Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Push Past The Pain
Artist talks inspiration for new album
British rocker Gavin Rossdale is candid about his very public divorce from popstar Gwen Stefani last year. But the lead singer of BUSH says the group’s new album, released in March, isn’t just about a breakup.
“Obviously, I went through the mill a bit and got a bit smacked around, but that’s OK. That happens in life, and it’s not the mark of what you do or what happened to you — the mark of who you are is how you respond,” Rossdale shares. “I wrote about 35 songs for the record, and I tried to actually take off as many songs [about the relationship] as I could because I was like, ‘Oh shut up going on about yourself. It’s so boring! I mean, are you the only person in the universe right now?’ And I was for a minute. But then I let go of it, and I appreciated there were loads of things going on in the world.”
The goal of “Black and White Rainbows” was to create a record full of humanity. Though he felt it would be disingenuous not to include anything about the pain of separating from the mother of his children, Rossdale says he was inspired by things bigger than himself going on in the world. In 2015 when the image of drowned 3-year-old Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi washed up on the Turkish beach became a symbol of the crisis, Rossdale, who also has a 3-year-old son, began thinking more globally.
“These images, they’re so arresting that you go, ‘I need to shut the f*ck up. I’m OK. Just be interesting, and don’t think about yourself.’ So that’s how the record began to come together and I felt really happy about that side of my life where I wasn’t overly obsessed about myself.”
Rossdale says his favorite thing, which he is seeing already with “Rainbows,” is when fans spread the love for songs equally across the album — something he’s noticed in regard to his career as well. The goal, he says, was never to be a heritage act leaning on old hits. And to see the crowd of a BUSH show, it seems the fans have responded. Some people only know the new work since the group’s reunion; some pull out their “Razorblade Suitcase” T-shirts and couldn’t tell you anything from the last three albums; some fans, Rossdale can see from the stage, know all the words to all the songs. And BUSH is there to play for all of them.
“I play every show like it’s the last show I’m ever going to get to play; there’s no other way to play a show,” he reasons. “And I firmly believe the day that I get up on the stage and I just go, ‘Eh, I’m going to text this in,’ that’s the day I shouldn’t be doing these shows. I think people who come to see us will be like, ‘Holy sh*t, they mean it.’ That’s what I think is different and you can’t get from the records. So I’m looking forward to coming out and playing Arkansas like it’s the last show I’m going to play.”