Anvil’s Lips and Robb Reiner were interviewed by myglobalmind.com and the talk encompassed their early days, resurgence of heavy metal, and their new album One And Only, out now.
When asked about Anvil being pioneers of the heavy metal genre, Reiner answered, “The way I remember it was we were influenced by all those great English bands; Deep Purple, [Black] Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Cream, Humble Pie, and maybe we smoked more dope, so we created whatever we created.”
On the band’s first albums being regarded as classics, Reiner stated, “In the moment, I was excited with what people were saying about the riffs and the drumming. We weren’t sure what it all meant. And then ‘Forged In Fire’ happened, which was also pioneering. It took us a few years to really get a hold of the whole thing. That’s what it was. But I’d say we didn’t really know. We were just like, wow, what’s going on? We’re just a bunch of cool guys getting stoned in a room and writing some cool songs that we like, but not aware that it’s got a cool drum part or this riff’s fucking progressive or whatever.”
Lips responded, “To us, it was just what we’re doing. You’re hoping that it has all these different facets to it, but you can’t recognise it, and you won’t be able to recognise it until it’s in retrospect. We were still discovering what Anvil was.”
Anvil recently announced an extensive European tour in support of their new studio album, One And Only. The dates launch on October 1 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and conclude on December 3 in Berlin, Germany. Date below.
Dates:
October
1 - Edinburgh, Scotland - Bannermans
2 - Liverpool, England - Academy 2
3 - Sheffield, England - Corporation
4 - Hull, England - The Welly Club
5 - Merthyr Tydfil, England - CLWB Crown
7 - Dublin, Ireland - Grand Social
8 - Belfast, Ireland - Limelight 2
9 - Glasgow, Scotland - Audio
11 - London, England - The Dome
12 - Leicester, England - Academy 2
13 - Southampton, England - The Joiners
15 - Hastings, England - The Crypt
18 - Wasquehal France - The Black Lab
19 - Amstelveen, Netherlands - P60
22 - Helsinki - Finland - Tavastia
23 - Tampere, Finland - Olympia
25 - Linköping, Sweden - Platens Bar
26 - Sundbyberg, Sweden - Encore
27 - Gothenborg, Sweden - The Abyss
30 - Ogna, Norway - Ogna Scene
31 - Notodden, Norway - Telerock
November
1 - Gjerdrum, Norway - Rockclub
2 - Vara, Sweden - Vara In Rock Festival
6 - Kopenhagen, Denmark - Rust
7 - Tilburg, Netherlands - Little Devil
8 - Regensburg, Germany - Airport Obertraubling
9 - Selb, Germany - Rockclub Nordbayern
10 - Mannheim, Germany - 7er Club
11 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
13 - Lyon, France - Rock n Eat
14 - Milan, Italy - Legend
15 - Rome, Italy - Traffic
16 - San Donna di Piave, Italy - Revolver
17 - Bologna, Italy - Alchemica
20 - Osnabrück, Germany - Bastard Club
21 - Siegburg, Germany - Kubana
22 - Weissenhäuser Strand, Germany - MH Paradise
25 - München, Germany - Backstage Club
26 - Kufstein, Austria - Kulturfabrik
27 - Ittre, Belgium - Zik Zak
28 - Hannover, Germany - Bei Chez Heinz
29 - Diest, Belgium - Hell
30 - Heerlen, Netherlands - Nieuwe Nor
December
1 - Hamburg, Germany - Logo
3 - Berlin, Germany - Frannz
Anvil's US tour in support of the record is underway. The complete schedule is available below.
July
17 - Brooklyn, NY - TV Eye
18 - Sellersville, PA - Sellersville Theater
19 - Manassas, VA - The Salisbury
21 - Richmond, VA- Richmond Music Hall
23 - Raleigh, NC - The Pour House
24 - Greenville. SC - Radio Room
26 - Orlando, FL - The Conduit
August
1 - El Paso, TX - Rockhouse
2 - Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad
3 - Mesa, AZ - The Nile Underground
4 - San Diego, CA - Brick By Brick
7 - Anaheim, CA - House Of Blues (Parish)
8 - Los Angeles, CA- Resident
10 - Palmdale, CA - Transplants Brewing
11 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
14 - Portland, OR - The High Water Mark
15 - Seattle, WA - Substation
17 - Salt Lake City. UT - Aces High Saloon
18 - Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
21 - Minneapolis, MN - Zhora Darling
22 - Chicago, IL - Reggies
24 - Detroit, MI - Sanctuary
25 - Cleveland, OH - The Winchester
One And Only sees the band provide first-rate Anvil entertainment: While Guitarist/vocalist Lips is considered to be one of the most creative and interesting storytellers of the metal genre, Chris Robertson and Robb Reiner keep the up the pace with their usual confidence, providing the perfect rhythm section for Lips. Although they have experienced the tough and frequently merciless side of the music industry on a number of occasions, Anvil never lost their idealism, motivation and energy, which is immediately evident on One And Only.
Like its four predecessors, One And Only was produced by Martin ‘Mattes’ Pfeiffer (U.D.O., among others) and Jörg Uken at his Soundlodge studio. As far as Lips is concerned, Pfeiffer and Uken are “... our one and only choice. As usual, Mattes and Jörg did a great job in choosing our best playing and making sure it has top notch sound. Great guys who understand the band and know what suits us best.”
Order the album here.
Tracklisting:
"One And Only"
"Feed Your Fantasy"
"Fight For Your Rights"
"Heartbroken"
"Gold And Diamonds"
"Dead Man Shoes"
"Truth Is Dying"
"Rocking The World"
"Run Away"
"World Of Fools"
"Condemned Liberty"
"Blind Rage"
"World Of Fools":
"Truth Is Dying":
"Feed Your Fantasy" video:
(Photo - W. Cliff Knese)
