{"id":13716,"date":"2013-05-13T00:00:14","date_gmt":"2013-05-13T00:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=13716"},"modified":"2013-09-05T15:49:06","modified_gmt":"2013-09-05T15:49:06","slug":"feature-hellyeah-05-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-hellyeah-05-13\/","title":{"rendered":"HELLYEAH – Brothers In Arms (May 2013) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

HELLYEAH – Brothers In Arms<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nMay 2013<\/span><\/p>\n

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Hellyeah (l-r): Tom Maxwell, Bob Zilla, Greg Tribbett, Chad Gray and Vinnie Paul<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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The roots of American heavy metal outfit Hellyeah lie in the friendship of Mudvayne vocalist Chad Gray and Nothingface guitarist Tom Maxwell, a friendship formed during the 2000 Tattoo The Earth tour. That year, Mudvayne and Nothingface toured alongside Slayer, Slipknot, and Sevendust. It wasn\u2019t until six years later \u2013 during 2006 \u2013 that the pair\u2019s ambition to spearhead a supergroup came to fruition, the resultant supergroup being Hellyeah of course. Rounding out the ensemble\u2019s initial line-up were Mudvayne guitarist Greg Tribbett, Nothingface bassist Jerry Montano, and erstwhile Pantera and Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul. Montano\u2019s membership drew towards a conclusion in 2007, his replacement arriving in the form of erstwhile Damageplan bassist Robert \u2018Bob Zilla\u2019 Kakaha.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were very persistent,\u201d Vinnie remembers. \u201cAfter what had happened to my brother, I didn\u2019t know if I would ever be back in music. I knew I still loved music, though. It was something that fell in my lap. Chad and Tom were talking about putting this band together when they were on tour with Mudvayne and Nothingface. They had been talking about it for about three or four years, but then finally they got a window of opportunity to do it \u2013 they were finally winding down both tours. They started talking about drummers, and my name kept coming up. They called me the first couple of times, and I said \u2018You know guys… Thanks for thinking of me man, but I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m ready to do it or not.\u2019 This went on for about two weeks. They would call me just about every night, and say \u2018Man, you\u2019re the guy\u2019 and so on. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne night they called me; I was drinking a bottle of red wine, and I had Kiss on on a 12-inch vinyl. It just kind of hit me. I said \u2018Man, you know what? Maybe there\u2019s something there, man. Let\u2019s see what happens.\u2019 I got on the phone with everybody the next day. We talked about what kind of music we wanted to do, and about a week later they all came back. We had a big barbecue that night, and did a lot of drinking. The next day, we went straight to the studio and wrote our first song. That\u2019s basically how it came together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Dimebag\u2019 Darrell Abbott \u2013 the sticksman\u2019s brother \u2013 was fatally shot on December 8th, 2004. That evening, the siblings were performing at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio as members of Damageplan. Pantera had inaugurated the duo\u2019s musical partnership, Hellyeah marking the first group to feature Vinnie among its ranks sans Dimebag. \u201cObviously, it\u2019s almost impossible to compare the three bands,\u201d he acknowledges. \u201cThose first two bands, my brother was a part of. He was a part of everything that I ever did in my life, so I would say that I felt more comfortable and more safe in those bands just because of that. With this band, it was definitely more of a challenge. I can\u2019t find the word I\u2019m looking for, but I\u2019m definitely proud of this band because we really had to build it from the ground up. Even though we were a part of those other bands, it really felt like we were starting in the garage and building it. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely different from the other bands we have been in, but it was nice to be able to bring the elements that we brought to those other bands into Hellyeah, and not really have to try to create something new or different. We do what we do best, and that\u2019s metal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hellyeah\u2019s self-titled debut full-length surfaced in April 2007. \u201cI like it, man,\u201d Vinnie enthuses. \u201cIt\u2019s a dangerous record. There are a lot of elements of surprise. Musically, it can be very heavy in moments, and then there are other moments. Like the song \u2018Alcohaulin\u2019 Ass\u2019; there\u2019s a guitar on there that really goes somewhere that none of us have ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n

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At Rams Head in Baltimore, Maryland on May 20th of that year, Hellyeah performed live for the very first time. \u201cIt was completely sold out,\u201d the percussionist recalls. \u201cIt had wall to wall people, and of course all of us were very, very nervous. We didn\u2019t know how we would be received, or what would happen. Right before we walked onstage, they started chanting \u2018Hellyeah\u2019 so loud that it almost blew the roof off of the building. From that point on, I think all of us knew that things were gonna be alright. We got up, and kicked ass. People really dug it, and it has been the same ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophomore outing Stampede<\/em> hit shelves in July 2010. \u201cStampede<\/em> was a really big step in direction for us,\u201d Vinnie feels. \u201cI think we went maybe too far in an experimental direction, and really a little too far in the cowboy direction. I think we really strayed with that record. We still love that record and are proud of it, but being able to come back with Band Of Brothers<\/em> and really do what people expect from us, it really felt good. We\u2019re gonna continue that.\u201d<\/p>\n

July 2012\u2019s Band Of Brothers<\/em> \u2013 Hellyeah\u2019s third studio platter overall \u2013 is a heavier affair compared to its predecessors. \u201cThe first two records were really a way for us to step outside of the box, and do something different than what we had done in our previous bands,\u201d the rhythmist muses. \u201cIt was a way for us to really play some different forms of music, like southern rock, and there was some metal mixed in there too. Really though, it was a great combination of all that. We kind of got all of that out of our system when we got back together to make Band Of Brothers<\/em>; we wanted to make a full-on metal record, get back to our metal roots, and do what we do best. It\u2019s the record that we really expected from us. We really brought all of the elements that we brought to our previous bands into Hellyeah, and I think it made for a really nice, heavy, heavy rock record. I really love everything about it. I love the fact that its my signature drum sound, and everything about it. The solos are really produced well, and the album has a really nice, angered edge to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Essentially military terminology, the record\u2019s title references the quintet\u2019s internal relationship. \u201cIt really felt like we were becoming a full band,\u201d Vinnie shares. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a project or a supergroup. We all had this intention for this to be a real band from day one, but at the time we knew that certain members had other commitments. We took a break between the first and second records so that they could do that, and then after the second record was out everybody really felt committed to Hellyeah and wanted to tour with Hellyeah. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe all really liked each other and we all really enjoyed playing together in the beginning, but we didn\u2019t quite know each other that well. I think that as we interacted with each other on the road and the more dates that we did though, we really began to know each other inside and out. After six years of playing together, obviously that brotherhood formed and our friendship has grown. It\u2019s something that definitely has to build and grow with time. We work hard with each other; we really want this band to succeed, and move forward. That\u2019s the direction we\u2019re going in now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really was a band with Band Of Brothers<\/em>, and we just really felt like the music itself is what really brought us together. Band Of Brothers<\/em> was just the perfect title for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pencilled in for single issue on June 10th, 2013, album cut \u2018Bigger God\u2019 touches on philosophical subject matter. \u201cIt\u2019s basically about if something ever beats you down, the only way you\u2019re ever gonna get past it is to build a bigger god within yourself,\u201d the drummer explains. \u201cYou have to carry on, be strong, and not let other things or elements \u2013 whether it be a woman or a guy or whatever \u2013 tear you down. That\u2019s what the song\u2019s about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyrical responsibilities mainly lie with vocalist Chad Gray. \u201cHe\u2019s open to ideas, but generally they\u2019re his concepts and his ideas that he comes up with,\u201d Vinnie credits. \u201cHe really thinks things through, and spends a lot of time writing the lyrics. It\u2019s not like he just has a piece of paper, and writes them first shot. He really works in and out so that they all fit together, so that they all work together, and that they mean what he\u2019s trying to get across.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Hellyeah (l-r): Greg Tribbett, Tom Maxwell, Chad Gray, Vinnie Paul and Bob Zilla<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Plans to record a fourth Hellyeah studio full-length are firmly in the pipeline. \u201cIt\u2019s funny that you asked me that,\u201d the sticksman comments. \u201cWe just started writing new stuff \u2013 we\u2019re really excited. We\u2019re just in the beginning stages, so there\u2019s just a lot of jamming going on right now. It\u2019ll be in the same direction as Band Of Brothers<\/em>, if not heavier. It\u2019s definitely gonna continue in the metal direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a month-long stint of Europe in June, Download being one of the big festivals that we\u2019re playing at. We then come directly back to the United States to begin a tour with Megadeth<\/a> and Black Label Society, and that will take us all over the United States until the end of August. Then we\u2019re gonna write all during September, and enter the studio in October. I\u2019m looking forward to the fourth Hellyeah album being released in 2014.\u201d<\/p>\n

A perennial live fixture, Vinnie has \u201calways been a groove drummer. I really feel like that that\u2019s where the emphasis is. I think I do enough to keep drummers interested, but not so much that it goes over the average listener\u2019s head. I\u2019ve always really looked at my drum parts kind of like guitar parts, like a riff or something \u2013 with a snare drum, or something or that. Something that people are interested in when they hear it, instead of it just being something that\u2019s really, really busy. <\/p>\n

\u201cI look at it this way. If you take a song like \u2018Kashmir\u2019 by Led Zeppelin<\/a> (from February 1975’s Physical Graffiti<\/em><\/a>), that\u2019s about as simple as it gets. It\u2019s all about the groove though, and it\u2019s all about just laying it down. For me, it doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s a simple drum part. It\u2019s still an important element of the song, and the groove is what\u2019s the most important in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Live renditions deviate little from their studio counterparts. \u201cWe throw some things in there from time to time, but I think people are familiar with hearing what they hear on the record,\u201d the percussionist observes. \u201cI think it\u2019s good to stay true to that when you play it live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vinnie harbours an affection for the touring lifestyle. \u201cI love playing live, man,\u201d he exalts. \u201cTo me, that\u2019s what music is all about. It\u2019s all about the band and the songs, and the continuous circle of energy that we get back and forth from each other. Playing live, you can\u2019t replace it man. That\u2019s the one thing that people in this world can\u2019t steal from us. They can steal our music. They can steal anything that we have, but they can\u2019t steal the live shows. You can watch a show on DVD, but it\u2019s not like being there. The energy is what it\u2019s all about. Some people are cut out for this, and some people aren\u2019t. Some people don\u2019t wanna be on the road, but I\u2019ve dedicated my life to playing music. My road crew is my family, and I love the road. I love playing live.\u201d<\/p>\n

A February 1979 appearance by Sammy Hagar and Boston at the Tarrant County Convention Center in Texas marked the first of many live concert attendances by the rhythmist. \u201cIt was absolutely incredible; it just completely blew me away,\u201d he reminisces. \u201cThe next concert I went to was Alice Cooper, and that blew me away too. From that point on, I just knew that that was what I wanted to do \u2013 play live music, and be a part of that entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emulating his childhood heroes, Vinnie\u2019s touring commitments are prolific even today. \u201cFar Beyond Driven<\/em> (March 1994) was the most busy that I\u2019ve ever been on tour,\u201d he cites. \u201cWe did like 312 dates in a year, and that\u2019s probably nine months solid. With Hellyeah, we\u2019ve been getting close to that. We\u2019ve actually had a little bit of time off now, but we started way before the album came out. We went to Australia for the big Soundwave festival, and then from that point on we did several tours. Then the record did come out. We\u2019re still touring for it; we still have three more months of touring, including the European festivals and the tours over there. I would say that we\u2019re just as busy, if not busier. Especially for this day and age, where things are much more difficult. It\u2019s good for us to be able to be on the road that much.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The touring lifestyle arguably greater takes its toll as one progresses in years. \u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d the drummer contends. \u201cThe hangovers are a little more pounding sometimes, but as far as getting up and playing… It keeps you young, it keeps you feeling good, and it keeps you breathing right. I drink in moderation, and that was learnt through years of experience. You know that you\u2019ve gotta get up and play the next night, so you have to know when to reel it in when you\u2019re having a good time with your bros \u2013 partying so to speak. There are so many bands out there that don\u2019t even drink nowadays, that don\u2019t even party \u2013 that don\u2019t even live rock \u2019n\u2019 roll anymore. It\u2019s almost sad to me. It\u2019s PG. Whatever happened to sex, drugs, rock \u2019n\u2019 roll, and alcohol? It just seems like everything is really cleaned up these days. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing that this band does is drink, and we do it in moderation. We go at it, but then again, we know that being onstage is the most important thing, and we want to be able to deliver the best show that we can. It\u2019s alright to have a little bit of a hangover when you get up there; you beat it out, and it feels good. A hangover is inspiration to keep going, but those days of just going crazy and drinking a bottle of vodka are kind of over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether it be festival or concert commitments, Vinnie savours live energy. \u201cPlaying to 500-1,000 people, you can\u2019t beat that intimate feeling,\u201d he emphasizes. \u201cKnowing that they\u2019re close enough to touch, you know that the energy is there. Playing to 100,000 people like at Download, there\u2019s nothing like hearing the roar of that crowd. That\u2019s a total rush too. There\u2019ll be people that know me from Pantera \u2013 or Chad and Greg from Mudvayne \u2013 but don\u2019t really know the band, so it\u2019ll be a new experience for them. Then there are those people that… We\u2019ve played Download twice before, so there are festival regulars. I really like both situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally released in March 1994, Far Beyond Driven<\/em> approaches its 20th anniversary during March 2014. As was the case with July 1990\u2019s Cowboys From Hell<\/em> and February 1992\u2019s Vulgar Display Of Power<\/em>, Far Beyond Driven<\/em> will undergo a 20th anniversary reissue. \u201cI\u2019m so focused on Hellyeah that I haven\u2019t even thought about it,\u201d the sticksman confesses. \u201cI don\u2019t get those records out and listen to them. Whenever those anniversaries come around though, I definitely remember what went into making them. It especially brings me back in touch with my brother that much more, which is special.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the time comes, we\u2019ll start digging through the vaults. We\u2019ll see what we can find, and do our best to make it very special for the fans. We\u2019ll do everything we can to make the package special, something that the record company does with our consent. With the previous ones, all of us that are still here did everything we could to contribute to them and make them special. We\u2019ll do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The studio platter lived up to its title. \u201cIt was exactly what the album says \u2013 it was far beyond driven,\u201d Vinnie reckons. \u201cWe really pushed each other to another level. That record was the first real heavy metal record to debut at number one on Billboard. It was an exciting time and an exciting period, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Terry Date handled production duties on Cowboys From Hell<\/em>, Vulgar Display Of Power<\/em>, and Far Beyond Driven<\/em>, not to mention May 1996\u2019s The Great Southern Trendkill<\/em>. From these recording sessions, Date reportedly has roughly 600 hours worth of Pantera material in DAT tape format. \u201cI would definitely listen to them, and if there\u2019s anything there then of course we would use it,\u201d the percussionist considers. \u201cTerry\u2019s got a pretty good memory of everything that went on, so we\u2019ll pick his brain and see what we can find.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spanning across Pantera, Damageplan, and Hellyeah, Vinnie\u2019s musical career being documented in the shape of an autobiography would make an engaging read. \u201cI\u2019m not really interested in a book like that,\u201d he divulges. \u201cI\u2019m actually working on my own cook-book right now, which is called Drumming Up An Appetite With Vinnie Paul<\/em>. I\u2019m really excited about that. I love cooking. We always take a barbecue grill with us on the road. Everybody enjoys doing the barbecuing, and a little drinking. We really just try to make it feel like we\u2019re at home, so I bring a lot of that to the book. Cooking is a passion of mine, something I like doing on the side. I have a little fun with it.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m hoping it\u2019ll be done and ready to release around Christmas 2013. I don\u2019t know if I wanna mess with a publisher though, man. I think I just wanna put it out independently. I\u2019ll probably put it out through my record company Big Vin Records, and then we\u2019ll go from there. If it really takes off, then I\u2019ll need a publisher to reach more people. Maybe we\u2019ll then go that way, but right now I\u2019ll release it independently.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as doing an autobiography or anything about my life, I really haven\u2019t thought about that. Maybe some day that point will come, but right now I\u2019m still in the moment. I love playing music, so I don\u2019t have time for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story Of Pantera<\/em> hit shelves in March 2013, the autobiography of erstwhile Pantera bassist Rex Brown. \u201cI haven\u2019t read it, don\u2019t wanna read it, and don\u2019t even really think about it,\u201d the rhythmist dismisses. \u201cI did see somewhere where Phil said that it was full of mythology, so that\u2019s about all that I know about it (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

Official Truth, 101<\/em> Proof paints Vinnie in a somewhat negative light. \u201cThat\u2019s fine with me,\u201d he responds.<\/p>\n

June 1983 debut full-length Metal Magic<\/em><\/a> reached its 25th anniversary in June 2008; since that time, Pantera have been eligible for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. An induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame would fuel reunion rumours. \u201cIt\u2019s not anything that I\u2019m interested in, man,\u201d the drummer cautions. \u201cMy life is fine like it is. When bridges are burned, there\u2019s no sense in trying to rebuild them. Man, they\u2019re burnt. I\u2019m moving forward in my life; I\u2019m really happy doing what I do, and that\u2019s where I\u2019m at. There\u2019s no sense in living in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

Band Of Brothers<\/em> was released on July 17th, 2012 via Eleven Seven Music.<\/p>\n

Interview published in May 2013.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HELLYEAH – Brothers In Arms Anthony Morgan May 2013 Hellyeah (l-r): Tom Maxwell, Bob Zilla, Greg Tribbett, Chad Gray and Vinnie Paul The roots of American heavy metal outfit Hellyeah lie in the friendship of Mudvayne vocalist Chad Gray and Nothingface guitarist Tom Maxwell, a friendship formed during the 2000 Tattoo The Earth tour. That […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,702],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-hellyeah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13716"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13777,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13716\/revisions\/13777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}