THE PICK OF DESTINY
Destiny can be a real son of a bitch. You don’t really know what it’s going to look like until you’re on the other side, and sometimes the only thing that can bring you through is the unshakable belief that it’s all meant to be. Nobody knows destiny quite like Anvil, and even though it’s been a long time coming, the cold winds of fate have a good reason to whisper, “Don’t stop rocking.”
With the release of the new rockumentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil, the magic 8-ball has been set spinning again for the band who once played alongside Bon Jovi and Whitesnake. And they’re going to rock the shit out of it until “All signs point to yes.”
It’s been 25 years since these Canadian metal progenitors unleashed maximum heaviosity with their near-classic Metal on Metal (1982) and Forged in Fire (1983), influencing an entire generation of metal rock gods in the process. From Metallica’s Lars Ulrich to Motörhead’s Lemmy to the guitar hero Slash himself, Anvil gets massive rock props in the documentary.
“I’m one of the bricks in the wall now,” front man Lips says emphatically, his flowing hair still perfectly intact nearly two decades after the end of the 80s. “That’s a great thing to be.”
Directed by Sacha Gervasi (otherwise known as the screenwriter for Spielberg’s The Terminal and being Ginger Spice’s “baby daddy”), the doc has Anvil’s career smoldering again. The film became a fan favourite at this year’s Sundance. It went on to open Toronto’s Hot Docs festival, where it enjoyed two very sold-out post-gala screenings. Ever the humble realist, drummer Robb Reiner puts the attention in perspective, conceding, “This is the most attention the band’s had in years.” Most bands would give anything to find themselves at the centre of this kind of exposure, and while Anvil will be the first to acknowledge their newfound fortune, for them it’s still all about playing live for the band.
“Here’s our story. Check it out and let us rock,” says Reiner.
It’s clear that Anvil has put absolute trust in director Gervasi to tell their story, and Anvil! probably couldn’t exist without their off-screen relationship. Having initially met in the early 80s as Sacha, an excited fan, pushed his way backstage after a show at London’s Marquee Club, the friendship goes way back. That enduring friendship has given Gervasi the kind of access that provides for a complex and honest portrait of the band.
“I thought to myself, ‘This guy’s got a burning, burning passion, and because I totally trust this person, I'm willing to do whatever comes natural,’” Lips explains. “I trusted that he won't make me look like a fool.”
More than the friendships and hairstyles have remained unchanged over the years. Lips speaks with an infectious sincerity and optimism that suggests a life lived in opposition to everything that might smother childhood dreams of rock greatness. The band is in touch with the humanity driving Anvil!, what Lips identifies as the appeal of seeing “an underdog succeed… someone living the impossible dream.”
By way of example, Lips recalls declaring upon getting his first guitar at age ten, “I know what I’m going to be for the rest of my life!”
Now, as then, he remains the incorrigible dreamer, even as the seeming impossibility of that dream comes sharply into focus when, as the film shows, the band embarks on a disastrous Eastern European tour of Spinal Tap-esque proportions.
A club owner attempts to pay the band in goulash. A gig draws a lone metal-head thrashing it out in a chair. The threat of the band dissolving is palpable at all times. But the band is quick to note it’s not as bad as it looks. Anvil has come to terms with the liberties taken by Gervasi to build drama into their occasionally dystopic reality.
“I see a gig at the end where I say it’s gonna be packed and there’s one guy there. I go, ‘Yeah, well that did happen. Yeah, so?’ ” Lips confesses with sheepish bravado.
To Gervasi’s credit, the film manages to negotiate a fine balance between the manipulated and the honest, the comic and the human. And it is the rawness of the human elements, particularly surrounding the occasionally strained relationship between Lips and Reiner, which propels the film beyond its rock-doc core. For better or worse, the band has put total faith in Gervasi’s cinematic vision, but they feel the doc does represent a slice of their occasionally surreal reality.
“There I am in reality, flipping out, strangling Robb, losing it,” says Lips. “It turns into a character. I’m watching acting.”
Coming home from the ill-fated tour, the story comes to revolve around the creation of Anvil’s latest album This Is Thirteen. Reconnecting for the first time in years with producer Chris Tsangarides (the producer of Anvil’s early Metal on Metal and Forged in Fire, who has also worked with Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, and Black Sabbath), there is an undeniable whiff of the mythic in the air. Of course thirteen is that most ominous of numbers, the floor skipped over by the superstitious, the death card in the tarot deck.
“It’s a rebirth,” Lips explains.
“Like something coming to a close and a new beginning is coming also,” Reiner adds, perfectly in synch.
After Lips hoofs the demo for the new album to every record company in LA with little success, the band’s crystal ball doesn’t look so crystal-clear. The metal scene, at least in North America, has moved a long way since the 80s, and all the earnest rocking in the world won’t bring it back.
But for Anvil, “making it” always been about staying true to a dream, with or without all the rock star trappings. “Give me a stage and I’ll fucking rock my ass off,” Reiner responds when asked where the new doc will take the band. With a string of upcoming gigs for Anvil, it looks like Anvil! may give Lips, Reiner and G5 all the live action they can handle. The band’s been sitting in the fire for a quarter-century, and nobody knows better than Anvil that they’ve got to rock while the iron’s hot. Destiny is writ as large as ever for the band, and whatever shape gets banged out, Anvil will always be solid metal, as hard and heavy as ever.
With the release of the new rockumentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil, the magic 8-ball has been set spinning again for the band who once played alongside Bon Jovi and Whitesnake. And they’re going to rock the shit out of it until “All signs point to yes.”
It’s been 25 years since these Canadian metal progenitors unleashed maximum heaviosity with their near-classic Metal on Metal (1982) and Forged in Fire (1983), influencing an entire generation of metal rock gods in the process. From Metallica’s Lars Ulrich to Motörhead’s Lemmy to the guitar hero Slash himself, Anvil gets massive rock props in the documentary.
“I’m one of the bricks in the wall now,” front man Lips says emphatically, his flowing hair still perfectly intact nearly two decades after the end of the 80s. “That’s a great thing to be.”
Directed by Sacha Gervasi (otherwise known as the screenwriter for Spielberg’s The Terminal and being Ginger Spice’s “baby daddy”), the doc has Anvil’s career smoldering again. The film became a fan favourite at this year’s Sundance. It went on to open Toronto’s Hot Docs festival, where it enjoyed two very sold-out post-gala screenings. Ever the humble realist, drummer Robb Reiner puts the attention in perspective, conceding, “This is the most attention the band’s had in years.” Most bands would give anything to find themselves at the centre of this kind of exposure, and while Anvil will be the first to acknowledge their newfound fortune, for them it’s still all about playing live for the band.
“Here’s our story. Check it out and let us rock,” says Reiner.
It’s clear that Anvil has put absolute trust in director Gervasi to tell their story, and Anvil! probably couldn’t exist without their off-screen relationship. Having initially met in the early 80s as Sacha, an excited fan, pushed his way backstage after a show at London’s Marquee Club, the friendship goes way back. That enduring friendship has given Gervasi the kind of access that provides for a complex and honest portrait of the band.
“I thought to myself, ‘This guy’s got a burning, burning passion, and because I totally trust this person, I'm willing to do whatever comes natural,’” Lips explains. “I trusted that he won't make me look like a fool.”
More than the friendships and hairstyles have remained unchanged over the years. Lips speaks with an infectious sincerity and optimism that suggests a life lived in opposition to everything that might smother childhood dreams of rock greatness. The band is in touch with the humanity driving Anvil!, what Lips identifies as the appeal of seeing “an underdog succeed… someone living the impossible dream.”
By way of example, Lips recalls declaring upon getting his first guitar at age ten, “I know what I’m going to be for the rest of my life!”
Now, as then, he remains the incorrigible dreamer, even as the seeming impossibility of that dream comes sharply into focus when, as the film shows, the band embarks on a disastrous Eastern European tour of Spinal Tap-esque proportions.
A club owner attempts to pay the band in goulash. A gig draws a lone metal-head thrashing it out in a chair. The threat of the band dissolving is palpable at all times. But the band is quick to note it’s not as bad as it looks. Anvil has come to terms with the liberties taken by Gervasi to build drama into their occasionally dystopic reality.
“I see a gig at the end where I say it’s gonna be packed and there’s one guy there. I go, ‘Yeah, well that did happen. Yeah, so?’ ” Lips confesses with sheepish bravado.
To Gervasi’s credit, the film manages to negotiate a fine balance between the manipulated and the honest, the comic and the human. And it is the rawness of the human elements, particularly surrounding the occasionally strained relationship between Lips and Reiner, which propels the film beyond its rock-doc core. For better or worse, the band has put total faith in Gervasi’s cinematic vision, but they feel the doc does represent a slice of their occasionally surreal reality.
“There I am in reality, flipping out, strangling Robb, losing it,” says Lips. “It turns into a character. I’m watching acting.”
Coming home from the ill-fated tour, the story comes to revolve around the creation of Anvil’s latest album This Is Thirteen. Reconnecting for the first time in years with producer Chris Tsangarides (the producer of Anvil’s early Metal on Metal and Forged in Fire, who has also worked with Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, and Black Sabbath), there is an undeniable whiff of the mythic in the air. Of course thirteen is that most ominous of numbers, the floor skipped over by the superstitious, the death card in the tarot deck.
“It’s a rebirth,” Lips explains.
“Like something coming to a close and a new beginning is coming also,” Reiner adds, perfectly in synch.
After Lips hoofs the demo for the new album to every record company in LA with little success, the band’s crystal ball doesn’t look so crystal-clear. The metal scene, at least in North America, has moved a long way since the 80s, and all the earnest rocking in the world won’t bring it back.
But for Anvil, “making it” always been about staying true to a dream, with or without all the rock star trappings. “Give me a stage and I’ll fucking rock my ass off,” Reiner responds when asked where the new doc will take the band. With a string of upcoming gigs for Anvil, it looks like Anvil! may give Lips, Reiner and G5 all the live action they can handle. The band’s been sitting in the fire for a quarter-century, and nobody knows better than Anvil that they’ve got to rock while the iron’s hot. Destiny is writ as large as ever for the band, and whatever shape gets banged out, Anvil will always be solid metal, as hard and heavy as ever.
