John Bush has completed an album with guitarist Tara Novick through their collaboration Electric Spaghetti, a project that grew from casual jam sessions into a full recording. Bush said in an interview with RadioRadioX.
The project began when Novick persistently encouraged Bush to work together. Bush described how the initial musical ideas impressed him enough to turn them into songs, and after writing six or seven tracks, the pair decided to perform live shows.
“Electric Spaghetti is just kind of a labor of love,” Bush said. “It’s fun. Me and my buddy Tara, his wife and my wife work together, so that’s how we got to know one another. And he just kept saying, ‘Dude, we gotta do something.’ He’s a very enthusiastic person.”
Bush explained that he was hesitant at first due to his other commitments, but Novick’s persistence won him over. “I was, like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ I knew he was talented, but I was, like, ‘I have so much going on, dude.’ And he just kept hammering me, like, ‘Dude, we gotta do something.’ I was, like, ‘Okay, give me some stuff. Give me a couple ideas, and let me see what I can do with it.’ And he did, and I was, like, ‘Wow, this is cool. Sounds different.’ And I was, like, ‘Okay, let me write to this.’ And I did, and then we had a couple songs written, demoed, and I was, like, ‘Wow, this is cool.’ So after we got about six or seven songs written, I was, like, ‘All right, let’s do some gigs. Why not?'”
The band assembled around Novick’s existing musical connections. “[Tara] used to be in a band with John Corbett, who’s the actor from ‘Sex And The City’ and ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’,” Bush said. “[John Corbett is] a very famous movie star. And [Tara] was in a band with him. And so they did a bunch of shows, they toured when John was at his height of success, and they’d play some shows. And I’m sure it was probably pretty awesome, ’cause I’m sure the audience was, like, probably 85% women.”
Bush noted that after that project ended, Novick brought musicians from that era into Electric Spaghetti. “So I’m sure it was a pretty good run for them. And [John Corbett is] a big-time movie star. But then that kind of fizzled out, and so [Tara] had guys from that band, and he goes, ‘I have some musicians.’ And I was, like, ‘Yeah, let’s jam.’ And they’re awesome. So it’s Louie on bass, and The Hawk on drums, and they’re both great. And then we got this keyboard player that Tara played with. His name’s Jon Niemann, and he’s amazing. He plays with everyone from Chris Robinson from The Black Crowes to all kinds of different people.”
Keyboard player Jon Niemann brings significant range to the project. “And dude, he could play anything. At one point he sounds like Billy Cobham, then stuff he does sounds like Jon Lord. He’s just incredibly talented. So to play with these guys, it just brings out another [aspect] of my [singing] style. And we wrote a bunch of tunes and we made a record. So at one point it’s coming out. I’m not sure how. And we’re still trying to figure that out.”
Bush described Novick as a versatile guitarist whose background spans multiple genres. “[Tara] comes from the rockabilly world. He played with Slim Jim Phantom, and that’s really his thing. But he could do anything. He’s a really diverse guitar player and a great songwriter. And we’ve written some really cool tunes together. One song sounds like Little Richard, another one sounds like, like I said, Deep Purple. So it’s all over the place.”
The completed album reflects this musical diversity, drawing inspiration from classic rock and soul artists. Bush is still working out the details of how and when the record will be released.
Novick’s career in rock and alternative music spans decades. He emerged from the Los Angeles punk and rockabilly scene and was a founding member of Royal Crown Review in 1989, a band that helped pioneer the neo-swing revival. From 2000 to 2005, Novick served as lead guitarist for Lee Rocker of The Stray Cats, and he has also worked as lead guitarist and producer for Billy Idol and Slim Jim Phantom.
Novick’s collaboration with actor John Corbett produced the single “Good to Go,” which came out in 2006 and reached the Hot Country Songs charts. The John Corbett Band, which featured Novick on guitar alongside David “the Hawk” Lopez on drums and Louie Vincent Ruiz on bass, performed lengthy sets that drew audiences from around the world.
Bush brings his own substantial background to Electric Spaghetti. He came to prominence in the 1980s as the lead singer and lyricist of Armored Saint, the heavy metal band from Los Angeles. When Bush joined Anthrax in 1992, Armored Saint disbanded, but the Los Angeles band reunited in 1999 and has continued to perform and record.
Electric Spaghetti brings together musicians with deep experience in rock, metal, and alternative genres. The project unites Novick’s rockabilly and diverse guitar skills with Bush’s metal vocal prowess and the technical talents of Niemann on keyboards and the rhythm section. The album’s stylistic range, from classic soul to Deep Purple-influenced rock, reflects the varied backgrounds and abilities of all the musicians involved.
