Website www.spitzwatch.com Spouse Candi Spitz (m. 2005) Height 1.55 m | Role Musician · danspitz.com Name Dan Spitz Children Jaden Spitz | |
 | ||
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, watchmaker Instruments Guitar, vocals, bass, keyboard, piano, programming Years active 1980–19952004–20072010–present Profiles | ||
DII BAND DOCUMENTARY "Dan Spitz sits down for an interview with Molli Brown from FANNNEWS.COM"
Daniel Alan Spitz (born January 28, 1963) is an American musician and watchmaker best known for his work as the lead guitarist, principal songwriter and co-producer of the American heavy metal band Anthrax from 1983 to 1995 and from 2005 to 2008. With Anthrax, Spitz was nominated for three Grammy awards and has been awarded platinum and multiple platinum RIAA certified albums for his entire Anthrax catalog of work. Dan Spitz is the first heavy metal songwriter to have his music playing on two planets. NASA chose his song alongside only 9 other artists such as Frank Sinatra and the Beatles to be played on the Lunar Rover Curiosity making him the first heavy metal artist to have a top 10 charting song on two planets. Spitz also founded the Christian music group Red Lamb alongside Dave Mustaine of Megadeth as his writing partner, the first to bring autism awareness into any genre of music or music video.
Contents
- DII BAND DOCUMENTARY Dan Spitz sits down for an interview with Molli Brown from FANNNEWSCOM
- Jamhub in ear monitoring with dan spitz
- Personal life
- Career
- Equipment
- Anthrax
- Red Lamb
- References
Spitz has earned some of the most coveted Swiss and American degrees in luxury mechanical watchmaking and micro mechanical engineering working on and consulting for the worlds most complicated mechanical luxury timepieces. He has also held the title of Watchmaker instructor in charge of all other Watchmakers both mechanical and electronic for the swiss company Chopard for all of North America. He was also the head sole mechanical Complications Watchmaker for Chopard for all of North America. Mr.Spitz held the title of being the sole Master Watchmaker and private service center in charge of mechanical complications, parts distribution and the sole Watchmaker instructor for Leviev timepieces North America.
Jamhub in ear monitoring with dan spitz
Personal life
Spitz was born in a small town in Rockland County, New York as the second son of a lawyer and a high school substitute teacher. His parents were interested in music and it resounded very loud throughout his home on a daily basis thanks to his father having a passion for big band and jazz music such as Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Tal Farlow, but Miles Davis was the massive influence on Spitz. His mother was into classical music and ballet. Dan Spitz received his first guitar when he reached seventh grade, his mother Irene bought him his first guitar and was his biggest fan. Spitz was the co-founding member and lead guitarist of a very early incarnation of the band Overkill before co-founding Anthrax.
Spitz comes from an orthodox Levite tribe Jewish family and converted to Christianity / Messianic Judaism in 1993. Spitz has identical twin boys who were born in 2007. They were diagnosed with autism at 16 months of age. The Spitz twins were in numerous movies and television commercials before their autism diagnosis. They starred in the film Away We Go, which also starred Maggie Gyllenhaal and was directed by Academy Award Winning Director (Best Director award) Sam Mendes.
In June 2009, Spitz had a massive heart attack, causing him to undergo an emergency triple bypass, from which he fully recovered, but had to have stents placed in many arteries.
In 2014 Dan Spitz filed for divorce from his ex-wife, Candi, who then announced her immediate engagement to Johnathan Mazzeo, a bug exterminator.
Dan Spitz has two daughters from his first marriage.
Career
Spitz was the lead guitarist co-founding member, lead guitarist, backing vocalist, co-producer, and principal songwriter of the thrash metal band Anthrax from 1983–1995, appearing on albums Fistful of Metal, Armed and Dangerous, Spreading the Disease, Among the Living, State of Euphoria, Persistence of Time , Sound of White Noise and countless movie soundtracks, television soundtracks, video game soundtracks and more, earning him RIAA certified gold and platinum album status for every album and song he has written and played on, reaching sales of more than 30 million albums worldwide, in addition to countless gold and platinum albums from almost all countries outside of the USA Spitz reunited with the band from 2005 to 2008.
Spitz's music was even played on MARS to awaken the NASA Curiosity Rover 2012 making him the worlds first heavy metal recording artist whose music was played on two planets consecutively, and cracked the Top 10 charts on two planets.
Before playing in Anthrax, Spitz was co-founding member and lead guitarist for thrash metal band Overkill, and also Thrasher, at which time he shared the stage with bassist Billy Sheehan.
In 1995, Spitz left Anthrax to pursue a career in luxury Swiss watchmaking, attending the prestigious Swiss watchmaking school WOSTEP on a full scholarship. He became one of the world's most coveted watchmakers of Mechanical Complications Specialist earning Swiss degrees in micro mechanical engineering, and opened his own luxury watch service centers. Master Watchmaker of Mechanical Complications Specialist credentials are highly coveted, even in Switzerland.
On April 1, 2005, Anthrax announced that the band's original line up would once more come together for the Among the Living reunion, and Spitz reunited with the band. They embarked on a world tour and released Alive 2, a DVD with footage from those performances. Following the end of the reunion tour, Spitz again left Anthrax to concentrate on his watch designs.
In 2010, Spitz formed a new Christian rock/metal band Red Lamb based in Palm Beach, Florida. The band's line-up included Spitz (lead guitar, guitar, bass guitar, programming, background vocals, engineering,co-producer), Don Chaffin(vocals) and Chris Vrenna (programming and synths). The band has been described by critics as a variety of genres, most commonly explosive hard rock, pop punk, alternative rock, with a taste of thrash. Their self-titled debut album is co-produced by Spitz and Dave Mustaine (Megadeth). All music was written solely by Spitz with all lyrical content co-written by Dave Mustaine and Spitz. It was mixed by the producer Johnny K. Spitz and Mustaine have penned the first heavy metal song and video about autism. The video "Puzzle Box" is an insight of truth about Autism and the Spitz families daily struggles with it. The video includes Bob and Suzanne Wright, co-founders of Autism Speaks within. Dan has identical twins sons with autism. Red Lamb and Spitz were the first professional music artists on mission of global Autism Awareness.
2012 Dan Spitz was voted the #1 interview of the year for the largest Watchmaking magazine in the world, Hodinkee.
On April 2016 CNN / Great Big Story released a video documentary on Dan Spitz and his uniqueness of being the only professional musician and Swiss Certified Master Watchmaker of Mechanical Complications. This documentary brought close to one million views in just a few days to CNN and aggregated to tens of millions on a global reach.
Equipment
Spitz was originally known for his use of Jackson Guitars (he was famous for his custom self inventive Jackson Randy Rhoads model with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles painted on them) now an iconic part of thrash metal history, and countless innovations and inventions he personally made with Grover Jackson. Some of these first ever inventions where the body shape cut down to a smaller dimension, 10 string model, white limba model, solid through blistered maple model, first ever comic book art hand airbrushed on a guitar (silver surfer), volume and toggle switches moved to better positioning for palm muting, and more innovations too numerous to list. Most recently during the Anthrax Reunion tour he became the first thrash metal endorser of Paul Reed Smith Guitars. Spitz helped Paul Reed Smith create a special "Spitz" head stock (a first for PRS) and a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rendering was painted on this new guitar by tattoo artist and painter JR Linton. He also used a PRS Private Stock white limba guitar with 3 custom wound by custom shop legendary queen MJ at Seymour Duncan soap bar pickups. He terminated his endorsement with PRS after leaving Anthrax in 2007.
In the early days of Anthrax, Spitz used Marshall amplifiers, using a JCM800. Later on, around the time of "Among the Living," he switched to Mesa/Boogie, using many Mark IIC modified heads. These modification's were of Spitz' creation. He could also be seen using a Mark III combo amp on top of a Mesa/Boogie 4x12 cabinet on the music video for Got the Time. Spitz was using Mesa/Boogie MKIV modified amplifiers before he left Anthrax in 1995, due to a fire of the Anthrax rehearsal room destroying his recording and touring amplifiers. 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.
Spitz has said that he embarked on a new journey of innovation, improvising his skill of guitar wizardry into an art form that includes his mastering of new instruments, including the Weissenborn Lap Slide Guitar and Resonator Tri-cone Lap Slide Guitar.
Spitz uses Caparison Guitars Orbit beta "Spitz" model guitars with Voices of Extreme, alongside his hand made Telecasters.