Kerrang! interview Issue #643 April 12, 1997. (condensed) America and Britain have been sent into fits of dribbling hysteria now UK stars BUSH are ready to gorge themselves on the rest of the planet. WE DON'T NEED NO EDUCATION From the age of 12, Gavin Rossdale attended the prestigious Westminster public school, a major bugbear with the indie music press obsessed with whether or not Gavin is - to coin a phrase -'4 Real'. "If anything, going to school made me more alienated," says Gavin, "but it was important to my Dad. The implication is that I'm a pampered rich kid, but you couldn't live this if you were spoilt. I was stupid not to try to learn more, but my favourite bit of school was the end of the last lesson. I learned nothing that was useful later in life." Was your Dad disappointed? "Yeah. He still is, bless him." School held no allure for his future bandmates either. Nigel, a "tearaway who refused to do any work", loathed it, but "decided to do some work rather than be an idiot" when he changed schools at 14. Once he'd "scraped through" his A-levels, Nigel enrolled at Bradford University - "a really horrible shithole" - to do a combined politics, history and philosophy degree. He lasted "about 10 days" before deciding that music was the way forward and moving to London. Dave found that moving schools a lot meant that he was always missing out on the over-subscribed subjects he was interested in and that the cricket and football teams weren't really keen on newcomers. At 15 he discovered "music, drink and girls" and "that was the end of doing homework". Robin says he was "a bit active and vocal" at school; more into the social vibe than work. His mate's parents had buggered off to Kenya for a year, leaving their son to look after the house on his own so the Horsham boys had a new all night drinking venue. Consequently, homework was something that happened to other people. EARLY DAYS REVISITED Much has been made of the fact that all of Bush have had previous experience in signed bands - as if this somehow detracts form their subsequent achievements. All four musicians acknowledge that they learnt hugely valuable lessons as a result of former exploits. Doesn't the expression 'if at first you don't succeed...' mean anything anymore? Gavin's first stab at rock 'n' roll immortality came with pop-rockers Midnight, whom he formed with film-maker David Puttnam's son Sasha. Obscurity quickly beckoned. Following on from a stint with his brother's punk band The Gonads, Robin played drums with a succession of Sussex groups before tasting chart success with dance club act Soul Family Sensation and Hendrix-sampling popsters Beautiful People. By 1977, Nigel was playing Steely Dan, Cars and Television songs in a school band "with various spastic punk names". After a stint as a fanzine writer, he formed indie rockers King Blank from the ashes of John Peel favourites the Folk Devils. The group made a couple of albums before "it drank itself to death". Dave Parsons, meanwhile, was a pop star, playing bass with '80s popsters Transvision Vamp, who were fronted by saucy blonde Wendy James. "I suppose it was proper pop stardom," Dave smiles, "and it was brilliant and funny. I had a real good time doing all the things I wanted to do. It could have been my only chance to do something like that. Fortunately, fate has proved otherwise. Gavin first met each of the others over a year-long period from 1992. All three were well impressed by the laid-back singer/songwriter. "When I first met (Transvision Vamp singer) Wendy James, I thought she had star potential," Dave recalls, "and I got the same feeling from Gavin." "He's your typical tortured control-freak singer/songwriter," Nigel laughs, "but from the start I knew he had something special." Robin, who was the last to join, thought the fledgling Bush were "wicked". And Gavin? "He was a star." ON THE COUCH WITH GAVIN ROSSDALE "I'm pretty tortured, pretty obsessive and full of self-doubt," Bush's frontman admits. "But I think I have a good perspective on my imbalances. When you think you're the dog's bollocks, you probably shouldn't be doing this any more." "All the way through my life I was treated like a rank outsider," he sighs. But not now? "I'm much less of an outsider," he smiles, "but I got here through my ability to feel that way, so I don't want to leave it behind. A lot of people I know have an outsider distrust, apart from Gwen who's really good and trusts everyone." Ah yes, Gwen... is this the same Gwen that you denied point blank you were dating when Kerrang! interviewed you in December last year? No Doubt's blonde super-babe Gwen Stefani? "Yes," Gavin smiles, "Gwen is my girlfriend and she's great. I was lying in December. We didn't want to go around shooting about it because we weren't sure whether or not we could be together, and we wanted to keep a bit of trust between ourselves because it's cartoon enough as it is. It is going to be extremely difficult, but I think that's probably why we do it." 'CORGAN IS A WANKER' Bush appear to be the Number One whipping boys for America's alternative rock fraternity. Gavin Rossdale isn't that bothered, but here are a selection of Rossdale's ripostes: "It's a bit strange playing introverted, confrontational, pissed-off music to 20,000 people. "We don't want to be cock rock like Bon Jovi." "Live fans are just REM's audience with nowhere to go." "Billy Corgan is a wanker." 'RAZORBLADE SUITCASE' Bush's second phase of world domination was ushered in last January with the release of new album 'Razorblade Suitcase'. The band had some natural fears about its release, but already sales figures indicate that it will eclipse the massive world-wide sales of its predecessor. Gavin: "Recording 'Razorblade Suitcase' in just a few weeks was the biggest punk move we ever made, totally fearless." Nigel: "We did want to say, 'f*ck you' to people who doubted we could do it again." Robin: "Coming off tour straight into the studio was my least favourite thing to do, but maybe some of that anxiety made for the right atmosphere. Maybe being rock star-ish is not the way to do things all the time."