Music > Interviews

Anthrax

The Nick Rayns LCR, UEA

27/01/17

 

Metallica. Slayer. Megadeth. Anthrax. The four biggest and most important American heavy metal bands of all time (probably). For the last 35 years, New York’s finest have been touring huge venues worldwide, releasing mindblowing albums and doing what they do best – showing up and rocking out. For the very first time ever Anthrax will play Norwich this month, with their early singer Joey Belladonna back on board. From creating one of the very first rap/rock crossover hits Bring The Noise with Public Enemy to receiving rave reviews for their latest album For All Kings, Anthrax just keep pulling out all the stops. I had the honour of speaking to bass player Frankie Bello about how to stay positive during trying times, how their New York attitude helped them develop their rock horns and the best things about touring almost constantly for years.

 

Are you looking forward to playing in Europe this spring?

Yeah! The whole band are psyched, really excited about it. I can’t wait – we’re so ready. We’ve finally had a bit of a break after touring for what seems like three years straight which is great as it’s good to work and people are reacting to our music. It’s very fulfilling and makes it seem like it’s all worthwhile. You can’t ask for any more than that. It’s fun to read reviews, after 35 years, that say we’re now producing our finest work – to hear that it fulfills your heart. We really put a lot into it, we go away from our families to write records, and everyone has to contribute even our families, and it’s not always easy. People say oh it’s the rock n roll lifestyle but in fact it’s anything but that. It’s a lot of work but it’s work that we love.

 

You were originally a roadie for Anthrax but joined as the bassist when Dan Lilker left. Was it hard to join an established band at that point? Did it make it easier that your uncle’s in the band?

You know, it was easier because I was a roadie so I was comfortable with the guys – we all got along and had a laugh. You gotta remember, it wasn’t the Anthrax that you know now – in the early days, once in a while there’d be a local gig in New York somewhere so there wasn’t really any touring at all. It’s funny because I officially joined the band on the same day that the record came out, and then we started to tour a little bit, in a modest way. I swear man, that seems like yesterday. Having my uncle in the band was easier but it meant I was under the microscope too. It worked out for the best – we’re still together.

 

Anthrax are considered one of The Big Four metal bands (Anthrax, Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth), yet you were the only band from the east coast. Was New York a big part of what Anthrax came out with?

I think New York has given us a right to the point, aggressive, ‘never say die’ attitude. Charlie and I are from the Bronx, Scott’s from Queens, Joey’s from upstate New York. We grew up in a kind of aggressive environment that lent itself to the kind of music we make. I looked into why I love distorted heavy metal, and it fulfills something in my gut, it meets that fire, that rage for me, and I still carry that on to this day, perhaps more than ever.

 

You’ve had a variety of lead singers but Joey Belladonna returned six years ago. How does it feel to have him back on board?

It’s great. Anthrax is a well oiled machine! I’m not patting ourselves on the back, but we know what we’re doing, and all we want to do is keep playing to the most people we can in the world and help people to forget about their problems for a little while.

 

You left to join Helmet in 2004 but returned in 2005 – how come you left and came back?

Well, you know when your brothers move out of the house because you just need a break from each other? It was like that! I think we needed a breather to be honest with you. It gave me a great perspective and I thoroughly enjoyed playing with Helmet. It made me a better player – I played with a pick the whole time which made me dig in more which was a different aspect of playing bass for me. I feel it was meant to be.

 

 

Anthrax have gone through many personnel changes over the years – have there been times when you were tempted to split up?

In the 90’s when grunge was around Anthrax took a break but we never thought about breaking up because we always wanted to make music for our fans. Then when Metallica came to us about The Big Four all possibly playing at Sonisphere in 2010 we were like ‘fuck yeah, let’s do this!’. I have to give credit to Metallica –the biggest band in the world still to this day, they just put out a great new record.

 

The band collaborated with Public Enemy in 1991 in one of the earliest hip hop/rock collaborations, Bring the Noise. How did that happen? I know you’d had some elements of hip hop before that in your own music, like I’m The Man.

It really started when Chuck D saw Scott Ian, our guitar player wearing a Public Enemy shirt! So when Chuck wrote Bring The Noise he included the line ‘Wax is for Anthrax’. We then had a chat with him and he said that Public Enemy were so heavy in a rap style, they were such a fucking heavy band with deep grooves and so it was meant to be. We did a cover of Bring The Noise and collaborated with them. The next stage was that we wanted to take it out on tour – the promoters didn’t think it would work and let me tell you something – that was easily one of the best tours we’ve ever done in terms of the reaction and how much fun we had. We had so much fun backstage we forgot what time it was! It was awesome. We didn’t aim to start a new genre of rap/metal, not that I think we did that as Aerosmith did that with Run DMC, but it was just something that worked creatively and organically at that time. I was really proud of that. We’ve never been afraid to try different things or pave our own path.

 

 

In 1986 you toured Europe for the first time, and played near Chernobyl right after the disaster. You played in Belgium just a few weeks after the tragedy that was the Bataclan – those must have been emotional gigs for the band?

There are so many crazy things going on right now. I’m sure you feel this too – right now you have to have a shield up internally and understand that unfortunately horrible things happen. I just look for a better day – the spirit of human beings cannot be broken down. As a parent and someone who’s getting older I think about these things that we just can’t control, disasters, terrorism, we can’t make it how we want it, but all we can do is keep living. It taught me that the only thing we have is resilience. It sounds like a generic line but if you dig deep that’s it. It’s so hard to do it with all these crazy things happen but you just have to take a step forward and brush yourself off. When things are in a bad way music helps to take me to a better headspace and gives me hope – that’s all we have.

 

I know that one this tour you’re playing Among The Living in full and some songs from For All Kings along with some favourites. Do you vary your set lists each night to keep it fresh, and how do you go about choosing what to play from all 11 albums?

We talk about it, and we listen to our fans on our social media. I like talking to fans and listen to what people want to hear, and we’ll put it in the pot. Also you gotta remember, if we’re playing a full album we’ve got to build the momentum afterwards to keep the energy up, not that we really have any songs that are low energy! The whole thing about playing a show for us is to leave everything on that stage and leave them wanting more. As a fan, I want to leave a show saying wow, I can’t wait to see them again.

 

Among The Living came out in 1987 so it’s now 30 years old. Does it make you realise how your skills as a musician have developed over the last 30 years by playing that album right up against For All Kings?

Yeah, thank you for noting that. It brings you back. I like going back and listening to the songs to remember how to play the bass parts before we go on tour, and I like it because it reminds me of recording those songs in the studio, where we were, what I was thinking, I love that part of it, and like you say, my development as a player. I’m proud to say I think we’re all at the top of the game now in terms of songwriting and musicianship, we all know who we are and the reaction we’re getting is so fulfilling.

 

 

What’s the hardest Anthrax song to play?

Oooh, let me see. On Among The Living there’s a song called Skeletons In The Closet – that’s a pretty good workout, for the guitar players a bit more cos they’re picking really hard on that one. There are a few hard ones on For All Kings, but I love the challenge. Put it this way – when we were writing the songs I remember saying that my arm hurt, and I love getting my arm muscles worked up to the point where it’s not fatigued any more.

 

Have you considered playing any of your other albums in full on tour?

Anything’s up for conversation I guess, right, cos it’s been a great career so far! I always say give the fans what they want to anything’s possible. 

 

I’d like to put a vote in for Attack Of The Killer B’s then..

Wow! That would take some relearning!

 

You haven’t done a UK headline tour for over ten years – how come?

It’s a mixture of logisitics and plus people keep asking us to play with them as part of packages, which is how it seems to happen these days, so it’s a great opportunity and a rarity for us to play a headline tour this time around. We made a considered effort to put this tour together for 2017. Our support are The Raven Age, they’re good guys who care about their music and Steve Harris from Iron Maiden’s son George is in the band. It’s a great thing to see the next generation come up.

 

On this tour you’re playing eight dates in the UK and then going onto Europe – is touring as much fun as it used to be?

It used to be a lot easier! I love playing music and I’m very fortunate to make a living doing so so I don’t look a gift horse in the mouth ever. It’s like a line from The Godfather –this is the life we’ve chosen! I love writing songs and playing for people and I’m so happy that our fans have been with us for over thirty years now but we’re getting more people into our fan base which is wonderful.

 

 

I’ve looked through all 186 pages of your gigs listed on setlist.fm, and what’s interesting, apart from the fact that this will be your very first visit to Norwich, is that throughout your history you’ve maintained very good sized venues – at no point has that dipped. Do you have a favourite place to play in the world?

Ha ha ha! That’s a great question because I have a lot of favourite places. For me it’s about the shows first, the towns and let’s face it, it’s about food for me! I love going to different places to eat which is a bit selfish of me, but a good local pub meal doesn’t hurt anybody!

 

I hope you get to go to some Norwich pubs while you’re here – did you know they used to say Norwich had a pub for every night of the year and a church for every week?

That sounds fine to me! Just give me some fish and chips and a pint.

 

Anthrax formed in NY in 1981, sold millions of records and are still as strong as ever – what is the magic that holds the band together?

You know it’s funny, it’s like a marriage. I’m with guys more than I’m with my family so you’re gonna have your disagreements but the magic is that it works. That hour or two on stage makes the whole rest of the time worthwhile. If it wasn’t for playing live I’d rather be at home because let’s face it, the touring kicks the hell out of you after a while, but I know that when I go on stage with Anthrax it’s untouchable for us. It’s something between us all, a vibe that’s an explosion of energy, and that along with the connection with the audience makes it incredible.

 

What can we in Norwich expect from our very first Anthrax show?

We don’t need a lot of bells and whistles, we just bring a lot of crazy energy and a desire to connect with our audience, that’s all it is. I need to make sure that everyone’s having a great time, because together we need to make an energy that will make us high!

 

Anthrax play UEA on 17th February. Tickets available from ueatickets.ticketabc.com