Hellyeah is currently on the road once more to not only support their debut CD, they also are promoting their new DVD, Below The Belt. The video collection is how the metal super-group came together. The band features Greg Tribbett and Chad Gray from Mudvayne, Vinnie Paul of Pantera and Damageplan, Bobzilla of Damageplan, and guitarist Tom Maxwell from Nothingface.
Hellyeah actually approached drummer Vinnie Paul, whose brother and bandmate Dimebag Darrell was murdered onstage a few years back, to play with them on several occasions, and they were twice told "no" before the ex-Pantera skin-basher finally gave in and said "
yes." We asked Tribbett and Maxwell what gave them the balls to keep on Paul to play.
Hellyeah On Not Taking No From Vinnie Paul
[Maxwell] "We wanted Vinnie Paul." [Tribbett] "I mean he's the legendary Vinnie Paul." [Maxwell]"We wanted Vinnie Paul, not just for drumming, just to..." [Tribbett] "...and to get him back playing again behind the drums. He was really busy with his record label, that's why he was saying no, no, no, because he had a lot of business going on. To get him back out here playing again is great. To look out at him every night, I'm like, 'This rocks!' (laughs)."
The Below The Belt DVD actually debuted at Number 21 and features footage from their world tour and of the first recording sessions at Dimebag Darrell's Chasin' Jason studios in Dallas, Texas. Tribbett and Maxwell talked about entering into metal's holy site.
Hellyeah On Chasin Jason Studio
[Maxwell] "It was awesome." [Tribbett] "I was just glad to be in the room jamming with [Vinnie Paul] the first day. Being Dime's studio, Chasin' Jason, that whole scene, that whole history. Of course we were all huge Pantera fans, so... It was awesome." [Maxwell] "It was pretty surreal. You look all over the place, and the essence of Dime's life is everywhere. On the floor of the studio there's old...different mixes of songs from Pantera, which was really strange. There was a really positive energy there, and there was nothing that gave us the indication that we shouldn't have been doing what we were doing."
We asked them about the difficult task of being the first to be in the Chasin' Jason rehearsal room since the death of Dimebag.
Hellyeah On Emotion Behind Vinnie Paul Return
"Well the first day we were like that. We were all nerved out. I think with him, that was the first time he was in that studio since Dime passed. So for him there were a lot of butterflies in his stomach, and he had to overcome a lot of emotion. You gotta hand it to him it takes a lot of character to be able to face that kind of emotional weight and overcome it, and then be happy -- and actually feel good about what he's doing. I think for all of us it was kind of therapeutic. We helped him in a lot of ways and he definitely helped us out. We went down there, and we were so used to being in the element of where we came from. For him, bringing his experience and his level of musicianship into our world was really kick ass."
Hellyeah is rolling through the U.S. with dates currently booked through March 2 in Fort Worth, Texas. A complete list of dates can be found at Hellyeahband.com
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