This is where it all began. The first public screening. The crowd went nuts when we came out to take a bow. Afterwards we were selling CDs out of the back of the van. They chased us with video cameras. The overwhelming response quickly became normal. Ninety-nine percent of the time we got standing ovations. Deauville was the weirdest screening. Very flat, very quiet. They liked it, but they were very quiet. Because they were French I think.
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I didn't know who that was until someone told me. That's the typical Anvil charm. We never know who were meeting. When we met Chris Martin and Jay-Z at the Bowery Hotel [in New York] I didn't recognize them. It was just an English guy telling a black guy all about our movie, how his band was rubbish in comparison to Anvil. But most stars look different than in film or stage, don't they. We look the same.
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I didn't know who he was either until I met him. I still don't really know. I know he's a very famous pop star. I know that now. But I'm not familiar with his music or what he does. He was very enthusiastic, I know that much.
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We went to Australia for the release and somehow we ended up in these really nice hotels. Zach Efron had just stayed in this room before us. Being Canadian, the first thing you ask when you arrive in Australia is, “Where are the kangaroos?” Turns out, the only place to see them is the zoo. We felt at home there. It was like Canada mixed with Britain. That's a steak and kidney pie Robb's eating.
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What a great lady. We did a show at this little pub and she just showed up outside. She'd left a party on a yacht to get there. She was extremely tall. Very good spirits. She wanted the band to visit her up in Scotland. She had this great insight into what it means to go after your dreams. She called it the Anvil Factor. Being successful is doing what you love and getting away with it.
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Once again, a person I didn't recognize until afterwards. Sacha [Gervasi, the film's director] took me to this party near the Bowery. I found this acoustic guitar and started playing blues songs. Well, I'm not going to play folk songs. She just joined in. I was impressed. She sings better than I do. Every famous person we've met has been nice to us: Ozzy Osbourne, Ron Wood, Cameron Crowe. Ginger Baker was the only one who was not nice. Wouldn't talk to me. Just walked away. We met him at the Classic Rock Awards. "Hey man I love your band." Turned his back.
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She was there because her brother Sean worked on the movie. Sacha didn't tell me who he was. I just got to know him as the guy sitting by the computer, editing the film, which I really appreciated. It's a lot less intimidating when it's just a guy, not the prime minister's wife's brother. We couldn't get her to do the metal horns, but that photo made all the English papers the next day.
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The first time we met, I was eating breakfast at Sacha's house in the Hollywood Hills. [Gervasi wrote Keanu Reeves' new film, Henry's Crime.] Keanu came in and sat on the chair and the whole back broke off. The look on his face was just like in the movie, The Matrix. Whoa! I kept looking over my cereal and thinking, It's Neo. And he's real. He didn't really hang out too much. He's quite shy. He's can't sit still. He's got a lot of anxiety. It's like he's not sure if you are looking at him as a movie star or as a person."
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I told him, “You wore a hair net for one scene in your movie, The Wrestler.” I said, “I wore one for eight years [working for Children's Choice Catering in Toronto].” He had heard about Anvil and was up for checking it out. It’s been so amazing for us. We're on tour again now. It's unbelievable how quickly you flip back to the gypsy lifestyle. Grabbing your laundry, doing it, living out of a suitcase. We got a real tour bus. You can stand up in this one.
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This is at the Oscar brunch he hosted for our best picture campaign. We talked a lot about spiritual stuff. He told us about this lady who went into shock on the beach. He ran and got the EpiPen and saved her life. Then found out she lived in the house he grew up in. We've all felt very guided in this whole Anvil experience. People from years ago wind back up helping us. Things come full circle.
We told him about the phenomenon of orbs—they're like those hazy circles in photographs. They signify spiritual energy. It's not uncommon in our pictures. In this one, there's two. One on my pants leg. And one between Robb and Hoffman. When he left, Hoffman said, "These are the most profound lyrics every written." Then he started singing really slowly. “Row... row... row... your... boat. Life... is... but... a... dream.”
