John Bush Explains the Big Draw of Category7

The names you know, but there was something a little more important to Armored Saint singer John Bush when it came to joining the new supergroup Category7. The singer told Full Metal Jackie for her weekend radio show that the guitar duo of Phil Demmel and Mike Orlando certainly made the potential of the band attractive, but he explains, "I think those two guys are really the giant source of this whole project because their playing is amazing. They're incredible riff maniacs. But the amazing thing is that there's still really awesome song structure. So that combination, I think, was just kind of undeniable. And that's why I wanted to work on it."

Bush discusses the adventure of joining the group, being able to put his stamp on the lyrical content and why he's really proud of the lyrics on the new record. Plus he discusses an early band accolade from Metallica's James Hetfield and offers some insight into what's on the horizon for Armored Saint as well as another band he's working with called Electric Spaghetti.

Get all the details and check out the chat below.

It's Full Metal Jackie and I'm so excited to bring back to the show this week John Bush. You know him, of course, from his time in Anthrax and Armored Saint as well. But he's now fronting the all star group, Category7, with Phil Demmel, Mike Orlando, Jack Gibson and Jason Bittner.

What an amazing lineup for this group. What was your initial reaction on hearing what the guys had been working on. And how much of a stamp were you able to put on the music?

That's a great way of putting it. The music that those guys sent me, Phil and I have a background playing together with the Metal Allegiance project. We've done some shows. We actually did Rock in Rio in Brazil, which was amazing. And we played a lot of shows and kind of developed a friendship through that. He sent me these ideas telling me that this is some really cool stuff and would you be interested? I said, yeah, you've got to send it to me. Let me listen to it. So then he did, and I was pretty blown away.

There's some amazing riff mania between him and Mike and awesome rhythms from Jason and Jack. And the key component was whether or not I could actually contribute some really cool vocal ideas and melodies and lyrics. So I got to work, and it was pretty awesome.

Rob Shotwell

John, as the frontman, you're the voice that relays the message. A song like "In Stitches," for example, Is coming from a darker perspective. What was inspiring you while working on the lyrical aspect of Category7's music?

What I say is it's a lot of social commentary. It's impossible to wake up every morning and not look around you at the world and see all the new developments happening daily in various ways. It's not just what's exactly going on in the political spectrum, but just the developments and a lot of dissension that's developing. It would be impossible not to acknowledge that.

But my perspective is always one of not really wanting to tell the listener how to think, but more of just putting stuff out there for people to ponder and just kind of make them think on their own terms and read between the lines. So I don't really have some major giant agenda with the subject matter. I think it's just kind of looking life and letting it run through the lyrics. Sometimes I just like to write words down and then let's see how they kind of develop, see how they rhyme, see how the story kind of happens on its own. But there was some really cool stuff.

I'm really proud of a lot of the lyrics on these records. And "In Stitches" was a song based off an article I read in the paper about a woman who had that name and was homeless. This lady, she was pregnant and it was just a heavy story and her. I didn't write a biography per se, but it kind of motivated me to run with the whole philosophy of the struggles in the unhoused community and how that's a big, a big problem right now, not only in Los Angeles and San Francisco, but all through the country.

Category7, "In Stitches"

John, you have played with some great guitarists over the years. What are your thoughts on having Mike Orlando and Phil Demmel flanking you, and where do they rank among the musicians you've worked with?

Well, I think those two guys are really the giant source of this whole project because their playing is amazing. They're incredible riff maniacs. But the amazing thing is that there's still really awesome song structure. So that combination, I think, was just kind of undeniable. And that's why I wanted to work on it.

Mike is ... I didn't even know Mike. I got to know Mike literally through the music. We had never met, and so we kind of developed this friendship through the writing of the songs, which was actually really exciting and kind of different. It wasn't like, let's grow out and make all this. We're all pretty seasoned veteran musicians, so we can make this great band. But it wasn't that at all. It was like, here's the music. I don't even know you, but this is undeniable. Let's write songs together. And that's how the friendship developed.

Phil is an awesome player as well. And Jack and Jason, of course. Everybody is just an incredible musician. But what I tell people is that you can have that on paper, but it doesn't necessarily transcend to an automatic win. You have to still mesh and things have to still blend and the songs have to still be there. I think that we did that. Playing with those guys is amazing. I marvel at their guitar playing, playing their licks. It's pretty fun to watch.

John, this new band, there's been a lot of talk that in spite of the collective resumes, this group has allowed the members to branch out beyond what they are known for, working in some of their influences. Is there a song on this Category7 album that most reflects your influences and input on the music?

Well, I think that my vocal style is one where it's always going to just kind of be based on heavy metal, but blues and a little hard rock and soul. That's just always going to be the way my voice, the way I tackle it as far as how I approach singing and writing, for that matter. This is no different from that.

Category7 is a metal band and obviously, so is Armored Sain, and so is Anthrax from back in the day. So it's right along the same lines of what I'm normally used to doing. What I always say is, for me, the important thing is to kind of connect with the musicians that I'm playing with and let those guys bring something else, possibly out of my own style and technique. And I hope that happens.

What I tell people is that the connection, of course, is my voice. And that's the thing that I made the joke that I could sing on bluegrass, trip hop, R&B record, and it's still going to sound like John Bush because that's the connection, is my voice and the sound of it.

So this is not any different from that. It's me playing in a heavy metal band and using my style and my aggression and my certain approach to singing in the same way. But hopefully there's something that sounds a little different and I think a lot of that is connected to the musicians that I'm playing with.

One of the band's first accolades came from James Hetfield, who shouted out the group as one of his new favorites. You've had a long history with Hetfield and Metallica. What has his continued support meant to you throughout your career? And have you gotten more specific feedback from him about the new record?

I haven't actually. I had the same reaction, probably that most people did when James said that, just kind of like a humbling smile and I almost probably blushed or something because, you know, he's the king. And the band is the kings. That's the bottom line is Metallica is the king of metal. And they have been and they probably always will be. And to have James say something with those kinds of accolades are, like I said, it's just almost humbling.

But I think that there's this connection, of course, that goes back to when we did the Metallica W.A.S.P. Armored Saint tour back in 1985. When we toured together, we had the same management. We were with Q Prime management, who Metallica still have to this day. And through the years, even if our relationships got distant, they would always kind of come back together. We played the 30th anniversary show at the Fillmore in San Francisco and the band played the four nights and they had a whole various people playing with them from Lou Reed to King Diamond to Rob Halford to Mary Ann Faithful. And so it was really an honor to be part of that.

Armored Saint opened one of the shows and then of course I sang "The Four Horsemen" with them during their performance, kind of as how this would maybe would have sounded if John Bush had joined the band. So it was pretty funny and has a cool description of the scenario there. Those guys have just always been supportive.

So even if our relations kind of get a little distance, I know that there's always going to be this connection with not only James and Lars, Kirk and Robert, but just with the fans themselves. Metallica, Armored Saint and now in Category7. So it's really cool.

John, we'd be remiss if we didn't also talk about some Armored Saint stuff. And what else you have going on? I saw that there's going to be some reissues, some special editions from Armored Saint records coming.

Yeah, real cool. We're re-releasing the La Raza and Revelation records that came out in 2010 and also 2000. That was the Revelation record was one that I kind of got reacquainted after I had been in Anthrax for about eight years and we had taken a little break. So then Armored Saint kind of reconvened, if you will, and made the Revelation record.

It's a killer album that still sounds like vintage singing. And I love La Raza. I think it was kind of a step into a little different direction for us. That one came out in 2010, so Metal Blade is always doing really cool things with packaging and re-releasing records.

So we're excited about that. Plus, we put out the video for the song "One Chain (Don't Make No Prison)" that came out about a month or so back. And it's Armored Saint playing a Four Tops song, which is music that we were kind of ... that's some of our roots. As much as we love metal, we were always big fans of old school soul and artists like the Four Tops and Earth, Wind and Fire and Stevie Wonder. Here we are wearing our suits in honor of those groups back in the day. And it was real fun to do that.

So Armored Saint is always willing to stick our necks out and try different things. We kind of feel like we can do anything. It's kind of broadened our style and we keep pushing ourselves, and that's one of the beauties of the band. It makes it real fun to write music, which we're also doing for a record that hopefully will come out in 2025 and performing and playing and just a solid friendship that goes back 50 years, which is insane.

Armored Saint, "One Chain (Don't Make No Prison)"

That's amazing. Not many people get to say that anymore about their bandmates.

No, no, not many people can say that ever. Maybe the Stones.

Well, what else is on the horizon for you and on your to do list at the moment?

Well, at this point. I got myself pretty busy now putting myself in another band. I also have this fun blues country band that I formed with another buddy of mine. And he actually recorded a lot of the vocals that I performed on the Category7 record. So that's like a local band here in Los Angeles called Electric Spaghetti, which is just a fun thing. It's really cool though. There's some great tunes. And it's me kind of sticking my neck out of my normal comfort zone, which is really always a challenging thing for a musician and writer.

I think that's a good thing. So that's a lot of fun. I'm pretty busy. It's probably a busier time than I've ever been in the last 20 years with music. So that's a good thing. Probably a lot more dates, a lot more interviews and I'm grateful for that. You're always putting me on, Jackie. I really appreciate that.

Oh, thank you so much, John. I'm a huge, longtime fan of yours and I'm very excited for all things to come. And of course, this great Category7 record. Thank you so much.

Thanks to John Bush for the interview. You can get the new self-titled Category7 album in physical, download and streaming options. Stay up to date with the band through their website, Facebook, X, Instagram and Spotify accounts. Find out where you can hear Full Metal Jackie's weekend radio show here.