Steve "Lips" Kudlow, frontman for Canadian metal legends ANVIL, is featured in a new interview with Kelly Dearmore at the Dallas Oberserver. An excerpt is available below:

Q:When Anvil started, metal was new. Now, there are so many different types of metal. What do you think of that evolution?

Lips: "Initially, it was all hard rock or heavy rock. Around 1980, it started getting called metal and heavy metal. At that point, there was really only that one kind of heavy metal, and it encapsulated a wide range of sounds. As time went along, a hundred different types of metal popped up. At one point, you could put a ballad on a metal album, along with a fast, brutal song and also a bludgeoning, slow stomper and it was all cool. Now, it's really uncool to do that. Now, so many records sound the same, every song is the same, the singing is often the same. There's no bloody melody, no real rhythm. Why is that? It's like, if you get commercial success, you can't be metal anymore. If a song gets popular, it's no longer metal - you sold out. It's just human nature to try and categorize and pigeonhole everything. That's all it is."

Q: So, just for the record: Can a ballad still be metal in this day and age?

Lips: "Absolutely! I mean, come on. One of the original, biggest songs of all time is 'Stairway To Heaven'. What's at the end of that song? Not heavy guitar with distortion, but that's still metal. It isn't half-metal. Just turn on the stereo and listen to the music.There are really only two kinds of music: good and bad, that's it."

Q: Could there be an Anvil without you and Robb Reiner together?

Lips: "No. The simple answer is no. It will always have to be both of us, and there are a hundred and one reasons why. We started to play together in 1973, and we were inseparable. Also, I have a complete love and understanding for the drums. I'm the perfect guitar player for a drummer because I know what he's always doing. Robb always knows what I'm doing, too. Our musical vocabulary is virtually identical. We'll put songs together by simply discussing them.

We've written songs on the way to rehearsal before, just by talking about it. Only we understand that vocabulary. How do you separate that? If I go anywhere, I take my voice and guitar with me and I'm still the guy from Anvil. Why bother leaving where I came from, because it will always be me. Robb will never have a circumstance where he can have the influence and understanding that I provide for him. The main currency of Anvil is drumming. Anvil is about drumming. I write songs to accentuate drums, because I've got a great drummer. It's about acceptance. Acceptance of the good and the bad."

Click here for the complete interview.

As previously reported, former Anvil bassist Glenn Five recently issued a press release (which can be read here) announcing his departure from the band, citing creative differences. Shortly thereafter, G5 conducted an exclusive one-on-one interview with BraveWords.com scribe Aaron Small:

In your press release, you state that you were “limited creatively.” Can you please expand upon that?

“I have a lot of creativity in me to offer and I want to explore that. I have written many of my own songs over the years, some of which wouldn’t have suited Anvil much and some which could have been great Anvil songs. However, although we wrote as a trio and arranged and built the puzzle pieces together, it is Lips that writes 99% of the riffs. I would add my stamp to Anvil’s sound by writing the bass lines to Lips’ guitar riffs. It’s those guitar riffs that give Anvil their signature sound, and I think that is a great thing, it is definitely not a negative thing to have ‘a sound’. But as far as musically collaborating I was never encouraged to bring my music to the table and that has limited me creatively. I’m a musician, I’ve been a musician since I was big enough to sit on the bench in front of that Hammond organ. A musician to me is about being creative with other musicians and I need to get back to that. It’s been great playing, recording and touring with Anvil, especially during the rediscovery of the band over these past few years. I just wasn’t fulfilled enough creatively anymore.”

You also state that you want to “broaden my horizons.” What exactly does that mean?

“First I want to say that I appreciate and cherish all the great experiences I’ve had with Anvil. I’ve seen and rocked the world, I have made many great friends and associates over the years and have experienced many things that some people only dream about. The path that Anvil has been on has been a very long road. One that has lots of history that deserves my respect and I’m proud to be a long part of that history. Anvil’s path will continue to move forward for, what I hope, is many years to come. But in my opinion, musically, it has been a very straight and somewhat narrow road without much room to grow. One of the issues for me is that they haven’t been inspired by any contemporary music or artists, therefore there is nothing new and fresh about their music. I love Anvil songs but I also have a very wide pallet for music, classic and contemporary in many different genres, and I would love to start doing things outside the proverbial ‘box’. I was always that kind of musician and I want to experience new things with my future. That’s how we grow. Anvil will be just fine on their proven path, and that has somehow inspired me to find my own way. Now I’m at a point where I want to grow musically and expand my experiences. To find another path.”

Was Anvil a true democracy, or did Lips and Robb call all the shots?

“As far as my status in the band, I had no say in any of the business side of things. It’s easy to understand. Lips and Robb had been there since day one and I joined a band that already had a past and a history. So yes, they called the shots when it came to band decisions. I was cool with that. I knew the deal when I joined the band. However after almost 16 years in the band it became more difficult to accept them not taking any of my suggestions or ideas seriously. I really wanted to take Anvil in a much more professional direction but the guys are very stuck in their ways and resistant to change. The truth is, sadly, that Lips and Robb have always considered me as little more than just their bass player. The other guy in their band. It was the two of them and me, not the three of us. In fact, I was often reminded by Robb that Anvil was and always will be just Lips and Robb. I know Lips also shared this sentiment , but if anything he tried to protect me from the fact that he and Robb were on their own mission and I was just a player in their play. Hey, to me that meant to just enjoy the ride and not have any of the pressures. Not a bad deal at all.”

Go to this location for the complete interview.