Megan from bn.com: Welcome Gavin Rossdale and Bush! Thank you for joining us tonight from Germany. Where do we find you? How is your European tour going?

GR: I'm feeling pretty exhausted, but the tour is going brilliantly, and I'm somewhere on the way to Switzerland.

Jessica from Connecticut: How did you come up with the song title "Jesus Online" from The Science of Things?

GR: One of the oldest words I knew of, and one of the newest words I knew of.

Jeanette from D'Souza: Hi Gavin, I heard that Bush will be playing Rome on Valentine's Day... any special plans set for that show? Also No Doubt will be here in Toronto on that day... do you and gwen plan to meet up? or has that relationship come to an end?

GR: No, I think I'll be leaving my past alone. I'll be dining alone that night.

Jana from PA: Hey, I just wanted to say how proud I was of you guys when you performed on MTV's New Year's thing, you seemed to be the only band who actually doesn't lip sync and can perform... how much longer do you think the recently pop music trends will stay popular?

GR: I can't tell. It's disappointing to me because I've always said that I want to hear Holden Caufield in a band. That's the kind of tune I want to hear. And I know that they're out there; he's out there, she's out there. I need them to keep believing in themselves and do what their heart tells them, and maybe we'll hear about them.

Lesley from Tampa, FL: What is your natural hair color???

GR: Light brown.

Rachel West from Thorold, Ontario: Gavin: Do you feel that you get different reactions from the crowd in a small club compared to larger venues, as well as in different parts of the world? Any preferences?

GR: Yeah, you know every single venue creates an atmosphere. You can have the same people, same number, two different venues -- and you've got different shows. I like the places where there really is atmosphere, and it's a challenge when they're really big, and it's a challenge when they're really small. So I just go for it and hope it works.

lesley from kalamazoo: What is your favorite drink?

GR: Probably mango and apple. Or a really nice red wine. And don't forget tequila!

Rachel West from Thorold, Ontario: Gavin: How do you feel being a role model for so many young people? Are you the kind of person that you would have looked up to for inspiration?

GR: First off, it's not really for me to say. But second off, I treat everyone with respect -- whoever I meet. The only way I can think of it is if when I was fifteen I had met me now, if I would be made to feel comfortable...I like people who are shy, a bit awkward. It makes me be nice to them. So I would think I was all right. (laughs)

Lori from Nashville: Do you listen to rap music?

GR: Yeah, I love rap music. I love Method Man, DMX, Public Enemy, Snoop, Tupac...

Mike from Connecticut: Do you and Gwen have plans to marry within this year?

GR: No.

Sandra from Aberdeen, NC: What has been one of the hardest things you've had to face in your life?

GR: Leaving Winston.

Sylvia from NJ: What would you do if god forbid Winston passed away?

GR: No comment! He's going to outlive me!

Janice from Connecticut: I read you sang a Jewish prayer at your concert in Austria as a show of solidarity. Is your father's family's religion the same as yours?

GR: I have Jewish blood in me; my dad is half Jewish. So even though in the Jewish religion you take your mother's side, and thus I'm not strictly Jewish, I'm still human. I sympathize. I knew this prayer from a few times when I had dinner with my grandfather on Friday nights. I just wanted to be a voice in there, just a haunting voice, so it was kind of special to me.

Susana from toronto: Hey Gavin, besides music is there any other medium or outlet that you would like to express yourself creatively through? Much love to you and the guys and I can't wait until you come back to toronto!

GR: I think that it's really good fun to paint something or draw something; I like charcoal. But I need more time. I don't have enough time. I need to find more than 33 hours in a day!

Rachel West from Thorold, Ontario: Has the way you view yourself (and others) changed at all since the release of Sixteen Stone? Do you feel this change has been for the better or worse?

GR: Overall we're really strangely cohesive, and we just work together. I think it's like a family. Sometimes you don't always want to be with your family, but they're your family, so you're with them. (laughs) And you love them.

Jeanette from Toronto: Hi Gavin, i absolutely LOVE the video for letting the cables sleep. However, do you feel it was a wise idea to make such a sexual video considering the amount of flack you take for being this sex symbol?

GR: It's a good point. I understand the point, but it's much more important to just not care and be irreverent. As soon as you try to manipulate weapons used against you, you're chasing the enemy. It really should be an interpretation of the song. I've never hired a model in a video and made out with her before, and that's just a thousand dollars for a day, and you can get a really cute girl to make out with you: a lot of people do it. I've never done that. It's just what's relevant to the story.

Amy Johns from my desk: what is the best thing you got for valentines day?

GR: Laid. (laughs) I mean that in a sweet way. I don't think I've ever gotten money or anything. Just sweetness, you know? It's all I ever ask.

Andrea from Somerville, MA: hey Gavin, why did u Choose Science of things as a title???

GR: Because I was thinking about explaining things. I wanted to see how things work.

Karin from Vienna/Austria: hi gavin, first i want to say that the gig in vienna was really great...thx that you took me up on stage!(I was the girl with the red t-shirt). my questions: what are the songs "letting the cables sleep" and "warm machine" about? and do you know when your next gig in vienna will be? thx Karin

GR: Thanks for dancing. "Letting the Cables Sleep"...A friend of mine discovered he was HIV positive, and he didn't tell me for six months, and when I found out from him, I thought how sad it was that he hadn't spoken about it, hadn't discussed it with me. It made me think about how many times I haven't communicated in my life. Overall, it really is about communication.

Angela from Newfoundland, Canada: Gavin, what song on "The Science of Things" has the most personal meaning to you?

GR: All of them. I don't think I have anything I'm not closely connected to. I wouldn't release anything that I wasn't satisfied was fully grown.

Jennifer S. from Woodbridge, NJ: Hi Gavin. I am usually drawn to suspense/mystery novels, but was looking for something different. I saw on the band's website that your favorite novel is "Moon Palace". Curious, I decided to check into it myself. (I am currently half way through it). My question is, do novels like this one, or any other that you have read, influence you when you write your songs? Also, what was it that made you enjoy this particular book so much? Thanks :) I'm looking forward to seeing you guys play again when you return to the states later this year (I was at the Hard Rock Live taping - it was an amazing show!)

GR: What I love about MOON PALACE is that it's so well-written; it's so economic. There's no "fat." It's very very brilliant. Of course, everything inspires me, like everything can go the other way and repulse me, but you can always find inspiration in things that are powerful like that, even if you don't like them. "Dead Meat" is about Dorothy Stratton from the film STAR 80. There are things like "Disease of the Dancing Cat" I found out about when I was reading a novel...it's everywhere, if you're awake to it.

Lisa-Claire Sanwall from San Francisco: Gavin, you're my favorite rock star because you write really powerful music and have a compel-ling and gorgeous voice! The lyrics of all of your songs read like sublime poetry, and I was wondering if you may have any poetic influences, and what inspired you to write your newest single from The Science of Things, Warm Machine?

GR: "Warm Machine" is sort of my stream of consciousness song. It's a song about trying to fit in and changing body shape to try to be part of anyone. I like Charles Bukowski because he's edgy. I'm not smart enough to know "proper, real" poets. I love Ginsberg, I love the French poets -- Baudelaire, Rambaud. I love Patti Smith.

SA from Sweden: Have some questions for Gavin, right? Anyway, at 7 pm there it would be really late here and I have school tomorrow, so I'll just try it this way. Question 1, why did you do Glycerine alone? Question 2, Why didn't you play 40 miles from the sun (love that song)? Question 3, how did you like Sweden, coming back soon? Just wanted to say, loved the concert. We all did, maybe not the journalists that reviewed the show in the papers, but don't worry about them. Too bad Dave kept hiding behind the loudspeakers... Laterz!

GR: I love Sweden; of course we're coming back. I play Glycerine on my own because it's such a personal song; I have sometimes recently been doing it with the band.

Rachel Alger from Maine: Gavin, what affect will Sasha Putnam have on the band and the music for this tour?

GR: He's my best friend, so to me it's everything. I love having him on tour. It's great for me. He gets on with everyone, and he's really good to have around.

Ann from Virginia Beach: This is for Gavin. How do you feel about the way music education is taught in the public schools in the US. What would you do to change it? I think that the prayer was incredibly touching to the people of Austria, what a wonderful thing to do. God Bless You Gavin and everyone you care about.

GR: I don't really know how it's taught. I think that for the type of music that involves being in a band, it's probably all about discovering it yourself. In fact, most of the people who want to be musicians probably skip class anyway!

Maribel from Switzerland: For Gavin : If you could wake up tomorrow having picked up one ability (kind of a supernatural power) , what would it be?

GR: I think I'd have to fly. Can I have more than one? (laughs)

Lisa-Claire Sanwall from San Francisco: Hi Gavin! You're my favorite rock star because you not only have a really cogent, superb voice, but you also write brilliant music. I was wondering if you could explain what one of my favorite songs, Glycerine of Sixteen Stone is about, and if you may be doing any solo projects soon?

GR: I want to do another Bush record, and then I want to do a solo record. I want to do a mellow record; a record that doesn't get in the way of Bush. Glycerine is a form of explosive, and that's what the feeling of losing someone really special feels like inside.

Sarah deHebreard from Indianapolis, IN: What inspired the sound for "English Fire"?

GR: I'm trying to push it. I just wanted to push. So much music has been made that it's hard to...I don't know...to push.

S. R hling from Germany: A question on the song "Glycerine" from "Sixteen Stone": There is line " but when we rise it s like strawberry fields". Strawberry fields? The sense of this metaphor is a mystery to me. Either it has no other sense than to rhyme with "steals" (which I suppose you will reject), or English strawberry fields must differ profoundly from German ones. So, silence is not the way? Then I hope you will talk about it.

GR: "When we rise like stawberry fields"...you know there's a song "Stawberry Fields" by the Beatles, and it's a tribute to the Beatles.

Alexandra from Vienna: To Gavin Rossdale: I've seen you live last Saturday in Vienna. First of all a great show, but you're shows are always genius. My question is, what do you felt when you write "letting the cables sleep" and "the chemical between us" and how do you feel when you performed it the first time? There is one thing I have to say: THERE IS SEX IN YOUR VIOLENCE!!! A hug and a kiss from Vienna

GR: Thank you. I don't really know why I decide to sing such personal songs, but they're the only ones I can manage. I don't know much about music, but I love music.

Jana from Pa: Hey Gavin, firstly I wanted to say that I love how no matter how other bands bash you, you guys keep your cool and never stoop to their level, it sets such a good example among all of them.. anyway, what environment do you write best in?

GR: Alone.

Nick from Mckinny Tx: How do you keep your enthusiasm playing the same songs night after night?

GR: First is the energy of the crowd. Second is the voyage beyond playing a song and just "doing it good." And then other nights, you just get so mad, because you can't find it, you know? Sometimes it's hard.

Andy Hess from Nashville, TN: Are there any plans of releasing The Science of Things on vinyl like the past albums have been?

GR: Oh, yeah, we have done. There was an amazing one out here -- the artwork looked incredible.

Nicholas Kervin from Mequon WI: With MTV now playing primarily manufactured bands, Do you think this hurts the chances of other bands that aren't manufactured from selling albums and making it big?

GR: Absolutely. It terrifies me, and I think the world is unjust. Exactly the reason I exist in the place I do is because I want to be there on the inside -- I want to blow it up, you know? I love good bands.

Lori from Nashville: Who is your favorite American band out right now?

GR: Fugavi.

CORRINE from Tuscaloosa: What kind of dog is Winston? Do you have plans for a US summer tour? If so will we see you in Alabama?

GR: He's a Hungarian sheepdog. Lisa from Wisconsin: What's your favorite song to perform live?

GR: I don't know. "English Fire." Most of them. All of them.

Moderator: If any of you are wondering why your questions haven't been answered, please understand that we have over 500 questions now and 45 minutes to get to them in. Wow! You guys rock, these are great questions.

Nicola Hall from Thorold, Ont: When you go into the studio to record, I'm sure your main goal is to produce the best sound and music possible, but is it your attitude in the studio to produce the best sound at any cost or just have fun while doing so?

GR: It's always fun to make records, but they're very tense at times. But in order to have light energy, it's got to be light in there; that turns me on.

Nicola Hall from Thorold, Ont: Gavin, your writing style is unique and interesting and the words you choose to use cause most listeners to think and interpret them, leading often to listeners gaining very different meanings or impressions from the lyrics, is this how you intended it or is this just how you express yourself?

GR: It's a little bit of everything, but I think the meaning should be just beneath the surface. I also write tons of lyrics that are really direct and very simple, so I need both sides so I have balance.

Kelly from Victorville, CA: In No Doubts new song Ex-Girlfriend Gwen uses the same lyrics that are in Dead Meat "You say you're gonna burn before you mellow, I'll be the one to burn you" did you know about it? Did you and Gwen discuss this? How did it come about??

GR: I didn't know that; she's completely written me off! I guess she's just answering me. In my song, I say "I'll burn before I mellow."

Lori from Nashville: With your extensive traveling, do you still manage to be close with your family? Do any of them ever travel with you?

GR: My younger sister likes to come see me and my mom and dad have been to different shows in America -- they come see me play whenever they can, basically. But sometimes I think that they would like to come out more because they love the room service.

Jen M. from Ft Smith, Arkansas: Do you have any future plans on touring again in the US? I have seen you twice in concert and I am waiting for the chance to see Bush in concert again! You guys are great!! Love the new CD!! Keep up the good work!!

GR: Thank you. We are about to do six weeks with Moby playing all around -- just not in the big cities. We'll go to the big cities around July/August.

Cameron from Canada: I heard that you have written some new songs that you say may be the best to date, will they be for b-sides, soundtracks, etc, or will we have to wait for a new record.

GR: We're going to do a new record pretty soon. I expect there will be a new record out within a year.

Suzanne from Rock/Pop Editor at bn.com: What other bands' are you listening to right now? What bands made you want to start your own band?

GR: I just decided to do it; no one made me start, I just couldn't help it. I loved Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, Wheat, Bob Marley, Lauren Hill...

Lori from Nashville: Gavin,I realize this is completely crazy, but I tattooed your initials on my ankle! I'm that huge of a fan...if you dont believe me I'll send you a pic (LDTN15@excite.com) What is the craziest thing a fan has ever done to you?

GR: Shaved themselves in between the legs so that it writes "Bush."

Kylie from Texas: What is your responce when people compare Bush to other great bands like Nirvana?

GR: There hasn't been a connection with Nirvana for a while, but it was only a respectful starting point for someone's energy. For some reason, people felt that no one else could make rock music; my problem was I loved the whole sound of it -- it was really fun and exciting.

Laura from Chicago: I heard that Bush will be featured in an upcoming episode of "Behind the Music" on VH1. Is that true, and if so, when will it air? I love you guys, you're my fav band!

GR: Thank you, that's very kind. We did "Behind the Music II." I don't really know anything about it, I just sort of did it.

Moderator: Wow, we already have over 200 questions from you all! Keep in mind that we are offering THE SCIENCE OF THINGS at a discount tonight, just click here.

Marijke Veth from Vlaardingen , Holland: The experimental sound on TSOT seems to have a spiritual vibe. What is for you the essence of this change ,comparing to 16 Stone and RBSC , and, how did you get inspired for this?

GR: I just was thinking about textures. I wanted to reach inside and come out with something honest, and I hope that we continue to make music that is spiritual.

Megan from bn.com: Thank you Gavin and Bush. Before you go, do you have any closing remarks?

GR: Thank you for being with me. Thank you for your interest. Please eat well and do something good for someone tomorrow. Surprise someone tomorrow by being overly cool.