LIPS: Why Bands Like METALLICA And SLAYER Haven't Taken ANVIL Out On Tour

Guitarist/vocalist Steve "Lips" Kudlow was interviewed on the March 22 edition of "The Louvau Show" on the 93.9 KWSS radio station in Scottsdale, Arizona. You can now listen to the chat using the SoundCloud widget below.

Asked why the so-called "Big Four" bands of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX — haven't taken ANVIL out on the road with them despite the fact that ANVIL was a huge influence on their music, Lips said: "I wouldn't say that they haven't. METALLICA, we did a show with METALLICA in Singapore, which broke the band completely wide open in Asia.

"I have no ax to grind, so to speak, to the boys. I love them; they're my brothers, and they're very helpful. AC/DC were a huge help."

He continued: "Why hasn't SLAYER? I don't think the opportunity is… I think that… And Tom [Araya, SLAYER bassist/vocalist] is a great guy, a good friend. Let's put it this way: when he was asked to do the interview for the ['Anvil! The Story Of Anvil'] movie, he was the first in. He was complelled to do it. He felt like it was his duty and honor to be involved; he did not get paid for it. None of these people were paid. It wasn't about that. It was about, 'We love ANVIL, and we'll do anything to help our brothers.' That's how that came to be. And these guys have been longtime friends, all of these guys.

"But why haven't they helped ANVIL? Well, they're all managed by people, and managed by people, and run by people, and they don't really have the say.

"So how does it really work? Well, if you're in their management situation, you look at the support bands. How many tickets are these guys gonna sell? And if they're not gonna sell tickets, how much money is their record label willing to pay us to let them on the bill. That's what the word 'support' means when you say 'support band.' It's about finance, and if you haven't got that, you're not getting the gig. Plain and simple. That's just how simple it works. It's not about, 'Hey, you're my friend. I'm gonna give you a hand.' It doesn't work like that, especially in the 'land of opportunity,' which is that of America. America is run by the almighty dollar, and that's the way it works. It's all about business. Real simple."

Lips added: "And I guess the next question [might be], am I bitter? Absolutely not. It's a state of reality; that's what it is. So you fight that reality. That's the only thing you're left with. That's where the struggle comes in. So, you can't do it this way. There's many different ways to skin the cat. You go out and you do your own shows. And you draw whatever you're gonna draw, and you get seen by whoever is gonna see you. You've gotta get to your fans. You've gotta get to your fans. That's paramount. That's what it's all about. That's why you record music, and that's why you end up on the road as much as possible. And that's where I am right now in my life."

ANVIL's latest album, "Hope In Hell", sold a little under 800 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The disc followed up "Juggernaut Of Justice", which opened with around 1,600 units back in May 2011. The 2009 re-release of the band's 2007 CD, "This is Thirteen", registered a first-week tally of 1,400 to enter the Top New Artist Albums chart at No. 19.

Lips told Horns Up Rocks! in a recent interview that the band will spend most of 2015 on the road, but will return to the studio at the end of the year to record the follow-up to 2013's "Hope In Hell". He said: "We have a new album pretty much all written, but we're gonna be busy probably 'till next September. So that's when we plan to go in and record again."

ANVIL last year parted ways with bassist Sal Italiano and replaced him with Chris Robertson. Lips told M.E.A.T.'s Drew Masters that Chris has actually been part of the ANVIL camp for some time now, having been both their rehearsal bassist as well as a member of their road crew. Lips also stated that he's glad the band is, once again, "all Canadian — that is the heart and soul of ANVIL."