In a recent chat with Kati Rausch of Music Interview Corner, Joey Belladonna talked about his ‘horse barn’ job after the Anthrax exit.
“Well, for me to be out of the band for that long, it’s almost too long,” the singer said of his time away from Anthrax in the 1990s and early 2000s. “It was unexpected and it wasn’t my idea and I wouldn’t have preferred it. But it happened.”
He continued, “And I just maintained myself. And I was actually working in a horse barn for a couple of years. I was [in] maintenance, and Krista, my wife, we both worked at a pretty famous riders’ facility. I cut grass all day. It was so big there, I couldn’t complete all my work each day.”
“It was a long, long day. It took me two, three days to weedy the whole place. A lot of people don’t realize that you would even do that. I didn’t really necessarily have to do that job. It was one of those things that fell into place and I enjoyed it and I got a lot of experience from it,” Belladonna further shared.
The rocker added, “But I also had a band; I was doing some cover music and I was playing drums. And it was kind of like the old days for me. So I just continued to do that and work on some original music and stuff. I kept myself busy. I didn’t really fall apart. I kept busy and just waited for some time, and all of a sudden I’d come back. So here I am.”
Belladonna first sang for Anthrax from 1984 to 1992 and rejoined in 2010. He was part of the band’s classic lineup, which reunited for tours in 2005 and 2006. His voice is on over 10 albums.
“Yeah, it just seems rotten. I don’t know what to say,” Joey told Chuck Shute about his initial split with the band. “Every time I say something like that, it’s always this bitter, bitter vibe, but it’s the truth, you know what I mean? What else am I supposed to say? I mean, is there a better story? I wish I had one. I don’t.”
Belladonna completed his European tour with Anthrax in Den Bosch, Netherlands on December 15. Their next show will be in Peru at Vivo X El Rock on March 29, 2025.
