Scott Ian Quotes & Sayings

My grandfather was Orthodox, and he was religious, but neither of my parents were. Of course, as they got older, it seems like they get more religious the older they get, even though they're still not practicing Jews. — Scott Ian

I will absolutely say that Johnny Ramone was a huge influence on me. I'm a giant Ramones fan. — Scott Ian

I'm just not a big fan of the too-cool-for-school indie world. Metal bands have never been invited or been able to be part of the cool kids, and I like it that way. — Scott Ian

To me, the guitar is a tool for songwriting, and it's fun, too. The day that it's not fun, that's when I'm not gonna play guitar anymore. — Scott Ian

I have enough to think about - I just don't ever want to have to think about my car. — Scott Ian

As big as Metallica are, they're still not like a pop act. As big as they are, they're still not U2 or Lady Gaga. It's still underground. — Scott Ian

Even as a kid, if I would come across something cool in the record store, that would be how I found out about bands. It's kind of the same way these days. In a way even less because there are no record stores to go to anymore. — Scott Ian

At some point around '94 or '95, 'Rolling Stone' said that guitar rock was dead and that the Chemical Brothers were the future. I think that was the last issue of 'Rolling Stone' I ever bought. — Scott Ian

I don't think any of our lyrics have ever been erotic in a sexual term, because I haven't really written, touched on, that subject too often. But, uh ... I mean, I suppose they could point the finger at us for violence maybe in certain songs. — Scott Ian

Eventually we discovered Bleeker Bob's in the West Village on 118 West Third Street. One time I was there I literally tried to rip the first Iron Maiden album out of the hands of a friend of mine. [...] I was having a tug-of-war with this guy over who was gonna buy it. [...] If I hadn't won, I would've gone home and gotten my shitty little tape recorder that you have to use two fingers to push play and record on, and I would've brought that to my friend's house and held it in front of a speaker to tape the record so I'd have something to listen to until I could find another copy. Yeah, it'd sound terrible but so what? We didn't know anything else. When I hear people say, 'I hate MP3s, they sound like shit,' I'm like, 'Fuck you, you hae no idea, you first-world-problem-having motherfucker. — Scott Ian

I've always been a true believer that if men had babies, nobody would be trying to tell them what they can and can't do with their bodies. — Scott Ian

I don't even know who that person was in the '80s. I see pictures of myself from back then and I don't even recognize myself. — Scott Ian

A guitar for me is pretty much strictly in the context of writing songs for my band, coming up with ideas with my band, and then being able to perform those songs as best as I can on stage - that's what the guitar for me has always been. — Scott Ian

People think of Jews as the Woody Allen stereotype, the nebbishy kind of thing, but that's not the kind of Jews I know. I know plenty of Israelis and plenty of tough guys that are Jewish. So, I think it makes sense that Jews play metal. — Scott Ian

What is it about a zombie that appeals to me? I don't know. Maybe that it's just the most possible - I don't know - of all the supernatural entities. — Scott Ian

I'm not the kind of guy who sits around at home and writes songs. Once in a while I'll pick up a guitar and noodle around, but it's rare. — Scott Ian

I could care less about sitting around and practicing the guitar for hours a day and trying to be the best guitar player on the planet. — Scott Ian

What I love about 'The Walking Dead' is it's a human story, which is to me what makes the comic book so good, but once you jump from the pages of the book to the screen, the gore and the zombies have to look great. — Scott Ian

I love what I do, somehow I have been able to play in a band for my entire life and that is all I ever wanted to do. I love that I get to do that. — Scott Ian

There's a thousand other things I would rather spend money on than a car. — Scott Ian

To be honest, I'm one of the least-technical guitar players around. I just want a guitar to feel good and sound good. That's it, period. — Scott Ian

If someone wants to sticker a record for whatever reason, that's fine. But once it affects someone's opportunity to, you know, get that record, then I have a problem with it. — Scott Ian

Nobody gets into a band and thinks they're going to have a 30-year career. — Scott Ian

Why would heavy metal ever go away? — Scott Ian

Metal guys are huge nerds. A good percentage of them are either horror or sci-fi or comic book or fantasy nerds. — Scott Ian

When you're younger - duh - you don't really have the tools to deal with certain things in your life. — Scott Ian

I kind of live in this weird world where I am exposed to a lot of stuff, but then again I am not exposed to a lot of stuff. — Scott Ian

I think the best riffs and the best songs come when you're jamming and having a good time. — Scott Ian

I really don't worry about what people say or what they have to say or what they think - it just doesn't matter. — Scott Ian

I'm certainly not a practicing Jew. I would never claim, 'I'm Jewish.' That's not the first and foremost thing in my mind, as far as who I am as a person. — Scott Ian

Frank Zappa ... was Beethoven for insane rock guys. — Scott Ian

Anthrax, it's something that gets you sick, it's horrible, strong. It's a heavy-metal band name if there ever was one. — Scott Ian

Everything I do is metal. When I clean my house, it's metal. — Scott Ian

Music and songs are written at different periods of time, at different times in your life. They reflect the feelings you have and to be honest, I quite like having positive emotions. — Scott Ian