Anthrax: Underdogs
“If you party, it’s hard, it’s really hard. I mean these guys have fun, there’s plenty of that going on. You can walk around all day long getting yourself into trouble. But I don’t.”
Joey Belladonna hasn’t had a drop of alcohol in twenty-five years. As the vocalist for Anthrax the 52-year-old has played a big part in redefining the metal genre; along with bands like Megadeath and Metallica, they initiated a distinct sound that was first boiled in New York City’s postpunk metal scene. Talking to TMN just minutes after their set at Sydney’s Soundwave Festival in February, Belladonna may play the speed-metal linchpin and spit vinegary words about American tragedies, Stephen King novellas and televangelism, but his sobriety didn’t stem from a lack of self control or a drinking problem, seated on a white plastic chair and sipping on water, Belladonna explains that even as a teenager he was detached.
“Even when I was doing it I thought ‘why the hell I’m doing this?’ It didn’t make any sense to me. I was definitely more the kid who didn’t want to get in trouble, even though my father had a full fridge of beer and anything I wanted,” he says. “People would come over to my house and I could have sat there all day long and drank, they’d restock it and you could do whatever you wanted.
“I’ve met a lot of people that aren’t very good with it at all, they’re just, wow, how do you get up the next morning? There’s people that go further than that and they don’t make it, they just don’t.”
While teetotalism kept Belladonna offering up brash adaptations on the heavy metal genre and providing the intense stage presence it requires, his visceral approach to music wasn’t enough for the band, who in ’92 replaced him with ex–Armored Saint singer John Bush. Bush fell in line with the band’s modernised style approach, said to be sparked a year earlier when the band famously teamed with rap collective Public Enemy on their track Bring the Noise, thus confirming their rap influence to a whole new cultural milieu. Anthrax signed a five-album, $10 million deal with Elektra in ’93 but stayed with the label for just two album cycles. Meanwhile Belladonna was busying himself with solo records, his outputs, to this day hold the same booming hooks that would have sat well on Anthrax’s sophomore LPSpreading The Disease (1985).
Belladonna joined the band again briefly in both 1999 and 2005 but wasn’t properly recruited until 2010 for last release Worship Music(2011). Every band wears myths and hearsay that surround each lineup change or departure, but after more than three decades together, Belladonna at least, is past the point of saving face.
“I didn’t want to leave ever in the ‘90s,” he says, moving his hip-length hair from his forehead. “Whether they were frustrated and wanted a new style, I have no idea. To this day I have no idea, it’s almost as if they wanted something more ‘90s than what I was doing.”
But present satisfaction, a full-length album to end a five-year breather, and a covers release named Anthems (2013) has begotten past turmoil. Surprisingly, despite the many phases of Anthrax’s physical form, the band are viewed just as they always were: the tenacious underdog.
“I think we’re always that band that lurks in the whole scene,” says Belladonna. “At the same time, people find that we’re popular but yet we’re not in a weird way. I don’t even think we worry about it anymore because we don’t wonder if anybody’s watching. It just does its own thing.
“My neighbour was like ‘oh god, I didn’t know you did that!’ It makes me laugh because I’ve been doing it for so long, it’s just funny. A lot of people don’t know. People don’t know we have a new record, people don’t know we’ve been together for as long as we have,” he laughs, “people don’t know what songs we play!”
For most, the band represents rebellion and an altered way of thinking, but just as their music is a hotbed of meticulously organised chaos, so is their approach to keeping Anthrax alive.
“Right now it’s very business-like. Everything has to be done like that so the band can succeed,” he says matter-of-factly. “You don’t want to be in a position where you’re not doing things correctly because everything starts to thin out. For me, I have to be right in the middle of it all – because it’s a business.”
Perhaps in an attempt to offset the pressures of what’s proved to be a highly volatile business, when not on tour with Anthrax, Belladonna rehearses and plays most nights with his classic rock cover band,Chief Big Way. “I always wanted to be in a band where you can laugh, and do everything you can to compliment each other, to praise each other.” Belladonna is straightforward about the difference in camaraderie with the two projects. “I mean we are separate we all do our own stuff – we’re also together as much as possible. I know bands who don’t even talk to each other but they’ll still be on the road touring. [In Chief Big Way] we call each other every day and we drive together and we set up together. These guys won’t do any of that stuff … It’s not even about the money, I mean the band’s so great and we do have a good following, and that’s important that we keep it together.”
Belladonna is quite possibly the most earnest member of Anthrax, he’s as talented and hardworking as he is gratuitous. However it’s apparent he expected more from the band after bruised egos and hearts healed upon his return. Whether the validation he seeks is mutual support or of a more stylistic nature, we’re not sure. Anthrax are the backbone of heavy metal, designed, not produced, and now with Belladonna back in the fold, he should be able to keep their name as the hidden influence of a movement long lost.
“I don’t do anything different than I usually do, and it works. I try not to [talk about the departure] because no one wants to go there. It’s kind of a shame … Now is now and we’re doing good. If you broke up with somebody and you’re back together – if you can mend something – you probably don’t wanna talk about it.”