Gavin Rossdale Discusses 'Sixteen Stone' + New Bush Album

2024 marked the 30th anniversary of the release of Bush‘s debut album, Sixteen Stone. In addition to that milestone, the band also celebrated its first-ever EP, Loads of Remixes, featuring several re-imagined versions of Bush classics.

“There’s a cliche of people who are chased down by their hits and, in some cases, even kind of have resentment,” Gavin Rossdale told Chuck Armstrong on Wednesday’s edition of Loudwire Nights (Dec. 18).

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

“I saw a band once who introduced one of their best songs as ‘the rent payer,’ which I thought was really cynical.”

Rossdale was clearly proud of the massive success of Sixteen Stone and seemed enthusiastic to reflect on its three decades of life.

“I’ve just kind of been in awe,” he said, “[of] whatever we did as a unit — and it was a big unit effort — to make that happen.”

He admitted that, even 30 years later, it was a wild experience for him because up until that point, he was used to failing when it came to the music he was writing and recording.

“I was signed, I made two singles, I’d been in the studio,” he said.

“[They] wouldn’t let me make the album on Epic [Records], so I never got to make a whole record. So just going in to make Sixteen Stone was like being immersed in joy. ‘Oh my god, we can have a legacy. Thank you.'”

Gavin Rossdale Teases New Bush Album For 2025

In addition to celebrating the 30th anniversary of Sixteen Stone, Rossdale teased the Loudwire Nights audience with some sparse details on Bush’s next album — the follow-up to 2022’s The Art of Survival.

“We did most of it just before the tour [with Jerry Cantrell],” Rossdale explained. “I felt better to be on that tour knowing that we had in the bank a whole record.”

He did say, though, that after the tour, the band came back to do a couple of more songs for the upcoming record and they’re in the process of mixing it now.

“You don’t want to live with the record for like four, five months mixed, because then it’s fixed,” he said.

“We have to just finish all the drums and mix it. That’s really a few weeks and then we’re ready to go.”

Rossdale said he’s done everything he’s needed to do — write the songs, sing the songs and play his guitar — and now the new album is in someone else’s hands.

“Other people are doing their things,” he said, smiling.

“Being around for the mix, that’s a breeze. It’s just fun. It’ll be soon.”

What Else Did Bush’s Gavin Rossdale Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

Why he keeps trying to make a record that “just slays”: “It’s such a fun thing to try and achieve. Of course, you never achieve it or else you’d stop … All you got to do is think of Tool. Did I reach that height?”
Why he originally wanted Steve Albini to produce Sixteen Stone (and how he eventually worked with him on Bush’s sophomore LP, Razorblade Suitcase): “He was one of the people that I thought in my brain would be the most incredible person to work with, but I didn’t have any access to him then.”
How important “failing” was for him and his journey to Sixteen Stone: “I was learning…you can’t expect to get rewards for something that you haven’t put the time into.”