ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian spoke to Terry “Beez” Bezer of Knotfest.com‘s “Mosh Talks With Beez” about Ian‘s show “Never Meet Your Heroes”, which airs on Volume, SiriusXM‘s 24/7 talk radio channel dedicated to music.
“Never Meet Your Heroes” sees Ian interviewing his celebrity idols and musical influences about what inspires them. The program launched in late 2016 and featured Corey Taylor of SLIPKNOT as Scott‘s first guest.
“When they pitched it to me a couple of years ago, instantly I said, ‘Yeah,'” Ian said about “Never Meet Your Heroes” (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “I love it. I never wanted it to turn into a thing where I just interview everybody. I’m very picky with… I mean, it’s ironically called ‘Never Meet Your Heroes’ because everyone I have on is someone who I have huge respect and love for whatever it is they do, whether it’s music or authors or actors — whatever it is — pop culture; just someone that I really wanna just talk to for an hour. And I’ve done about 40 of them, I guess, over the last couple of years, and I love it. I love it, because it’s a lot of people I already know. Some people I know them better than others. Some people are just my friends. So, of course, that makes it way easier. Corey Taylor and I could do literally — I could do a 100-part series with him, just the two of us talking shit for 24 hours and then cut it up into a whole bunch of episodes. But I really do enjoy it. I totally get nervous still.”
Ian also reflected on the latest “Never Meet Your Heroes” episode, which saw him interviewing KISS frontman Paul Stanley for the first time.
“I can’t tell you how nervous I was to talk to Paul,” Scott said. “I’ve known Paul since 1987 — not as well as I know Gene [Simmons]. I’ve hung out with Gene a lot over the years — a different relationship. I haven’t hung out with Paul nearly as much over time. It’s, ‘Hi. How are you?’ He’s always very polite and nice. And those guys have gone above and beyond for ANTHRAX over the years. But I was so nervous, knowing that, like, in four days I’m talking to Paul, and getting my thoughts together. And it wasn’t even in person — it was on Zoom. I usually do it in person at Sirius‘s studio; obviously, we can’t these days. But I told him. I said, ‘I was so nervous to come on and do this with you.’ And he was, like, ‘Why? We’ve known each other…’ And I said, ‘I don’t know. I think it’s just, with KISS, I turn into a 13-year old.’ It really goes back to that. ‘And I just have such respect for you as an artist and what you’ve done and what you’ve done with your band.’ It’s mindblowing. And we got into that too. And he’s a guy from Queens, New York — just like me. We grew up in the same area. ‘And if it’s not for what you did, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you.'”
Ian added: “It’s a huge, huge fucking mindfuck for me when I talk to dudes that have everything to do with why I even wanted to be in a band, because without them, it never would have happened. And that’s what I love about being on the other side of the mic.”
Listeners can find “Never Meet Your Heroes” on Volume (channel 106), as well as anytime on the SiriusXM app. Streaming access is included for most subscribers. Go to www.siriusxm.com/ways-to-listen to learn more.
SiriusXM‘s Volume channel is home to a variety of programs dedicated to the conversations about music. Programs include “WHOOOSH!” hosted by Simon Le Bon, “The Jimmy Jam Show”, “Lefsetz Live” hosted by Bob Lefsetz, “Feedback” with Nik Carter and Lori Majewski, “Debatable” hosted by Mark Goodman and Alan Light, “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” and more.
