Former SALIVA Vocalist JOSEY SCOTT Says He Wouldn’t Join The Current “Temu Version Of SALIVA”
Josey Scott – real name Joseph Sappington – has made it pretty apparent over the last few years how he feels about Saliva now.
Having left the metal band back in 2011 and talked about a reunion show in 2019 with other founding member Wayne Swinny – who passed away in 2023 – that did not come to fruition, Scott eventually started his own version of Saliva back in 2023 called Josey Scott’s Saliva and has traded shots back and forth with current Saliva vocalist, Bobby Amaru that Scott has addressed in his own interview with Youngtown Studios.
Back in October of last year, Amaru had a chat with Youngstown Studio on YouTube, to which he was asked if he struggled at all when replacing Scott back in 2011, and Amaru‘s answer very much rubbed Scott the wrong way (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “I don’t wanna throw [Scott] under the bus, but he’s no Bruce Dickinson and he’s no Rob Halford. So there’s that. Let’s go ahead and get that out of the way. Now he thinks he is, but he’s not. Those dudes are extremely hard to replace. It’s very, very, very hard. And I like Ripper. I like that record that [PRIEST] did [with Ripper], man. I remember it was, like, ‘Jugulator’ or something. It was an awesome record. And I think people do give Ripper credit for a lot of that stuff. Now when you talk about replacing Bruce Dickinson, I don’t even know who it is or have no idea what you’re talking about. ‘Cause I don’t know. But the Ripper stuff I do remember and was more familiar with.”
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This also comes after bassist Brad Stewart implied that there was damage control to be done when Josey Scott left the band when chatting to Detroit’s WRIF Meltdown last year, “Yeah, I think he’s just kind of made it confusing. [Scott]’s just being [Scott], what he always was. He always thought he was like a one-man thing, and he’s doing what he’s gonna do. I think for us, though, we spent a lot of time, I spent a lot of time, too, when I got in the band just hearing a lot of ‘no’s from radio stations and from managers and a lot of damage control, and that stuff that just kind of really… I’m not talking shit; I’m just being real. This is what it was. I got in the band, and there was a lot of roadblocks — a lot of roadblocks — and everything always led back to one person causing those roadblocks. I think it’s just another roadblock.
“And bridges burned into the ground that you’re trying to sort of rebuild, in a lot of ways, at radio and places that there was a lot of self-sabotage that was going on there that was unfortunate. And for a lot of the times that [Amaru] spent in the band before I joined in 2015, it was all about sort of rebuilding bridges, man. And, ‘Hey, this is not the Saliva, though, that did or whatever happened with you guys at the station or somewhere else. We’re sorry, but this is not the same band, and we’re here now to rock and we’re ready to do it. And then we’re gonna kick some ass.’ And so it was a lot of that — it still is, even in some places.”
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Now, Josey Scott has seemingly responded to those comments in an interview of his own with Youngtown Studios. Simply put, he said he would not rejoin Amaru‘s “bastardized” version of Saliva:
“All I can do, to answer your question — no, I don’t, because it would be sort of a bastardized version of it if I went with the lineup that they have now. Not to speak ill of those musicians — I think they’re very great musicians; Sebastian LaBar [guitarist for Amaru-fronted Saliva] I love dearly. He’s the son of a legend, Jeff LaBar from Cinderella. I adore him. I adore their drummer Sam [Sammi Jo Bishop]. I don’t know the other [Amaru-fronted Saliva musicians].
“Me and [Amaru] have just butted heads. And he’s talked crap about me in the press and just done all these sort of… I don’t wanna talk ill of… My mother used to say, ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say about somebody, don’t say anything at all.’ But it’s just — I don’t know. I don’t want to give the fans the Temu version of Saliva with some kind of a bastardized version that [Amaru] puts together.”
Scott then goes on to say that Amaru is “not Saliva and never has been Saliva.”
“It’s just a dirty situation. It’s just a sticky situation. And I respect the fact that he did what he did, but if that’s the case, if his stuff that he did with Saliva is equally as important as mine, then let him play his songs and I’ll play my songs and we’ll see how it shakes out. But that’s not what he does. He goes out and plays a couple of covers, a couple of his songs, and the rest of the set is my songs, man. It’s my music. So it’s just a sort of a dirty, just gross situation and I have no interest in dealing with Bobby Amaru. I have no foresight of seeing anything down the road.”
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The most current lineup is Bobby Amaru on vocals, Brad Stewart on bass, Sammi Jo Bishop on drums, Josh Kulack on lead guitar, and Sebastian LaBar on rhythm guitar – however, the band has 10 previous members, with none of them being the original members. This within itself has been an issue for Josey Scott:
“I would like to get my name back because it’s not like that was a name that all five of us came up with. That was my name. That was what I came to the table with. I put that band together one member at a time. And if Wayne Swinny was here, he would tell you that – God rest his soul. And the other three guys, Paul Crosby [second Saliva drummer] and Dave Novotny [founding bassist] and Chris D’Abaldo [founding guitarist] – they will tell you that I came up with that name. That’s my name.
“So all I can do is say a Hail Mary that that name comes back home to its rightful place. And now if that happens, I will be glad to pour my heart and soul back into that name and to do a new Saliva record and to even bring in — as much as Dave Novotny wants to be involved. I think the last time we tried to get him involved, he was, like, ‘Man, I’m making about the same money I was making at the job I have now.‘ So, he has his boys that he’s busy raising, being a father, and I respect that…. But yeah, as much as they’ve wanted to be involved, I would welcome him with open arms. Chris D’Abaldo, same thing. Paul Crosby, same thing. It’s our name. It’s not anybody else’s name, and anybody else that tells you that [it isn’t their name] is full of shit. Just plain and simple.”
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It looks like Josey Scott has several live dates planned for the rest of the year, which you can find tickets for here, and see tour dates below. Saliva are also on tour this autumn in support of their album released in late January, which you can also find dates for below and tickets here, as well.
JOSEY SCOTT LIVE
August 23 – Mount Morris, MI @ Genesee County Fair
August 28 – Bloomville, OH @ Smokin’ Cole Farms
August 29 – Youngstown, OH @ Westside Bowl
September 5 – Syracuse, NY @ Smack Fest
September 6 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
October 11 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
October 17 – Chesterfield, MI @ Diesel Concert Lounge
October 18 – Columbus, IN @ Cozy Lounge
SALIVA ON TOUR
August 29 – Pryor, OK @ Rocklahoma
August 31 – Tower, MN @ Fortune Bay Casino
September 1 – Mt. Pleasant, MI @ Soaring Eagle Casino
September 6 – Valley City, ND @ Brady Larson Memorial Derby
September 7 – Minneapolis, MN @ Studio B @ Skyway Theatre
September 9 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
September 10 – McHenry, IL @ The Vixen
September 11 – Wyandotte, MI @ District 142
September 12 – Lakewood, OH @ Mercury Music Lounge
September 13 – New Waterford, OH @ Daniel J Perry Amphitheatre
September 14 – Reading, PA @ Reverb
September 16 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Elevation @ The Intersection
September 18 – Kansasville, WI @ 1175 Sports Park & Eatery
September 19 – Ringle, WI @ Q and Z Expo Center
September 20 – Brainerd, MN @ Stuart C Mills Field
September 21 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Big’s Bar
September 23 – Minot, ND @ The Original Bar and Nightclub
September 25 – Bozeman, MT @ The Elm
September 26 – Great Falls, MT @ The Newberry
September 27 – Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club Ballroom
September 28 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory
September 29 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
October 1 – Portland, OR @ Dante’s
October 3 – Reno, NV @ Virginia Street Brewhouse
October 4 – Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock
October 6 – Bakersfield, CA @ Nile Theater
October 7 – Pomona, CA @ The Glasshouse
October 8 – West Hollywood, CA @ Whisky Go Go
October 9 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
October 11 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
October 14 – Corpus Christi, TX @ Brewster Street
October 15 – Houston, TX @ Scout Bar
October 16 – Austin, TX @ Come And Take It Live
