ANTHRAX Guitarist DAN SPITZ: 'KORN Is, Like, My Favorite Band'

Celtic Bob of Metal-Rules.com recently conducted an interview with ANTHRAX guitarist Dan Spitz. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Metal-Rules.com: How does it feel to be back in the band?

Dan Spitz: "It feels really good. Like I said, it's one day at a time. For me more than anyone, it's the most adjustment. They [the other guys in the band] stayed in music in some form or fashion, even Joey [Belladonna, vocals] still made albums. I'm the only one who pursued another career. An extremely hard one that's even more challenging than playing my guitar almost. It's a 10-year schooling, learning curve. Now I'm finally becoming comfortable in my skin and comfortable reacquiring the crazy equipment needed to fufill my Spitz sound per say of ANTHRAX that adds to this unit. It's starting to feel really comfortable again. We're starting to play really tight. I'm definitely playing better than I ever have ever."

Metal-Rules.com: Can fans expect a CD of all new material?

Dan Spitz: "As you probably read, I have about two albums' worth of stuff: one with Nicko [McBrain, IRON MAIDEN drummer] and one with the drummer Patrik Johansson from Yngwie Malmsteen's band. There's plenty of riffs I have all over the place if the three of us (me, Joey and Scott [Ian]) get together to start to write. I don't know at this point, we'll see. If we do it'll definitely pretty much hopefully turn the industry upside down once again like we always do. It's gonna be pretty much kick your face in."

Metal-Rules.com: Tell me a bit about the project you were involved with Nicko McBrain.

Dan Spitz: "We finished about 16 or 18 songs in the recording studio and I was searching for the correct singer for the project. We had a bunch of our friends come in and do stuff, as a goof sometimes. Some of it leaked out onto the Internet. I remember with Vanilla Ice, they thought he was the singer. We just got so frustrated trying to find the correct singer for that type of music, we had people come in and sing my lyrics just to get a hold on it. Working with Nicko is just unbelievable. Like I said earlier, I had a project with him and another with the drummer from Yngwie Malmsteen who was in many, many death metal bands — Patrik Johansson, who is an incredible studio drummer. I was playing a lot of 7-string guitar in these projects. We'll see where that goes later when I get some time off. What happens now that my old friends from heavy metal are coming to the shows and watching ANTHRAX again. They grew up on us. Like all the new bands as well that I'm into of course like SHADOWS FALL. I wish the guys from KORN would come out as well too. They're, like, my favorite band."

Metal-Rules.com: What sort of stuff do you listen to these days?

Dan Spitz: "I'm still hooked on the KORN 'Untouchables' album. It's really really in my brain. Of course SYSTEM OF A DOWN, stuck on RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. My wife Candi goes, 'SLIPKNOT, SLIPKNOT.' That's the people that grew up on us and that's what's coming out of them. I can relate to that. I don't listen to much music, I don't dwell on it. I don't dwell on one band, never have. That's what keeps music and my leads I put into ANTHRAX music very unique and very fresh. After all these years people still hum along to my leads, they're not leads, they're songs. That's kind of what me and Joey do to ANTHRAX, we fuse the melody into the mayhem. We listen to different stuff than other members of the band. We come from a different background. When all five of us get together that's what makes the magic, that can't be replaced."

Read the entire interview at Metal-Rules.com.