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Strike While The Anvil Is Hot

The Canadian metal band’s two decades of struggle make their current success all the sweeter

It takes a special type of person to stay positive even as life hands them basketful after basketful of lemons. Some choose to wallow in the bitterness, while others make lemonade. And still others, like Steve “Lips” Kudlow, make heavy metal guitar solos.

Kudlow is the lead singer of pioneering Canadian metal band Anvil, whose hard-luck story — bad labels, mismanagement, disastrous tours — was told in last year’s much-beloved documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil. In the film, which has just been released on DVD, director (and former Anvil roadie) Sacha Gervasi affectionately portrays the efforts of Kudlow and his drummer/lifelong friend Robb Reiner to keep their band viable despite commercial indifference, lack of money, and encroaching middle age. Improbably, the film has revived interest in Anvil — if anything, they’re now more popular than ever, having recently appeared on Conan O’Brien and shot a scene in the upcoming blockbuster The Green Hornet.

Has success gone to their heads? Hardly — Kudlow, now 53, isn’t any different from the person he was when he began creating music with Anvil back in 1973. “I think our success is pretty unbelievable,” he says. “It’s a miraculous thing. The whole thing is a miracle — a life miracle. It’s quite amazing.... It’s sort of a remarkable thing because had it been any different anywhere along the way, none of it would have ever worked. I feel that [Anvil’s success] is somewhat justifiable, if you need to call it ‘success.’ I’ve put 36 years of my life towards Anvil. It’s not like I didn’t work for it. It’s not a feeling of deserving; it’s a celebration of years of work. I wanted Anvil to go where it went and it’s gone exactly to plan. I bet my life on it and I played the poker game and I won.”

It’s an interesting master plan: jeopardize your financial security, distance yourself from your supportive family, and risk everything you’ve ever known for a shot at doing something you love.

“There is a lot of history, depth and dedication to Anvil — a lot of things had to transpire for things to work,” Kudlow says. “I can’t think about giving up. This is a life endeavour. It’s not something I decided to just for the hell of it, just to see if I could. And since I was 10 years old, it was in my vision — I felt compelled to do this. Not because I want girls, not because I want money, but because I really love music and I really love to create music. That’s the root of all of it. I can’t quit. It’s my life, it’s my identity, and to walk away from that is not possible.”

Anvil’s recent success comes on the heels of their 13th album, This is Thirteen. Although it’s an old-fashioned heavy metal album recorded by a bunch of aged rockers, knowing their inspiring story gives the music an unusual power.

“Everybody has to understand that it’s not whether there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow as much as it is the journey there,” he says. “The enrichment that I’ve had of doing this for a lifetime — you can’t buy that for any price! When you are absolutely devoted and you love something or somebody, there’s no reason for that to end. It’s really a matter of ‘you know it when you know it.’ Some people are lucky enough and some people aren’t.”


Anvil! The Story of Anvil is currently available on DVD, and This Is Thirteen is in stores now.