Belushi Speed Ball at Milwaukee Metalfest

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Music Features

Louisville-based mavens of funny thrash metal Belushi Speed Ball (BSB) are likely in the majority of bands playing 2024’s Milwaukee Metalfest in that they have members who workday jobs. 

But this group’s leader works in a field where he regularly interacts with people of a prime metal demographic. “The past couple years, I really started keeping the two identities separate. Clark Kent and Superman sort of deal,” confides Vinny Castellabo of his dual identity as a high school biology teacher and front man for the aggressively silly BSB.   

“The students do know I’m in a band. They find out eventually, but typically, they are super respectful to my privacy with it,” Castellano continues. “It really doesn’t distract from my academic work at all—if anything it enhances it. A lot of the creativity I have discovered in creating art and music, has been the same method I use for making engaging lesson plans.”

Castellano grew up in Brookfield, Wis., and formed a band with friends Tom Jenke and Tony Mastro. “We loved thrash metal: Slayer, Metallica, Testament. We also were huge death metal fans, and deathcore/metalcore started really becoming popular; this is in the early 2000s.” Castellano has invited Jenke and Mastro to join BSB on stage at this year’s Metalfest. Getting back to the place of his raising energizes Castellano plenty. 

Kringles and Pizza

“I love Wisconsin and where I came from,” he gushes. “Kringles are big influence in my writing. Gotta get that O and H, baby!” Castellano enthuses regarding the Racine bakery responsible for the pastry he enjoys. One of his current band's most notable lyrical concerns is a savory dish, however, one served at one of BSB's favorite venues to play, 

“We have a super close relationship with Spinelli’s,” Castellano shares of a Louisville pizzeria close to his heart. “They host all-ages shows, and it’s really where we felt most at home here in Louisville. I asked the owner, Brian—nicest dude on the planet—to make us a specialty pie, and he was honored to do it. It had pepperoni, salami, giardiniera, and Ricotta cheese. He actually is bringing it back. We highly recommend anyone traveling through Louisville to stop at the Baxter Avenue Spinelli’s, get a slice, and check out the huge, Belushi Speed Ball mural on the wall." BSB’s affection may be heard on one of their most anthemic songs, “My Favorite Color Is Pizza.” 

In fact, one of BSB’s most distinctive, and priciest, mementos is a single of that ditty pressed on a resin-encased slice of pizza. It’s but one manifestation of Castellano’s philosophy of having fun in a musical genre often given to stifling seriousness. “The live show and the music are a huge part of the band, but our merch is equally just as absurd,” he says. “We have released albums on Super Nintendo, Gameboy Advance, Sega CD, Furby, Nintendo 64. In addition, we offer all sorts of insane nonsense. Fans can check it out at belushispeedball.bandcamp.com/merch.” 

Generic Cliché Thrash?

As for the quality of the Belushi Speed Ball concert experience they will be bringing to Metalfest, Castellano offers, with customarily self-deprecating wit, “Generic cliché crossover pizza thrash. Fun as hell and unrelenting. We have a short set to completely obliterate everything. This is war!” 

And lest anyone think Belushi Speed Ball's name is any kind of disparagement of a late, beloved comedic actor and his drug-related demise, Castellano sets the record straight. “We are named after Jim Belushi and his love of Sonic Spin Ball for Sega Genesis,” he says 

 Hear and see Belushi Speedball's zaniness as they respond to a YouTube comment about the apparent inappropriateness of their apparel choices with “We're Not Thrashers, We’re Hipster Posers”:

Belushi Speedball perform on Saturday, May 18 at The Rave/Eagles Club.