It was pretty shocking when Rob Caggiano announced he was leaving Anthrax earlier this month. Rob has been with the band for the better part of 12 years, and everything seemed hunky dory. Keyword: seemed. In a new interview, Caggiano opens up about his decision to leave the band.
Ultimately, Caggiano said he was not creatively fulfilled in the band, acting more like a session player. He spoke to Pro Sound News about leaving:
“That was a very tough decision to make and it’s also a tough question to answer. There are a number of reasons why I left the band. Some of them are very personal to me but I ultimately have no problem being open about these things. If you were to ask me to give you the absolute main reason why I decided to leave Anthrax, I would tell you that I left because my heart simply wasn’t in it anymore. I had a blast playing with those guys and they will always be family to me, but outside of my guitar solos and production work, Anthrax was never a creative outlet for me (musically). That wasn’t by any choice of my own by the way; it’s just the way it is. But at the same time I was committed 100 percent to the band and the relentless touring schedule, etc.
It’s been a blast playing with those guys. I love them dearly and I wouldn’t change a thing about the last 12 years, but I guess it just got to the point where I started asking myself: ‘What the hell am I doing? I’m a musician; this is who I am. Being creative is simply food for my soul. Why am I devoting all of my time and energy into a band where being creative is impossible for me?’ It simply stopped making sense a while ago and I ended up feeling very unhappy and unfulfilled. It started feeling like I was just going through the motions and that’s not what music is about to me at all. As soon as I realized that my heart was not into it anymore, I knew I needed to make a major change in order to make things right for myself.”
Ultimately, there are no hard feelings and Caggiano just felt like he needed to do something else. He was with the band during, arguably, their most successful year, playing Big 4 shows and putting out a great release in Worship Music, so perhaps he thought that it was going to get worse than it would get any better.
Regardless, it seems that him leaving is best for both parties, as Caggiano can focus on creating again and Anthrax don't have to worry about a member of the band not having their heart in it 100%, holding everybody down.
Now we just have to wait and see if what Caggiano creates is actually any good!
