A Pantera reunion would mean a lot, not only to me, but to our fans.”
Wikimetal (Nando Machado): Hi Mr. Phil Anselmo, please?
Phil Anselmo: Yes?
W (NM): Hi Phil, it's Nando. I'm here with Daniel, we're the hosts of Wikimetal, the number one Heavy Metal podcast in Brazil. How are you?
PA: Well, man.
W (NM): Great. First of all, thank you so much for your time, it will be an amazing interview. I hope you enjoy it, we are very happy to talk to you.
PA: Thank you to you as well.
W (NM): All Brazilian Metal fans are very excited about Down's show here in São Paulo on April 10th, I know the tickets are almost sold out. What can we expect from this show?
PA: No messing around. It's going to be straight-up, no-holds-barred music… A bunch of huge, ugly guys on stage, and a bunch of crazy, sweaty guys in the audience. We're going to have a lot of fun.
W (Daniel Dystyler): Excellent, man, excellent. We're really looking forward to it. And how do you guys choose the setlist for the show?
PA: Well, it usually depends on me, and it depends on the length of the show, the setlist, etc… You know, we decide what's best on the spot. And I'll put together a good setlist for the audience. No doubt about it.
W (NM): Great. When we interviewed Pepper Keenan before your last visit to Brazil, he told us about the tape-trading era. Do you miss that time, or do you think the internet helps promote your music and new bands?
PA: It's pretty obvious that when Pepper and I were growing up, we were both avid vinyl collectors and demo traders – I know I was a big vinyl collector, and a big cassette trader… You know, nowadays information is really at the click of a button, and I think the computer age gives you a broader view of how many bands are out there all over the world. And when we were kids, it was “You find what you find, you get what you get,” and that was it. You know, you could trade tapes with someone from Scandinavia, or Brazil, or South America in general. But even then, you were probably missing out on 20 to 50 bands that were active at the same time. Not today. Today you can find new bands, old bands, you can find a huge library in the computer world, on the internet, etc. And I think the accessibility nowadays for these bands, for young people nowadays, or for music fans in general… It's a relief not having to run to the post office, or go to the record store and search everywhere to find something worth listening to, when in fact, all you have to do is go on YouTube and click on a band's name, or get a suggestion from a friend and click on the band's name, and there it is, you find it. So it was much harder to find so many bands back then, and it's much easier nowadays. Much, much easier. But in general, I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but still, it's great for the true music fan who really wants to study a musical genre that interests them. So I see both good and bad, you know.
I'm a musician who sees so much in music that I think it's unfair not to study other musical genres. Music is too vast not to have freedom.”
W (DD): Yes, you're right, Phil. And since you're talking about the old days, I think that's a great story. Can you share with our listeners the story of how you signed your first contract with Down?
PA: Well… Down started as an idea. At that time, we were… Although we were all from New Orleans, at that time I lived in Texas. Pepper lived in North Carolina because he played with COC, of course, and I was with Pantera. And Jimmy was moving from a city called Atlanta back to New Orleans, so we were constantly on the phone. At that time, I think… You know, everyone has their musical preferences. I think that was a time when Thrash Metal had become oversaturated, and Death Metal was, for the most part, misunderstood, not fully accepted yet. And I think we were all going through a Black Sabbath phase, and also the bands that had been influenced by Black Sabbath, that emerged… I think in the 80s, in some cases in the late 70s: The Obsessed, Sleep, Trouble, all those bands. Even before Sleep, when Sleep was still making demos… So we got together – nobody had any riffs in mind, nobody had lyrics or anything like that – we just showed up in New Orleans and came up with the idea of writing music inspired by Black Sabbath. And we made the first demo, which, of course, had “Bury Me in Smoke,” “Temptation’s Wings,” and “Losing All.” And some time passed after that – six months, or maybe eight months, or maybe even a year – and we made a second demo. And at that time it was interesting that Pepper and I decided to spread these demos all over the world, because we had done a tour, and we played these demos for all our friends around the world. In fact, right after we recorded the first demo, I left New Orleans and immediately had to go to Italy to play with Black Sabbath, with Ronnie James Dio singing at the time. And Testament was there too, and I remember playing the demo tape for Chuck Billy, the singer of Testament, and he went crazy, he loved it. But Pepper and I, we didn't tell anyone who the band was. We just said it was a band called Down, and "listen to this, what do you think?" you know? So there was a big mystery about who Down was for a while. And then, obviously, we let all the people around the world, our friends in the United States, all over the world, get exhausted trying to figure out who it was, until we told them. And soon after, we made plans with the record label I was with at the time, when I was with Pantera, which I believe was Atlantic at the time, or something like that, but… Soon after we signed a contract and made the first album, "Nola". But the story leading up to that is much more interesting than the recording of the album.
W (DD): Yes, Phil, that's what I wanted to know. Thank you so much for sharing this story, it's great.
PA: You're welcome.
W (DD): Alright, Phil. We have a classic question on our show, one we ask all our guests, which is: imagine you're listening to a lot of heavy metal on your iPod, or maybe a rock station on the radio, and suddenly, a song comes on that you need to start headbanging to immediately. What song is that, so we can listen to it on our show right now?
PA: Ah… Now… It all depends on my mood. My mood varies with the music. Certain types of music make me exuberant sometimes, but I must admit, right now anything from Portal's new album, but specifically, one of my favorite Portal songs is “Black Houses”. So “Black Houses”, from Portal's album “Outré”, would make me want to punch the guy next to me.
W (NM): We have a question from one of our listeners, Maurício, about your solo album. Could you tell us about your solo album and also about Down's plans for the future? You released an EP last year. Do you plan to release more EPs, or are you going to release a full album?
PA: No, no, no. Well, first of all, it's very difficult to talk about the solo album right now because it hasn't been released yet, and I think people will understand it better after listening to it at least 20 times, very loudly. And for me… We're experimenting with some things, and again, until it's released, I can't say much about it until people hear exactly what I'm doing. I can say that I did a collaboration with Warbeast, there are two of my songs on it, but in my opinion, the rest makes those two songs sound childish. They're very, very unpredictable songs. So, regarding Down, we've already started talking about writing and composing things for the new EP. And I think we'll start working on the EP at the end of the year. So keep an eye out for those things.
W (NM): So Phil, regarding Housecore Records, how important is the label to you, and how do you find the time to manage a label with such a busy touring and recording schedule?
PA: Well, you know, I envisioned Housecore Records because I've been through the major record labels. And I saw flaws, and I felt that… Basically, the bands were being manipulated, they were taking advantage of the bands, the bands didn't know where the money was going, they didn't know where they were, except that their albums were being released. And it's hard to understand, you know, but when you're in your early twenties, or late teens, and you hear that a major label wants to sign your band for seven albums, this and that… Back then we didn't know that was a basic contract. There was nothing special about it. And when you commit to a seven-album contract, you're talking about probably 14 years of your life, if not more, depending on the band. And if you tour… The tour can last a year, two years, three… You can do all that, but still, you're basically a prisoner of that record label. I'm a musician who sees so much in music that I think it's unfair not to study other musical genres, or play other musical genres. Music is too vast not to have freedom. In other words, if you wanted to do a side project, you'd have to have a million different roles, which they call contracts, and they make it very difficult for you to express yourself without basically breaking the law. Whereas here at Housecore, we make one album at a time, and within that album, I give the artist total freedom. In other words, if they record an album with me, and as long as the contract is fulfilled, the band can turn around and record a whole new album with someone else if they want, because they have freedom. And I'm not going to stop a musician from making money or expressing themselves freely in the realm of music. In fact, I fully support what they do. So… Instead of a 70/30 percentage – 70% going to the label, and 30% to the artist, or 80% to the label, 20% to the band – we do 50/50, which is a much larger percentage for the artist. And it's easier. It's easier for them to keep track of their accounts, basically. And basically to know where their money is going. And now, we've got the new Warbeast coming out here in the United States in March, and the album is called "Destroy." And I've been practicing every night for the last two weeks with my solo band, The Illegals, and our album is coming out here in the United States in July, in the summer. So I've been very busy, thankfully, man.
My door is open, but so far Vinnie Paul's door is closed, which is a shame
W (NM): That's great, Phill. We'd love to help promote your albums, so if you'd like your publicist or someone who works with you at the record label to contact us, we'd be very happy to help support these great artists you promote.
PA: Thank you very much. I really appreciate this, because I love the underground. I love underground music, and I love and support the underground with all my heart.
W (DD): Now we'd like you to choose another song. Could you choose a song that you're very proud to have written, so we can hear it on our show now?
PA: Oh, sure. Which band? Choose a band. Which band? I play in many bands.
W (NM): Okay, let's listen to Down now.
PA: Okay… Let’s see… Since we have a new EP coming out, let’s listen to “Witchtripper”.
W (NM): “Witchtripper”, that’s great, on Wikimetal!
PA: Yes!
W (NM): And what about the rumors of a Pantera reunion, Phil? We spoke to Zakk Wylde the other day, and he told us that if you called him, he'd be ready to join you on tour anytime. Is there any chance of that happening?
PA: Well, you know… Honestly, I talked to Zakk about this too, and we’re very aware of the public perception, but honestly, until I talk to Vinnie Paul, which hasn’t happened yet, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen, you know, nothing’s going to happen. Honestly, I’ll tell you: my phone number is on the list, my email is open, my door is open, I’d love to talk to Vince. Honestly, there’s no more bad blood, and we could talk and come to an agreement. I think it would mean a lot, not just to me – it would mean the world to me – but it would mean a lot to our fans. I think people don’t want to see this argument anymore, you know, it’s time for peace, it’s time for brotherhood. And honestly, we’d be setting a good example, instead of doing the opposite. And I say my door is open, but so far Vinnie’s door is closed, which is a shame.
W (NM): Yes, definitely.
W (DD): We hope for the best. We're wrapping up our interview, but before we conclude, I'm very curious about one thing: the early 90s is a period that all Metal bands complain about, everyone we interviewed says that grunge dominated, and that Metal was no longer commercially interesting. But on the other hand, you guys had a lot of success playing very heavy music. Why do you think that happened, that it affected so many Metal bands, but with you it was the exact opposite?
PA: Well, you know… I think we’re part of the originators of a certain style of Heavy Metal and Heavy Metal sound. And honestly, my crusade has always been to destroy the myth that you have to be this guy with long hair, tight pants, singing in falsetto, and basically imitating Judas Priest. Whereas, at the time, I was very, very influenced by hardcore bands, specifically Agnostic Front. And honestly, that’s why I shaved my head to begin with, because I was very anti-image. I was much more interested in letting the music speak, and screw the image and all that. And I find it very funny that many guys you admire think the 90s were bad. But I’m sure many guys who did your interviews were wearing leather pants, spikes, and black and white makeup, and it’s like, “Dude, you know, I don’t want to listen to your crap. You’re more dressed than the Glam bands, so I don’t want to listen to your crap. You are the Glam bands of tomorrow.” I like to dress the way I like – I've dressed the same way for 25 years. Give me a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and if I don't have shoes, so be it… You know, just go on stage and play the music. Screw the image and everything else. And that's what I still think today.
W (NM): That's great, Phil, I really want to thank you for your time, we are very grateful. We'll be there on April 10th in São Paulo, it's going to be an incredible show, probably one of the best of the year. I'd like to thank you for everything you've done all these years, we've followed your career since your first albums, so thank you so much for everything you've done, you're one of our greatest Metal legends. You certainly changed Metal.
PA: Well, thank you all so much. I love you guys and thank you so much for the interview, man, it was really, really cool. I can't wait to see the Brazilian fans, it's always amazing, I love it. I can't wait to see you.
W (DD): Thank you very much, goodbye.
PA: Thank you.
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