Gavin Rossdale of Bush sits down to share the band's newest album, 'Loaded: The Greatest Hits 1994–2023,' along with their latest single, "Nowhere To Go But Everywhere." Gavin discusses the importance of audience interaction and explains why he designs his tours around that concept. He also shares stories about some of Bush's No. 1 hits, including "The Sound of Winter," "Comedown," and more!
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00:00I had shirt envy. I felt I was not prepared to be interviewed by you.
00:04I was like, hot dang, I've got way cool shirts, I could have at least been in the running with you.
00:09Hey it's Gavin from Bush, you're watching Billboard News.
00:14Loaded The Greatest Hits came out last year, now you're about to tour the project
00:18celebrating 30 years of hits.
00:30How does it feel to have all that under your belt?
00:42I'm gonna leave here today and go to the studio to work on more for the next record,
00:46so I just keep thinking forward, you know what I mean, I don't...
00:50It never stops, huh?
00:51It's a painful, torturous process, like, oh my god, what am I doing?
00:54I can't do it. This last song I did was the best song I wrote, now what am I gonna do?
00:59And then you just sort of forge forward and you find it and you...
01:02Now, so this week I'm reaping the rewards of last week's writing and working in the studio
01:07when I leave here, so I like to live in the moment.
01:09And I think also the English thing, right?
01:11You asked about 30 years, if I think about the hits that we've had over 30 years.
01:16It's not English to think about that too much,
01:17it's more English to kind of keep moving and just, like, carry on, just keep on.
01:22Weirdly doing it has made me think about it more than I ever did.
01:26Well, now that you have to think about it, I'm sure creating the loaded album
01:30had to be kind of a process because you got 21 songs that you put on there,
01:33so how was it to, like, look at your vast career and pick 21 exact songs that,
01:38you know, summarized it all?
01:39Yeah, weirdly that's a good question because, basically,
01:43those were the chronological biggest hits.
01:45So that's sort of simple, in the order of what...
01:48So that's how we did it, really.
01:50Straightforward.
01:51And what's your relationship with the band when you guys are going kind of
01:53through these creative processes as the leader, if you will, the face of Bush?
01:58Really easy, you know, they let me sweat out some of the beginnings of songs
02:02and then they come in and make them great.
02:04It sort of works well like that.
02:06Sometimes I'll work, you know, on music that they've done and just do the top line
02:10to sort of be like, it's kind of like a day off for me, just pop in and top line's easy.
02:15But putting all the other stuff together is a bit more challenging,
02:17but I like it because it kind of puts me in the right vein of what I want to do.
02:22So I think at this point it's really good to have a combination of stuff I write myself,
02:27some stuff I write with other people, it doesn't matter now.
02:30That actually surprised me when you said that you kind of like
02:33come to them and they create this kind of music around.
02:35So are you like a lyrics first writer?
02:37Oh no, now because studios, you know what they're like, that you can just...
02:40I can sound like 17 of me in one recording, you know, you can make it sound really full.
02:46And so I can get a pretty clear image of what I think it should be.
02:49And then we have that exist, right?
02:51So then I'm like, all bets are off, I'll try anything.
02:54Like if they want to change anything, we always try everything, see what comes.
02:59And you say you're always looking ahead.
03:00So when you're thinking about kind of planning this tour,
03:03going out on the road with these older songs, do you think that's going to inspire the new music?
03:08Well, hopefully the new record is going to be done before we go on tour
03:11because I'll have a new song this summer.
03:13I'm definitely gonna have a new song this summer.
03:16Because when you go out on tour, it's nice to have a brand new song that just launches it with.
03:20And so just a way of letting people know that it's just all percolating,
03:24all bubbling the whole time.
03:26And it's not like rusting on our laurels and just saying,
03:29yeah, come and see that music from like, you know, all that time ago.
03:32It's like, it's a combination of things.
03:33And I never, I don't do sets.
03:35We don't do sets where you deny people the hits and things like that, you know.
03:39But I like to weave in newer songs.
03:41Always the challenge is to make it a really exciting show,
03:45make people not want to go and get the drinks like halfway through
03:49when you go into that lull section of the show.
03:51Okay, I've seen, you know, eight, nine songs.
03:54Does anybody want a drink?
03:55You know, somebody's always volunteering.
03:57I want to beat that.
03:57I want to make someone, you know, get someone else to go get the drinks.
04:01Well, there was something I was about to ask you,
04:02but now you're just sending me in a whole different direction.
04:04Because I never thought about that as a person attending a concert.
04:08Do you see audience interaction?
04:10Like you can see if somebody's like going to the bar or talking to their friends.
04:14Like, is that something in your vision?
04:16Yeah, I hate that.
04:18The worst thing, and everyone will tell you,
04:20anyone who's ever gone on stage,
04:21is you can have 15,000 people who are going nuts and loving you.
04:25One person yawns in the front, and I'm just like,
04:28now I'm going to do the show for them because I'm not having that.
04:31Wow.
04:32So you just pick out the, you know, okay, that's a good section.
04:35I go off, always off of people because it's, you know,
04:40it only works with an audience, you know.
04:42And so I'm always thinking about the audience experience
04:46because why wouldn't you?
04:48Well, I will never yawn at a show again now.
04:50I can tell you that.
04:51Well, you can't just make the person be like, work harder or do it better.
04:55I mean, everyone gets a yawn without meaning to.
04:58So it's not taken so bad.
05:00And then I also want to talk to you.
05:01You were saying like working in new music in the tour.
05:03So on The Greatest Hits project, you did put a new song on there.
05:06You had Nowhere to Go, but it went.
05:08I'm so much younger than the life we're never in.
05:15Tell me about why that was the song that you wanted to throw on The Greatest Hits album.
05:18Well, because it was suggested to me to do The Greatest Hits by my management.
05:22And I was like, okay.
05:24And it was a really good way of galvanizing all that history, bringing it all together.
05:27And it gave me an appreciation for it in a way.
05:31But it just allowed us to celebrate the 30 years.
05:35I was always scared.
05:36It was like a sayonara.
05:37See you later.
05:38I'm going to go and live in Wyoming and raise sheepdogs,
05:42which is not a bad idea, actually.
05:44So when I had to write that song, I had to think about all the different
05:47the styles that we've done over the years.
05:49And we've gotten much more extreme the last couple of years.
05:52A few records, including this one, all drop tunings, all a bit more tricked out.
05:57And so it was like trying to write a song that wasn't as heavy as that,
06:00but it touched on the feeling of the first lot.
06:03So it had to hover, like be a drone song above all the catalog.
06:09And so I just did it in a drop D.
06:12So it's not so extreme.
06:14And then just try to write a good song.
06:16And it was it was cool because I hit on this song that really touched on this
06:22friendship that I have with my three best friends from England I grew up with, right?
06:25So we're all on a group text.
06:27And we all, all the time, we're just chatting, right?
06:30They're all in London.
06:31And it keeps me grounded.
06:32It's funny.
06:33They send memes, make jokes.
06:35They, you know, beat each other up on there, you know, have fun.
06:38And I ended up writing a song and I was appreciating them.
06:41From the lyrics and to the creation, it's kind of like the perfect continuation.
06:45Yeah, in a way it was, it worked really good.
06:47You know, just gave a good vibe.
06:49And I think that when you find like my life's work is finding
06:55simple human phrases or emotions that people latch onto and take and own for themselves
07:02and have it for themselves.
07:03I was so much younger then.
07:04It's like that's anyone.
07:06That can be a 16 year old thinking about the time when they were,
07:09they're now not like a little baby.
07:11And it could be anyone.
07:12Anyone could look back two years previous and be like, oh man, you know,
07:17I was so foolish or I was so this, this, that.
07:20So I like that.
07:21I like, to me, that's the secret of it.
07:23Songs is unlocking things that people can hold in their heart and make their own.
07:28Wow, you're dropping knowledge right now.
07:29I do want to talk about a couple of the songs,
07:32Do Your Favorite Thing, rewind a little bit.
07:34So let's talk about Calm Down.
07:35So that was the band's first number one song in 1995.
07:39What does that song specifically mean to you?
07:45That was the gateway to everything.
07:47And it was such an important song for me because I've said it,
07:51a number of people that know this band, know my band,
07:54know that that was physically the first song I ever wrote on my own.
07:58I was in between bands.
07:59My other band had broken up.
08:01My best friend had gone to Berkeley to study jazz and piano.
08:04And the guy I was in a band with who wouldn't let me play guitar,
08:07because I wasn't very good.
08:08But it's not about being a good guitar player.
08:10It's about being the right guitar player.
08:11It's about the right chord.
08:13There are millions of guitar players better than me.
08:15So he broke up with me.
08:17He said the band should stop, you know.
08:19And I was like, damn.
08:20So I was looking around for guitar players.
08:22And then I was thinking, God, what a fraud you are.
08:25Like you're saying you're a songwriter.
08:26That's how you define your life.
08:28But you need someone else to write a song.
08:29I mean, how hard can it be?
08:31And you wrote Calm Down.
08:32So I just wrote that song.
08:33Because it was just, I had been singing top lines.
08:37But I had never written songs on my own.
08:39So when I started doing that, people have heard that before.
08:42But the fun bit, maybe I can tell you, is I remember sitting in the bath one night.
08:47You know, two bands had broken down.
08:49The first band had been signed.
08:51But the second band wasn't signed.
08:53I was in the bath.
08:54And I heard this demo.
08:55I did a demo.
08:57I met this guy, Nigel, who became the guitar player.
08:59But he was too busy to sit right with me.
09:02So he said, if you bring me songs, I'll demo them.
09:05Because he was really good at demoing.
09:06I didn't have any recording set up.
09:07I just had a tape recorder.
09:09So I took him Calm Down.
09:12And when I was sitting in the bath, I was listening to it.
09:15And it struck me that there's a massive attack Billy Cobham line from Unfinished Symphony
09:21that is really famous.
09:22It's a really bubbling, beautiful bass line.
09:24And I was like, wow, that could go on there.
09:26It was so funny.
09:27Because I promise you, I swear to you, I heard it.
09:30And then the music we're making, I was thinking, OK, it's not commercial music.
09:34But it's so cool.
09:36And at least you have some self-respect.
09:37You're making music that you think is really cool.
09:40Fuck it, do it.
09:48Let's talk about The Sound of Winter.
09:50Now this is interesting to me because it's your biggest song on multiple Billboard charts.
09:53It was number one for five weeks on both Hot Rock songs, Hot Rock and Alternative songs
09:58and Rock and Alternative Airplay.
10:00It's been five weeks at number one on all three of those charts.
10:03So did that one feel to you that it was going to kind of get that amount of love
10:07after Falling Home Come Back?
10:09No, no.
10:11I mean, you can't imagine living a life where you expect things like that.
10:14That's a life destined for sadness.
10:17True, but it also is great when things like that do happen to you, I'm sure.
10:21You know, in England, we're taught to have really, really, really low expectations
10:25so that if you have low expectations, everything's a bonus.
10:29The majority of things are a bonus and that works.
10:33And I do want to talk to you about this part of the song as well.
10:35You were also the first band to ever hit number one on Alternative Radio
10:38with a self-release track.
10:40Yeah.
10:40So how did that feel and what was the difference in self-releasing it?
10:45Literally no champagne from the label.
10:48No.
10:50He's like, wait, I just did something really incredible.
10:52Where's my champagne?
10:52There's no label.
10:54Yeah, it's the first self-release one.
10:56We are proud of that.
10:58It was like something they can't take away.
11:00I don't know what, you know, I never got a piece of toast out of it,
11:03but it's a cool thing to say.
11:05And then now you're about to go on the road and be back in front of those music lovers out there.
11:09So how are you guys going to approach this tour differently
11:11than kind of all the tours you've done in the past?
11:13Well, it'll be really exciting because we worked really hard to get to the point
11:16of headlining these really big venues.
11:18So our approach to it, just like every show,
11:23approach it like it's your last.
11:24That's the only way to do it.
11:26And then why did you feel like this was the time to do it this way
11:29and kind of take this approach to touring?
11:32Oh, because we were allowed.
11:33You know what I mean?
11:34It's like, you know what I mean?
11:35Because we were allowed.
11:36You have to do, again, you go back to data.
11:38You know, you have to, we want to play headline arenas.
11:41Well, not just yet.
11:42You can't.
11:43So, you know, so it's just all different things.
11:46You just go through, you do what you can.
11:48And there are sort of powers that be that will put you in those places.
11:51Nobody wants to get beaten up by putting in the wrong venue, big or small.
11:56So you want to, you got to get it right.
11:57So it's a balancing act.
11:59There's so many people out, you know, where you play in the summer.
12:02It depends because people may have seen four of their favorite bands
12:06that have used up all their money that they had to go and see shows.
12:09All these things you have to take into consideration to be, again,
12:13thoughtful of people, of punters.
12:14What can people, what can people do, you know?
12:17Well, you just brought up a very good point
12:18when you talk about like people and their money.
12:20Obviously, you guys did something really cool.
12:22You are part of Live Nation's Ticket Week.
12:25So a lot of your tickets were $25 offered to fans.
12:28Why was that important?
12:29Because that is awesome, man.
12:30Tickets are so expensive these days.
12:32Yeah, because it's just everyone gets beaten up the whole time, most of the time.
12:36When you look at the small print, we're all being screwed most of the time.
12:40This was a thing that Live Nation were doing.
12:41We love to be part of that.
12:43I think it's incredible just to let people,
12:45you kickstart something, you get an excitement about it.
12:49And I want people that wouldn't normally be able to afford
12:52to come and see us to get that chance.
12:54That's so cool.
12:55You know what I mean?
12:55I'm not down to beat someone up who can't afford to come and see us
12:59and, you know, get so much out of them.
13:01Just like, that's cool.
13:02You know, and I hope they do the same for the parking.
13:06Because you're right.
13:07That's a whole nother fee.
13:08Oh my goodness.
13:09So when does the tour kick off?
13:11July 24th.
13:13As in what venues?
13:14You're talking about all these venues you were able to book this time.
13:16So what are you excited to play?
13:17I just found out that my 15-year-old son,
13:20he'll be turning 15 at PNC in New Jersey.
13:23That's a beautiful venue.
13:24I've played there many times.
13:25I liked the indulging in bringing them out on stage
13:29and singing Happy Birthday, you know, with a big crowd.
13:32It's a really fun thing.
13:33So I am particularly looking forward to that.
13:35But it's the sound of the crowd, the excitement, the build-up before.
13:41It's just some people don't like touring
13:44and some people love it.
13:46And I just love it.
13:47Now, I want to talk a little bit about these numbers again that we're talking about.
13:50So Bush sold over 24 million records, right?
13:52And over 1 billion streams.
13:54Now, when you hear those numbers,
13:55why do you think it is that Bush is such a mainstay in rock?
13:59When I think about those stats,
14:00it's just a reflection that sometimes we got it right
14:05that people held us close in their hearts.
14:08Because I have this belief about writing songs, you know, it's a magical thing.
14:12And as soon as I write them, they're sort of off they go.
14:16These songs go into the world and they get picked up or dropped
14:19by people of that they choose.
14:22So you just make songs that connect with people.
14:24So those stats just tell me loads of times we did things
14:28that people found comfort, solace, strength, clarity in,
14:34and also connection.
14:36You know, a lot of it is identifying with it.
14:38When you identify with someone who writes a song,
14:40you really feel it.
14:41It just feels like you're not alone.
14:43And so to me, it's just a reflection of the times we got it right.
14:47When you look at your career,
14:49obviously Gavin is his own person different than the leader of Bush.
14:53How do you kind of separate the two?
14:54Well, because when I'm not in Bush,
14:57I'm usually taking care of my three boys
15:01who are super sweet and obviously dependent on me.
15:04So it's like you can play to 15,000 people
15:07and then walk off stage and suddenly you're the juice getter.
15:11I like that balance.
15:12Give me some juice.
15:13It's a good balance.
15:15Dad, can I have this remini?
15:17You know, those Japanese 7-ups.
15:20So I think that's really cool.
15:22And I think that balance is important.
15:24And you can't walk around as a career person your whole life.
15:33We have so much information and knowledge now
15:35about how you've got to be careful not to work too hard.
15:38And most people work too hard.
15:40I definitely at times work too hard.
15:43You have to make sure you have time for your friends
15:47and your own life and your family and your presence of mind
15:51because you can be caught up in things where you look back
15:54and you suddenly think,
15:55I missed all these things because I prioritized work.
15:57And is that necessary?
16:00Is that completely important?
16:02I think that life is all about balance.
16:03So I have to have me in Bush is one thing.
16:06And then I'm a caterer.
16:09Well, look at that transition.
16:11We got to talk about something else you get into.
16:13Cooking.
16:14So tell me why you wanted to start a cooking show.
16:16Well, twofold really.
16:18One, I wanted to figure out a way to be able to work
16:20and not have to leave home.
16:22That was one thing because everything I do is about,
16:25I'm going to go to the studio for me or I go to sing.
16:27And that is all about making music that I will leave
16:30to go sing around the world.
16:32I've always had this knack for cooking
16:34and people always said to me,
16:35you should do this, you should do that.
16:36But I'd be like, what?
16:38You know, what can I do?
16:39You should go to a restaurant.
16:40No, I don't want to be in a restaurant seven days a week
16:43for the rest of my life.
16:44Sounds like a lot of work.
16:44That's a hard thing.
16:46And so I was inspired by that wonderful
16:50Comedians in Cars getting coffee.
16:52Dinner for five.
16:53And I find those some of those TV shows
16:56where they're cooking and eating,
16:58not as relaxed as a normal dinner.
17:00So I just based it off of,
17:02if you came to my house for dinner,
17:04we had a good laugh, we had a good dinner.
17:07Filmed a bit about me cooking.
17:09Filmed a bit about us having dinner.
17:11Edit the best bits.
17:12We're all good.
17:12We'd have a laugh.
17:13I have great dinners with people.
17:15So it was that simple.
17:16So I shot Tom Jones, Jack McBrayer.
17:19And we're just about to go into production.
17:21I've been hearing this for a minute.
17:24And to go shoot a bunch of people,
17:26four more people.
17:27That's it.
17:27I just sit and interview people.
17:29But it's slightly different because
17:31I literally ply them with so much alcohol
17:34that it's just really fun.
17:35Or green tea.
17:36If I'm going to get some Maharishi in there,
17:39it'll be green tea.
17:40Whatever floats anyone's boat.
17:41But it'll be a case of putting people
17:43into a relaxed situation
17:45and then asking people that I admire
17:48and I think are incredible
17:50the questions from my perspective,
17:52not what their next project is,
17:56just maybe how they go about things,
17:58what they think about things,
18:00who got them there.
18:01Because I think it's really amazing
18:03for people to understand.
18:04And is that what makes
18:05Rockstar Kitchen Chronicles
18:06like different than every other cooking show?
18:08Is that it's basically telling these stories
18:10of people while you're cooking.
18:12Well, yeah.
18:13But again, I'm not going to do that.
18:14Like I want it to be exactly like a dinner.
18:18So anyone comes to my house,
18:19like I would not make them suffer
18:21through the whole process of me cooking
18:23and do all these things.
18:24If someone comes to dinner
18:25and something like a bit of a main course,
18:27you have to cook there and then,
18:29then of course I'll do that.
18:30But I would try and get everything done
18:32because I want to be effortless.
18:36I am the caterer.
18:36I want it to be this effortless thing.
18:38It's not a cooking competition
18:39where somebody comes in
18:40and wants them to stir stuff and this and that.
18:42I don't want to be too much cooking
18:43where I'm not in it.
18:44I want it to be like I've done it.
18:46I've done two of them now
18:47and I will do the rest like that.
18:49Just sit and talk.
18:50And the food is way secondary.
18:52It's so bourgeois to like have someone
18:54come to eat at your house
18:55and spend the time going,
18:57oh, do you like it?
18:58It's just annoying.
18:59It's like, it's completely secondary.
19:00It's much more important how they are,
19:03how they're doing,
19:04what they're talking about.
19:05If the conversation drifts
19:06into like the taste of the,
19:08you know, whatever there is,
19:10then that's fine.
19:11But I'm nothing worse
19:13than going to someone's house
19:13and they go, you know,
19:14put food down and they stand there
19:16and you go, oh, shit.
19:17Yeah, it's really nice.
19:18I don't, I hate that.
19:19Talk to me a little bit about Sea of Sound.
19:21Just tell me about the clothing brand
19:23and why you also want to do street wear.
19:25Well, the Sea of Sound thing
19:26really goes hand in hand with a cooking show
19:28because it was things that I thought,
19:30you know, we didn't reference
19:33your great dressing
19:34last time we met,
19:35you were wearing a really great shirt
19:36on the red carpet.
19:40I had shirt envy.
19:41I felt I was not prepared
19:43to be interviewed by you.
19:44I was like, hot dang,
19:45I've got way cool shirts.
19:47I could have at least been
19:48in the running with you.
19:49But so I started this clothing brand
19:52and just like everything,
19:54I hadn't anticipated it.
19:56It's really quite complicated.
19:58It takes a lot of work,
20:00but we are committed to it
20:04and it's just simple,
20:05elevated street wear.
20:07I had really big ideas for it
20:09and I developed a really
20:11elevated collection.
20:12Then I got explained
20:13about the Wholesale Business Works
20:14and I was like,
20:15I don't know if I'm ready for that.
20:17So I have this amazing collection,
20:18almost like curated on clothes,
20:20like I've done my own couture line
20:23that I will consider what to do with.
20:25But for now,
20:26it's just really building that
20:28great online presence
20:30and start stepping it up
20:32with some nice Instagram ads.
20:36So we'll start bugging people saying,
20:37why is this up on my feed, man?
20:38They'll be like,
20:39actually, it's pretty cool.
20:40Well, listen,
20:41congrats on everything
20:42you're working on,
20:43from that to the cooking show,
20:44the tour.
20:45We're excited for you
20:46and thanks for hanging out with us.
20:47Thank you so much.