Interview - Anvil : The Story Of Anvil

By Sean Lynch

Interview with Sacha Gervasi, Robb Reiner and Rebecca Yeldham

Director, Star and Producer of Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Hollywood is all about fantasy, Hollywood is all about deception, Hollywood is all about insincerity... but every so often, the tables are turned.

Anvil! The Story Of Anvil is quite possibly the most honest, truthful and most satisfying pieces of cinematic gold movie goers have encountered in a long, long time... and all because this is, literally, the real deal.

Sean Lynch caught up with director Sacha Gervasi (writer of The Terminal and The Big Tease), Aussie producer Rebecca Yeldham (The Kite Runner) and to-legit-to-quit Metal Drummer Robb Reiner to talk showbiz dreams, long forgotten memories... and painfully inserted Anvils.

In true Rock 'n' Roll style, Steve "Lips" Kudlow has disappeared...

RY: Lips has gone to bed, because he is absolutely knackered [Laughs]. But they are on cloud nine at the moment - the reaction [to the film] has just been so fantastic.

And knowing that this is just the first stage of what's going to happen in Australia

They just announced they are going to play Soundwave Festival...

RY: Yeah! And we're talking about doing a version of this thing we've been doing in the States called The Anvil Experience where we play the movie and then the band comes out and performs after the film.

It's such an epic story, both on and off screen, how does something like Anvil! The Story of Anvil come together?

RR: In 1982 we were in England doing some shows, we ended up at the Marquee Club, and a 15 year old Sacha turns up because at the time he was a big Anvil fan.

He was a drummer, loved Anvil's music, and he befriended me.

SG: [To Robb] Can you tell me, because I don't know this, but what do you remember happening? Do you just remember me coming up to you in the dressing room?

How the hell did you end up in their dressing room anyway?

SG: The lead singer of the Michael Shanka group, a guy called Garry Bardon, was arguing with the bouncer because he wanted his girlfriend to get into the dressing room.

And so while he and the bouncer were getting into it, and the girlfriend was just standing there, I nipped in behind the bouncer and got into the dressing room... which I should never have been able to.

RR: He comes into the dressing room, and theres all these other rock stars just hanging around and talking, and Sasha comes up to me and says how fantastic he thinks the band is, and how he loves the drumming and all this detailed stuff.

And I'm like "Wow, this kid really knows what he's talking about". And we just became friends instantly.

He started hanging out with the band, setting up the drums, setting up the t-shirts.

SG: And all the other road crew really gave me a hard f**king time [Laughs]. There was this one guy named Brick, who was the road manager and was hardcore, really tough - like a grenade. And so he would go "You're not a f**king roadie!".

Because I would only set up Robb's gear, I was not interested in doing any of the other shit for the other guys - I was focused on my Drum God [Laughs]. So they used to give me a really, really tough time - but you know what - it was part of the hazing process of being with the band.

"You're not a roadie - you a f**king fashion consultant" - that's what Brick said to me once, and I was like "F**k off Brick" [Laughs].

RR: And he was around for about five years, and then he just sort of disappeared onto his own, but Anvil kept on going...

SG: Because I started to get into different things too. They were doing their thing, and I was doing my thing...

RR: So fifteen years went by and I always wondered "What happened to that f**king kid?". And then in 2005 Lips received an email from Sacha... he flew over to LA and gave him our back catalogue... and our existence and persistence had inspired him.

So was it a case of having these guys in the back of your mind, and the idea for a film like this, for a long time?

SG: Not at all. When I started emailing them again, I had no idea I was going to make a film. But when I hooked up with Lips - it was really just to reconnect with them. And I had no idea that there was really a film in it until I actually saw them, in which it became clear that there was a really interesting story here.

RY: Well he started by saying, which was different to the other pitches he'd made, that this was a very personal story. And he said "There's these two guys, they're 50 years old, they're playing heavy metal with all their heart, I knew them when they were on the cusp of becoming rock stars... and it never happened for them. But they're not a reunion band - they just never gave up".

SG: And not only that - but they are still going for it - and they still think they are going to make it big.

So what was the time line of events - and how much does editing play a part in making the film work to your advantage? Was that horrid European tour already booked - or was that just a stroke of luck?

SG: I hooked up with them in July 2005, they had already met Tiziana [the manager] in June. So we didn't actually have that long to decide whether or not we were going to make it [the film]. Because we had 4-6 weeks before this tour began.

So from my first dinner with Rebecca, to shooting, was probably only about 12 weeks. And initially we thought there was an echo of the set-up of Spinal Tap, which was just a single tour. But we didn't think that we would start off with this tour and then head off into them making a new record.

But we started shooting for a year, just gathering footage, and then we began editing. And it was a year of editing, and then two years of shooting, with a second year of shooting overlapping the editing.

The more cynical viewer, at first glance, might assume that Anvil! The Story of Anvil takes the piss out of Robb and Lips slightly, were they aware of the way they might be portrayed...

SG: You can't really write a song called "Show Me Your Tits" and "Hair Pie" without having a sense of humour. I don't know if you've read the lyrics to "Five Knuckle Shuffle"... [Laughs]

"Five Knuckle Shuffle In The Shower With Soap / Choking Your Chicken Ain't No Joke / Shaking Your Steak With A Hand To The Gland"

You know, so these weren't serious political songs [Laughs]! So you knew they had a sense of humour.

There are a few points in the film where Lips and Robb get into fights - how many times has that happened over the years?

RR: We've only had half a dozen in our entire friendship, and Sacha managed to capture...

SG: I only captured five of them [Laughs]...

Now before we go I have to ask you a question, it's a question we ask everyone... but if you could start your own myth or rumour to spread about yourself in the press... what would it be?

RR: ... I was a closet Junkie.

RY: [To Robb] Would you really like people to remember that about you?

SG: I would like the TMZ story to be that Richard Gere was found dead and that there was an Anvil in his arse... a small one... with fur on it.

ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL rocked into Australian Cinemas on September 10th 2009 - and is OUT NOW on DVD