Anvil
Twinmusix caught up with Anvil today to talk about their Australian tour and their new Album that is coming out in January
How was recording your new album pounding the pavement?
We have finished recording the new album. We are still touring from the last album we are in South America then we have China coming up and then we have Australia it's quite exciting we are having a great time.
Have you ever played China before?
No it will be the first time ever.
What can fans expect from your Sydney show?
Lots of passion and fun. I'll put on a show you will never forget.
Who writes the music in your band?
I talk to myself and I have a discussion between the singer and the guitar player then I come up with a compromise and I go in and tell the other guys.
What’s your favourite gig memory?
Opening for AC/DC in London New Brunswick and there was 70 thousand people there it was unbelievable and we got for an hour it was amazing.
What’s your favourite song to perform live?
Metal on metal it's fun to play live because of the reaction it gets. If metal on metal doesn't bring the house down we got to go home.
How often do you change your set list on tour?
Not that often we have a pretty set list. Things we do change we tried and we found that we end up going back to the other list. The options didn't go as well as the ones we ended up with. The other songs we played didn't go as well as the other songs on our list so we put the other songs on our list as we want the best reaction.
You guys are awesome live.
We are lost of fun and it's continuity and whatever it is right. It's about who's in the room and who we are sharing the party with and some nights are really hysterical you start conversations with people in the crowd it's awesome.
Why has it taken so long to come to Sydney Australia?
The reason for the length of time is finding the right connections to make it happen. It's not easy the music industry can be very fragmented it's hard to put people together and put people in line. It is hard to get things to happen it 90% luck and 10% talent. The equation hasn't changed you know even though a commodity and everything would be fine if we did come to Australia. It's just who's going to bring us how are we going to find someone to bring us there that was the question and it was a hard one to answer. After Soundwave and now there is no Soundwave how are we going to get to Australia . it was the best all and end all of promoters in Australia. They aren't putting on shows so how are we getting to Australia we have to find new people. That's the bottom line and it's not so easy.
How was it preforming at waken open air in 2013?
We have done a lot of shows every night is a special moment. Other then talking about spectacular size sometimes it is just a feeling that you are having I don't know we did 50 shows opening for udo dirkschneider last year how do you measure some of the shows particularly in Scandinavia were just WOW.
Do you prefer bigger shows or smaller shows?
I prefer medium size shows 200 to 300 people that's perfect. When it starts getting to thousands the band loses the people. Your to far away you missing getting soaked in my sweat.
What brand instruments do you use?
The bass equipment Chris likes to use a Ampeg and there are these pictular amped amps that we booth found that are outstanding they are the portaflex type. And these heads are small enough to fit into a computer bag. They weigh about 12 pounds and can blow your balls right off your body 30 feet away they are unbelievably loud, powerful and clear beautiful sounding amplifiers. What I'm using is stock fender twins they started making them about 60 years ago I use one of those accutally I use two of them which is completely insane. They weigh about 80 or 90 pounds each. And they are combo amps with speakers already installed but I also use external speakers with them normally 2 4 12 straight bottom Marshall's. And how you get a sound out of such a set up you need very specific pedals I use a tokai pedal that I bought in Japan back in 1982. I have a number of them I made sure I have back ups but truth be told you never have to replace them it just keeps working.
Along with that I use a boss 7 band EQ just in case there are any issues. As far as the assotics of the room sometimes you are on a concrete stage that generates alot of treble and you might get feedbacks and you can pull out high frequencies that you can't pinpoint and you just pull them out. But the EQ is just in case my fender twins isn't there. The accutal EQ setting when my twin isn't there is adding a little bit of treble and a little bit of bass. But basically it's flat but generally the reason I keep the thing in my peddle board is if I go to a different country or different location and they haven't got fender twins and I'm plugged in to a Marshal I might have to shape the tone and little bit in order for it to sound like my fender twins. Along with that I use a boss digital delay. A floor model wired stereo so each output from the echo gose to a separate amplifier that's how I wire up two fender twins. And the only time they really become stereo is when I press in the echo. Otherwise it's completely mild best sounding right I've ever played and meny people are blown away when they hear it so it works good for me.
If you could have any band perform one of your songs which band and song would you choose and would it be in your style or there’s?
I'd like to hear slayer do 666 in their style it would end up being very similar which would be instering.
How was performing in japan?
Awesome it's a great place to play.
Who was your biggest musical influence when you were growing up?
It came in a succession of things by the time I was 12 or 13 jimmy hendrix previous to that it was the Beatles and rolling Stones after jimmy hendrix, cream, Grand funk rail road, captus, Led Zeppelin, black sabbath, deep purple and the onslaughts of the 70s really with hard rock.
What’s the story behind your name anvil?
When we can into the record company they said you need a new name because the name lips isn't going to work. We had 100 names written down that all became bands by the way. But you have to understand when you are looking for a name for a metal band we were one of the first metal bands of all time so it wasn't hard to find the name Anvil. And it was like yeh that makes sense an inanimate object that you can make album covers with perfect.
What advice would you give to any up coming bands?
Find something unique, individual and original as possible. Do something no one ealse can do besides you that's on stage and musically. And that doesn't mean play better it means do something no one ealse has done before. Play a song and create a style no one has heard before and the only one that can do it is you.
Do you have anything you want to announce to your fans?
We have a pledge campaign going at the moment which is to prevent order our new album and I like the fans to know when they buy something through that website that the money comes directly to the band. It's not being givento record company executive's and it's not being squandered away it's paying the band for the music. And for the recording of the music your paying us for what we put out.
Check out Anvil press release here - Anvil
Anvil Website - https://www.facebook.com/anvilmetal/
Buy Anvil Tickets here - https://metropolistouring.com/anvil/
