Former ANTHRAX Guitarist, Wife Talk About Raising Sons With Autism (Video)

April 14, 2012

Former ANTHRAX guitarist Dan Spitz and his wife, Candi, spoke to Metal Motivation about their own personal experience with raising two identical mirror image twin boys that both suffer from autism. As part of Dan's plan of attack of raising awareness for autism, he's created a new band, RED LAMB, whose first album (a writing collaboration with Dave Mustaine of MEGADETH) features the song "Puzzle Box", which speaks about autism.

According to Autism Key, Spitz's twin sons were born in 2007 and both have since been diagnosed with autism. During that time, he has used his celebrity to help raise awareness about the disorder, particularly among those within the music community. Additionally, Spitz and his wife are strong supporters of Autism Speaks and have recently been featured in one of the organization’s videos promoting its autism walks.

Dealing with autism hasn't been the only challenge Spitz has faced in recent years. In 2009, he underwent open heart surgery to repair a main artery in his heart that was said to be "almost completely closed."

Spitz is a born-again Christian and Messianic Jew and in interviews, has frequently cited his faith as an influential component to his life.

Spitz took part in the reunion of ANTHRAX's classic lineup in 2005 and 2006 but left the band after ANTHRAX's most recent split with singer Joey Belladonna.

In a January 2007 interview with Eddie Trunk of the "Friday Night Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian stated about Spitz, "Whether people are aware or not, Danny's, like, a big deal in the really, really fancy, expensive watch world — like crazy, super-high-end watches — and he's got his own line of watches coming out. It's weird, because before the reunion I would read this stuff online, and I would just kind of be like, 'What the hell…?' But then like after hanging out with the guy for 20 months and you actually talk to him and see the watches and what-not, I was like, 'Holy crap!' It's a pretty big deal."

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