HellYeah: Doing things the ‘Cowboy Way’

May 22, 2010

No one, including the band members (vocalist Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett of Mudvayne; guitarist Tom Maxwell from Nothingface; bassist Bob Zilla of Damageplan; and legendary Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul), expected HellYeah’s self-titled 2007 debut to take off like it did. Largely on the strength of the Southern rock-tinged single “Alcohaulin’ Ass,” the album sold well enough to keep the band on tour for nearly a year. The group went on hiatus in 2008 while Gray and Tribbett returned to Mudvayne to tour and release two new albums, and reconvened sporadically throughout 2009 to write and record its sophomore effort, Stampede (due July 13, 2010). HellYeah hit the road more than two months prior to the new record’s release and plans to stay out for a long time to come. Maxwell called in to talk to Live-Metal.net’s Greg Maki about the new album and also revealed he is no longer an active member of Knives Out, the band he started in Baltimore during the HellYeah downtime (featuring vocalist Todd Smith, guitarist Jasan Stepp of Dog Fashion Disco and Polkadot Cadaver, bassist Dave Cullen of Polkadot Cadaver and drummer Tommy Sickles of Nothingface).

Live-Metal.net: The first HellYeah album did really well for you guys and kept you out on tour for about a year or so. Did you expect it to take off the way that it did?

Tom Maxwell: No, not really. We kind of did it just as like an outlet at first. Five guys, five buddies getting together just to write some songs and have a reason to get together and drink and just throw down a little bit. The label got behind it a little bit and put it out, and then we went out on the road and boom, just started going. The record started selling, and tours were getting offered. We only expected to really tour for just a few months, like a project kind of thing. And then, next thing we know, it’s full-fledged, and we’re out there eight to 10 months later still knocking it out. We didn’t really expect it. It was quite a pleasant surprise. It kind of put a lot of perspective of what we want to do and where we want to go with it next.

When did you get back together to start working on the new album?

It was May of last year, of ’09. We worked for about a month and had to take a little bit of a break so Chad and Greg could fulfill some touring obligations with Mudvayne. Then when that was finished, we resumed, I guess in September, October, just hitting it. Go to Dallas for about two weeks at a time, have a week or two off, go back down for a couple weeks, have a week or two off. We finished up in January, I believe, the actual music and recording of it, and then Chad had some vocals to finish. But it’s all done. It took a little bit longer than the first one, obviously, but we wanted to dig deeper and try to write the best songs possible and sonically, just blow away the first one, as well.

Was it good to have some time apart between albums?

	Tom Maxwell

Yeah, I think so. You know, the old saying, absence makes the heart grow fonder. It definitely had that effect on all of us, I think. Coming off of it, you need that little bit of a break. But then a couple months later, you’re missing it and it’s a couple years since we were touring. We’ve only been on the road now for about two weeks officially. But it was good, yeah. We needed some time away. You need to defragment from the situation and get some perspective, go home and live your life. I’m the type of person, when I’m home, I’m home. I leave the band at the door. Coming back to it, it took me a little bit to get my legs back, but it’s coming.

Did you record at Vinnie’s house?

Yeah. The first one we did at Dime’s, his little garage that he converted to a studio where they recorded the last couple Pantera records. This one, Vince gutted out a couple rooms, put a console room in one room and the amp room in his little game room, drums set up in his little dining room/living room area with 45-foot ceilings, mics everywhere. It was just in his house. It was really cool.

What was the vibe like during the writing and recording?

Really positive. Everybody was excited. It was work. It was a little bit easy, just being able to get up and start working right there. We kind of worked in shifts. The band would write and record during the daytime, and then Chad would go in at night, track vocals and stuff. But the vibe was great. It was just all of us hanging, barbecuing and having a good time.

What is it like working with Vinnie Paul, not as a friend and drummer, but as Vinnie Paul the producer?

He’s really good. He’s got an amazing ear. He hears things that none of us do, actually, especially when it comes to mixing and stuff like that. He brings a lot of great ideas to it. Essentially, the way it works is, me and Greg will sit kind of face to face and Vince will be there. It’ll be the three of us just kind of working on riffs. Somebody will come up with a riff and then counter with another riff to another riff, and then we’ll record as we go, and then we’ll write a chorus. It’s kind of an unorthodox way of writing and recording, but it works for us. With a lot of bands, they’ll sit there and they’ll demo songs a few times. They’ll track it, and they go back to re-record it, and they just don’t get that initial rawness that that first, initial session had. We’re actually capturing everything as it happens, so you get that level of rawness there and that true organic creation is happening. But he’s fun. He’s a lot of fun to work with. He’s very open-minded with everybody, and it’s great.

On the first album, “Alcohaulin’ Ass” kind of came out of left field in terms of its style. Are there any songs on the new album, Stampede, that not necessarily sound like that song but—

That have that kind of a vibe?

Either that or that are in some way some sort of departure stylistically from what you usually do?

I don’t think so. I think there’s a lot of continuity with this record. The good thing about the first album, there was a lot of diversity. You had really heavy songs like “Waging War,” and then you had straight-up rockin’ type of songs like “You Wouldn’t Know,” then you had the Southern, twangy kind of vibe with “Alcohaulin’ Ass.” We still did it with this record. I think it’s more song-oriented now. I think we stepped it up songwriting-wise on this record. There’s really, really fucking good songs on this record. But there’s nothing that’s gonna surprise anybody, nothing out of left field. When you hear it, you’re gonna know it’s HellYeah. It’s just gonna be a more mature, improved HellYeah.

How did you decide on Stampede as the album title?

Vince had the idea, the whole idea of a stampede just coming right at you, just mega force of energy coming at you. It was appropriate. I think it’s a great album title, especially for our record number two. It’s kind of like a statement of like, “We’re back and we’re coming at you full-on.” So it fit perfectly.

I’ve seen pictures online of the HellYeah bull skull that comes with one of the special editions of the album. That’s got to be one of the coolest pieces of band merch that I’ve seen. Who came up with that?

That was actually Jason Lekberg over at our record label. He came up with that idea. It’s a special package. I don’t how many they’re gonna print. Maybe like a thousand or two of people that pre-ordered the record will get that skull. But it’s definitely perfect. It definitely fits the vibe. When we saw it, it was awesome. It’s just so kickass. It’s a great piece of merch. When you have the HellYeah logo stamped across the forehead, it’s great.

As you said, you’re out on tour now and have been out for a couple weeks. How have the shows been going?

They’re going really, really good. People are going absolutely fuckin’ shit wild. We started in Tampa and then had to do a week of press up in New York . That was kind of a harried week; it was really busy. During our first rehearsal, we had to shoot two videos and kind of like cram everything into a nine-day period, which was pretty tough. When we got to Corpus Christi, Texas, that’s when everything really started gelling. We got the sequence of the set; the songs are just fuckin’ perfect. We’re on fire right now. It’s going great. We have a long, long road ahead of us, so we’re really in the infant stages of the touring process.

Later on, toward the end of summer, you’re gonna be headlining the second stage on the new Uproar tour. Did you in the band choose to take that second-stage slot?

Yeah, I think so. Obviously, playing on the bigger stage is always the place of choice for us. That’s where we really thrive. But at the same time, we would’ve been the first of the four on that stage. The cool thing about playing the second stage is, that’s the nosebleed seats. You’re getting the full pit. It’s like the Ozzfest second stage. There’s no seats, it’s just people right in front of you throwing down. Being able to headline the second stage and actually have our full stage set and get up there and do what we have to do, I think it’s a better situation for us, as opposed to being the first of four with limited production of what we can bring up and do.

I think at these big festivals the second stage is usually more fun anyway.

It is. I love playing in front of a huge pit and watching kids throw down. A lot of times when you’re playing inside of amphitheaters or places where the seats are at, they’re forced to be reserved ‘cause there’s no room for them to do what they want to do. So I think we’ve got a good slot on this one.

I also wanted to talk to you a little bit about your other band, Knives Out. How did that band get together?

All the guys in that band are really good friends of mine from back home in Baltimore. The drummer, Tommy, was my drummer with Nothingface. Todd and Jasan have been friends of mine forever with Dog Fashion Disco, and Dave, I’ve known Dave, I’ve never played in any band with him, but we’ve been friends for years. The way it came about, I came home and after a couple months of being home, I just started getting really, really antsy to play. With HellYeah, I can’t really do a lot of the type of music that I naturally write. With my old band, Nothingface, we were real heavy, brutal kind of shit, and I still love writing and playing that kind of music. I needed an outlet—also to keep my chops up and my music-writing flowing, as well.

I called up Todd and Tommy, just talked about putting together a little project, just something to do and have fun. We got together and wrote a couple songs, and there was some really good substance there. So we just kept on going and kept on writing and writing and writing, and it turned into this Knives Out band. That’s pretty much how it started.

	Knives Out

They’re still together. They’re working as a four-piece now. I had to go back, obviously, and do my HellYeah obligation and stuff like that, but I’m still a part of the band, kind of more the silent member kind of a thing. They’re still doing their thing. We got some really good management and a good booking agent behind it. They’re searching for a label home right now. It’s gonna happen for ‘em. They’ve been working really, really hard, rehearsing as a four-piece. Jasan’s got a lot of responsibility on him now as the only guitar player, doing dual parts, incorporating my stuff into what he’s doing. But they’re confident and they’re ready to go, man, and once things get going for them, eventually when HellYeah does a headlining tour, I would love it to take those guys out and show up onstage, play a couple songs with ‘em.

But as far as an actual member playing with them, you’re not doing that anymore.

I really can’t. I really don’t have the time. I’m gonna be out with HellYeah for the next 18 to 20 months, and it’s gonna be my main thing. Even if those guys were to come out on tour with us, it would be really difficult for me physically to go and do two sets a day because I’m the type of player that I fucking throw down and there’s a lot of energy coming out. As far as me actually being a playing participant—no. They’re just going as a four-piece. We talked about bringing in a hired-gun guitar player, but they just didn’t feel right about it. They just want to do it as a four-piece and just make it happen that way.

OK, I think that is about all the questions I have for you. I don’t want to take up too much of your time. Is there anything else you would like to add?

I appreciate your time and I’m really looking forward to getting back out there, as we’re doing now, with HellYeah, seeing our fans and really happy that they waited and were patient enough to stick around and wait for this new record. It’s on, man. Stampede’s coming.