When you look at bands that have stood the test of time, consistency is usually key. When you throw on an AC/DC album, you know what you’re getting. That new record from Cannibal Corpse probably ain’t gonna contain any bit of disco flair. Hell, it’s the reason that Coke tastes like Coke, you sometimes just want more of your favorites without any new bells or whistles or surprises. After more than 40 years on the road, Anvil damn sure knows what makes their style a winning formula.
Released at the end of June, Anvil’s 20th studio record, One and Only, is a blast of classic metal from an outfit that knows plenty about what makes the genre great (they inspired the Big Four of U.S. thrash metal for Satan’s sake). If you’ve tuned into what Steve “Lips” Kudlow [guitars and vocals] and Robb Reiner [drums] have been up to over the previous four decades, you should know what you’re in store for here and you won’t be disappointed. Start to finish, One and Only is a fun, fast-paced record that will stick around in your head long after it’s done spinning. I caught up with Lips before the release to chat about Anvil’s latest creation.
When did you guys start the writing process for the new record and what did you guys want to do with One and Only?
Lips: I basically started on the heels of the last album, the album before it [2022’s Impact is Imminent]. It’s been a succession like that. Right now, I’m on a break. This is the first break that I’ve had in a couple albums but I’m not really on a break. I don’t know how else to explain it [besides] I’m compiling. What I mean by compiling, I do a lot of playing and collecting bits and pieces. Sometimes it’s an entire song. I’m going through the collecting aspect, and it can be as long as a year, and it can be as many as 100 songs, if not more, so I can put together what I want at the end of it, pick and choose my favorite and go through that process. I’m still a ways away because this album hasn’t even come out so before I start taking stuff into rehearsal and rehearsing it and learning it, I’d prefer to do a bit of touring [laughs]. But that’s what I’ve been doing. The last couple albums, and even before the last album came out, we were playing new tracks at the rehearsal space. It’s just crazy. What it does is, if you stay ahead, you never get behind. That’s it.
Is it ever tough to whittle all those ideas down into songs?
Lips: It isn’t because you just go back and listen and you know which ones get the gold star the second you hear it, especially later on. You don’t even recognize it half the time. You’re hearing stuff and going, “I created that? What is that?” It’s remarkable. The stuff you’re going to first respond to is the stuff that you want. Those are the ones you want and you look for them. Not every one of them is gonna be like that, they never are, so it’s pretty easy to discern the difference, at least it is for me.
Did you find yourself surprising yourself at all this time around with any of the songs or directions you went in?
Lips: I think the biggest difference is the pre-production. I had all the songs arranged and so forth and I bring home the bed track just on a two-track digital recorder and I put it into my computer and begin experimenting with how the singing is going to work. I spend hours like that but also in consultation with Martin Pfeiffer, our producer, in Germany. He hears what I’m proposing as melody lines and how the lyrics work and whether he thinks that the lyric works at all [laughs]. I have sort of somebody to consult with as I’m going through the process. By the time I get to the studio, all the work is done. Both the producer and myself know exactly what needs to be recorded so it just becomes a mechanical thing rather than let’s be creative. You’ve already gone through the creation so let’s get the best takes we can, which is great when both you and the producer know what those melodies are. You’re going to know when you hit gold and when it’s the right take. By the time I was finished, before going in to record, I was completely prepared so I was singing two to three songs completed a day. That’s pretty serious when you take into consideration that’s a lot of work but, when you know what you’re doing, it’s not a lot of work so just get it on tape, get it recorded [laughs].
Sounds like a pretty smooth recording process too.
Lips: The process was great and of course it left a lot of time for mixing and stuff and that gives [producer/mixer] Jörg [Uken] the chance to make it sound as good as it can, which I also think is precisely done this time, absolutely fantastic mix and production. It’s just…wow! Virtually flawless, which is difficult. That’s a difficult aspect because sometimes, in recording, you don’t record the right thing so at the end you’re missing something because you didn’t put it there but that’s a whole other issue.
In many ways, [the process] was like the Forged in Fire and Metal on Metal albums. Those albums, we actually played the songs on the road before recording them so they were all pre-produced. We knew exactly what we wanted to record and it was just go do it. It wasn’t that we had to be guided, you knew what you had to do so you just did it. I think that’s a great place to be if you can get there. It’s not that easy to get there.
That has to make the actual recording process so much less stressful on you then.
Lips: Oh yeah but, having said that, what happens by doing that is that afterwards, and I don’t even know how to explain it or say why, I know what’s there so thoroughly that I can’t be bothered to listen to it. I know that sounds weird but if it’s exactly the way I want it to be, and it is, it’s not like I gotta listen to it again to see what’s wrong. When you get to that point, you’re going “I don’t have to listen to it anymore.” It’s because you’ve been striving for perfection, and I guess we’ve pretty much reached it, and the faders are gone and the board is gone and the whole recording process is finished…there’s no real reason to go back there. At least that’s how I found it this time, more so than ever before.
You mentioned Martin and Jörg earlier. They’ve done a killer job on your records and have done a nice job keeping the Anvil sound fresh. How did you get hooked up with them and what do they mean for the band?
Lips: I think they are very integral in that regard. All of our business is being done in Germany so we’ve got a German manager who knew Martin. He worked with U.D.O. and used the same guy. When he asked Martin if he wanted to do it, Martin was going “Yeah, no problem!” [He’s a] big fan but, having said that, a very, very, very perceptive guy and knowledgeable in the studio and he’s a drummer. He’s a military marching drummer. It’s kind of interesting. Jörg is also a drummer so it’s great. When we go into the studio, I have three drummers to consult with [laughs]. It’s actually quite amazing. Drums take up most of the recording so no wonder they sound good [laughs]!
There are a ton of great spots for metal around the world but you really can’t go wrong with Germany. I don’t know if there’s anyone more knowledgeable about the genre.
Lips: That’s it. Not to mention, a phenomenal price. You’ve got incredible value. You’ve got top-notch technicians and producers and a place to stay, all for a reasonable price. We’re doing the album in Germany, no question [laughs]!
All these years it, what keeps you coming back to Anvil and excited about it?
Lips: I don’t know if it’s excitement. It’s like, you breathe everyday, right? You know what I mean? It’s been in my life my entire life. I don’t know any different, nor do I want it to be any different. That’s where you get the longevity from. I’m not going to quit. You quit what you hate. You’re doing what you love. It’s a really simple rule.
People always say find what you love and you won’t work a day in your life.
Lips: That’s it. I haven’t actually worked in 15 years or longer. What do I mean by that? Just what I’m saying. When I quit my job at Choice Children’s Catering 15 years ago I’ve never had to go back to work ever again. I’m completely making a living from Anvil. It’s been the best 15 years of my entire career and I’ve been having an absolutely great time being in a state of permanent retirement.
That has to be such a nice feeling, just being able to sustain yourself and make your living off your music.
Lips: That’s exactly it, man. It couldn’t have come at a better time, at the end of your career, at the end of your life, rather than at the beginning, and be struggling and having nothing to live for. Fuck that. I got really super lucky. What a retirement! What a retirement from hard labor all my 20s and 30s and 40s. Finally, I hit 50 and they put a movie out about me and it changed my life so that I never, ever have to go to a regular day job ever again and I’m making enough money from playing music all over the world. I’ve been in demand as a complete result of the movie so that we are getting gigs anywhere that we wanna go play.
It’s not about playing huge festivals and big concert venues and stadiums. That’s not what I’m talking about. That’s not what I even wanted or had in my sights. All I wanted to do is make a living and do this for a life of music and to be able to create dozens of albums and be creative, not like a typical band that makes it in their first couple of albums and they have no history and it’s over in five years. Here I am 45 years later, 20 albums I’ve put out, all the way that I want to do it, how I want to do it, when I want to do it, all with no compromise. That’s success. Even if I made a nickel, it wouldn’t make a difference. I put out all that material and did all that work and had a fulfillment of my life’s desires. I couldn’t be happier. I couldn’t be more fulfilled than the way I feel now. It’s all good, man. I’m grateful for a lot of shit. I’m even grateful for the people that fucked me over early in my career. Without them to do it, there’s no story and there’s no future. They were all bits and pieces of different, separate things all through my life that brought me to where I am. You’ve gotta look at everything positively.
I think that no compromise, never die attitude is something that fans love about you guys. Like you said, a lot of bands make it quick, fall off, and get forgotten. An Anvil fan is someone that is kinda around for life and I think, to me, that attitude is a big part of it.
Lips: I would think so. I would hope so. It’s certainly my philosophy. I do it for self-satisfaction. You could say that it’s selfish but the way that I look at it, I’m definitely not the only one that has the taste for what I’m doing. I have to impress myself or I’m wasting my time. That’s why I enjoy what I’m doing and I know there are people that enjoy what I do. So as long as I’m enjoying it and that I know that I’m being satisfied by what I’m hearing when I’m finished writing a song, and that I care…It’s very important to care. That’s why some bands slip and fall and go by the wayside. It’s because they stopped caring. What does that mean? There’s no integrity, they’re going through the motions, they have no excitement or desire to move forward. Those things will kill your band in an instant. You’ve gotta care. Everything you do matters and, as long as you care, you’re gonna keep turning out more music. I care enough so I sit down and I play my guitar and I record my little bits and pieces that I’m going to make songs out of later.
I wanted to ask about a few of the songs on One and Only. How did you come up with the idea for “Fight for Your Rights?”
Lips: It was connected to the death of both the president and vice-president of Attic Records, which was our first record deal. Both of these guys, within six weeks of each other, opted for assisted suicide, medical suicide. I went to the funeral of one of the guys and it left a really hollow feeling because there were issues that I had that never got resolved and never will be. For me, it was a personal thing to put it into music and into a lyric so that I could at least get it off my chest. It’s cathartic.
How about “Heartbroken?” I dug the Black Sabbath vibe on that one.
Lips: A lot of people are saying it’s Black Sabbath but if I tell you, I’m giving it away so I’ll let you continue thinking it’s Black Sabbath, that’s all good with me [laughs]. Lyrically, it was about the death of Robb’s niece, she passed away at 31-years old from COVID. That’s where the inspiration came from.
You do include personal lyrics on the records and have for a long time. Is it ever hard to use things from your personal life and turn them into songs?
Lips: No, you don’t even have a choice. I don’t think you really do, man. It’s such deep, deep psychological stuff that you can’t help yourself. You just can’t help yourself, whether you like it or not [laughs]. It’s your being that you’re talking about or considering, so how do you separate the biological aspect of your humanity from what you create? It’s going to be a reflection of your biology, whether it’s mental or physical. It’s still a result of what’s around you and your take on it, your perception. Regardless of whether I like it or not, or whether anyone else likes it or not, that’s where it comes from. It’s on purpose by accident. Everything that you write, it tends to mean a lot more after the fact than it does the moment you type it into the computer. Some things have actually shocked me where I’m going, “Jeez, man, how the Hell did I even come up with that?” That’s the whole magic. How do you come up with it? You just do.
Where’d you get the lyrics for “Feed Your Fantasy?
Lips: It’s interesting. “Feed Your Fantasy” started out as “Road to Sunshine.” I laugh at it now but it was the first thing that came to my mind. It was the right syllables. That’s what drove me there but, eventually, it’s like, no, that doesn’t work [laughs]. That’s not gonna work at all for Anvil. Come on, give me a break! I knew at the same time, by the lightheartedness of the music that was underneath it, you didn’t want to talk about violent things. A lot of stuff didn’t fit. Originally it was “Fulfill Your Fantasy.” I was watching T.V. and there was a commercial, it might have been Expedia, but it was a commercial for traveling and the guy goes “Go to Jamaica and feed your fantasy.” As soon as he said that, I went, bingo, thank you [laughs]! Sometimes that’s what it takes. You hear it someplace else, from something else.
How about that closer “Blind Rage?”
Lips: It was about being really pissed off. That’s how it sounded to me [laughs]. I realized that the chorus was wherever that main riff was so that turned into the chorus, wherever that riff was repeated, and it sounded so urgent and so angry so all of a sudden it just struck me that it sounds like it’s screaming blind rage! Then you can say what’s pissing you off between every time you go to that. I thought, that’s cool, what a great arrangement! [The] obvious roots…it’s related to “666,” “Blood on the Ice,” that kind of riffage. It’s really not the same notes, and it’s not played the same way at all but the overall feeling is…from that world of riffs.
Photo at top: One and Only album cover.
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