Metal Anarchy

During a recent interview with Youngstown Studio, original Saliva singer Josey Scott took a shot at the band’s current frontman Bobby Amaru. According to him, Amaru is “not Saliva [and] has never been Saliva.”

Scott said the following when asked if he would be open to joining forces with the present version of Saliva:

“All I can do, to answer your question — no, I don’t, because it would be sort of a bastardized version of it if I went with the lineup that they have now. Not to speak ill of those musicians — I think they’re very great musicians; Sebastian LaBar, I love dearly. He’s the son of a legend, Jeff LaBar from Cinderella. I adore him. I adore their drummer Sam [Sammi Jo Bishop]. I don’t know the other [musicians in the Amaru-fronted version of Saliva].

Me and Bobby have just butted heads. And he’s talked crap about me in the press and just done all these sort of… I don’t wanna talk ill of… My mother used to say, ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say about somebody, don’t say anything at all.’ But it’s just — I don’t know. I don’t want to give the fans the Temu version of Saliva with some kind of a bastardized version that Bobby puts together.

He’s not Saliva. He has never been Saliva. He definitely went out there and did his thing and filled in the space. And he’s written some songs or whatever. But he said in the press my analogy of, if this was a David Lee Roth-Sammy Hagar situation [with Van Halen], I’d be glad to do this with Bobby because he would have as many hits as I had. And he told the interviewer, ‘Let’s face it, Josie’s no…’ — I think he said ‘Bruce Dickinson’ or something. I didn’t even say Iron Maiden. I was talking about the analogy — certainly not comparing myself to the great David Lee Roth or the great Sammy Hagar. [I was] just using that as a one-two analogy between the two of us.

It’s just a dirty situation. It’s just a sticky situation. And I respect the fact that he did what he did, but if that’s the case, if his stuff that he did with Saliva is equally as important as mine, then let him play his songs and I’ll play my songs and we’ll see how it shakes out. But that’s not what he does. He goes out and plays a couple of covers, a couple of his songs, and the rest of the set is my songs, man. It’s my music. So it’s just a sort of a dirty, just gross situation and I have no interest in dealing with Bobby Amaru. I have no foresight of seeing anything down the road.”

He continued when asked if he hopes to perform under the Saliva name with his band:

“I would like to get my name back because it’s not like that was a name that all five of us came up with. That was my name. That was what I came to the table with. I put that band together one member at a time. And if Wayne Swinny was here, he would tell you that. God rest his soul. And the other three guys, Paul Crosby and Dave Novotny and Chris D’Abaldo, they will tell you that I came up with that name. That’s my name.

So all I can do is say a Hail Mary that that name comes back home to its rightful place. And now if that happens, I will be glad to pour my heart and soul back into that name and to do a new Saliva record and to even bring in — as much as Dave Novotny wants to be involved. I think the last time we tried to get him involved, he was, like, ‘Man, I’m making about the same money I was making at the job I have now.’ So, he has his boys that he’s busy raising, being a father, and I respect that. I’m a father as well, and God knows I adore my children. And that’s the one drawback from this life, is being away from your family and your children. But yeah, as much as they’ve wanted to be involved, I would welcome him with open arms. Chris D’Abaldo, same thing. Paul Crosby, same thing. It’s our name. It’s not anybody else’s name, and anybody else that tells you that [it is their name] is full of shit. Just plain and simple.”

[via Blabbermouth]