Volbeat’s Rob Caggiano: ‘This Is More ‘Me’ Than Anthrax’
Rob Caggiano is firmly entrenched in Volbeat, but had a pretty successful run with Anthrax prior to joining the group. The guitarist recently revisited the band change with Eonmusic.com, and spoke about how Volbeat are more akin to what he wanted to do.
While Caggiano says he loved his time in Anthrax, he also realized he decided he needed a change. "I think people misunderstood the whole press release thing when I was leaving Anthrax," says the guitarist. "It wasn’t about; 'Oh, I’m going to give up playing guitar and I’m going to be a producer”, it was more about; “I need to move on from this. In the interim, until I figure out what my next move is as a guitar player, I’m going to produce some records' – that’s really what I meant to say.'"
Initially, the idea was to produce for other bands, but a producing invite from Volbeat eventually led to his joining the group. Caggiano says, "There’s something for everyone in the Volbeat sound, and that’s what draws people in. So it wasn’t that much of an adjustment for me, even stylistically as a guitar player. This is more 'me' than Anthrax, just because there’s more guitar. It’s not just solos; it’s acoustic parts, it’s overdubs, there’s melodic things, and harmonies, and all kinds of cool stuff."
"That became a boring gig, ultimately," he continued. "I just felt like I took it as far as I could take it," said the guitarist. "But yeah, totally, I’m a musician; I like to create, I like to work with different people. I’m always collaborating and working with different artists, or producing, or co-writing."
Caggiano reveals that his introduction to Volbeat came through his time with The Damned Things, an offshoot project that also featured his Anthrax bandmate Scott Ian and members of Fall Out Boy and Every Time I Die. The group had toured with Volbeat, who were fans of their album, and that relationship carried over to the point where Caggiano was asked about producing for Volbeat.
When asked about the status of The Damned Things and whether there might ever be more music from the band, the guitarist stated, "There might be. Whether or not I’m a part of it, I’m not sure; we’ll see. We shall see!"
Caggiano also revealed that Volbeat are in the infant stages of working on their next album. While there are some song ideas, there is still a lot of work to be done. The guitarist says the band will likely start recording just before the end-of-the-year holidays and finish up after with a 2019 album release being the goal.
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