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By Sarah L. Myers
Editor-in-Chief
New York, NY, USA
Worship Music (2011)
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“Hey, how are ya? I’m getting my oil changed!”
One of metal’s most respected bass players is at a gas station in Westchester, yelling into his cell phone and laughing about how getting your car tuned up is like going to the doctor - you always leave with something else tacked onto your bill. After telling him, I’ll call back in a few minutes, he responds with a cheerful, “You rule!”
Not even a week after selling out Yankee Stadium for the Big 4, Frank Bello was still absorbing one of the greatest shows of his career. Anthrax, all native New Yorkers, celebrated even more milestones before the month closed out. First, was the return of vocalist Joey Belladonna, a move long overdue and practically demanded by fans, and second, the release of their tenth studio album, “Worship Music.” Perhaps more than any other band on the Big 4 bill, Anthrax has endured as only a New York band can. Just days after our interview, “Worship Music” debuted at #12 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.
THIRSTY: You’ve talked about the Big 4 being like a high school reunion, seeing all of your friends again. It had to be just tenfold being back in New York.
Frank Bello: Yeah, it was all my friends! It was all of my friends at once. Obviously with three other bands with us, growing up together in this scene, but then I had every nook and cranny friend that I had known in my life contact me about Yankee Stadium because I grew up with a bunch of Yankee fans, and God, this supreme thing forever for us, I’m playing our home base pretty much. So it was really a really special moment. I’ve gotta be really honest. I’ll tell you, as I talk to you right now, I’m finally…I just really grasped it. I don’t know if you know this, a lot of people don’t know about this, that I just wrapped a film yesterday, so the day after Yankee Stadium. I was running lines in between, and about two weeks ago, I had spent a couple of days already, but there still…it actually turned out to be four more days of shooting, so the day after Yankee Stadium I had an 8:30am call. And I had the Metallica after-party, which…there was liquor there. And, you know, you want to bond with everybody, and say thank you, and great seeing you again and all that stuff, so I got out of the after-party, got home around 4am, and got in the car around 7:30am for the 8:30 call, but in Brooklyn! And that was a 15-hour shoot right there, that day. We’ve been pretty steady with 15-hour shoots every day, so I just wrapped on it yesterday, so today is the first day, as I’m explaining…I know it’s a long-winded story, but the truth of the matter is, as I’m speaking to you, you’re the first person I’ve actually talked to about it, I haven’t really, until just a little while ago at the diner, this is the first time I’m really grasping, “God, I played Yankee Stadium.”
Frank Bello, Joey Belladonna, Charlie Benante,
Rob Caggiano
and Scott Ian
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THIRSTY: Rob Zombie said this great thing once. He said - no one ever likes Slayer for a summer. People who like Slayer carve the band’s name into their bodies, and you have those fans as well. I’m obviously a fan, but I can only imagine your die-hard fans seeing you at Yankee Stadium.
Frank Bello: I can’t believe it either! Here’s my thing, before the show, even before sound check, I made it a point to get there earlier. I had my wife and son, it was very important to me to get them there early. Got there, around 11:30, and my whole goal was to get in on the stuff that I would never be able to do at Yankee Stadium. So my first plan was to kind of like nosey around the dugout, and I found the first guy that I thought looked important in a suit and I just made friends with him. And he turned out to be the right guy, and I said look, “I have a new record out, it would be so great if you could let me in the dugout and just take a couple of publicity photos.” And before you know it, the guy just let me sit in the dugout. I have those pictures and that is forever for me. So even before the show started, I won. So I was all set, I was all psyched so I have these wonderful lifelong pictures forever of me just sitting in the dugout by myself.
THIRSTY: It was obviously so meaningful for you guys to be there, but it was also one of those shows that you feel for days afterwards.
Frank Bello: To tell you the truth, the next morning, not only was I sore, and you always give…especially in New York, that was a big stage, there’s a lot of running going on and all that stuff, so I felt it the next morning. I was definitely a little sore. Thank God for, I mean, if I didn’t do these yoga things that I do, I’d be in a lot worse shape. I was definitely feeling it the next day.
THIRSTY: I didn’t know you did yoga!
Frank Bello: I’ve studied yoga. Let me tell you something, for the last few years, I’ve had a chronic bad back from all these stages forever. So two years ago, I finally broke down, I went to a yoga class because the chiropractor I was using said, “You might want to try yoga.” So long story short, I switched from chiropractor to yoga and it’s the best move I’ve ever made. I’m in better shape now than I’ve ever been, thank God.
Frank Bello
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THIRSTY: It’s such a demanding show; you can’t be weak in any way, shape or form. You guys killed it.
Frank Bello: I sincerely thank you for that. It feels good even after the show, even hearing that, because I haven’t read any reviews. I’ve been so entrenched in this film, it’s the first day I’m really getting to just live it a little bit, you know?
THIRSTY: It was incredible. I went to the floor for Slayer, and I kept turning around to see this massive stadium of people. You are so close, you can feel the flames on your face, it’s almost unbelievable!
Frank Bello: It’s overwhelming! And especially when you realize we’ve played these big shows on these tours before, but it really hits home that it’s New York, it’s the Bronx, it’s ten minutes from my house. The magnitude of it all, it was just massive to be like, “Wow, this all New York right here.” Not to mention the stadium, you know, my God! It was an overwhelming moment.
THIRSTY: “I’m Alive” is my favorite track on the new record.
Frank Bello: I love that you picked that song! You know what’s great, I have to tell you. What’s wonderful about this is like, everybody’s picking different songs. I couldn’t be happier to hear that. It’s so funny you like that song, it’s personally one of my favorites.
THIRSTY: This record has to mean so much to you for so many reasons, not in the least having Joey back. So tell me a little about the process of putting the record out.
Frank Bello: Well, the process is well-documented with our struggle to begin with eight years ago with the last record. The trials and tribulations with the singer stuff and all that is all documented, so my thing is moving on, and it is a very New York thing that we do in this band. What I’ve learned about Charlie, Scott and I specifically is we never said die. And the success of this band, it’s just what we really are. And it was tested…it was definitely tested in this band. It was like…when the fuck does this get better? When? And if people don’t believe that, they really don’t know what they’re talking about, because it really was for this band a struggle. I think it made for a great record and I think you hear it in the songs. I think you hear the pain, the joy and everything else that went into the record. I know I hear it in the songs. When I listen to the record, I hear it in every one of the songs, just the period of time for that song specifically (“I’m Alive”) I’m glad, I’m really happy that, for the most part, it’s been amazing. I think people are really understanding and getting the album.
THIRSTY: What songs on the new record do you think are going over the best?
Rob Caggiano
and Scott Ian
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Frank Bello: Well, so far we’ve only done two songs. But, you said it right off the bat, “I’m Alive” is one of my favorite songs to play live. We actually, Charlie, Scott and I, we just sent an email saying we should learn these songs. I think, in the end, people are talking about that everywhere. “Crawl,” I would love to play. The thing about this record is, it’s… how do you pick? I mean for me, I’m so close to them. I know when you write a record, you’re close to the songs, but for me, I really want to play most of these songs live. I really do. I’m all about it. I’ll do anything people want. It’s a communication with the audience, so I’ll do what people want us to do. I’m into that. I want people to have a good time when they come to the shows.
THIRSTY: What is “your” New York? Where do you go? What do you do? What makes New York home to you?
Frank Bello: My New York is the reality that I grew up in the Bronx, I’m very proud of it. I still go to my grandmother’s in the Bronx and have a great meal. That’s my reality of New York. Yeah, you can go to the city and call that New York. I don’t believe that’s New York. If you’re really from New York, you know where you came from and you don’t leave that. You don’t lose that mentality. Neighborhoods change, all that stuff, but you never really change your mentality or the person you are. You don’t forget where you came from, that’s my New York.
THIRSTY: I love that you are just as much a fan as a musician. You’re always so enthusiastic, and I loved your interviews at the Golden Gods awards. Who gets you star struck?
Frank Bello: Robert De Niro. Just because of what he does, acting wise. Robert De Niro would be my ultimate person to talk to. I just want to sit down and pick his mind about some stuff. And Geezer Butler, I have met him and he has become a friend of mine now. We just met. I definitely asked him every bass question I’ve had in my life. He’s a total hero of mine. And I’ve met a lot of people that have been really nice. There are some idiots in the day, but the people I’ve met, for the most part, have been great. I’m good to go, I mean, I’ll meet anybody, it doesn’t matter!
Link:
Frank Bello | Anthrax
