With:	Joey Belladonna [Vocals]
Conducted by:	Herzebeth
Published:	12.12.2005
Band profile:	Anthrax

-Hello, I'm Francisco from Metal Storm. First of all, I want to thank you for allowing me to interview you. I know you must be busy, thank you.

It is a pleasure to do this with you and Metal Storm.


-Now to my first question, this is the obligatory one actually, please tell us about the process of your "come back", the little story how was this arranged.

Charlie called me and asked if I'd like to do a reunion tour. I agreed to this. Then, management called Frankie and Danny and talked with them. It was a pretty easy process.


-This year not only did you return to the band but Dan Spitz did right? How was this approved or arranged?

Management contacted Danny and he agreed to it.


-I'm sure many fans are desperate to know this: is there any chance of recording a new album with this incredible line-up?

Anything is possible. We're moving along quite well, right now,and very busy. Time will tell.






-Now about the former vocalist, John Bush. Did you two ever meet? What happened to him or why did he leave the band?

Yes, John and I have met in the past. We had a good time together. I don't know the details about his not being with the band.


-Let me go back in time. In 1992 when you left the band there were many stories and myths about why you left. Can you please tell us the Joey Belladonna story?

I received a call from management saying they would like to part ways. I said, "Okay". At that point, there's not really anything you can do if that's what they wanted. I think they wanted a different style of vocals.


-Now that we're talking about the old days, let's talk about "Among the Living"; that album is considered to be one of the most important in Thrash Metal history, what did this album mean to you back then and what does it mean to you now?

Back then, it was the second album for Anthrax, a very important follow-up from the first one, "Spreading the Disease". I was very excited to finish it because we had a lot of great songs we
wanted everyone to hear. Now, I am honored people feel as they do about that album. I have a lot of memories about it. I think people have had some great music to listen to for a long time.






Now I'm just being curious, back in 1987 why or how did the idea of recording a rap song come up?

I really wasn't in the room at the time the decision was made to do it, so I don't have any of the details. All I did was walk in and pick up from where they had started working on it.


Let's return to "nowadays", how are the public, the fans, and the press reacting towards your return? Is it everything you expected?

I would say so. It's been very exciting and the fans have been happy to have us back together again. The press has been very interested in the band and seem to be very excited, also. We've had a lot of awesome reviews.


What about your solo project "Belladonna", are you still going to work with it and polish it all that regular stuff musicians do with solo careers? And please tell us how that project is working out for you.

Right now, I don't do much with "Belladonna" as I'm so busy with Anthrax. Anthrax is a great place to be right now, and I'm concentrating on that. I have more solo material that could be released, but I haven't been focusing on that at this time. I had a really good time exploring other music and musicians along the way with "Belladonna", but right now all my time is filled with Anthrax.






Now my last question: what did you do between the time you left anthrax in 1992 and came back in 2005?

I wrote music, recorded and released some albums, and performed live with my band, "Belladonna". All my time was spent with music.


To end the interview. Since you are Joey Belladonna, one of the monsters of metal to many people, please tell everyone what metal means to you.

Basically, it's my life. It's all I've ever dreamed of doing. I'm always banking on breaking a sweat and being loud.


Again thank you for your time, can you please add some words for fans reading this interview?

It's been an honor to express myself to you and I am honored and appreciate your interest and loyalty to Anthrax and myself.
Love,
Joey Belladonna



Pictures taken from band's official site
A really big thank you to Jensen for the contact. And a bigger Thank you to Esteban "Extreman" Martínez for helping me with this interview