Carlos Ramirez of NoiseCreep recently spoke with original OVERKILL guitarist Bobby Gustafson, who played on the band's first four studio albums: Feel The Fire, Taking Over, Under The Influence, and The Years Of Decay. An excerpt from their chat follows:

When you look back at the time you spent in the band, what are your favorite memories?

"I'd say going to Europe the first time. Playing both Friday and Saturday nights at L'amour's and selling them out was a huge thing at the time. Selling out the Ritz in NYC was a great feeling. Once we did a gig for a young girl in New Jersey where the money went towards a liver operation she needed. That was a humbling experience. Oh, and every show Overkill did with Lemmy [laughs]."

What were some of the low points?

"Every other show [laughs]. No, I'm just kidding. One of the early low points was when my amp blew up just as we went to record the first album,'Feel The Fire. What you hear on that record is not my tone. We were on tour in Germany once and my very first guitar got stolen, but I eventually got it back. I guess Rat [Skates, original drummer] leaving was a shock. The worst point in the band for me was getting blindsided by D.D."

Musically speaking, what did you do for the next decade or so after you split from Overkill?

"The girls from CYCLE SLUTS FROM HELL were friends of mine. They needed a solo on one of their songs, so I came in and did two. Then they had a tour with MOTÖRHEAD in Europe so I joined them for that. At the time, I was putting together a new project called I4NI, so after Cycle Sluts From Hell I played with them and made a few demos, but nothing happened.

After I went out to fill in for James from METALLICA when he got burned I gave up I4NI. But I didn't get that gig either. Next was Billy Milano and M.O.D. I moved to the Bay Area with him, but that broke up in two weeks. I stayed there and hooked up with SLAYER's Dave Lombardo to do GRIP INC. but that wasn't happening fast enough for me. So I reinvented the I4NI project in San Francisco, but that went nowhere and after a few demos I split it up. From there I went off to Texas to play with the band SKREW. I did a tour and played on an album but that was it.

Lastly, I moved to Florida and joined a band called RESPONSE NEGATIVE. That's the latest musical thing I did."

During any of that time, did any other prominent bands approach you about possibly joining them?

"No, nothing big came up. The two biggest things were trying out for Metallica and one night on the MEGADETH tour Dave Mustaine asked me to join the band. He said he couldn't take his band anymore. But I thought Overkill's album at the time, [Taking Over 1987] was a great record and we were on our way. So the Megadeth thing didn't happen, but I was sure Dave Mustaine and I would have come to blows at some point, so it didn't take me long to say no."

To read the interview in its entirety, click here.