After 30 years spent toiling for its big break, Toronto metal trio Anvil seemed doomed to languish in obscurity until a loving documentary reversed its fate forever.
Last year Anvil! The Story Of Anvil became a global sensation, acting as a self-fulfilling prophecy for the never-say-die band. Directed by Sacha Gervasi, who wrote Spielberg’s The Terminal and once roadied for Anvil, the film depicts the ongoing strains on singer-guitarist Steve “Lips” Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner as they battle to maintain the dream of music stardom that bound them for life at age 14. Throughout a treacherous attempt at a European tour and a bank-breaking stab at a 13th album, the band’s dogged determination elevates a niche subject to a widely relatable quest for rock triumph.
As hammered home by the film’s interviews with such genre icons as Lemmy, Slash, and Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, the overdue success couldn’t have happened to nicer guys. And now Lips, Reiner, and bassist Glenn Five are touring the world, coming to Australia for the Soundwave Festival. In an unmistakable Canadian accent and with a keen way with words, Lips – who once turned down a spot in Motorhead to continue on with Anvil – shared his thoughts on Anvil’s meteoric burst of fame and all that it entails.
--
Have you been shocked by the movie’s impact?
(Laughs) I mean, the movie was made by a Steven Spielberg screenwriter in Hollywood. I would expect that it would come out good. And it has. All the results are amazing.
It’s given the band a real second lease on life.
Oh absolutely. We’ve worked for 30 years in hope that something like this would happen, and now it’s happening. We lived for the dream and now we’re living the dream.
You’ve even opened for AC/DC recently.
That was amazing. We got to play three shows with them in the United States and Canada. Actually, the one in Canada had 72,000 people at it, which is absolutely unbelievable.
Did you get to talk to them much?
I got to meet Angus, who shook my hand and thanked us for coming out. He said he thought we were a bunch of great guys and a great band. It was wonderful.
Some of the most prominent figures in hard rock sing Anvil’s praises in the movie. Was it surreal to see that?
No, because all these guys have come to our shows over the years and made themselves known to us. They’re buddies. Virtually all of metal exists in the underground, and we all love underground bands. That’s where we all get inspired. It’s few and far between that something comes out of the underground into the pop world, so to speak. We’re one of those things now, but generally it’s very, very rare. All these guys’ hearts are going to be in the underground, where they came from. If you asked me some of my favourite bands, I’d say Thundermug [from Canada], Troika [from England], Bloodrock [from the U.S.], or Cactus [from India]. There’s a virtually endless list of underground bands that never made it big but had an incredible impact as far as inspiration for the genre.
There’s a companion book to the movie that’s apparently even more comprehensive.
It fills in all the unknown stuff you’d probably ask while watching the movie. We sat down with a writer for about three weeks and compiled the book.
Obviously the heart of the movie is your relationship with Robb, and the ups and downs when you work creatively with someone so close to you…
We’ve always gotten along. The only point where we have fallouts is in approach rather than goal. And that’s not a terrible thing. That’s actually a very healthy thing for any relationship. It’s healthy to have differences and work them out. It makes us work harder.
Is it hard for other people to be on the sidelines of that relationship at times?
Yeah, I think that sometimes it’s a very uncomfortable place to be. At moments, Glenn probably does feel some things need to be said. (Laughs) And he lets us argue. And sometimes he’ll intervene and say, “Guys, you’re both on the same side, arguing the same point.”
So he plays referee?
Absolutely.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil - trailer
Anvil reportedly has a cameo in the upcoming Green Hornet movie.
Yeah. [Director] Michel Gondry saw the Anvil movie and was so taken aback by it that he felt it necessary to include us. We did a scene where we’re playing a club and we’re playing [the fan favourite] ‘Metal On Metal’.
The U.S. cable-TV channel VH1 Classic has re-released the album you set about making in the movie, which you initially self-released. Was that a vindication for you?
Not so much vindication as celebration. I don’t like to use the word “vindication” because that has negative connotations. People who have hated us or have had negative things to say will continue to do so, no matter what successes we have. But certainly celebrating a moment and appreciating it and feeling a lot of gratitude are definitely evident. We’re very excited and sparked up on every possible level.
When we go out and play, we’re on fire. It’s a completely different feeling than it’s ever been before. The reaction is one of extreme emotion, both from the band as well as the audience. We’re coming out into full houses, all cheering and excited. Some people are actually in tears of happiness to see the happy ending in real life to movie they just saw.
They feel like they know you.
Well, they do. I’m completely revealed. I had an instinct that the more I opened up, the more people would know me as a person and feel connected to me. That became second nature, in a sense. It was necessary to be extraordinarily honest. I felt the whole time that I had nothing to be ashamed of and I had it all to be proud of. I knew in my heart that if I am this way, one day it will make me a very famous man.
How much did it help that it was Sacha making the movie?
Y’know, Sacha is very, very special kind of person. Anyone getting to know him in a very short period of time could easily feel compelled to tell him anything they wanted in complete confidence. He has this ability to look you in the eye and there’s this feeling that you can tell him anything. And you want to tell him everything. He’s an open ear, a shoulder to cry on. Someone you can really trust.
That’s the ideal person to make documentaries, where you’re constantly interviewing people.
Absolutely. And he believes in a lot of the same philosophies as we do. He grew up in much the same type of environment. On many, many different levels, he’s like family, like a younger brother. He said, “Let me film everything and you can see for yourself. I love you guys and would never do anything to make you feel embarrassed or shameful. I’m going to make you into a household name and let the world know you’re worthy of the greatest success.”
And you can tell the movie is made from that perspective. It’s a movie that only Sacha could have made. You can’t hire that or recreate it – how are you going to find a 15-year-old kid that loves your band and grows up to be a screenwriter? It’s a miraculous story. All the synchronicities and magic that happened are beyond explanation.
What’s the state of the new Anvil album?
All the material is written, and now what has happened is we can’t find a hole in our schedule to get it recorded. (Laughs) We’re booked solidly at least until September. I mean, it’s like we hit a home run and the bases are loaded.
Anvil will play the Soundwave Festival later this month. Anvil! The Story Of Anvil will see DVD release in Australia later this month as well.
Doug Wallen