and the chance to Skype band members. Which perks have been doing particularly well?
We had signed stuff and also we had conversations with the fans which was cool and I’m sure they dug it. I rewrote some lyrics for songs that people requested and I also gave away the original lyrics written for Win Hands Down. I did have a lot of old stuff but some of it got water damaged in boxes years ago in my old garage where my parents lived. We did do some cool things like we sold a mike that I’d during rehearsals and live shows. I had a lot of mixed emotions as I didn’t want to feel that everything was sellable but fans do like it and they embraced the VIP things and they got things the average fans didn’t have. So long as they weren’t being ripped over the coals then I was happy. I know some artists, and names won’t be mentioned, really milk it. I don’t want to feel that some of my favourite heroes want to rip off their fans so I certainly won’t. It’s almost like a fan club and I remember back when we started, my Mum and Dad ran the Armored Saint fan club for a few years. My Dad would go and get the mail and I wrote a lot of personal letters to people. I suppose these days you’d send an email but it’s not as cool as getting a letter. I still have some pen pals from back in the day and some I’ve seen recently. Pledgemusic is similar to that but more modern and more amplified.
Will the album be available after the campaign closes via a regular record label or is this something you’ll be keeping control of yourselves?
The album was originally only going to be available to people who funded the campaign. Then we realised how good it was and thought all our fans would like access to it a couple of months later and that’s really why it was only 8 songs. We’re not a flawless band and I have no qualms about making mistakes and I want something that sounds true but I don’t want something that sounds terrible so that’s why it ended up only 8 songs long.
In some ways the internet has damaged music with downloads and streaming eating into sales but in another way it’s opened up whole new markets and revolutionary ways of reaching out to your fans. Do you see the internet as an opportunity or a threat to you as a musician?
There’s no doubt about it. The music business has evolved and it’s changed and sometimes for the worse. It makes me sad that record sales have fallen and hopefully they’ll recompense people for streaming and Brian Slagel from Metal Blade Records thinks it’ll get rectified and may even be more lucrative than it ever was. I’m hopeful for that, as if you can’t make a living out of it you can’t continue to create music and play shows. I know myself that I still go and buy CD’s as I want to contribute to the business I’m in. Pledgemusic was super helpful to us and without them we wouldn’t have been able to do that run of shows with Queensrÿche.
On 20th March you’re over for a few shows across the UK and Ireland. Are you looking forward to getting back over here?
It’s always exciting to come to the UK, especially playing places we’ve never played before. Four of the five shows we’re doing we’ve never played before and the only exception is Belfast that we played back in 2000 so we’re really excited to come and play. Most of our favourite bands were from Britain. To have never have played Manchester or never to have played Birmingham is just lame. So to be able to come and play these places is awesome so it’s a long time coming. I think people feel we’ve only played in London the last couple of times so it’s good to get out and play different places this time. I’ve played some of those places with Anthrax but never with Armored Saint. There’s some place that I’ve never played before, not even with Anthrax, like Newcastle that I’d really like to play so there’s no reason why we won’t come back and play more shows in more different places.
You’ve been in Armored Saint since 1982 with a couple of breaks here and there. What is it that keeps you motivated to go out on the road and do so much travelling away from home?
I don’t really want to be gone from home too much in my life any more to be honest. I have a family life that I’m committed to and I have two children but I do enjoy travelling and touring but I just don’t want to spend long periods at a time away from home now. The one thing you can’t get back is time and I don’t want to miss that time at home with my kids. It was one of the reasons me and Anthrax parted ways as my daughter was four months old at a time so I try to find a balance as I do love playing live. It’s a juggle and not easy but do I try to do what I can musically and personally. It can be a struggle trying to juggle everything. I have even been trying to juggle today’s interviews to fit everything in. I almost couldn’t do the tour as I didn’t want to miss a show my daughter was doing. That was really important for me to see but fortunately we were able to accommodate it so I could do both.
Carpe Noctum is out now on Metal Blade Records.
Armored Saint are on tour in the UK and Ireland from 20th March. See armoredsaint.com for details.
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