Although the buzz around the new documentary Anvil!: The Story Of Anvil suggests that the obscure Canadian metal band is a “real-life Spinal Tap,” that’s a bit misleading. Yes, the band has hung in there since the late ’70s with amps that go to 11. But singer-guitarist Steve “Lips” Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner have soldiered on with their then-groundbreaking speed/thrash metal against impossible odds like legal problems, woefully inept managers, and eventually being eclipsed by bands that they influenced, like Slayer and Metallica. Those years of marginalization may have finally paid off, though, making Lips and Co. the ultimate underdogs in Anvil, which follows the band from 2005 to 2007 as it attempted to tour Europe and also record its 13th album, This Is Thirteen. As Anvil is being released in theaters around the country this month, Anvil is also making a handful of appearances where it’ll perform following a screening of the movie: The group hits New York on April 6 at the Blender Theatre, with a screening of the film and live performance to follow. Fresh from quitting his day job and poised to make a comeback, Lips spoke to Decider about being the mom-and-pop store of metal bands and why you should never give up on your dreams.
Decider: What’s happened to Anvil since the end of the movie?
Lips: We’ve been very busy. Obviously, everything’s picked up 1,000 percent, man. I’m not playing gigs for 1,000, 500 bucks anymore. [Laughs.] Whatever. A lot of those things have changed and I don’t think they’ll ever be the same. We’ll never be on the lower echelon that we’ve traveled through for the last 30 years.
D: The movie doesn’t really go much into Anvil’s chronology.
L: No, they don’t, and it gives you the idea that we’ve done nothing. It’s actually quite ludicrous. I’ve been using the analogy of Home Depot and the independent hardware store. We’re the independent hardware store. Just because we don’t make millions of dollars doesn’t mean we’re not successful. We’ve got basically all the close-by neighborhood people buying from us. Yes, the majority of people buy at Home Depot, but what about when you need something really quick and you don’t want to drive all the way out to Home Depot?