Rock Music Menu: Getting ‘Down’ at the Factory
September 11, 2009
Delcotimes.com
By Michael Christopher, Rockmusicmenu@hotmail.com
Down returns to Philadelphia Saturday night with a show at The Electric Factory, and after touring for over two years in support of the record “Down III: Over the Under,” the band couldn’t sound any tighter. One of the main reasons is that what was once known as a hard rock New Orleans supergroup is no longer just a project the musicians dabble in every so many years.
“It’s a real band now and not a side project,” guitarist Kirk Windstein told Rock Music Menu. “It’s everyone’s main focus and we’ve toured extensively, we’ve been to 27 countries in the last two years, started touring before the record came out, and played everywhere.”
“We’re kind of, for lack of a better term, taking it more serious because it is everybody’s main focus, and while we still do other things, it’s our real band now which it never really was in the past.”
Windstein, frontman and guitarist for Crowbar, is joined by former Pantera singer Phil Anselmo, Corrosion of Conformity singer and guitarist Pepper Keenan, Eyehategod drummer Jimmy Bower and bassist Rex Brown, also ex-Pantera, but sitting out this leg of the tour with acute pancreatitis and replaced by Danny Theriot.
That’s not only a lot of talent, but with so many leaders from their respective or onetime bands, it’s only logical to assume there’s a good chance of ego running amok and lots of disagreements over the direction of the music; but that’s not the case says Windstein.
“In Crowbar I sing, write all the lyrics, write all the music — do everything, where in Down it’s more of a democratic thing,” he said. “I’m not saying we don’t want to kill each other sometimes, but like everybody in every band. I always use the analogy that I have my girlfriend at home, and I have four other girlfriends with different personalities to deal with.”
“Basically all I have to do with Down is concentrate on playing, then when it’s writing time throw in some riffs to the guys and see if they use them and if not, they get used for something else.”
Putting out the riff heavy debut “NOLA” in 1995, the band was surprised at the response by not only metal fans, but the music community in general. The record received rave reviews and is revered by audiences as a touchstone hard rock record during an era just stepping out of grunge and looking for something to sink their teeth into. But there was little promotion to back it up as everybody went back to their respective outfits.
“I was surprised because we didn’t tour, we literally did like a two-week tour, and then we just did the occasional odd show,” said Windstein. “For a band not touring, it did really well and was well-received.”
It wouldn’t be until 2002 that the group would reconvene and record “Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow” over a drug-fueled 28 days. The album was more much more experimental than its predecessor, and reviews were mixed. A highly anticipated tour was fraught with spotty and downright poor performances as bandmembers battled various addictions, a period that finally passed according to Windstein.
“We were all a wreck on that tour, everybody had a lot of personal demons they were dealing with at that time,” he said. “It’s just different now. Me and Jimmy are really laid back and Rex is pretty laid back where Pepper and Phil are a little more opinionated and maybe high strung at certain times about stuff or whatever — which is good.”
The results show on “Over the Under,” a tighter, more focused feeling effort that touches on a wide range of topics, including the devastation that Hurricane Katrina wrought on the band’s hometown, and how even now, with the passage of the four year anniversary, things still aren’t back to normal. Windstein says that while the recovery is still taking place, the inaction by the U.S. Government still has a bad taste sitting in mouths of New Orleans’ residents.
“Well they made a big to do for a couple weeks but then they just left us alone and went back to the war or whatever,” he said. “Some neighborhoods are struggling to come back, but you have some that are thriving.”
“The thing is it’s never going to be the same, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be good; and musically it’s always thriving, as most of the artists that had to leave town because there was nowhere to play are back in and doing well, and as far as that goes, it’s pretty much fine.”
Another one of the most lyrically glaringly subject matters on the latest record is Anselmo’s ban from Dimebag Darrell’s funeral, evident on the track “Mourn,” where he details sitting in a Dallas motel room waiting for word that he could attend.
Playing with his new outfit Damageplan in December of 2004, the guitarist was gunned down on stage by a disturbed fan. The band also featured Darrell’s brother and Pantera bandmate Vinnie Paul. At the time, the two had been involved in a war of words in the press with Anselmo over the dissolution of Pantera, and Darrell’s longtime girlfriend Rita Haney has gone as far as laying part of the blame on the singer for the shooting, a sentiment that was then echoed by many fans.
“In my opinion, and I don’t want to be rude, but the people, and I’m not referring to Vinnie or anything like that, but the general public, the fans who have blamed Phil really need to think about the reality of what happened,” Windstein said. “It’s one of those things to me where if Phil had never “temporarily” left Pantera or they had never started Damageplan this never would’ve happened. At the same time, if Joe Blow got killed in a car accident, if he would’ve left five minutes earlier, the truck wouldn’t have hit him type thing; you can’t really think that way.”
“It’s dying away a lot now because I think people realize that Phil genuinely loved the guy, but it was very, very difficult in the beginning.”
Through various interviews in recent years, Vinnie Paul has made it clear that he has nothing more to say to Anselmo, despite being collaborators in one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Windstein is hopeful that the two can get it together.
“You never know,” he said. “I would hope with time … but I have a sorta-relationship with Rita that’s friendly; they can’t comprehend what happened, and neither can I for that matter, and everyone wants to blame someone. But what my problem is, why don’t you just blame the dude who did it? That’s what I say to the fans that are negative toward Phil.”
“I know Phil would love one day to have a relationship with Vinnie; they’ve gone through a hell of a lot together and made some of the best metal — ever, so I would hope one day that can happen.”
