Frank Bello

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ANTHRAX’s FRANK BELLO Announces Debut Solo EP “Then I’m Gone”, Out November 4th

Posted by tarjavirmakari on June 18, 2022
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Photo: Jeremy Saffer

FRANK BELLO and Rare Bird proudly present the famed Anthrax bassist’s debut solo EP, Then I’m Gone. Issued as a deluxe gatefold split 12”, the EP contains three songs alongside excerpts from his 2021 autobiography, read by the author and accompanied by additional new music.

Bello performs all instruments (except drums) on “Then I’m Gone,” “It Won’t Be Long,” and “See Me Now,” as well as the score accompanying the narrated pieces, each selected and read from the book released with Rare Bird last year, Fathers, Brothers, and Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, and Anthrax.

“I revisited some really dark times in my life when I was writing my book, and writing these songs was the result of reliving them,” explains Bello, who appears on every Anthrax release since 1985. “Music has always been a great outlet for me as a coping mechanism. I felt it was a good time to put out these songs for people who connected with the book and maybe some who haven’t yet. Thanks for listening!”

A cornerstone of the legendary “Big 4” of metal alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer, Anthrax has sold over ten million albums, traveled the globe countless times, and collaborated with a diverse list of creative icons, including Public Enemy, Keanu Reeves, and the late “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott. Fathers, Brothers, and Sons details the tragedy and triumph of the music industry and Bello’s intense personal life.

Like the book, the songs on Then I’m Gone are intimate, revealing, and powerful.  Then I’m Gone EP deluxe gatefold vinyl is available for preorder now in limited-edition purple and white/purple splatter variants, as well as standard black vinyl, direct through Rare Bird (www.rarebirdlit.com) and Experience Vinyl (www.experiencevinyl.com).

All Preorders include a digital download code with the full vinyl audiobook in the sealed vinyl jacket and a monthly email with links to audio, video, instrumentals, and bonus material.

Then I’m Gone is scheduled for release on November 4, 2022.

Tracklisting:
Side A: “Then I’m Gone,” “It Won’t Be Long,” “See Me Now”
Side B: “First Kiss,” “Compass Point,” “See Me Now [Revisited]”

Then I’m Gone EP + Vinyl Audiobook Official Promo Video:

“First Kiss” Vinyl Audiobook Private Press Sample: https://soundcloud.com/rarebirdlit/frankbellofirstkiss/s-JrOyssQcdnL

Music by Frank Bello.
Recorded by Mark Dann.
Photography by Jeremy Saffer.
Vinyl Audiobook Narration by Frank Bello
Additional music recorded at Rare Bird, Los Angeles, Calif.
Release Date (Worldwide): November 4, 2022
https://linktr.ee/frankbello
https://rarebirdlit.com

ANTHRAX’s Frank Bello: “The Spirit of Cliff Burton will always be in Every Metallica Song”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on December 22, 2021
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Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to Anthrax bassist Frank Bello about his new Book which includes stories about father’s abandonment, his brothers murder, meeting Gene Simmons during Lick it up, Black Sabbath tour dates (with Glenn Hughes and Ray Gillen), the passing of Metallica’s Cliff Burton and a whole lot more.

Frank Bello memoir, “Fathers, Brothers, And Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, And Anthrax”, was released on November 2 via Rare Bird, co-written by Frank Bello and Joel McIver. The foreword was written by KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons 

Scott Ian wrote two books on Anthrax how is your book different?
“Scott Ian wrote two great books on Anthrax, it pretty much told everything about Anthrax and had some great rock and roll stories. For my book I wanted to go inside me. I really wanted to go deep and to let this stuff out because abandonment is a big thing in my life and it affects a lot of people in this world. My dad took off when I was 10 years old. What happens and people will understand who have been abandoned by a parent is it left an emptiness, a feeling of did I do something wrong? What is wrong with me? And you are always searching for the father figure, you want something to give you a backbone. You are always looking for something to make you feel better, so music was my outlet to make me feel better. It was the only thing that really took  that anguish away and made me feel better. I am getting  great comments and feedback from this book and it is helping others better to understand their situation. If Frank went through this and he can brush himself off then maybe I can do it too and that means a lot to me. I can pay it forward and people are finding this book inspiring. “

Tell us briefly of the murder of your brother’s story which is in the book
“Unfortunately on March 25 1996 my brother Anthony was murdered in the Bronx, three gunshots, some guy just took him out. It was a horrible horrible experience as you could imagine for my family but it went deeper with all of us. It took me out of my game. Two weeks after my brothers murder I snapped to the point where I become the hunter, I kind of lost who I was, I saw black. I didn’t care about Anthrax, I didn’t care about family, I just had a goal and it was about revenge. It was bad. I was stocking and I was hunting, thankful I thought of my mom. What am I doing here? Why do I have a gun in my hand? I had my mom in my head thinking what happens if I do this? She loses two sons. I thought of my brother who passed and it kind of pulled me out of it. So I went home and stuck myself in therapy. The witness came to the pre-trial but what we found out later they could not find the witness, it’s a cold case.”

Tell me about sneaking into the studio where Kiss’ Gene Simmons working on the album  Lick it up
“My friend and I Tom were pretty tenacious about going downtown and meeting these guys (Kiss) my friend Tom had the in at their management about where they were going to be, he had heard they were going to be at Right Track studio in New York and Tommy and I went down there. Tom rings the bell and they let us in (as Fans) I couldn’t believe they let us in? Gene Simmons is there relaxing after a take. Gene kind of understood we were die hard fans, so he says would you like to hear a song? Gene let us into the room where he was mixing the song ‘Young and Wasted’ , we loved every second of it, we went outside screaming how much we loved it. ” (story is explained in detail in the book)

What was touring with Black Sabbath back in the Glenn Hughes Ray Gillen Era
“I think it was 6 shows on that tour, it was great because Tony Iommi is the nicest person in the world and of course he is the Riff master, a legend we love him. It was fun thing to be on tour in the big arenas, it didn’t do well on that tour but it was a little taste of what could be for us. We remember seeing Ray Gillen do the sound checks and he would sing amazing, rest his soul.”

Tell me about the passing of Metallica’s Cliff Burton while on tour in the 80’s
“There are no words. We were young, touring everyday you get used to the same people hanging out together every day Anthrax and Metallica. I would watch their show every night, I always loved what Cliff Was doing, talking with his bass. Cliff was innovative, he always thought outside the box as a bass player. There was this little saying  we had, hey maybe I will see you later. The last vision I have of Cliff was his bus was going and Cliff was walking out the door and I said to him hey Cliff maybe I will see you later? Then he pokes his head from out the bus and says, maybe I will and that is the last vision from him I remember and it still kind of haunts me. A lot of credit to Metallica for brushing themselves off and having to go forward and becoming the biggest band in the world with the spirit of Cliff. “

What about doing a one of show with all three Anthrax singers all eras?
” I never say never”

ANTHRAX Bassist FRANK BELLO Teams Up with JOEL MCIVER + RARE BIRD to Release Memoir + Announces Signed Hardcover Pre-Orders

Posted by tarjavirmakari on October 2, 2021
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Rare Bird is excited to announce the release of Frank Bello’s Fathers, Brothers, and Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, and Anthrax, coauthored with Joel McIver, including a foreword by Gene Simmons of KISS.

Frank Bello, bassist with the legendary New York thrash metal band Anthrax since 1984 – one of the “big four” of thrash metal – has sold over 10 million albums, travelled the globe more times than he cares to count and enthralled audiences from the world’s biggest stages. He and his bandmates have even been awarded keys to the Bronx in recognition of their status. His long-awaited memoir would be a gripping read even if its pages only contained stories about his life as a recording and touring musician. While those stories are indeed included—and will blow your mind—Bello also focuses on deeper subjects in Fathers, Brothers, and Sons. Once you’ve heard his life story, you’ll understand why.

Born into a family of five, Frank grew up in difficult circumstances. His father abandoned his wife and children, and Frank’s mother moved heaven and earth to keep them fed and educated. Left with no male role model, Frank found inspiration in heavy metal bass players, following their example and forging a career with Anthrax from his early teens—first as a roadie, and then as the group’s bass player. International stardom came Frank’s way by the mid-to-late 1980s, when he was still in his early twenties, but tragedy struck in 1996 when his brother Anthony was murdered in New York. Although the case went to trial, the suspected killer was released without charge after a witness, intimidated by violent elements, withdrew his testimony.

Two decades later, Frank is a father himself to a young son. Like many men who grew up without the guidance of a dad, he asks himself important questions about the meaning of fatherhood and how to do the job well. This is the wisdom which Fathers, Brothers, and Sons offers readers. Despite the emotive nature of these topics, Fathers, Brothers, and Sons is a funny, entertaining read. A man with a keen sense of humor and the perspective to know how surreal his story has been, Frank doesn’t preach or seek sympathy in his book. Instead, he simply passes on the wisdom gained from a lifetime of turbulence, paying tribute to his loved ones in a way that will resonate with us all.

Frank Bello is an American musician, most notable as bassist for the legendary thrash metal band Anthrax. On hiatus from Anthrax, he briefly performed with Helmet, but he has appeared on every Anthrax release since 1985. He lives in New York.

Joel McIver is the bestselling author of Justice for All: The Truth About Metallica, which has been translated into nine languages, and several other books. He has written for Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, and he is the occasional guest on BBC. Classic Rock magazine has called him “by some distance Britain’s most prolific hard rock/metal author.”

Fathers, Brothers, and Sons is scheduled for worldwide release in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook on November 2, 2021, will retail for US $28, and a percentage of sales will be donated to charities assisting abandoned families.

Signed hardcover pre-orders now at rarebirdlit.com

Frank Bello: “The New ANTHRAX album will be Intense & Angry”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on January 7, 2019
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frankbelloanthrax

Jimmy Kay From Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke to bassist Frank Bello (ANTHRAX, ALTITUDES & ATTITUDES). Bello talked about his new Debut Full length album with Altitudes and Attitude Album called Get It Out (release Jan 18 2019 Megaforce) which he collaborates with Megadeth‘s David Ellefson, being inducted into the Hall of Heavy Metal History on January 23 2019, as well what stage Anthrax is at writing their new album. Plus NEW Ellelfson Coffee Brand called Altitudes & Attitude.

Watch the interview here:

When asked about the new Altitudes and Attitudes new album Get it out
“We’ve worked on this thing so much and so hard. We have been getting the feedback from people and it’s really exciting to hear that people are digging the songs they’ve heard so far, we couldn’t be happier. Everybody knows this is a heavy rock record it’s not a metal record, we just wanted to put out good songs and have fun with it.”

When asked about the inspiration of the lyrics on the album
“I don’t try to be somebody I am not. I just feed off my life experiences and I find it like a therapy that I need to Get It Out hence the name of the record. I really felt like I had to get a lot of things out of me lyrically. Song wise there is a lot of passion in there I’ve had anger issues forever and it’s from growing up. My dad left my family of 5 when I was 10 years old he left us with no money and I grew up poor. I’m hoping I can connect to those people that have had the same hardships in their lives as me and hopefully they could rise above it all like i did. It’s really important to me is to pass the torch. Different kinds of topics on this album like losing my brother who was murdered when he was 23 years old at the prime of life and that obviously had a lot a big effect on me and my family. There’s a lot of my life experiences in this record so it’s just things that I needed to express.”

When asked about singing on the alum
“The only reason why I wanted to sing on this record was because it was just easier to create the songs the way I wanted them to come across. I’ve been studying singing with Melissa Cross for quite a while now in New York and she’s teaching me the whole thing of breathing and all that stuff I didn’t realize the dedication you needed to be a singer and I really appreciate it.”

When asked about his upcoming inducted into the Hall of Heavy Metal History on January 23 2019
“It’s pretty awesome at the end of the day I have been doing this for a long time and then to have a group of people acknowledge what I have done it’s humbling, it’s a great thing and I’m really honoured and I’m really grateful for it.”

When asked if Gene Simmons would be upset over the cover of the Anthrax new live album which looks like the Kiss Rock and Roll All Over
“Well we’re friends, kiss long-time fans plus we got Genes approval. ”

When asked about the new Anthrax album and what stage they are at
“In terms of Anthrax’s new album everybody has their own collection of ideas. Scott ,Charlie and I will get together in two and a half weeks and we will start going through the ideas and we will start putting something together. We start right at NAMM (Jan 24-27) week. We will be getting together as Anthrax and writing songs. I am very excited to see what we will come up with. We have lots of good energy right now and this is good for a new record because it’s an angry place and I could you just feel it. I’m very excited to see what we come up with because I don’t know quite yet what it will sound like. We’re just going to bounce ideas off of each other and I’m sure every body’s going to bring it but I do know there will be angry and it’s going to be intense.”

MEGADETH’s David Ellefson And ANTHRAX’s Frank Bello in Studio Recording New ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE Material

Posted by tarjavirmakari on December 1, 2016
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attitudes-attitude-in-studio

ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE – the project featuring MEGADETH bassist and EMP LABEL GROUP‘s President David Ellefson and ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello – is currently in the studio in Hollywood, California recording material for their new album, with the producer Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER, STONE SOUR).

David Ellefson commented: “What started out as simple bass ideas quickly developed into some really great songs together. Our fans would probably never suspect that a couple of metal bass players would have songs like these inside of us. It’s exciting to write melody with diversity while still pushing the limits of lead-bass playing. Frank’s singing, and both of us playing guitars and other instruments, gave us a whole new dimension for creative opportunities.”

Frank Bello added: “We thought it would be cool to let fans hear something they wouldn’t expect from us — which is what ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE is”.

Regarding how ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE came together, Ellefson told recently Guitar World: “We were doing bass clinics for our endorsement of Hartke bass amplification a few years back when the ‘Big Four’ were playing shows together. I just said to Frank, ‘We should really write some of our own material we can play for these clinics. Something unique just for us.’ So at Bass Player Live! at the Key Club in Hollywood, Frank got us talking to ANTHRAX producer Jay Ruston, who is also a bass player, and he got excited to get on board to record some songs for us. We agreed to do just a few songs we could release in EP format. This would make the workload easier with all of our schedules and even allow us to continue releasing more songs moving forward as well. Jay brought in Jeff Friedl on drums and even suggested Gus G. to play the solos I wanted to have on the track ‘Here Again’.”

Check out the video for “Tell The World”, taken from the ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE’s EP, released in 2014:

More information on ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE at https://www.facebook.com/altitudesandattitude

ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE Line-up:
David Ellefson
Frank Bello
Jeff Friedl

More information at:
EMP Label Group: http://empmerch.com – http://emplabelgroup.com
ALPHA OMEGA Management: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialAlphaOmegaManagement

The Metal Voice Interview with ANTHRAX: Frank Bello: ‘There is no ill will with John Bush’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on September 17, 2016
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anthrax-frankbello-themetalvoice-3

Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke with ANTHRAX Bassist Frank Bello in Montreal Canada on their North American tour with Death Angel and Slayer.

When asked about the song ‘Got the time’ being played on Mars

Well first of all you have to have a fan that works at NASA. We just got a letter for someone that they did that it’s amazing but certainly you got to remember it was a Joe Jackson song. Its Anthrax’s version of the Joe Jackson song, because I want to give him credit because he is such a brilliant artist and songwriter, I love Joe Jackson

When asked about the recording process of their new album for all Kings

At this stage it’s like clockwork for us, we go in and we do what we do. Charlie, Scott and myself get together to do the drums in L.A. with Jay Ruston our producer. We Jam all the songs together and make sure everything is right for the drums. Then individually, I live in New York, Scott lives in L.A. and technology really rules right now, so I can do my tracks wherever I want, so Jay came to New York, I had a local studio near me, we did my tracks there, it worked out amazingly I got to go home and see my family. Scott did the same thing in LA and it’s really easy now. Technology although it has ruined the music business, it has actually helped us where we can go where ever we want to go and record which is nice. But the three of us are all together for the drum tracks and it will always be tighten up like that

When asked about how word of mouth and Social media plays a role in today’s music industry

When you think about it social media it’s still really word of mouth, that’s really what it is, that’s the new tape trading, check this out, check this out. We never really had real airplay, or MTV, we never really had that big global music radio stuff, its word of mouth, its fans talking to fans because there was no internet, but now there is this whole social media thing that makes it a lot easier to get it across, thank god for it. It’s great to get our music out, spread the word.

When asked if he would do an Anthrax / Armored Saint (with John Bush) tour together?

Joey Vera is literally one of my best friends, when I have something to do with the family Joey will come in and do a gig from me and he played with Anthrax for a while. So my thing is yeah or course that can happen. There is no ill stuff with John Bush

Watch the interview here: