Metal Anarchy

During a recent interview with Rock Feed, Saliva frontman Bobby Amaru responded to recent comments from former singer Josey Scott, who referred to the current lineup as the “Temu version of Saliva.” He says he “feel[s] like [he] see[s] a sad man who just has quitter’s remorse.”

Amaru said the following:

“I watched that interview that [Josey] did [with Youngstown Studio]. I usually don’t pay attention to the  Blabbermouth headlines or any of his interviews and stuff. But so many people were sending it to me that I watched it front to back.

It doesn’t bother me, the things that he says about me — I’m not really bothered by it. I just feel like I see a sad man who just has quitter’s remorse. And that’s what it feels like to me.

I like to take negative stuff and turn it into positivity and create music and stuff, and some people just like to be negative and bash online or whatever, or take jabs. And for me, I love music, [and] always have. And I love  SALIVA, love the brand.

[Late guitarist] Wayne [Swinny] had a vision. We all had a vision when I got in the band, was to take a broken project and revive it, and that’s what I’ve been doing. And, unfortunately, Wayne’s life was cut short. We love and we miss him every day. And I’m only honoring him. I didn’t even know that I wanted to do this anymore when he passed away — I didn’t feel like I wanted to — and some things started happening and  Josey took it upon himself to just go and call himself [and his solo band]  JOSEY SCOTT’S SALIVA. And I just felt like that was wrong. I felt like it was classless, and  Wayne would be rolling in his grave over that. And people that knew  Wayne and know the situation, they would agree with that. And I think, for me, it’s, like I decided to continue on and I just wanna put out killer music. And I feel like the band has been accelerating, and he hates that. It bothers him.

I don’t know. I mean, I wish the guy well. I just hope the guy could find positivity and put it to the music, just keep doing what he’s doing. He has fans, but  SALIVA is gonna keep doing what  SALIVA’s doing and what  SALIVA’s been doing. 14 years — November will be 14 years for me. And I’m grateful. I am. And we have a lot of cool things on the horizon, a bunch of unannounced festivals for ’26. And, hey, man, we’re gonna keep putting out music.”

He continued when asked if he had a conversation with Swinny about continuing if he passed away:

“Yeah, we had several, man. Wayne and I were very close. And I think that  Wayne and  Josey just never ultimately resolved their issues, unfortunately. But  Wayne never had hate in his heart.  Wayne was always a very positive person as well and loved music and loved this brand more than music. So, carrying on was what he definitely wanted. He wanted us to carry on, ’cause he loved it. He loved this band. And it all really goes back to  Josey quitting, I think. He’s not a victim. He’s a quitter. And he quit the band. And I don’t think Wayne ever forgave him for that, because the way he quit wasn’t, like, ‘All right. See you guys later.’ He just kind of left them high and dry. And, like I said, there’s so many other things.

When I got in the band, there were three guys, four guys that had a lot to say and a lot to vent about. I won’t go into that, but Wayne and I spent a lot of years in the band, SALIVA, we spent a lot of years repairing relationships and just trying to rebuild and reconnect with people that had given up on the brand and given up on us. And I think that was part of  Wayne’s mission, was he wasn’t a quitter, and he wanted to fight for everything he put in too.

A lot of times people forget, bands are multiple people or whatever, and sometimes there’s one person that makes it about them. And I think we had to collectively go out every night and try to put on the best live show imaginable and radio stations telling you, ‘No, I’m not playing your song because of what you guys did to me in the past,’ or a promoter saying, ‘No, you’re not playing this festival because you started a fight with  ZZ TOP,’ or whatever it may be. And then now we’re getting these things and these things are starting to happen, because we’re doing the positive thing. We’re doing it for the right reasons and not for the wrong reasons.

It’s never been about money, it’s never been about follows for me or any of that. I’m doing a lot of things outside of  SALIVA as well… And I’m always about taking the high road, and, ‘Take the high road, man. Anything he says or anything someone says, take the high road.’ But I’ve been taking the high road for 14 years. And there comes a point, it’s, like, this song  ’Hit ‘Em Where It Hurts’ that we dropped, it’s about the underdog, man. It’s about, eventually you take it on the chin enough, you’re gonna clap back, you’re gonna say something. And I don’t wanna get into a  Twitter battle, man. I’d rather just put it in the music and write a song about it. That’s just how I’m wired. Everyone’s wired differently.”

[via Blabbermouth]