From allstar news (July 19):Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale got a bit of a scare on his flight from Los Angeles to New York late Sunday (July 18) night. His flight had to abort its takeoff at the last minute due to a blown engine. While the tires cooled down and maintenance attended to the plane, all the passengers on the flight were herded onto a bus on the runway. "We were just about to take off and the second engine blew," Rossdale tells allstar. "What freaked me out -- I guess it's the sign of the times -- everyone gets on the bus and everyone gets on their mobile phones. There were a couple of women who were inconsolably panicked as well." Austin Powers himself, Mike Myers, was aboard the flight also, according to Rossdale. Oh baby, that was a close one.
From Woodstock.com: Though Bush is mostly keeping mum on the hows and whys of its just-completed third album, The Science of Things, due out this fall, guitarist Nigel Pulsford recently let a few details slip. Like how the London grunge band tried out a few new sounds to "shake it up a bit." Like how they swapped producers, trading in Steve Albini for Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. And how computers and synth programming played a large role, though not as radically as the technology involved on its in-between albums Deconstructed remix work. Could they be leaning towards electronica?
"We're still Bush, that's the thing," Pulsford says. "We could have done these sounds with guitar, but it's nice to drop in strange sounds and fiddle
around. It's not just another straight rock album, which would be a bit easier, a bit boring, a bit lazy, not as forward thinking. Gavin's dog
Winston is always on the records, shoved in there somewhere. So we stick in a sample, manipulate it, make it sound like anything than what it is. So
Winston's buried in there somewhere. There's no escaping the damn mutt." The follow-up to Razorblade Suitcase (besides featuring Winston on "Altered
States") includes songs like the mid-tempo "Warm Machine," the mellow "40 Miles From the Sun," "The Chemicals Between Us," "Prize Fighter," "Space
Travel," "Ban the Bomb," "Dead Meat," and the haunting love song "Jesus Online," the band's nod towards technology. Online culture, Pulsford says,
"is what everything seems to be about now, or is getting about." "Things are changing pretty rapidly," he says. "I think it's almost like a
natural progression, isn't it, for the music industry to go that way, where you can download the artwork or the whole package of an album. I can't see
that it'd quite be as satisfying as actually having a record in your hands, though, if you have to sort of cut the package up yourself and put it
together like a breakfast cereal packet." Speaking of the Internet, Pulsford's solo album, due out in August, will be
available only online. Called Heavenly Toast on Paradise Road, Pulsford recorded the record while Bush sorted out its legal troubles with its record
label Trauma, settling a $40 million lawsuit this past May. Partly because of the lawsuit fallout, the record label had withheld permission for Pulsford to
release the record until this summer, though it was largely finished last year. Pulsford jokes at the irony of now being able to release it on his
sister Jan's label, Collecting Dust, because that's "what it's been doing for the past year." "She's my slightly older sister," he says diplomatically of the
relationship. "Never reveal a lady's age. But she's been living in the states for the past ten years. She's worked with the Thompson Twins, she's spent the last few years working with Cyndi Lauper, she's written her last two albums with her." Though she's primarily a musician, she started the independent label because she "hates the business side of things, which is pretty scummy at the best of times, and a lot worse usually," he says knowingly.
Woodstock attendees shouldn't expect to hear too much of the either of Pulsford's solo or Bush's new material, even though Bush started previewing
potential singles on its recent club dates used to warm up for the festival. Since the band hadn't played a proper tour since November of 1997, it decided
to swing by three Southern California clubs in mid June to get its chops back. "We just stuck our head out of the water to say 'hi' again," Pulsford
says. "And then we felt like we hadn't been away at all." Like the band's album, Bush was trying to keep its Woodstock appearance
hush-hush so that they could make a big announcement. "It's the '60s paranoia creeping in, really," Pulsford jokes. After the "sweaty club dates," which
will include a few Irving Plaza performances in New York City just prior to Woodstock itself, Pulsford says, the next step was envisioning what would
work in more open spaces. European festivals like Glastonbury beckoned, and after a few of those, Bush found all the dust brushed off. "It's all been
leading up to Woodstock, really," he says. "It's the big one in the end. I would think Woodstock was the inspiration for Glastonbury, because even that
started as hippies in a field. Everyone's heard of Woodstock from my mother on down, but in England, it's mainly the bands who talk about it, how it was
horrible and how they hated it, because every time, if you tripped in the mud, you were tripping, because there was acid in the mud. There was acid
everywhere." "But it's going to be a good festival," he continues. "I've been reading stories about the original, and it sounds a bit more organized this
time. I was reading how drunk people were when they went on stage, that they had to redo the material in the studio for the live album. And Jimi Hendrix,
it was sad watching him in the film, because everyone's going, though what he was playing was amazing. They were too burnt out. It was the end of the'60s,
wasn't it? Quite a monumental thing, Woodstock."
From allstar news (July 20):The Science of Things, Bush's long-delayed third album and follow-up to 1996's Razorblade Suitcase, is finally scheduled for mastering next
week. Frontman Gavin Rossdale is apologetic, yet adamant about the reasons for its delay. "We had to sort out our business life with our record label -- the record has been ready for two years," says Rossdale, referring to the recent lawsuit the band brought against their label, Trauma Records
(allstar, March 8). "We sometimes forget, being musicians, that this is the music business and sometimes you have to watch what's going on on the business side," he continues. "It's as simple as that. It took way longer than it
should have to resolve, and it's not remotely our fault." Now that Bush has settled with Trauma, and snagged a lucrative new deal
in the process (allstar, [June 14]), the band is ready to focus on more important matters: the music. The Science of Things, now scheduled for
a Nov. 1 release, may surprise some fans due to the band's newfound embrace of electronic bleeps and computer-generated textures. At its
heart is vintage Bush -- with somewhat of a Twilight Zone feel to it. "We made our first record instinctively as a representation of the
band," says Rossdale. "The second record was a further reflection of how we had played live so much. [For the third record] we wanted to
reflect on the fact that we had some time off and knew, as with any record you bring out, we wanted to come at it from a different angle."
That different angle deals mostly with themes of dimension and space on such tunes as "Spacetravel," and "40 Miles from the Sun," as well as
alternate realities and mood-enhanced euphoria on tunes like "The Chemicals Between Us" and "Altered States." The former is the band's
biggest departure from the stadium-rock sounds of past hits like "Machinehead" and "Everything Zen," and likely a future single.
The song, one of the album's few ballads, is a loop-heavy, mind-bending love song for the future. "We wanted to incorporate a few different
things in there and more textures," explains Rossdale. "We always liked textures -- this is just further textualization." Together, Science, like so many other records released in 1999, is
Bush's therapeutic answer to the end of the 20th Century. "Gavin was thinking a lot about the millennium," says guitarist Nigel Pulsford.
"[It's about] forward thinking and future thoughts." "I wore a space suit -- a romper suit -- the whole time," adds Rossdale
jokingly. Additional tracks scheduled for likely inclusion on the album are "Warm Machine," "Jesus Online," "English Fire," "Disease of the Dancing Cats," "Mindchanger," "Dead Meat," "Letting the Cables Sleep," and
"Prizefighter." Bush headlines the inaugural evening of Woodstock '99 on Friday (July 23).
From Bestminds (July 20): Earlier this month, Bush frontman Gavin
Rossdale went to the Artist formerly known as Prince's Paisley Park studios in Minneapolis with girlfriend Gwen Stefani, and were treated
to an exclusive performance (LAUNCH, 7/14). Now Rossdale tells us that he and Stefani hung around the Purple One for three days and cemented a friendship. During that time, Stefani sang a song for the Artist and he, in turn, rewrote one of her songs. Rossdale adds that the public will be soon aware of a special
collaboration between him and the Artist. "Yeah baby," he said. "He's very cool. I don't know how it will pan out, but I think there will be
further developments of our friendship on a public way--professional way I should say." The Bush man, however, wouldn't comment further. When asked if the Artist would surface during one of Bush's Irving Plaza shows, Rossdale
says, "You never know. You live and hope." Meanwhile, Bush is working on the final mixes of The Science Of Things. The album is tentatively due in fall. The track listing is as follows: "Warm Machine," "Jesus Online," "The Chemicals Between Us," "English Fire," "Space Travel," "40 Miles From The Sun," "Disease Of The Dancing Cats," "Mindchaser," "Altered States," "Dead Meat," "Letting The Cables Sleep," and "Prizefighter." Bush will be at Woodstock '99 this weekend in Rome, N.Y. The band is set to headline Friday (July 23) night's bill.
From MTV.com (July 21): It looks like Bush won't get as much practice as it had hoped to before this weekend's Woodstock festival.
The band has postponed what was to the be the first of two small club shows in New York on Wednesday night, citing drummer Robin
Goodridge's ear infection. The band was slated to play two shows at New York's Irving Plaza on Wednesday and Thursday night (as part of the
Digital Club Festival) before heading to Woodstock this weekend. Thursday night's show has now been moved to the larger Roseland
Ballroom in order to accommodate fans who held tickets for both Irving Plaza shows. Organizers will also make additional tickets for Thursday
night's show available the day of the show as well. Of course, Goodridge is expected to be well enough to perform
on Thursday, and the ailment should not jeopardize the band's slot on Woodstock '99. The band is expected to join a roster of more than 40 artists
in Rome, New York this weekend for the three-day event, which will feature Limp Bizkit, Korn, DMX, Metallica, Jewel, Sugar Ray, Korn, Dave
Matthews Band, and a host of others. Speaking with MTV News recently, guitarist Nigel Pulsford said the band had hoped to use the two club shows as a warm-up for
Woodstock, and that the band hoped to road-test new material from its upcoming album (check out more from Pulsford in our MTV News Online
feature "Digital Club Festival:It's the Music, Stupid."). However, the band has already logged a number of club dates in California, and
should be prepared for the festival, which kicks off on Friday at noon. Tickets for the event are still available through www.ticketmaster.com. Those who can't make the trip to upstate New York
can still catch all the action via 60 straight hours of pay-per-view coverage (hosted by former MTV VJ Kennedy). MTV News will be on the
scene as well, providing frequent updates both on-air and online throughout the weekend.
From sonicnet (July 24): Bush singer Gavin Rossdale clearly relished being in front of the huge crowd at Woodstock on Friday night (July 23).Playing a mix of old hits, such as "Glycerine" and "Everything Zen", Bush closed the first night of Woodstock '99 with a high-energy set that included five songs from their upcoming album, The Science of Things (Nov. 1). But it wasn't until the end that sex symbol Rossdale got into the Woodstock spirit of things.Punching the air, the bare-chested singer shouted "The spirit of love, the spirit of peace." He mixed his signature hair-flinging with touches of R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe's patented hand gestures as Bush covered R.E.M.'s hit ballad "The One I Love."
"We're going to mix it up," Rossdale had said a few hours before his band's set.
When he introduced "The Chemicals Between Us," the new album's first single, he stripped off his black T-shirt and said, "I am a black man, I am a white man, I'm an Englishman, I am an American. This is the chemicals between us. This is the connection." Guitarist Nigel Pulsford had tipped his hand early that the band would be giving the Woodstock crowd a dose of greatest hits and new material. "We'll play five songs off of the new album and a couple of favorites," Pulsford said. "It's not worth seeing a band if they play all new material, so we'll mix it up a little bit." One new song, "Forty Miles From the Sun," was a change of pace from the rockers that Bush delivered during their tight, high-energy set. A slow, bluesy number, it included the lyrics "There is nowhere left to hide/ There was nothing to be done/ No people left to save/ Forty miles from the sun." Smiling devilishly before each song, it was clear Rossdale relished playing to the audience. "If you knew how good you f---in' look," he gushed. "It must be one of the best things I've ever seen."
Several times during the set, Rossdale surfed the crowd, cradling his guitar. The crowd grabbed at his back and rust-colored hair as he briefly hovered over their hands. On two songs, he played guitar in the mosh pit, leaning his head back as the crowd caressed his hair and legs, finally gesturing for a roadie to get him back up onstage. Alternately rolling on the stage and swaying at the microphone, Rossdale ended the set by giving a figurative tip of the hat to Steve Albini, producer of Bush's sophomore album, Razorblade Suitcase.
Slipping in a few lyrics from the song "Kerosene," a track from pioneering preindustrial band Big Black, Rossdale gave Albini's (Nirvana, Pixies) former band perhaps the biggest plug of its career. The ballad "Glycerine" was a change of pace from the set's hard-rocking numbers. A beautiful glow was created when many audience members near the front ignited sticks, matches, cigarettes and lighters. It appeared that Rossdale was alluding to Bush's recently settled lawsuit with their former record label when he said, "It's a beautiful thing to be playing for you again," then paused dramatically before saying, "We're coming. Look out." Bush also played "Comedown," "Swallowed", "Greedy Fly" and "Little Things" before closing the set. At the end, playing the rock star to the hilt, he knelt at the front of the stage and strummed his guitar so fast and furiously one string broke off. He threw the guitar down, fiddled around with the string a bit, then tossed the string into the audience. Then he threw kisses to the audience, raised his fist in triumph and walked off.
Fan Sara Hahn, 17, said, "I came here from Ohio just to see [Bush]. Their music is alternative but you can actually hear the words. [Rossdale] loves to do the rock-star thing, but he talks to his fans and listens to them."
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