Mojo - The Music Magazine

THE SPOKESMAN FOR the feelgood metal fable of the year explains why the Anvil! DVD was scripted by God and worked on its audience, "like a Trojan horse that comes into the city and then destroys you."

Anvil! The Story of Anvil is MOJO's DVD of the year. How does that make you feel?
That's wonderful, that's killer man.

When you were making the film did you ever think it would have this impact on people?
You wanna know the truth? Yes I did. In fact, even before it began, because when somebody who's worked with Steven Spielberg sits you down and tells you they're gonna make a movie about you, what would be the first thing that comes to your mind? The other aspect is I know myself and I know what I'm capable of, and I know that I live a very open style of life, I am not guarded, I do not guard myself at all, I do not believe in that. I thought, You put that in a documentary - oh boy!

What was it like watching it for the first time though?
It was kinda disturbing because I couldn't see it as a story, because I saw it as pieces of the last two and half years. You're seeing it as separate entities, every little thing, and moments. Imagine watching all your home videos all in bits and pieces, you're going 'Wait a minute! What?' Some pieces you don't remember, some pieces you're going, 'Where is it?' After watching it the second time, I completely understood what was going on and I thought it was incredible. My first impressions were of asking questions like, 'Did we show enough of us playing?' and I came to realise - yes we did. It didn't need to become a performance, that's not what it was about. The end of the film wouldn't have meant anything if they'd showed all kinds of performances all through it.

What kind of different responses has it had?
I find it quite consistent, most people are shocked and surprised that they went in thinking it was going to be a joke, and they come out not only cheering for the band, but some people get extraordinarily emotional. It's just come out in Japan and the people are in tears, they're completely losing it.

You've recently toured with Saxon. How was that?
Amazing, just amazing. The story that led up to it is amazing in itself. At the Metal Hammer Awards, we met up with Saxon and I had a quick discussion with [vocalist] Biff [Byford], and I said, Listen Biff you've got to see the movie, not because I'm in it, but you've got to see this movie because it's for everybody, it's for all of our genre, it's for what we've all been fighting for. It speaks volumes for everybody. We're just an example. You've got to just see this to believe it. About two weeks later we did this show in Oklahoma called Rocklahoma and Saxon were on it. Biff had watched Anvil! on the plane and his roadies told me that he was in tears, he was losing it. So when he got to the gig, their changing room trailer was right next to ours, but he didn't even bother going into the trailer, he came right up to me and hugged me.

That says a lot doesn't it? I've known Biff to be a very tough sort of guy. You don't even just walk up to him and go, 'How's it going man?' 'cause he can turn on you and say, 'What the fuck is it any of your business?' But his whole demeanour was completely different; the look in his eyes had this really warm feeling that I'd never seen before. It's the look in everybody's eyes after they've seen the movie. I think it's familiarity, but more than that it's true human emotion, like the feeling of... love. 'Cause they know you, like almost as if you're family. All the guard has been dropped, so people feel compelled to express their feelings to you because you've expressed your feelings to them, so people become very open. It's really remarkable stuff.

How do you feel about the influx of new fans?
I certainly don't pick favourites. It's great if somebody's been listening to me since 1981, that's not a problem at all, it's wonderful, but they are not going to get preference in a certain sense over somebody who's never heard of us and has just got onboard now. It took me 30 years to acquire these guys, it's pretty damn rewarding.

What's the nicest thing that's happened as a result of the film's success?
How really, really famous people have embraced it!

Why do you think the film struck a chord?
It's a demonstration of human spirit, perseverance, dedication, family, love, a raw slice of life. It just so happens that we're finding all these emotions being captured in a movie about a heavy metal band, which is totally unexpected, and it has this façade that your gonna come in and see this thing that's like Spinal Tap. It's working like a Trojan horse that comes into the city and then destroys you.

What did you think of the early allusions to Spinal Tap?
I think that [director] Sacha [Gervasi] was brilliant in embracing Spinal Tap, but there was no way around it: our drummer's name is Robb Reiner! And in the second case it's about a metal band. There are nods to Spinal Tap. We went to visit Stonehenge; [producer] Chris [Tsangarides] has a piece of equipment inspired by Spinal Tap that actually went to eleven. Just the way things came together was as if the damn thing was being scripted by God himself.

When's the new album?
We're as busy as hell, man. It's crazy. We have a 40-date stint in the United States, about a dozen dates in Australia, and that's joined with Japan, so that puts me pretty much to the end of March, so April we're looking at going into a studio to record the next album. I'm completely prepared. I expected it, not counted on it, expected it, there's a key difference. You can't count on anything, and you gotta be able to adapt. I just read something the other day that Darwin said that it's not necessarily the most intelligent or the strongest of the species that makes it but the one that adapts that survives. This is the way it is. You adapt to it. Instead of letting it crush you. That's really me. If the vase broke into pieces, I'll try and glue it back together. Whatever I can get out of it I'll get out of it. It reminds me of the part in Monty Python And The Holy Grail where the guy gets all of his legs and arms cut off and he's going, 'I'll bite you in the ankles!' It's the same tenacity. I'm still gonna do it! I'll get there.

Interview by: Andrew Male