Raymond Westland of ThisIsNotAScene.com recently conducted an interview with former PANTERA and current HELLYEAH drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. ThisIsNotAScene.com: "Blood For Blood" is the most focused and concise HELLYEAH album to date. How did it come out that way? Vinnie: We really wanted to make the record of our career. We just came off the Gigantour with BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and a couple of other bands, and when the touring cycle for "Band Of Brothers" was completed, we really wanted to write a new record and get in the studio and capitalize on the momentum we've created because of all the touring. Working with [producer] Kevin Churko was another reason why the new record sounds so fresh and focused. He really knew how to get the best out of us. ThisIsNotAScene.com: You guys worked with Kevin Churko. What did he bring to the table as a producer? Vinnie: Kevin really knew how to get the best out of us and it was really refreshing for me to be just "the drummer" for a change. Five years ago, I bought a house in Las Vegas and that's also the city where Kevin works from. So every now and again, we've bumped into each other and we were discussing working together at some point. I'm big fan of his work with Ozzy Osbourne and all the other productions he has done, and he's a big fan of the things I've done. So when we got to the point in the band that we wanted to work with an outside producer, it was a no-brainer to work with him. He also got along great with Chad [Gray, HELLYEAH singer], which really smooth the ride when it came down to record the vocals. ThisIsNotAScene.com: Greg Tribbett (guitar; also of MUDVAYNE) and Bob "Zilla" Kakaha (bass; formerly of DAMAGEPLAN) left the band earlier on. How did this change the creative and writing dynamic within HELLYEAH? Vinnie: Chad, Tom [Maxwell, guitar] and I always handled the majority of the writing within HELLYEAH. Greg mostly watched what we were doing and he contributed very little. Bob didn't do much at all, besides being there for the live shows. Just having three persons involved with putting the new record together really made things easier as well. Sometimes you just have too many chefs in the kitchen and that can really frustrate the overall process, you know. Read the entire interview at ThisIsNotAScene.com.
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