Interview: Anthrax bassist Frank Bello on the band’s “thrashy” upcoming LP

Speaking of the 70’s, how did you guys pick the covers for 2013’s Anthems EP? Were those songs you grew up on?

Absolutely, those were the influences. You can hear all of our influences on that Anthems EP. Think about all the bands that are on that thing – we grew up with them, just jamming all their songs all the time, so to jam a Rush song is a no-brainer to me. That was part of my bass training for god’s sake. Working on Geddy Lee, I still love him, I still think he’s one of the best ever. It’s paying tribute to them also, like, these are the guys that got us to be who we are.

Anthrax were coming up in New York in the 80’s when all sorts of genres were really exploding, metal, punk, hip hop – what was it like to be a band then? Were you inspired by all of these new styles of music?

Yeah, honestly we were. I was, because it was always here. Growing up in New York, there was always something coming out, every week there was something different. And there was a lot of hip hop back then that was heavy. And of course, we got into punk and hardcore stuff, I mean, it’s all good. I never shut myself out of music, it doesn’t make sense to me, because I love all music – you can’t be single-minded with music. You’ve got to have open ears, and that’ll influence you to do your own thing, and I think it’s really important to have open ears, you know?

Were the New York scenes very separate back then? Or was there a lot of crossover with people going to different types of shows?

Well, it started opening up, and getting bigger. And again, you cross music, so it’s cool man. I don’t think it can hurt anybody – something will come out of that blending. It’s going to influence somebody to write a great song, that’s the way I look at it man. It all mixes up, and somebody’s going to take this mixture and make a great song out of it, some great writer that maybe we don’t even know. It’s a positive thing really.

You’ve got this Volbeat tour coming up, how did that come together?

Obviously [Volbeat guitarist] Rob Caggiano played with Anthrax, but we’ve been friends with Michael and the Volbeat guys forever. I mean, they’re great dudes, and we get along pretty well. Actually, really well (laughs). We’ve had a few drinks in our day. So, to say the least, I think it’s going to be one of the most fun tours we’ve had, and I just love their band. They love our band; it’s a really nice thing. We’ve gone up and jammed with them a lot of times already, they’re just good people. The great thing about a fun tour like this, you look forward to it, because you know all the characters involved, there’s a lot of good, fun people on the tour. Great musicians, and let’s face it, it’s going to be a fun tour to see. I’ll be watching every night. We have Crobot opening up, so I think it’s a nice package man.

Musically, Anthrax and Volbeat are two very different bands, does that make it more interesting for you?

Absolutely. Dude, why not? I just think, push the envelope. And Volbeat’s a heavy band, their riffs are great, so it’s a nice little mixture. And look, it’ll expose us to another crowd too. That’s the way I look at it. Volbeat has a great, big fan base. So maybe, normally the people that wouldn’t go to an Anthrax show can get turned on by Anthrax and see them for the first time. So, it’s a really positive thing. I’m looking forward to meeting those people, and hopefully they’ll check out an Anthrax record one day, and that’s the whole point of doing this.

I was watching your Chile on Hell video recently, which looked like a really crazy set – what was playing that show like?

Dude, imagine the way you felt, and imagine being there live, just magnify it ten times over. So, you tip your hat, that was a great crowd, just amazing fans over there. Worldwide, we’ve been really fortunate with great fans. It’s just great to have that all on film. Even after seeing it dude, we played the show and even after we saw the first edit, I was like, “Oh my god!” It caught the vibe that we have, you know?

That show looks like it was just on the brink of anarchy.

Yeah, and it was just one big experience that I think really was captured well with Chile on Hell.  I was really psyched that people got a taste of what goes on, it was awesome.

We were in Thailand a few years back and got to catch an Anthrax show in Bangkok, and people were losing their minds there as well.

See, that’s the great thing about specifically metal and this heavy music thing, is the camaraderie. People generally get along; it’s like a cool thing that metalheads get along well. And we can be anywhere, it doesn’t matter. Because I used to be like that too when I used to go to a lot of shows, it was a bonding kind of vibe, you know?

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