Ultimate Guitar Interview with Philip Anselmo and Down
October 16, 2012
by Steven Rosen
This may look like just another interview with Down’s Phil Anselmo, Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein – but it isn’t. In an effort to make you, the reader and fan, feel like you are really a huge part of what Ultimate Guitar is all about, we are presenting for the very first time in our history an interview made up of reader’s questions. Over 300 questions were submitted over the course of several days and we had a hard time picking out the best ones. Not that all of your questions didn’t rock, but if all 300 questions had been chosen, Phil, Pepper and Kirk would have been on the phone for days answering them.
Ultimate Guitar was really blown away by the range and excellence of the questions. We thank each and every one of you who took the time to jot down your query and send it to us. We know how crazy life can be and how busy you are. So we truly appreciate that you put on your thinking caps for a few moments and tried to come up with the most rockin’ Down questions you could think of. This marks the debut of an interview based solely on reader questions and we hope you’re as proud of it as we are.
It did take working out some bugs to make this happen though. After several emails to the band’s publicist – and a special thank you goes to Tim Hrycyshyn for making this happen – all the details were worked out. We managed to get Phil, Pepper and Kirk on the phone at the same time and that in itself was a bit of a rarity. For their part, the band loved the questions – the honesty and the directness of them – and had an amazing time answering them. At times the guys would talk over themselves a bit and it was a little tough in figuring out who was saying what. But that only added to the craziness and energy of the moment.
We hope you dig the interview with Down. This is new for us as well but we want you to know you made it happen. Let us know what you think.
And now for the first time ever: Ultimate Guitar readers get down with Down.
UG: How did you feel about playing the Pantera songs live on the Metal Masters tour? What is your favorite Pantera song to play? (Maiden95)
Anselmo: I feel great to play ’em live. It’s fun; it’s great. My favorite? I guess my all-time favorite would be “A New Level”.
You’ve been involved in bands with hardcore/punk influences. What are some of your favorite hardcore/punk albums? (HandsofStone)
Anselmo: ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’.
Pepper Kennan: Hardcore or punk? It would be narrowed down to three records probably: “My War” by Black Flag; “Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing” by Discharge; and Cro-Mags “The Age Of Quarrel”. And the Ramones “Road To Ruin”.
Kirk, same question.
Anselmo: He don’t know punk.
Kirk Windstein: I really don’t know punk that well.
Anselmo: I know some sh-t.
Windstein: I’d say “The Age Of Quarrel” and Agnostic Front…
Anselmo: “Victim In Pain.”
Windstein: Yeah, “Victim In Pain”.
Keenan: It depends which ones made you shift a lot when you were younger. When I heard “Road To Ruin” when I was 13, 14 years old, it changed my life.
Anselmo: Tell me f—in’ certain Celtic Frost tunes ain’t hardcore?
Keenan: Well sure.
Anselmo: Exactly.
What album are you most proud of? (red_hot_chili18)
Anselmo: To me the ones I’m proud of it would take too long for me to answer. That’s an impossible question.
