ANTHRAX Singer JOEY BELLADONNA: 'We're Pretty Humorous People'

Tom Murphy of Denver Westword recently conducted an interview with ANTHRAX singer Joey Belladonna. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Denver Westword: With "Among the Living", the band became more experimental and humorous and I have to assume that you were integral to that shift. What influenced that change in sound?

Belladonna: It's so hard to say what influenced anybody or what turned the page. I'm writing an album now and where did those ideas come from? I don't know, collectively we just started doing it. Is it heavy enough? Is it not heavy enough? We're pretty humorous people and stuff like that starts to rub off on the songs.

Denver Westword: ANTHRAX did music with PUBLIC ENEMY and UTFO. Why was there such a strong link between your band and hip-hop that didn't really exist so overtly with most other metal bands in the '80s?

Belladonna: No, not at all. I was on my way home from, maybe doing the "Indians" video, coming in to do the UTFO thing. I was like, "Gosh, holy shit, I don't know." I forgot I even did that.

Denver Westword: How did ANTHRAX become involved in that MTV contest to demolish that car in 1989 and what was it like actually going and doing it?

Belladonna: I don't think we planned on demolishing anything. We just knew somebody had won a contest so MTV, of course, arranged for us to go to that person's house and give the vehicle away. Next thing you know... I remember somebody said, "Now it's time to break the car." I think the person may have destroyed it long after us. She may have asked us to spray paint it or do some stuff to it. It was actually a jeep or something like that.

Read the entire interview from Denver Westword.