role:: Bass
Biography
Jonathan Anastas is an American gaming, entertainment, media, marketing, and sports executive and musician.
Anastas co-founded the Boston hardcore bands, DYS and Slapshot. He recorded the DYS album Brotherhood when he was a sophomore in high school. Anastas played bass and wrote songs for both DYS and Slapshot. In a review of Slapshot’s debut album, Back on the Map, Maximum Rocknroll described Anastas as “assaulting his bass with sheer brutality combined with a ton of muscle overdrive.”
Both DYS and Slapshot were straight edge: they abstained from alcohol, drugs, and smoking. DYS was 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. The band broke up in the 1980s. In 2009 they reformed, performing at the Gallery East Reunion Festival. Their performance was filmed for the documentary xxx All Ages xxx.
Anastas wrote the song “Slam”, which appeared on Modern Method Record’s This Is Boston, Not L.A. collection. The track was used to score MTV’s Santa Claus, the Man, the Myth, the Slam Dancer holiday promo, which ran for over 15 years.
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