Dan Spitz
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Daniel Alan Spitz (born January 28, 1963) is an American musician best known for his work as the lead guitarist of the
thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
band Anthrax from 1983 to 1995 and from 2005 to 2008. Spitz also founded the Christian music group Red Lamb, which was known for lyrics on autism awareness. Spitz has earned Swiss and American degrees in luxury mechanical watchmaking and micro-mechanical engineering, certified as watchmaker instructor for the North American operations of Swiss watch company
Chopard Le Petit-Fils de L.-U. Chopard & Cie S.A., commonly known as Chopard, is a Swiss manufacturer and retailer of luxury watches, jewellery and accessories. Founded in 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard in Sonvilier, Switzerland, Chopard has been owned by ...
.


Career

Dan Spitz was an early member of Overkill in 1981 and joined Anthrax in 1983. From 1983 to 1995, he was lead guitarist and backing vocalist on the Anthrax albums ''
Fistful of Metal ''Fistful of Metal'' is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Anthrax, released in January 1984 by Megaforce Records (US only) and Music for Nations internationally. The album includes a cover of Alice Cooper's "I'm Eighteen". Thi ...
'', '' Armed and Dangerous'', ''
Spreading the Disease ''Spreading the Disease'' is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Anthrax, released on October 30, 1985 by Megaforce Records and Island Records. It was the band's first album to feature vocalist Joey Belladonna and bassist ...
'', ''
Among the Living ''Among the Living'' is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Anthrax. It was released on March 16, 1987, by Megaforce Records in the US and by Island Records in the rest of the world. The album is dedicated to Cliff Burton of ...
'', ''
State of Euphoria ''State of Euphoria'' is the fourth studio album by the American heavy metal band Anthrax. It was released on September 19, 1988, through Megaforce/Island Records. Album information ''State of Euphoria'' was produced by Anthrax and Mark Dodson, ...
'', ''
Persistence of Time ''Persistence of Time'' is the fifth studio album by the American heavy metal band Anthrax. It was released on August 21, 1990 through Megaforce Worldwide/Island Records and was nominated in 1991 for a Grammy Award in the Best Metal Performance ...
'' and ''
Sound of White Noise ''Sound of White Noise'' is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Anthrax, released in May 1993 via Elektra Records. It is the band's first album to feature vocalist John Bush, who replaced longtime Anthrax vocalist Joey Bellado ...
''. Anthrax sold more than 30 million albums worldwide during this period. In 1995, Spitz left Anthrax to pursue a career in luxury Swiss watchmaking, attending the Swiss watchmaking school
WOSTEP WOSTEP, the Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program, is an internationally recognized professional qualification in the maintenance and care of fine-quality watches. It was devised by the Centre Suisse de Formation et de Perfec ...
on a full scholarship. He was certified a Mechanical Complications Specialist, earning Swiss degrees in micro-mechanical engineering, and opened his own luxury watch service. In 2012 Spitz was voted the number 1 interview of the year for the watchmaking magazine ''Hodinkee''. In 2016, the production company
Great Big Story Great Big Story was a media company producing micro-documentaries based in New York with offices in London. Launched in October 2015 by CNN, the company created 2,600 videos, being published on various websites such as Facebook and YouTube. Vid ...
produced a documentary on Spitz's work as a watchmaker. Spitz reunited with Anthrax for a classic lineup reunion tour in 2005, appearing on the tour DVD '' Alive 2''. He left the band again in 2008 to return to his watchmaking career. In 2010 Spitz formed a new Christian rock/metal band Red Lamb, which also included singer Don Chaffin from Voices of Extreme and keyboardist Chris Vrenna.
Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has relea ...
was an early member but ultimately stepped back into a songwriting role with Spitz. Mustaine and Spitz wrote the song "Puzzle Box" which was claimed to be the first heavy metal song to deal with autism; the song's video featured Bob and Suzanne Wright, co-founders of Autism Speaks. In 2017, Spitz formed another Christian metal band with former
Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...
drummer
Deen Castronovo Deen J. Castronovo (born August 17, 1964) is an American drummer and singer, best known for being a member of classic rock band Journey and hard rock acts Bad English and Hardline. He currently plays drums and shares lead vocals for the bands Jo ...
.


Personal life

Spitz was born in a small town in
Rockland County, New York Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of t ...
as the second son of a lawyer and a high school substitute teacher. Spitz comes from an orthodox Levite tribe Jewish family and converted to Christianity /
Messianic Judaism Messianic Judaism ( he, or , ) is a modernist and syncretic movement of Protestant Christianity that incorporates some elements of Judaism and other Jewish traditions into evangelicalism. It emerged in the 1960s and 1970s from the earlie ...
in 1993. His older brother,
Dave Spitz Dave "The Beast" Spitz (born February 22, 1958) is an American musician best known for having played bass guitar for the heavy metal group Black Sabbath from 1985 to 1987, appearing on the albums ''Seventh Star'' and being credited for (but not ...
is also an accomplished heavy metal musician who has been a member of
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
and Great White. Spitz has two daughters from his first marriage. Spitz also has identical twin sons who were born in 2007; they were diagnosed with autism at 16 months of age. The Spitz twins were in numerous films and television commercials before their autism diagnosis, including the film ''
Away We Go ''Away We Go'' is a 2009 American comedy-drama directed by Sam Mendes and written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. The film's two leads are John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. It is Mendes's first film without Thomas Newman's collaboration. Plot Ve ...
''. In June 2009, Spitz had a massive heart attack, causing him to undergo an emergency triple bypass. He fully recovered but required
stents In medicine, a stent is a metal or plastic tube inserted into the lumen of an anatomic vessel or duct to keep the passageway open, and stenting is the placement of a stent. A wide variety of stents are used for different purposes, from expanda ...
in many arteries. Spitz divorced his second wife in 2014.


Equipment

Spitz was originally known for his use of
Jackson Guitars Jackson is a manufacturer of electric guitars and electric bass guitars that bears the name of its founder, Grover Jackson. The company was acquired by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in 2002, which manufactures Jackson-branded guita ...
(he was famous for his Jackson Randy Rhoads model with the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after It ...
painted on them), and he collaborated on guitar designs with
Grover Jackson Grover Jackson is an American luthier best known for designing and making various guitar models at Jackson Guitars, such as Jackson Rhoads and Jackson Soloist during the 1980s. Biography Jackson has been making guitars since 1973. In 1978, ...
. During the Anthrax Reunion tour, Spitz endorsed Paul Reed Smith Guitars, using a custom model with a "Spitz" head stock. This guitar was also painted with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by tattoo artist and painter JR Linton. Spitz terminated his endorsement with PRS after leaving Anthrax in 2007. In the early days of Anthrax, Spitz used Marshall amplifiers, using one of the first incarnations of a pre JCM800 derived from a collaboration with Jim Marshall. Around the time of "Among the Living," Spitz switched to
Mesa/Boogie Mesa/Boogie (also known as Mesa Engineering) is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969. Mesa was started by Randall Smith as a sm ...
, using many Mark IIC heads modified by Spitz. During the Anthrax Reunion in 2005–2007, Spitz used Matchless heads and Marshall point-to-point wired 2203 modded heads he hand-built himself that were pushed by a Keeley-modded
Boss DS-1 The Boss DS-1 is a distortion pedal for guitar, manufactured by the Roland Corporation under the brand name Boss since 1978. The first distortion effects unit made by Boss, it has become a classic effect, used by many notable guitar players. B ...
.


Discography


Anthrax

* ''
Fistful of Metal ''Fistful of Metal'' is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Anthrax, released in January 1984 by Megaforce Records (US only) and Music for Nations internationally. The album includes a cover of Alice Cooper's "I'm Eighteen". Thi ...
'' (1984) * '' Armed and Dangerous'' (1985) * ''
Spreading the Disease ''Spreading the Disease'' is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Anthrax, released on October 30, 1985 by Megaforce Records and Island Records. It was the band's first album to feature vocalist Joey Belladonna and bassist ...
'' (1985) * ''
Among the Living ''Among the Living'' is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Anthrax. It was released on March 16, 1987, by Megaforce Records in the US and by Island Records in the rest of the world. The album is dedicated to Cliff Burton of ...
'' (1987) * ''
State of Euphoria ''State of Euphoria'' is the fourth studio album by the American heavy metal band Anthrax. It was released on September 19, 1988, through Megaforce/Island Records. Album information ''State of Euphoria'' was produced by Anthrax and Mark Dodson, ...
'' (1988) * ''
Persistence of Time ''Persistence of Time'' is the fifth studio album by the American heavy metal band Anthrax. It was released on August 21, 1990 through Megaforce Worldwide/Island Records and was nominated in 1991 for a Grammy Award in the Best Metal Performance ...
'' (1990) * ''
Sound of White Noise ''Sound of White Noise'' is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Anthrax, released in May 1993 via Elektra Records. It is the band's first album to feature vocalist John Bush, who replaced longtime Anthrax vocalist Joey Bellado ...
'' (1993) * '' Alive 2'' (2005)


Red Lamb

* '' Red Lamb'' (2012)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spitz, Dan 1963 births American performers of Christian music American heavy metal guitarists Anthrax (American band) members Converts to Christianity from Judaism Jewish American musicians Living people Jewish heavy metal musicians American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists Overkill (band) members