ANTHRAX Bassist FRANK BELLO: 'I Love JOHN BUSH'

Alun Thomas of Glory Daze recently conducted an interview with ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Glory Daze: Did John Bush's non-participation [in the reunion tour] affect you considering he was vocalist for twelve years and with the band through their hardest years?

Frank Bello: "I love John Bush. He and Joey [Belladonna] are both great singers, but this is another side of ANTHRAX I love too. I consider it a family at this point. That was a time in ANTHRAX and this is a time. It's important to me because this is where I grew up. I started with ANTHRAX at seventeen years old and it's been a good run. For me it's revisiting and making this generation know what ANTHRAX is about, what Joey's singing, which are great songs, so for me it's a win-win situation."

Glory Daze: Would you agree there is a section of fans who were Bush loyalists who might view the reunion as an insult to Bush's achievements?

Frank Bello: "No, because we gave John the opportunity to participate. It was there on the table and that was before I came in and was already dealt with. So for me there's no animosity. Rob Caggiano (ex-ANTHRAX guitarist) and I talked last week; we were both drunk on the phone talking to each other. It's all good. There's no nonsense going on. And for the people looking for that, it's just not there."

Glory Daze: Was your brief stint on the Gigantour (an Ozzfest-styled metal festival created by Dave Mustaine of MEGADETH) a positive experience? How different is it working with Dave Mustaine in 2005 opposed to the Clash Of the Titans tour in 1991?

Frank Bello: "We had so much fun. It was five shows, but I wish we could have been on the whole tour! As soon as we came in, it was a party atmosphere, we had a card game and dice in our dressing room. The shows were great, but afterwards all the bands were in our dressing room having a great time, including Dave. He has always been a gentleman to me. I've heard all the stories about Dave, but it's never affected me."

Glory Daze: When you replaced Joey with John in 1992 were you banking on the "Sound of White Noise" to be ANTHRAX's version of METALLICA's "Black" album? The record that put you in the same big league?

Frank Bello: "No. but I thought it would get promoted better. Elektra paid us a good amount of money for that album, but what happens in the music industry is that they turnover, this one gets fired, that one gets fired. So whoever comes in and replaces them, whatever they like is their priority and you're with the last regime and that's exactly what happened. The music business is cyclical, it's sick the way it is. It's a sick business, the only way to do it is by word of mouth."

Read the entire interview at Glory-Daze.com.