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Since 1981, Anthrax has had more lead singers than Van Halen, been pressured to change their name, and had the worst run of luck with promotional support from their multitude of music labels.

Along the way they’ve released some classic albums like Among The Living, Sound of White Noise, and great ones you’ve unfortunately never heard of like We’ve Come For You All.

Over the last quarter century they have influenced generations of younger bands and secured their place in the “Big Four” of Metal along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer.

But enough with the history lesson. Anthrax is set to release their new album Worship Music this year with new lead singer Dan Nelson.  Although there’s another new guy in the group, the band’s nucleus has always been guitarist Scott Ian, drummer Charlie Benante, and…….. um….. bassist Frank Bello.

Most of you are familiar with Scott Ian and his amazing Technicolor beard.  He’s hard to miss since his shaved head is constantly on VH1 sharing deep thoughts on I Love the 80′s, Supergroup, and the Random Metal Video Countdown Show of the Week.   Seriously.  Turn on VH1 right now, and sit there for about 23 seconds.   See!  There he is.

But what about the forgotten hero of Anthrax?  Mr. Frank Bello?  The man has been gainfully employed at Anthrax, Inc. and been silent for over 25 years.  What do we know about him?  Is he a bass playing monk?   We needed to know.  RUFKM Worldwide contacted Anthrax’s publicist (the most amazing woman in the world) to find out and Frank’s silence was finally broken.

Enjoy our exclusive interview!

13 Stupid Questions with Frank Bello

This is the face Frank made while answering our questions

 

 

 

 

1. Frankie, we need to get this out of way first. Have you or have you not Gone to Hollywood? In addition, do you relax, don’t do it, when you want to go to it?

Wow, were you at the Anthrax/Frankie goes to Hollywood coheadline show? If not, you missed some gig….

2. We know that Charlie is a huge comic book fan and that Scott has a Stephen King fetish. In the 5-6 years between albums, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I like to read comedic websites.

3. In a related topic, it’s been six years since Anthrax last released a studio album and during that time the music industry has completely changed. Vol. 8 and We’ve Come for you All are great albums but few humans know they exist. Coupled with Anthrax’s previous troubles with music label promotion are you considering releasing Worship Music as a “pick your price” download like Nine Inch Nails or those overrated clowns Radiohead?

Pick your price, pick your ass,-whatever gets the music out there.

4. You’ve recently toured with Iron Maiden. Did you have the opportunity to fence with Bruce Dickinson?

No, but we did do a comparison of the Iron Maiden and Anthrax planes.
5. Does Scott ever shut the fuck up?

ha ha ha!

6. During your Bring the Noise tour with Public Enemy, how many large clocks did Flavor Flav bring? Also, give us an amusing anecdote from this tour.

Flavor Flav wears clocks? (“amusing anecdote section”)- When we played with public enemy in Canada, Flavor flav couldn’t make the show, so chuck d let me come out with them and open the show dressed as flavor- it was amazing-

7. Speaking of clocks, your guitarist Dan Spitz left the group in the early 90′s and, strangely, opened a watch repair shop designing custom time pieces. (SpitzWatch.com)When Dan returned to the band for Anthrax’s 2005 reunion tour, did this make you more punctual?

Danny rules. Yes-I’m actually a day early for my meetings now.

8. If you had the power, what song would you never play live again? Also, are there any songs which you haven’t played live that you wish were in the set list?

Living on a prayer (wait, that’s not us..)- nah,we usually mix the songs so it doesn’t get boring.

It will be cool to play the new songs.

9. You guys discovered your new lead singer Dan Nelson on MySpace. Because of this, do you ever think that Scott and Charlie might replace you with “BassBoy7$” or “Thrashkid9″ from Twitter?

That’s actually how I got the gig, except in the eighties I had to send my resume attached to a pigeons leg and have it fly to their window.

10. How much can your new singer Dan Nelson bench press?

It has been verified that Dan bench presses "A Lot"

 

 

 

 

Alot

11. Many fans, like us, were first introduced to the band with the EP I’m the Man which cleverly packaged a catchy Beastie Boys-like track with live versions from Among the Living. At the time this was a unique, risky move in your genre. I mean, you don’t expect Dave Mustaine or James Hetfield to bust out two turntables and a microphone. Was it the music label’s idea to do that EP or the bands?

Why, of course it was the music labels because they always have the best creative ideas… (it was our idea)

12. The 1980′s Metal scene was all spandex and leather. You guys rocked shorts, sneakers, skateboards, and the occasionally big brimmed baseball cap. Besides having outfits that had more breathable fabric, what was the main decision for this image?

The main decision for the image was comfort – so our sweaty balls didn’t stick to our legs during shows.

13. Replacing Joey Belladonna with John Bush created an overall different sound for the band even though it was still unmistakably Anthrax. With Worship Music, what changes can we expect? Also, what are some of your favorite tracks?

This is the “new” Anthrax- heavy, angry songs, with great vocals from our new singer Dan Nelson. I think it’s our best work yet.
Some of my favorite tracks: Vampyres, Giant, Crawl… (I have alot of favorites)

And there you have it.  After 25 years, Frank finally spoke and was…um… rather “frank” with his answers.  He talked about his schwetty balls, revealed his pigeon training skills, and answered a thought provoking question about the future of music distribution with the comment “pick your ass.”

It’s really more than we could’ve ever asked for.  Plus, if we’d sent these questions to Scott Ian, you’d still be reading his long winded answer to question #1.

Thanks, Frank!  Now purchase all of Anthrax’s music from this nifty jukebox (it contains the majority of their albums) and preorder a copy of Worship Music on Amazon.

Management:   Split Media LLC

Website:  Anthrax

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