Never Quit Before The Miracle: The Story of Anvil

The Rich Roll Podcast

Rich Roll

Health & Fitness, Education, Self-improvement, Society & Culture

4.8 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 26 September 2022

⏱️ 147 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Meet the masters of resilience. 80’s metal trailblazers: Anvil. For those of you who bristle at the thought of heavy metal, set aside that resistance. Give this one a shot with an open mind and heart. And thank me later—because the story of Anvil—and the filmmaker who captured their tale—is nothing short of remarkable. At 14, Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow and Robb Reiner made a pact to rock together forever. In 1982 they birthed a highly influential album that would inspire the likes of Anthrax and Metallica—and then proceeded to drop off the map, toiling in obscurity for decades while the bands they impacted rose to superstardom. Then, in 2006, filmmaker (and former Anvil roadie) Sacha Gervasi set out to find out what happened, discovering to his astonishment that 25 years later the band was still making music and remained steadfastly committed to the most impossible of dreams: making it big. Now this is a story, he thought. So Sacha grabbed a small camera crew and proceeded to follow the band as they persevered through obstacles, navigated a botched European tour, and recorded a thirteenth album. Despite rejection that would devastate the strongest among us, Anvil refused to give up on their dream—and never lost hope. Today we tell this surprisingly touching and remarkably inspirational story. And now, 50 years since the band debuted and 13 years after the rockumentary first premiered in 2008, the film is being re-released in 200 theaters across the US this week and later in theatres across Europe and beyond—a response to a new generation of enthusiastic young people who discovered and fell in love with the movie during Covid. Watch: YouTube. Read: Show notes. Today's Sponsors: ROKA: roka.com and enter code RichRoll for 20% off. Navitas: navitasorganics.com/richroll and enter code RICHROLL for 30% off. Calm: 40% off a Calm Premium subscription at calm.com/richroll. Whoop: WHOOP.com and use the code RICHROLL for 15% off. Levels: Learn more at levels.link/RICHROLL Lips and Robb hold an unwavering conviction and extraordinary amount of courage that is nothing short of superhuman. They are inspiring examples of perseverance in the face of adversity, and I’m delighted to share their story. I hope you find it as touching and compelling as I did. Enjoy! Peace + Plants, Rich

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you're struggling with your diet, just can't sustain those healthy eating habits you're not alone.
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0:20.5	To learn more and sign up, visit meals.richroll.com.
0:24.7	Do it now, okay, let's do the show.
0:31.3	I think that the whole movie, Anvil, is about empathy, and I knew that this film had the potential to reach people
0:38.4	way beyond metal, beyond music, and it was about the human spirit.
0:42.7	And what we discovered from the film was that it was about not giving up.
0:48.0	You know, it was about friendship, it was about family, it was about not giving up on a dream,
0:53.4	and what could be more universal than that.
0:56.2	And I think that's why here we are 13 years later, releasing the film again.
1:00.2	It's because of those themes.
1:02.3	Everybody's closing down their shop because they're burnt out and they have no heart left to do it,
1:08.0	and they're quitting, and it's like, if you're real artist, you should be here till you're pushing up daisies.
1:14.2	And that's the end of it.
1:15.3	But I'm not going to quit on myself.
1:18.0	Yeah.
1:18.4	What for?
1:19.3	Like I can't cope with that notion.
1:22.6	Yeah, why didn't you quit?
	...

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