Cry Of The Wolf Magazine interview with BOBBY BLITZ of OVERKILL



The Wings Of War is New Jersey's Thrash kings OVERKILL'S 19th Studio album. I had a chance to talk with Lead vocalist Bobby Blitz about the new album, being from New Jersey and life on the metal road.


The new album kicks ass as expected. How did you feel going into the recording of this album your 19th?
     The chemistry had changed. Jason Bittner had come into the fold. He is a schooled musician. Probably the most Musically trained we have had in the band. So he brought something different to the party. So we knew the chemistry would change. The question is, would we embrace this new change and I think you can see by the release that we did.

With a Song like "Welcome to the Garden State", Who came up with the idea to include the Springsteen ending? 
    That was D.D.'s Idea. He was cutting pieces together and then we played a scratch track to it and said if we go then lets go all the way. we always wanted to cover the song. The rumor is that Springsteen loves when people cover his stuff, especially Jersey guys.

Over 30 years, 19 studio albums, countless tours..Any regrets?
   I don't think so. The fact that we are having this conversation is a testimony to a life pretty well lived. It's not a career anymore. I think...I'm in. I do like the fact that I have been able to live my life the way I would like to. We like doing this. We do it with frequency, passion, and high principal.

Are there times when you cant stand the road?
It's a middle age boys club. We are all degenerate gamblers. Sometimes we drink to much. We put the work in prior to the tour so the tour itself is not work. Going out an doing shows is living like a juvenile delinquent again. Its fun for us.

What keeps inspiring you for lyrics? For instance the song "Batshit Crazy".
Its about paying attention. I don't talk politics or social events. I think its up to the individual to decide. I'm no smarter than from the first record. Don't take advice from me. But if you keep your eyes open you get filled with things. And I get the opportunity every couple of years to put them in lyrics. Even though they tend to be abstract they cleanse me. They clean my head out. On a song like "Batshit Crazy", its a topic about where is the common sense. We are living in a world without common sense.

social media?
we have someone do it. we are self managed so it comes across my desk. I don't have any of that. I come from a hand shake era. But I realized this was needed early on. to stay relevant we had to be involved. its both negative and positive. Its both. I'm an old school guy. Our social media was taking our flyers and stapling them to anything you could. But I realize that this is how it is now. I think the down side is probably is more so for the newer bands. So many bands get over looked. We use it to our advantage. the idea is to adapt to the hammer of the day and the hammer currently is social media. Whats current is what is important.I'm proud of our career. I'm proud because we are relevant and the reason we are is that we have no problem reinventing ourselves. So it still gives us the opportunity to do the things we love because we have embraced it.

 Strangest thing you have ever seen at a show?
I have seen it all. People fornicating. A guy handed me a leg onstage. somewhere in the Midwest so I'm standing there holding this dudes prosthetic leg. He's handing me a pen yelling "sign it". I'm like I'm not giving this back.

Any hobbies outside of music?
    I've been raising dogs my whole life. I live in a really rural area. So its outdoor living. I'm a Harley guy. I like old cars. I'm busy outside of overkill. When your on the road I love playing. I love playing live but I like fast cars. I like tinkering around with them. When I'm on the road I miss being home but when I get home I miss the road.


www.wreckingcrew.com/

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