Jonathan Anastas is an American, Los Angeles–based marketing and advertising executive, and a musician who co-founded a number of Boston hardcore punk bands.
Jonathan Anastas | |
|---|---|
| Born | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Genres | hardcore punk & heavy metal |
| Occupation(s) | musician |
Punk rock musician edit
From his teen years (recording for the first time at age 15), Anastas was involved in the American musical movement known as hardcore punk. He co-formed and played bass in the seminal Boston hardcore bands DYS and Slapshot, writing and playing on the DYS records Brotherhood and DYS as well as Slapshot's debut record Back on the Map (all re-issued by Taang! Records in various formats). DYS, with Anastas, reformed for the first time in over 20 years, headlining the Gallery East Reunion Festival and "xxx All Ages xxx" movie shoot in front of over 1,000 fans on August 29, 2010 and have continued to tour punk top festivals the US and Europe up to the pandemic shut-down of live music events. Jonathan joined Slapshot as a special guest for the 2021 stand of 30th Reunion shows in Boston.
Anastas and his bands were a part of the straight edge movement, made famous by Minor Threat as a call for youth to live a clean and conscientious life, rejecting drugs, alcohol and smoking.[1] DYS are also known for their early role in the crossover movement where hardcore punk bands attempted a more commercial hard rock sound and looked toward recording deals within the mainstream major label system, inventing the idea of a "hardcore power ballad" to describe a track on their second metal-influenced album.[2]
Jonathan also wrote and holds publishing rights to the song "Slam" on Modern Method Record's This Is Boston, Not L.A. collection.[3] He played bass on the song. The track was subsequently used to score MTV's Santa Claus, the man, the myth, the slam dancer holiday promo, which ran for over 15 years.
Anastas' contributions to hardcore punk were documented in the books American Hardcore: A Tribal History by Steven Blush, All Ages, Reflections on Straight Edge by Beth Lahickey, Radio Silence by Nathan Nedorostek and Anthony Pappalardo and "Straight Edge by Tony Rettman. Anastas is also featured in the film adaptation of American Hardcore (film), released by Sony Pictures in 2006 and was interviewed for the DVD retrospective Chip on My Shoulder: The History of Slapshot directed by acclaimed music video director Ian McFarland. The Slapshot movie was released in February 2014 after a long distribution delay, and followed its debut at the 2009 Boston Independent Film Festival, where it was the first screening to sell out. Additionally, Anastas appears in Director Drew Stone and Executive Producer Duane Lucia's movie xxx All Ages xxx, a film that made its debut on April 27, 2012, also at the Boston Independent Film Festival, and also the first screening to sell out (in under 2 hours).
Gear edit
A left handed bass player, Anastas has been using a mix of vintage and current production Fender Jazz and Precision basses post-Reunion, but has also been seen with a Gibson T-bird. His amps are Vintage SVT tubed amps, SVT VR re-issues, SVT 8X10 cabs and a Tech 21 SansAmp DI driver. During the late period of the band's first incarnation, Jonathan played Marshall 4X15 cabs and a Marshall Superbass 100 head, as influenced by Lemmy as well as a custom Hamer Blitz.
Discography edit
- 1982 – Decadence, "Slam" on the This Is Boston, Not L.A. compilation LP (bass)
- 1983 – DYS, Brotherhood (bass, back-up vocals)
- 1985 – DYS, DYS (bass)
- 1986 – Slapshot, Back on the Map (bass, back-up vocals)
- 1993 – DYS Fire and Ice – CD reissue of previous two albums (bass, back-up vocals)
- 1993 – DYS, "Wolfpack" on the Faster and Louder, Volume Two compilation
- 2005 – DYS "Wolfpack" – "Brotherhood," re-released with the band's original Wolfpack radio demo
- 2011 – DYS "More than Fashion: LIVE from the Gallery East Reunion" – live tracks from the band's initial reunion show, Bridge 9 Records
- 2011 – DYS "Wild Card" – Single on Bridge 9 Records
- 2011 – DYS "Sound of our Town" – Single on Bridge 9 Records
- 2012 – DYS "Unloaded" – Single on Bridge 9 Records
- 2012 – DYS "(We are) The Road Crew" (Motorhead Cover) – Single on Bridge 9 Records
- 2012 – DYS "Brotherhood 2012" – Single on Bridge 9 Records
- 2012 – DYS "True Believers" – Single on Bridge 9 Records
- 2024 – DYS "Brotherhood Anniversary Edition" - on Bridge 9 Records, issued in clear, ruby red and green editions
Marketing and advertising career edit
Following his career in music, Anastas entered the advertising and marketing industry, focusing on digital.[4] holding executive positions at Mullen, Saatchi & Saatchi, Omnicom's Think New Ideas and Tribal DDB holding Red Urban, where he was president. He ran marketing at Atari, the video game publisher, was a senior marketing executive at Activision, was Chief Marketing Officer at The Enthusiast Network (TEN) until the company's sale to Discovery in 2017, then Chief Marketing Officer at LiveXLive Media (NASDAQ: LIVX). He most recently served as Group CMO for ONE Championship and ONE eSports.
On March 23, 2023, Anastas was named Chief Executive Officer of ClashTV,[5] an interactive live-streaming platform that streams street basketball from legendary summer basketball leagues including Rucker, Dyckman, and Gersh in New York City; mixed martial arts in partnership with M-1, BKB, EFC; and podcasts featuring a variety of hosts including ClashTV board member and investor Chris "Gotti" Lorenzo, co-founder of Murder Inc. Records and CEO of Ad Ventures Music.
Anastas's work has been recognized by the Silicon Alley Reporter, The Industry Standard, Adweek[6] and Ad Age. He has spoken at a number of Digital. Mobile, Content, Gaming and CMO conferences, both domestic and international. His 21st century campaigns have been awarded multiple EFFIES, Cannes Lions and other industry accolades.
References edit
- ^ Beth Lahickey, All Ages: Reflections on Straight Edge, Revelation Books (1997).
- ^ Steven Blush, American Hardcore: A Tribal History, Feral House (2001).
- ^ [1][permanent dead link]
- ^ Named to the Silicon Alley Reporter's Digital Coast 50 (1999),
- ^ "ClashTV Appoints Jonathan Anastas as New CEO". VentureBeat. 2023-03-22. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- ^ Profiled in Adweek's "IQ Quarterly" (2000),