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The S.S. Meets Anvil!!!!

April 23, 2009 11:02 AM

Photo: Granitz/WireImage

Was 4/20 a special day for you, too?

It was a cold a wet day in New York, but we took the subway down to the Bowery Hotel, where it was our pleasure to hang with Anvil!

If you're not hip to Anvil, they're the Canadian heavy-metal band that, in the early Eighties, inspired Metallica and Slayer, but somehow failed to strike it big. For more than thirty years, the bands co-founders -- singer-guitarist Lips and drummer Robb Reiner -- have toiled away in relative obscurity, working shitty jobs to keep their metal dreams alive. Their struggle is laid out for all to see in the new documentary, The Story of Anvil.

It's a must see. While the film's trailer may give you the impression that Anvil are as hapless as a real-life Spinal Tap (yes, they visit Stone Henge in the film, and the fuckin' drummer's name happens to be the same as the man who directed Spinal Tap) but the film is a testament to human endurance. How far will these two dudes go to get the recognition they deserve? How eternal is their optimism? How much shit will they put up with just to be able to play their songs? You'll definitely laugh during the movie, but like us you'll weep like a small child. It's some powerful shit!

When we walked into room 1001 at the Bowery, Lips and Reiner were reclining on either side of a king size bed, for their Rolling Stone photo shoot. Lips was reading the New York Times, while Reiner held a cup aloft as it was refilled by a butler. (The hotel's manager dressed up for the part, because he loved the movie so much.)

After the shoot, the three of us sat around the coffee table. "I celebrate 4/20 every day," Reiner told the S.S., sparking up a joint. (He didn't share with anyone.) Lips rolled up a Drum ciggie, and off we went. Below are some of our favorite moments.

Reiner: What I really hoped for was that people would just engage the story and get it. And that seems to be happening. So we're happy. [The movie] has opened so many doors for us. It's a beautiful thing. Who knows what will come out of this, but it's all about the gigging. We want to gig as much as possible.

Lips: The first time anybody saw the movie was at Sundance, and from the first moment on, people start clapping at the end of the movie, which is pretty odd to me..

[Anvil has been visiting theaters around the country, surprising movie-goers with three song sets, and Q+A sessions, after the screenings. This will go on for much of the year, as the film is picked up by more and more theaters.]

Reiner: It's weird to get standing ovations when you haven't even done a concert. We're loving it. I would just hoping people would dig it and it's gone way beyond that. With or without this, tough, my life hasn't changed at all. My life is one linear, consistently great life. This has just added more beautifulness to it. My wife has been with me thirty years -- we're a rock & roll family. They broke the mold when they made her. My son's into it. It's a healing process.

Lips: People come up to us and go, "Wow, man, 30 years. Why did you guys even stay together?" I think, "Do you make a million dollars to enjoy life? What's wrong with these people?" It's not that I'm crazy, the rest of the world is crazy. If everything were motivated strictly by cash, we would have never gone to the moon. We'd still be living in caves!

[Before the documentary, Anvil had no manager, no booking agent, no nothing.]

Reiner: We have a manager now, who also manages Slayer and Mastodon. We have a real agent. We have some record deals in a few places. We're trying to figure out what else to do. Things have changed.

Lips: We're trying to get a record deal before the record companies go bankrupt or completely extinct.

Reiner: We have a new album that's ready to record. It's called Juggernaut of Justice.

Lips: And "Thumb Hang" [their song about the Spanish Inquisition] will be on the movie soundtrack!

[In the Eighties, Lips performed in bondage gear, and used a vibrator as sort of a slide-guitar mechanism.]

Lips: The dildo might return. There's been a great outpouring for the its return. I stopped using it, but if someone brings me one, then I'll use it. Girls will pull them out of their purse and throw them onstage and shit. "Uh, where's that been?" There's a particular model that's really cool because it has a vari-speed on it. When you use it on the pick-up it sounds like a Harley Davidson revving up. Forget the devil horns, bring a dildo.

[Regarding the Spinal Tap comparisons...]

Reiner: This is not Spinal Tap -- that's the bottom line.

Lips: There are little innuendos, but how can any rock documentary get away from that? Yeah, we discover an amplifier that goes to eleven, and we happened to be in England, so why not got to Stone Henge?

Reiner: I can't get away from the fact that my name is Robb Reiner. But, you know, now he's the other Robb Reiner.

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3 Comments

Tad | June 1, 2009 8:31 AM

I saw the film in Dallas and I have to admit it is the best documentary I have ever seen. Getting to hang out with the band and knowing just how much shit they have had to go through just to get to that place on that night was awe inspiring. There dedication to the band and also there friendship and family is a very amazing thing.
Bottom Line: Even if you are not a metal fan GO AND SEE THIS FILM! you will not be disappointed.

mr.bummer | April 23, 2009 10:01 PM

i'm looking forward to this film.

guys who love playing music, plain and simple.
no b.s.
anyone whos ever got a band together or dreamed of doing so, on any level....go see it.

Marty | April 23, 2009 8:37 PM

They have to admit that the title of the song, "Thumb Hang," is a little Spinal Tappish. Now I've got "Sex Farm" playing in my brain! Hello Cleveland!