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So, I’m on a Zoom with Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, and two things quickly become apparent.
1. Rossdale, approaching 60, is still a ridiculously beautiful man.
2. More importantly, the dude both appreciates and embraces therapy.
He’s even putting it into the public space.
Rossdale and Bush play Toyota Center (Shinedown is also on the bill) on Wednesday night, and in addition to the music, some of the graphics to accompany the show will include things like suicide hotline numbers, mental health factoids and resources, things of that nature.
The band is touring in support of its latest, the absolutely awesome I Beat Loneliness, which tackles an array of mental health topics and even includes Rossdale – ever the charismatic frontman – taking on the role of pseudo-therapist.
“We wanted to make a record for now; suicide rates are staggering, it’s simply unbelievable,” Rossdale said from his Cleveland hotel room. “Everyone in life is dealing with a different perspective. We’re all crazy and trying to get along with ourselves and other people, so I wanted this to be a useful record, something people could rely upon.”
I Beat Loneliness is all that and then some. Musically, it’s got shades of ’90s peak era Bush – melodic, hard but not overly aggressive, listener-friendly, etc. – but it also showcases a songwriter in Rossdale who has grown incredibly comfortable in his skin.
He’s vulnerable, a man stripped bare by a rough upbringing, a life spent in the spotlight and the frontman of one of the biggest bands of the post-grunge 90s wave.
“It’s hard to get through so much suffering,” the pleasant and engaging Rossdale said. “If you’re really open with yourself, you feel for people in dire situations. I’ve never driven past a homeless person and not been crushed … And I’m, like, ‘What the fuck happened? Where do you come from?’ I don’t know if that could have been me, but it very well could have been. I’m certainly not better than anyone else. I could lose my way just the same.”
Added Rossdale: “I’ve tried to write ‘story songs,’ but I was, like, God, you’re so full of shit. What the fuck are you talking about? That isn’t real; it’s made up and I’m no good at it. Rather, what was I feeling myself? … It doesn’t matter if things in your mind are jagged and move around; it’s what our brains do all the time. So that (third-person songwriting approach) doesn’t work for me.”
Yep, this guy gets it.
Rossdale is also incredibly thankful to have fronted a band that has remained in the cultural zeitgeist for more than 30 years. When Rossdale opines on never writing a “party song” that generates a reaction in the public space, I’m quick to recall a recent outing when “Comedown,” one of Bush’s biggest and earliest hits, came over the venue’s speaker system. Everyone went nuts and sang along. A party song? Not exactly, but one that has lived on in the decades since.
The ’90s are having a bit of a renaissance in their own right. Woodstock ’99 had not one, but two, documentaries released in succession, detailing the utter chaos that was the event. Creed is back on tour. Limp Bizkit headlined a successful tour last year. Teenagers everywhere are rocking Nirvana shirts. A wave of 90s-era wonders have reunited, some to celebrate their legacy, others to capitalize and cash in on a little nostalgia, others a mixture of both.
Rossdale is appreciative of Bush’s 90s heyday and what it provided to him – a career, a name, purpose, fame and fortune.
“More than 30 years after Sixteen Stone (the band’s smash 1994 breakout), we’re playing to 20,000 people every night,” he said. “I’ve had such an incredible life with such depth and meaning; what a gift. I live in constant gratitude; there’s no other way to look at it. If it all ended tomorrow, I’ve had an incredible run.”
Before we part ways, and given the title and focus of Bush’s new record, I have to ask – how exactly does one beat loneliness?
Rossdale has obviously given this a lot of thought.
“Everything has a solution, and time certainly helps,” he said. “Beating loneliness is not about being lonely for a period of time. It’s about being connected, self-reflecting … At times, we all feel a certain sense of loneliness, but you have to feel that sometimes in order to be connected to others, including yourself. At different stages of life, you’re feeling all these emotions. It’s all about fostering a culture of connectivity, and people understand that.”
Bush and Shinedown perform Wednesday, August 27 at Toyota Center, 1510 Polk. For more information, visit toyotacenter.com. Tickets $46, plus fees.
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Clint Hale
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