When I was 14, I was in a band named Splinter. We were terrible, and only ever wrote two terrible songs, and they sucked. My mom has a tape somewhere. We played a live showcase at our drummer’s high school, and none other than Axl Rosenberg himself cut the power midway through our song. I tell you all of this because Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian‘s 11-year-old son is the drummer in a band named Honeybee, and while they’re audibly young, they are five fuckin’ million times better than my band was when I was three years older than him.
You remember Revel Ian, right? Did all those cover videos with his dad, covering System of a Down and Sepultura and shit? Well, Honeybee aren’t as thrashy as the stuff he plays with his pops, but has much more of a ’70s right-on-the-cusp-of-metal-existing kind of vibe. You know, like Budgie or Cheap Trick. But that’s exactly what they’re doing right — usually, when a band bites off the ’70s, they go slow and femme and psychedelic, and these guys are instead playing with that vibe of being agitated and not being able to do anything about it that feels very late-’70s rocker teenager. Does it sound like some kids playing the Battle of the Bands? Sure. But they at least qualify at that shit, and have girlfriends by the end of the night.
Says Ian (Revel, not Scott) on being in a band:
“It’s one of the most awesome feelings you can ever have. Playing music with people is one of the most creative things you can do. You can make music whatever you want. And at my age? Forget about it. I am so grateful to be able to play music with two guys that are 5 years older than me.
“I am so grateful to be able to play like I can at 11 years old. Quick summary: Being in a band is the best feeling you can ever have.”
This kid seems okay! Check out Honeybee’s “Get Out of My Head” below. The band are playing The Whisky on May 15th