Gavin Rossdale with Nicole Alvarez
Nicole talks with Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale.
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00:00Alright, let me try this. I'm not used to doing 800 things at once. I'm Nicole Alvarez.
00:04This is the 90s at Noon and I'm joined by Gavin Rosdale. We go way back, like this is
00:08the first time we'll be spending the most time together in person.
00:11I know.
00:12But we go way back, so thank you for joining us.
00:14I'm so happy to be here.
00:16Bush is playing an incredible show, and I say incredible because your music at the Greek
00:20Theatre, which is arguably, I think, one of the most special venues in the world, it's
00:25going to be a night that you don't want to miss. Have you played the Greek? I want to
00:29say yes.
00:30I have played it before, yeah, and it's literally one of my favorite venues as well.
00:34What makes something your favorite venue?
00:38Just the sort of places where the audience has the best time. So with the Greek, it's
00:48just all that lovely old, it's older, it's sort of got that wooden frame to it, you're
00:54nestled in Griffith Park. So it's just sort of, I mean, music just has to be transcendent.
01:01It has to transcend us to somewhere different, and when you're in an environment like that,
01:07it just lends itself to just an explosive night of music.
01:11I agree. So we're going to start with an explosive Bush song. You were asked to choose a bunch
01:16of 90s songs, and you and your friends chose, you and your friends chose, The Chemicals
01:23Between Us. So I'm going to ask you to please lend us a story about The Chemicals Between
01:28Us before we get into it.
01:29Yeah, first off, I'd say that it's not very English of me to present my own song first
01:35as my favorite of the 90s, slightly, you know what I mean? But I appreciate the fact you're
01:44playing it. So anyway, about this song, what was weird about this song, I was thinking
01:47about it, was having done Razorblade Suitcase and having really kind of explored that whole
01:52really raw side of capturing the band that we did, the record with Steve Albini, that
01:57we should talk about as well because we love Steve. Something about The Chemicals Between
02:05Us was one of the first attempts at sort of trying to go somewhere different and electrify
02:12it in a different way and get away from the kind of more raw approach, you know? And for
02:18whatever, whether it worked or not, I remember we had two studios going where there was songs
02:22like on that same time, Prizefighter, which is more of a traditional approach and a band
02:26approach. And then I had my friend, Tom Elmhurst, who's a programmer, he was engineering the
02:31other one and Clive Langer, the producer, going, I really don't understand all this.
02:34And I was like, it's cool. Just let just trust me. So we'd like two studios running next
02:39to each other. And Tom, who then went on to win, by the way, 14 Grammys as a mixer. He
02:46was really good at it. And we just we just crafted something a bit more sort of bit less
02:52raw and just trying to make going a different direction. And I called it beeps and whistles
02:56at the time, you know, but it was just a different vibe. And but still with a kind of weird kind
03:01of concept about chemicals between people.
03:05So you weren't intimidated by the new process at all?
03:07No, I wanted it. I was pushing him. And we had like we had a really great programmer,
03:12Johnny Rockstar. We were in Mayfair Studios in London was Primal Scream, this blur, this
03:19oasis, all the pub on the corners, this whole scene of London at the time. And we were making
03:26our record. And I wanted to get something really traditional as well, because that was
03:31really the cornerstone of us. But I was trying to push it a bit. And I'm always trying to
03:35push it. I'm still trying to push it. You got to push as an artist. If you don't push,
03:40you stagnate, right?
03:41Well, I'm gonna push this button right now. We're gonna talk about the chemicals between
03:44us. We're kicking off the 90s at noon with our special guest, Gavin Rosdale on the world
03:48famous K-Rock.
03:49It's the 90s at noon on K-Rock. I'm Nicole Alvarez. I'm here with Gavin Rosdale. Hi.
03:55Everybody wants your attention today.
03:57I'm so flattered. You know, when Kevin wants your attention, that's the one you gotta give.
04:02For those listening. Yeah, Kevin Weatherly is the boss man here. You have, you know what,
04:08let's just get into this. You, there's so much history between you and K-Rock. So much.
04:12It makes me, gives me goosebumps.
04:14It's really cool. And you're also my first interview of my entire life when I was 17
04:18years old. But let's talk about maybe, give me some K-Rock highlights. A few of them.
04:23I've sat with you at Acoustic Christmas.
04:24Well, the K-Rock has just been, you know, they always say that it just takes one person
04:31or one entity to believe in you, you know, and all of the naysayers can fall away. And,
04:36you know, we'd had, we made a record that got kind of didn't, lost its distribution,
04:42you know, just, it went away. Like the distribution, that means we didn't have a way to bring it
04:45out. Four months and I went back to work and I was thinking I'd made this record, 16 stone.
04:50I was like happy with it because I'd been an unsigned musician for a while. And it was
04:55like my legacy. I was like, I'm cool. You know, I did make a record.
04:58A great one.
04:59Then I was back at work and I worked for four months. I was back painting, decorating and
05:05doing all that.
05:06Right. So just, just for perspective. So you made this incredible classic, legendary, iconic
05:11album. And then after that, you went, you had to go back to like painting to like just
05:16like regular average people work.
05:18Okay. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. I went back. I painted 11 dentist offices in, uh, in the West End
05:24of London, all of the color of Magnolia and about four months in. So I was in November
05:29and I got a call that my, uh, then record label said, uh, K-Rock had picked up the song.
05:35This was everything's in. And that was Kevin, uh, Weatherly who had decided. And then they,
05:40we came out for a show. We played the dragon fly in on, um, Santa Monica, which I think
05:46is a really fun, fruity kind of fun night out for everyone.
05:50Do you want to go to a dark wild club? Apparently. And, um, we went there and they, the power,
05:57we every time we'd hit, we, we played a couple of songs. Every time we'd go into something,
06:02the power would go out three times. The power went out the show. So we stopped. I was thinking
06:06I had this big break and I came to America and the power went out and Kevin came backstage
06:11and I didn't know Kevin. I didn't know K-Rock guys from London. And, uh, he goes, Oh my
06:16God. I thought I was so embarrassed. I thought it was done. I thought that was all my one
06:19shot being blown. And he goes, you guys are the real deal. You guys are the real deal.
06:24Don't worry about that. Cause every time it just, there was only one plug socket or something
06:27for the entire band. It's just like madness. They're meant to have sort of like, I think
06:31drag shows at the time. So I don't know what was going on there. So it was weird. Um, and
06:36so now I just find myself inviting him to the weekend, to the Sunday show and it being
06:41a full 30 year circle of, of that time. It's really incredible. And it's full circle for
06:46you and I as well. It's incredible. Okay. So the next song, it really is. And I'm really
06:50glad that you're here, Gavin, you chose garbage, stupid girls. So tell me, tell me, I don't
06:55know. Describe this song and how you feel when you hear it. We've got 25 seconds when
07:00I got this, I got this world. Okay. Here we go. You know, the best thing in music is attitude.
07:05And you know, Shirley Manson, when I was asked to pick some songs from the nineties and who
07:09was the most of the most important artists I thought of Shirley and I thought of her
07:13power and I thought of this song, I love this band. That's right. Attitude is the most important.
07:17It's the nineties at noon. I'm Nicole Alvarez with Gavin Rosdale. I'm a world famous K rock.
07:21I'm having a really lovely time. Gavin Rosdale. Are you? I'm having a great time. Okay. Are
07:26you just saying that? No, I really am. Okay. I mean, how could you not? It's moving. It's
07:30moving. So it's the nineties at noon. I'm Nicole Alvarez with Gavin Rosdale. We are
07:35going to talk about, we're going to play Alice in Chains, which was your choice. And you
07:39have a friend named Jerry Cantrell. Tell me. Cantrellvis. Cantrellvis. We call him Cantrellvis.
07:45Well, first off, I got to say that, um, when I had been in two bands before Bush and the
07:51second band, I didn't play guitar in it. And, um, the guitar guy was a really good, good
07:56guitar player. Um, and he wanted to play guitar. Anyway, that band kind of went away. He left
08:00me and, uh, I got to just say how much that, uh, man in the box was, was such a, a, a kind
08:09of a lighthouse for rock music for me, you know, for just like what was possible. Um,
08:14if you weren't going to do, be in the hair metal bands, you know, where those guys sang,
08:18I didn't feel connected to them, but something about man in the box had all that post-punk
08:22and that sort of really, um, just an amazing sound. And that just, I don't know, it just
08:29set a template for so many of us that we're all in debt to that song. And I hear it every
08:33night because he's on, on the road with me now. And I've actually sang on this song with,
08:38um, when I was on tour with Alice in Chains, I sang this song. And, um, it was so cool
08:43because I'd be in the dressing room talking to people and they'd be like saying something.
08:46I said, listen, I got to go. I got to go sing for Alice in Chains. I just go around stand
08:53next to people. So I could say that to them. I'm going to press the button and we're going
08:57to let people hear the song that, would you say it's one of the songs that was, I don't
09:00know, one of the songs that changed you or affected you the most? It's just such a brilliant,
09:05it just opened up a whole genre for me. There you go. Here we go. Alice in Chains, Man in
09:09the Box, Gavin Rosdale's choice. This is the 90s at noon. That was the Deftones chosen
09:13by Mr. Gavin Rosdale. I'm Nicole Alvarez. Gavin is still here with us. Thank you so
09:17much for hanging out with me. It's weird because my band's in Vegas. Your band's in Vegas?
09:24Well, because they were playing Vegas tomorrow night, but I came back to do this. Oh, to
09:27be with me? The chemicals between us. Yeah, there you go. So I'm just like on, it's like
09:32I'm still on tour. It's funny. I keep forgetting, but yeah, I am on tour. I'm a touring person.
09:38You are a touring person. Hold on. Get closer to the mic, Gavin. I want to talk about the
09:42new record because, so Sunday you're playing the Greek and you're going to do all the songs
09:46that we grew up loving, but now you also have this exciting new thing. Tell me everything.
09:52Well, I'm super excited to have had the greatest hits because I really learned that it's all
09:57about celebrating that time and to be here now and this full circle thing, it's really
10:01incredible. But something that for me personally as a creative person was important to me was
10:08before we went on that tour was to try and do a record so that we weren't kind of creatively
10:15bankrupt at the end of the tour, like done in like, oh, we now got a right record, Climb
10:18a Mountain. So we did the record. I think it's called I Beat Loneliness. You think?
10:24Yeah. Well, at first I was going to be, you know, I might change my mind, but for now,
10:29I beat loneliness and I'm so excited about it. It's just like a further continuation of
10:35our journey and trying to get better and sort of understand. I don't know, just just
10:40get to the core of everything. And it's a lot about about people and interpersonal relationships
10:47and how we navigate all these mad challenges that I think that everybody is suffering a lot
10:53of the time. One hundred percent. And I find that writing songs that have a cathartic sort of
11:00release and people find that, as I said before, that transcendence and it's great body armor.
11:07You know, when you make music for people, it's cool.
11:10You do that for us. Do you have a like a where do you turn when you need that catharsis? Like,
11:15are you still the kid that grew up loving music that finds the band or the song that you need at
11:20that moment? Or do you write it? A little bit of everything. You know,
11:24it depends how I feel, but I do get really inspired by hearing what people are doing
11:32and getting into other people's music all the time. And then and then, yeah. And then
11:37silence also works a treat. So you can think about things and then just just trying to sort
11:42of get out of the way of myself to be the best writer I can to just kind of, I don't know,
11:47it's finding those everyday situations and then put them in your own words.
11:51And then people own those words. It's a it's a great exchange.
11:55You're brave for for wanting to sit in silence. I don't know how to do that. We'll be right back.
12:01I'm going to make a command decision to just like kind of end the song early because I'm
12:05just so excited to talk. Did you see what I just did there? I'm going to get in trouble.
12:11I'm Nicole Alvarez. This is the 90s at Noon. Gavin, thank you. Before you go,
12:17we wanted to say goodbye properly, but you wanted to talk about Steve Albini,
12:21who you worked with very closely. And I want to give you the floor for that.
12:24Thank you so much. Yeah, well, I just wanted to sort of pay homage to a great friend and an
12:30incredible recording engineer, as I think he would like to be known as Steve Albini. And he just
12:38passed away in November. And so it's been a terrible few months and it's just very upsetting.
12:50And I'm so happy we made a record with him. I'm so happy I had a long friendship with him and I
12:54maintain a friendship with his wife, Heather. And I'm just saying that that so many musicians
12:58owe him such a debt. And, you know, me, I spoke about earlier about Alice in Chains, but there's
13:04also the Pixies, Bone Machine. Those those records were the most informative records.
13:12I just too many bands to choose from. So I love Steve and I wanted to pay my respects to him.
13:18And I'll let you say a proper goodbye to your fans as well.
13:21Yeah. And I can't wait to see everyone on Sunday. I hope everyone can make it.
13:25And for those that can't and we'll hold you in our hearts and we'll see you next time.
13:31If you would like a VIP experience to meet the band and to also go to the show on Sunday,
13:35call now 800-520-1067. It's a picture, right?
13:40And the acoustic we'll be singing.
13:42Oh, yes. And then there's an acoustic VIP, which is why I'm calling it the VIP package. Sorry,
13:49I just I'm so excited to sing two songs in the day. I do matinees.
13:52Do you know what songs you're going to sing ahead of time? Or
13:55do you know there's deep cuts? They're just super deep cuts. Like,
13:58actually off of Steve's record. Yeah, so just deep cuts.
14:01So basically, a very special experience with Bush. 800-520-1067. And we're going to end
14:06things with Swallowed. It's the 90s at noon. Gavin, thank you again.
14:09Thanks for having me. I'm so happy to be here.
14:11It is the world famous K-Rock.