Philip Amselmo: To The Extreme.
April 29, 2010
During a somewhat hurried phone interview from New Orleans, in his emphatic basso drawl, an affable Anselmo touched on his new role as label head honcho, the status of his various musical endeavors, the 20th anniversary of Pantera’s landmark Cowboy From Hell album, the band’s legacy and what we might expect from his autobiography.
KNAC.COM: I know we’re a bit pressed for time, so I’ll keep things short and sweet.
Phil Anselmo: I doubt I will (laughs).
KNAC.COM: Well, we’ll see what we can get through. It’s like 90 here in D.C. today (April 7) it must be hot as hell in New Orleans?
Anselmo: Nah, man, it’s gorgeous. I tell you what. Fall is beautiful, but this is gorgeous right now, this here spring. It’s probably 68 outside, sunny, breezy, it’s great. I think it it’ll get up to about 75, 78, but with this dry breeze you get this lack of humidity which is always such a blessing here. In a couple months, it’s gonna be Cambodia (laughs).
KNAC.COM: Before we get to talking about your label and all that, I want to start by checking on the status of your various bands. What is up with Down at the moment?
Anselmo: Well Kirk and Jimmy are in Europe, Kirk with Crowbar and Jimmy with Eyehategod. Rex is jamming and everybody’s kinda doing their own thing. But we are always in touch and I guess we’re looking at the end of the year, getting together. Pepper said he had some riffs, which is always good. So maybe some time toward the end of the year, early next year, we’ll start rolling. We’ve got some shows this summer in Europe. We’re not totally stagnant.
KNAC.COM: How’s Rex doing health-wise after his battle with pancreatitis? I know he’s done some studio work with Arms of the Sun, but is he ready to get back to work with Down?
Anselmo: Yeah, he’s really battling with the surgery. Some of these surgeries were very complex [he had his gall bladder removed and polyps taken from his pancreas] but he’s a resolute guy. We’re in touch quite often during the week. He’s doing better, he’s got his good days and bad days, but he’ll be fine. I think he’s having problems putting on weight. He’s always been a skinny cat. So we’re playing it by ear, we’d like to have him come back and do the shows in Europe with us, but only if he’s in fighting shape, if you know what I mean.
KNAC.COM: You’ve certainly had your medical travails over the years, how’s your health holding up these days?
Anselmo: Ah, I’m all right, man. I’m not keeping my doctors and surgeons as busy as I was (laughs). I had my last surgery about a year ago this time, on my knee. Something, somewhere on me hurts every day, but when you’ve done as much damage to yourself as I have over the years, you have to expect that. I tweaked my back again when I was rehabbing from my knee surgery, which is a bitch. That gives me trouble from time to time, but I can manage. I know how to handle it a lot better than I used to, that’s for damn sure. Older and wiser, you know.
KNAC.COM: Superjoint Ritual, I haven’t heard about them in a long time, is that still a functioning entity?
Anselmo: It’s not even a consideration, I don’t think. Superjoint had its time; we had a blast. Honestly, the first record, I love that first record, but I’m not doing anything with Superjoint. I don’t think anyone plans on doing anything anymore. It had its purpose, you know.
KNAC.COM: Is Arson Anthem your only active concern right now?
Anselmo: Nah, I’m not performing with anything. Actually I’ve been writing new stuff, which is just my stuff, there’s no title to it necessarily. Arson Anthem, we did do the full-length record. Christ, we probably recorded that over a year ago. It’s been mixed now for four or five months, it took a while to get back around to it because we all had so many other things happenings. So I just got, matter of fact, the second mastered version and I really gotta listen to it.
We’re real happy with it and I wouldn’t rule out shows, if the correct opportunity came up. We would definitely play. But once again, Mike the singer for Arson, is in Europe and Hank’s on tour too. This is definitely not a solid, but I know Hank has some time off in May and perhaps there will be an Arson Anthem little short run.
KNAC.COM: You mentioned writing new stuff, is it in the vein of the some of the other projects you’ve had – black metally like Christ Inversion or Viking Crown – or is this totally different?
Anselmo: Bite your tongue when you say that. I’ve been in many, many projects and I take pride in the fact, the fact, that none of them sound the same. They’re all different. However, if I was going to compare it to anything, I hate to use the P [Pantera] word, because I don’t once again want to build up a false sense, but it is more groove structured. However, I would say it’s a little more disjointed, a little more spastic, but I’m still after the song.
You know what, I’m not really gonna say anything else about it until it’s really done, because it’s still taking shape in my mind. But it’s heavy, it’s really heavy, it’s aggressive, very aggressive. Put it this way, I am not at all going for anything necessarily traditional in any genre of extreme music. I’m in the firm belief that all the notes have not been hit yet.
KNAC.COM: Given the state of the music business today, starting/relaunching a label is either really brave or really crazy. Which side do you fall on?
Anselmo: Well if you’re gonna use that scale, I guess I’m somewhere on the different side of the scale, because, honestly, we damn well know we’re not gonna get rich off this fuckin’ deal, man. None of these bands that I’m working with are expecting to hit the top of the charts. However, what comes naturally to me about this whole thing is it’s basically an outlet for me, in general, I’m definitely going to take full advantage of that. The fact that I have great distribution here in the states for sure, it was an outlet for a lot of the projects I had done in between Pantera tours that people weren’t completely privy to. I know a lot of secret tapes got dumped out there, but there’s a lot of stuff people had not heard. So for the fans, hey man I’m all about giving them the complete catalog because I’m a music fan too. And I’d want to hear this stuff if I was a fan – or at least have the opportunity to.
Being in the biz for so damn long, you’re around so many great musicians and great bands and you see certain bands that are playing in clubs, playing regionally, and you can tell that they’re ready to graduate. So helping out another band by getting their records out there, that’s a natural, man. I like to say, it’s very true, extreme music of all sorts has been so kind to me throughout my whole damn lifetime, I must give back. It’s great to bring in bands that I think are very, very different.
KNAC.COM: No argument that you’ve got an eclectic roster. A Japanese band, Norwegian band, horror movie soundtracks, thrash, sludge, you name it. Then you also have Crowbar and Eyehategod, who are relatively established, to kinda anchor things.
Anselmo: Genre-wise, it’s like you say, eclectic, but kinda unique as well. With Crowbar, that’s a great thing because they are giving me product and they are a band people know. But I’ll shout it out right now, as much as Eyehategod is on goddamn fucking tour, they owe me a record, and I will strangle Jimmy Bower ’til he gives me one (laughs). And I say with a grin on my face. You know I love Jim, I’m just trying to get a damn record off him. So I’m screaming in every interview just to pump up the damn task for him. Come on, we need some new Eyehategod.
KNAC.COM: The shows they’ve been playing over the last year or so have certainly got a buzz going, probably even moreso than when they were around before?
Anselmo: Absolutely, and I know people wanna hear it. For all you folks out there who are desperate to hear this Eyehategod newness, I’m the guy who’s carrying the biggest whip, smackin’ ’em, trying to get it going.
KNAC.COM: Is there anything in particular that you look for in bands to bring to Housecore, or just something that catches your ear?
Anselmo: It kinda depends. There’s band that do traditional stuff that I can’t say is absolutely totally different. There’s Warbeast out of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and they are your prototypical thrash band but they are so fucking good at it. It’s Bruce Corbitt, he’s the lead singer for the band, he used to be in Rigor Mortis. And I grew up with a lot of these cats and I know they’re top notch musicians.
To me, this is very much a starting point for them. This is very much their Cowboys from Hell, because I think with their newer material they’re going to find themselves even more. This first record, Krush the Enemy, is an awesome, awesome record. They play their asses off. Everybody’s kinda finding themselves, but I like it, I like the direction they’re going in.
Like I was saying, some of it’s my stuff like Christ Inversion, the thing that I did in ’94 that’s already out there again. We also have another demo that we did in ’96 that I guess I’ll put out next year some time. You can say that’s in a black metal vein, we always like to call it holocaust metal or war metal because it is more war metal. Especially the second record.
But then there are bands like the Sursiks, haarp, pretty much anything [former Soilent Green guitarist] Donovan Punch touches, we’re talking about different music here, man, something that’s really tough to say “this is this genre.” That’s the stuff that catches my ear, and if I like it, I want to turn other people onto it, you know.
KNAC.COM: As “label head,” how do you see your role with these bands – if it’s anything other than just getting their music out there?
Anselmo: It really depends on the band, man. With Warbeast and haarp and with Crowbar coming up, they asked me to be part of the record, they asked me to produce their records. That is always awesome, it’s a fantastic experience. I also did the Arson Anthem this time around and we’re talking about four totally drastic differences in sound, and very particular musicians. Drummers that want their drums to sound one way or another, guitarists that like this tone or that. Warbeast, they asked for a certain type of sound, a thrashy ’80s type of thrash sound but with a little bit of a modern feel, especially in the drums, and then Arson Anthem is totally stripped down, very, very raw. And then haarp on the flipside, they have very stripped down drums, but very thick, dark production.
And then on the flipside of that there’s a band like the Sursiks or a lot of Donovan Punch’s stuff, like Bum Freak In Egypt, that’s already recorded and I didn’t want to touch it because it was perfect. Or, in the case of the Sursiks, the main guy in the band, David Minnick, is a fantastic producer, engineer, musician himself, for me if it sounds good to him, I’m in full thrust of it. So it depends on the band, but either way, I’m having a blast.
KNAC.COM: What happens with the label business once Down is up and really running again, recording and touring? Will it mean a less rigorous schedule for Down, or you are going to try to maintain a handle on things from wherever you are? Or do you have someone who can take the reins in your absence?
Anselmo: That’s a good question, and no one has asked me that yet. Because it is hard. I always found in the past when we were on tour things ran themselves, but it’s maddening because in the end everything has my name on it; it’s my thing, so without the hands on, phone call away, 20-minute drive away day-to-day thing, you do feel a bit disembodied.
As a label we’ve come leaps and bounds since Down was touring last time. I have some faith in the tiny staff that we have that when I do tour – and touring I’m going to use that term loosely, because I’m not sure how much we’re going to be touring. We may do select dates, we may do certain runs here and there, but I think the days of doing full-blown six-week tours are over. So I think there’s going to be a little bit of compromise, and like my mother used to tell me, ‘any decision you make has to be the right one.’ So I’m just go out to say, ‘look, this is going to work itself out.’
