ANTHRAX's FRANK BELLO Says His Brain Is 'Four Years Old': 'I Just Like To Have Fun And Enjoy Life'

The metal radio show Démentiellement Vôtre on CKRL 89.1FM has published the full video of the bass clinic by Frank Bello of ANTHRAX, which took place this past Thursday night, March 5, 2026, at the Long & McQuade musical instrument store in Quebec City, Canada. You can now watch it below.

Speaking about his musical upbringing and how he first learned to play bass, Frank said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "When my dad passed, I needed heroes. I needed heroes in my life, somebody to look up to. And you know what those heroes were? [RUSH's] Geddy Lee, [IRON MAIDEN's] Steve Harris, [BLACK SABBATH's] Geezer Butler. They were my guys. I said, 'I wanna do that. How do I do that?' And I created this tunnel vision. Because the pain was so rough from that time. It was rough. So the thing that made me feel better was was music.

"Music is a great outlet," he continued. "Coming from an American right now, I can tell you this: We have a very, very ugly world right now. And from what I had when I was young was a very ugly world around me. And the outlet that made me feel better was always music. Music got me out of that, 'Everything's coming down on me. Oh, man, this is a great oasis right there. I can just go here and feel better.' And then that's what made me wanna start playing. It just made me start doing it. And so I would play — I would play nonstop. I jammed with [ANTHRAX drummer and Frank's uncle] Charlie Benante. We grew up together."

Offering advice to aspiring musicians in the audience, Bello said:  "Those of you who don't know how to start, you can go home, put your music on and just start developing your ear. What are your favorite musicians doing? 'Ah, let me develop that.' I remember I used to go to my room and learn the IRON MAIDEN album 'Killers'… I would go to my room. My room was just a normal bedroom with a bed. But when I put IRON MAIDEN 'Killers' on, I would learn each riff to the tee — every little part. So then when I got good at it and I had the confidence, I said, 'All right, now I'm gonna take it to another place. How do I get my stage thing going? How do I feel confident on stage?' What's the stage in your room, in your bedroom? The bed. The bed is your stage. All of a sudden, in my mind, I'm in Madison Square Garden. And all of a sudden I put 'Killers' on. All of a sudden, Steve Harris starts that great riff. So I'm on my bed. So I jump on my bed. Madison Square Garden — it's sold out every night. In my head, it's sold out. The crowd's going crazy in my head. I loved it. It was my world. You know what my big move off that bed was? I jumped off the riser — that was my riser — and I did a big jump. It sounds pathetic, but it works, 'cause now I use it with ANTHRAX. It does work. So what happens is the things you create in your head really brings you forward to what you can actually do in life. 'Cause I'm still a big [kid]. Look at me. I'm a big kid. My brain is four years old. It really is. I just like to have fun and enjoy life."

Last year, Frank reflected on his early days as a musician in an interview with The Music Zoo. He said at the time: " I grew up in the Bronx, New York. My heroes, my father figures were musicians, for that matter. KISS were big heroes to me. They were like superheroes to me, like comic book heroes, something I could look up to and say, 'I wanna do that.'

"Charlie Benante, drummer of ANTHRAX, we're related," Frank continued. "We grew up in the same house. We would jam — we would jam all the time. I would be playing guitar, and he's a really good guitar player also, so we'd be playing and he says, 'You're playing the bass parts on the guitar.' I automatically hear bass first before a riff — I don't know why — but I was playing the bass parts. He goes, 'You should switch.' And I did, and then [we were] locked in. And immediately it was, like, 'Ah, this is what I'm made to do. This is for me.'"

Regarding his early musical influences when it comes to his bass playing, Frank said: "Obviously, my top three [are] Geddy Lee, Geezer Butler, Steve Harris. [Also] Gene Simmons [KISS]. There's a lot. But those are my top three for playing every day."

Bello also reflected on his debut show as ANTHRAX's bassist more than four decades ago. He said: "The early days of ANTHRAX — remember, I was a tech. People don't know that out there — I was a tech before I got in the band ANTHRAX. Before the first record came out, I was a horrible tech. I could barely change a string, but I was a friend that could help them lift gear.

"My first show [with ANTHRAX] is on YouTube," he continued. "I found this — somebody sent this link to me. My first show in ANTHRAX was L'Amours [in] Brooklyn with my — I think it was a Jackson Explorer bass. My mother gave me the money — rest her soul — she gave me the money for this bass, 'cause I couldn't afford it. I had almost half — something like that — and she gave me the rest of the money to play this gig. In my face, you could see I'm shitting in my pants at the same time, 'cause this is my first show, and I'm excited as hell. You could see both of them in my face."

Back in 2019, Bello told The Sessions Panel about his biggest musical influences: "Geddy Lee, Geezer Butler, Steve Harris — who's now my friend, and Geezer is too. You know what's weird? When you become friends later on. I try not to be fanboy. It's hard, because I can be talking [normally], but I still feel like, 'This is Steve Harris I'm talking to'... I still feel like that first time I saw him live on stage, [and] the first time I heard the first IRON MAIDEN record. What that did for me... at this point, I've told him so much, and he goes, 'It's okay.' He just shuts me down. Geezer's the same way. He's a sweetheart of a man. He'll give me a look — 'Okay.' That's it — I'll just shut it down [and stop] asking too many questions. But I want to learn. I still want to learn, and I want to know what amp did he use on this record. 'Steve Harris, did you use flatwound strings on every record?'"

On the topic of how he joined ANTHRAX, Frank told The Sessions Panel: "I was the roadie/tech. I didn't really know what the hell I was doing... I was friends with them, [and] being friends with the band really helps get in there. I heard through the grapevine they were going to be auditioning bass players, so of course, I put the word in — 'Look, I play. You all know me. I'm putting it out there.' Long story short, got the audition, scared. You know what's weird? You can be friends with these guys forever. [It] doesn't matter. The audition... [Charlie Benante], I think he just held back, but he was hoping, wishing [and] pumping for me, but at the same time, he said, 'Learn the parts. Learn the parts'... I was nervous. Even though I was friends with these guys, I was hanging with them all the time, I was shaking. It just worked. After the first song, then it was like, 'Okay, it's hang-out time.' I got through the first song — I think it was 'Metal Thrashing Mad'... I got through it, and I said, 'Okay, I can do this. I don't know what's going to happen later, but I know I can do this.'"

Frank played his first show with ANTHRAX in nearly a year and a half on October 12, 2024 at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California.

Prior to the 2024 Aftershock, Bello last played with ANTHRAX in May 2023 at the Milwaukee Metal Fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In April 2024 and early May 2024, Bello sat out ANTHRAX's South American tour as well as two U.S. festival dates due to "personal reasons." Filling in on those shows was ANTHRAX founding member and original bassist Dan Lilker, marking his first appearance with the band in 40 years. Lilker, who co-wrote and played on ANTHRAX's debut album "Fistful Of Metal", was also a member of STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH with Benante and ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian.

Frank released a memoir, "Fathers, Brothers, And Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, And Anthrax", in October 2021 via Rare Bird. The foreword to the book was written by KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons.