BUSH: Spinner.com Interview With Gavin Rossdale

Check out this Spinner.com Interview with Gavin Rossdale by Cameron Matthews and has some great exclusive photos by Joseph Llanes >

Bush have been exploding eardrums and melting faces with thick layers of distortion and frontman Gavin Rossdale‘s booming voice for almost two decades. Even with an eight-year hiatus in the middle and the departure of two original members, Rossdale has managed to keep the classic Bush sound as pure as possible. The band’s latest effort ‘Sea of Memories’ (in stores Sept. 13) exemplifies their triumphant return.

Spinner had a chance to catch up with Rossdale about his band’s new-found resurrection and their return to the rock ‘n’ roll charts. Check out the entire interview below and flip through exclusive photos of the band before their performance at ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live‘ last month.

Tell us about Bush’s newest single ‘Sound of Winter?’ What inspired that?

I think just everyday dark clouds, dark clouds on the horizon. A look. A word. A gesture that can set the train careening off the track. That’s what that is on the lyrical side. With the record I was trying to find a balance between Bush’s people and also putting a new progression in there. With that song, it was strange because when I started playing the music to it, it all felt very comfortable. It seemed to be a very natural display of something more traditional in my arsenal. That’s how that came about and the lyric just fit with that.

Original members Nigel Pulsford and Dave Parsons decided not to rejoin the band, but new members Chris Traynor and Corey Britz have since taken up the reigns. How does the new lineup feel?

The new lineup feels amazing! The main thing that I’m so grateful for is how much I like them. That’s the best place to make music from. Traditionally, guitar players and singers have a bit of tension between them because their both attention-wanters, and I had a fantastic foil in Nigel who is an amazing guitar player and very singular. And Chris is also an amazing guitar player, but in a different style, sort of more angular — I supposed more New York really. [Chris and Corey] make me one lucky singer because I get to experience both of them, and they make the old songs sound better.

Are you doing any fresh arrangements of old Bush hits on tour?

You know, we do certain things. It’s really tricky. Obviously you don’t want it to be karaoke. I always fantasized about doing a remixed version of ‘Everything Zen‘ and breaking other stuff down — and I’ve done hundreds of breakdowns of every song to acoustic to one guitar, two guitars, to piano — but people feel a bit short-changed if you don’t nail them with ‘Everything Zen’ in the right way. I’ve never gotten around to it, but I’ve always fantasized about being a bit more creative about that side of it.

You changed the album name from ‘Everything Always Now’ to ‘Sea of Memories.’ What brought that on?

Well, the excellent R.E.M. and Duran Duran both had album titles with the word “now” being central in those, and it seemed ironic to call the record ‘Everything Always Now’ and then delay the record by eight to 10 months. It was too much irony, even for an Englishman. When I’m in the studio, I enjoy making records with some idea of what the record’s called, toward the end or something. But it’s really good to work under that umbrella. And when I went in to do that second batch of writing, which is about the third batch of writing for the record, that popped out. It’s one of the lines from a song called ‘Baby Come Home.’

It’s one of those things where it almost decided itself for me. I didn’t have any option in a weird way. ‘Everything Always Now’ with the R.E.M. one and the Duran Duran one, it seemed like I was third in line there, so I just thought of something different. It occurred to me, in trying to push forward creatively, it shouldn’t be overly self-conscious. But, you really want to make sure you carry your life experiences and observations with you. It’s the job of a writer, whether it’s autobiographical or fictional or whether you’re observing someone, so it occurred to me that all of us exist on a sea of memories and everything we gauge is based upon our previous relationship or connection to those things. And therefore, it seemed so powerful and it seemed so right. It just cascades like fireworks of potential from it, of what it could be and how it could be understood. That’s quite a valuable thing within a title.

Continue Reading: Bush’s Gavin Rossdale Finds Freedom Away From Major Label on ‘Sea of Memories’ — Exclusive Photos – Spinner.