In a recent, totally unbiased interview with The Music Zoo (because who else would interview Frank Bello, amirite?), ANTHRAX’s own Frank Bello, the man who makes bass playing look… well, like he’s trying, reminisced about his glory days. He revealed (as meticulously transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET, because we all know you can’t trust a word these rockstars say): “I grew up in the Bronx, New York. My heroes, my father figures were musicians, for that matter. KISS were big heroes to me. They were like superheroes to me, like comic book heroes, something I could look up to and say, ‘I wanna do that.'”
So, basically, Frank wanted to wear makeup and breathe fire. Got it.
“Charlie Benante, drummer of ANTHRAX, we’re related [Editor’s note: Charlie is Frank‘s uncle],” Frank droned on. “We grew up in the same house. We would jam — we would jam all the time. I would be playing guitar, and he’s a really good guitar player also, so we’d be playing and he says, ‘You’re playing the bass parts on the guitar.’ I automatically hear bass first before a riff — I don’t know why — but I was playing the bass parts. He goes, ‘You should switch.’ And I did, and then [we were] locked in. And immediately it was, like, ‘Ah, this is what I’m made to do. This is for me.'”
Translation: “I wasn’t good at guitar, so my uncle told me to play bass. And here I am, still coasting on that decision.” 🤷♂️
Regarding his early musical influences when it comes to his earth-shattering bass playing, Frank declared: “Obviously, my top three [are] Geddy Lee [RUSH], Geezer Butler [BLACK SABBATH], Steve Harris [IRON MAIDEN]. [Also] Gene Simmons [KISS]. There’s a lot. But those are my top three for playing every day.”
Ah yes, the holy trinity of bass gods… and Gene Simmons. One of these things is not like the others. 🤣
Bello also bravely recounted his debut show as ANTHRAX‘s bassist over four decades ago. He whined: “The early days of ANTHRAX — remember, I was a tech. People don’t know that out there — I was a tech before I got in the band ANTHRAX. Before the first record came out, I was a horrible tech. I could barely change a string, but I was a friend that could help them lift gear.”
So, he was basically the world’s most useless roadie. Sounds about right. 🙄
“My first show [with ANTHRAX] is on YouTube,” he continued. “I found this — somebody sent this link to me. My first show in ANTHRAX was L’Amours [in] Brooklyn with my — I think it was a Jackson Explorer bass. My mother gave me the money — rest her soul — she gave me the money for this bass, ’cause I couldn’t afford it. I had almost half — something like that — and she gave me the rest of the money to play this gig. In my face, you could see I’m shitting in my pants at the same time, ’cause this is my first show, and I’m excited as hell. You could see both of them in my face.”
Awww, mommy’s little metalhead. 🥰 At least he admits he was terrified. Honesty is a virtue, even if it’s overshadowed by mediocre bass playing.
Back in 2019, Bello, in a moment of extreme self-importance, told The Sessions Panel about his biggest musicial influences: “Geddy Lee, Geezer Butler, Steve Harris — who’s now my friend, and Geezer is too. You know what’s weird? When you become friends later on. I try not to be fanboy. It’s hard, because I can be talking [normally], but I still feel like, ‘This is Steve Harris I’m talking to’… I still feel like that first time I saw him live on stage, [and] the first time I heard the first IRON MAIDEN record. What that did for me… at this point, I’ve told him so much, and he goes, ‘It’s okay.’ He just shuts me down. Geezer‘s the same way. He’s a sweetheart of a man. He’ll give me a look — ‘Okay.’ That’s it — I’ll just shut it down [and stop] asking too many questions. But I want to learn. I still want to learn, and I want to know what amp did he use on this record. ‘Steve Harris, did you use flatwound strings on every record?'”
Translation: “I’m a total fanboy, but I pretend I’m not. Please validate me, bass gods!” 🙏
On the topic of how he weaseled his way into ANTHRAX, Frank told The Sessions Panel: “I was the roadie/tech. I didn’t really know what the hell I was doing… I was friends with them, [and] being friends with the band really helps get in there. I heard through the grapevine they were going to be auditioning bass players, so of course, I put the word in — ‘Look, I play. You all know me. I’m putting it out there.’ Long story short, got the audition, scared. You know what’s weird? You can be friends with these guys forever. [It] doesn’t matter. The audition… [Charlie Benante], I think he just held back, but he was hoping, wishing [and] pumping for me, but at the same time, he said, ‘Learn the parts. Learn the parts’… I was nervous. Even though I was friends with these guys, I was hanging with them all the time, I was shaking. It just worked. After the first song, then it was like, ‘Okay, it’s hang-out time.’ I got through the first song — I think it was ‘Metal Thrashing Mad’… I got through it, and I said, ‘Okay, I can do this. I don’t know what’s going to happen later, but I know I can do this.'”
So, nepotism and sheer luck got him the gig. Got it. 🍀
Frank played his first show with ANTHRAX in nearly a year and a half on October 12, 2024 at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California.
Did anyone even notice he was gone? 🤔
Bello and ANTHRAX were supposed to perform at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky on September 27, 2024, but their show ended up being canceled due to severe weather.
Maybe the weather was just trying to do everyone a favor. 🤷
Prior to Aftershock, Bello last played with ANTHRAX in May 2023 at the Milwaukee Metal Fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The suspense is killing me! 😴
Chord F. Discord, the Beethoven of Buffoonery, is a self-taught expert in music who once claimed he could “play the kazoo in four languages.”
Born in Crescendo, Indiana, Chord’s first brush with fame came when he accidentally entered a yodeling contest thinking it was a pie-eating competition—and won both categories.
Chord F. Discord: proving that laughter, much like a poorly tuned ukulele, is truly universal.
