DOWN Guitarist Says Upcoming EP Series Is 'A Pretty Big Undertaking'

DOWN's official web site has been updated with a recent interview the band's guitarist, Pepper Keenan, gave to Guitar World magazine. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Guitar World: Over the course of twenty years, have you ever come close to calling it a day, especially with the current state of the industry?

Pepper: I don't know. I'm so underground that I'm oblivious to it. I don't Facebook, I don't do any of that shit, so I just keep trucking along for the love of playing music, and in the DOWN world I can't really notice a difference. I think people appreciate a real band like us. I don't think we've been as affected as some other bands because we have a loyal following and we're true to them and we expand. Each time we come through, there's younger kids at the shows because I think they're tired of the bullshit, too. They want to see something real and they know they can rely on a band like DOWN. I think that's helped us out. It's probably hurt some bands that weren't in it for the real reasons, but the ones who really enjoy what they do and have a love of music are the ones who remain unscathed because they're not affected by something like that. But the fly-by-night bands who are trying to make something stick to the wall by networking or whatever the fuck you do, put shit on the Internet and just rely on that instead of getting in the fucking van and starving to death for the love of your music, that's the ones who say the industry sucks!

Guitar World: Why the longevity? This band has outlasted most marriages.

Pepper: The thing that's different about us is we grew up together. We knew each other before we were in this band. We were all kids in New Orleans, we all went to the same shows, so we know each other better than most people in bands know each other, I would guess. Through thick and thin, and all the drugs and booze and whatever else we fucked up and all that shit, we're still me and Kirk [Windstein, fellow DOWN guitarist], so we have a good time and we still fuck with each other. We have constant feuds of guitar playing and who's the riff master and all this kind of shit constant.

Guitar World: You're working on an EP series. What is that about?

Pepper: We've got a whole bunch of songs and a lot of different material, so we're going to separate these albums into different vibes. That gives us more freedom to go in a certain direction without having to constrain it for a particular album. We're going to have these things in a series and they'll all end up matching up together in the last one. It's a pretty big undertaking; I've never seen anybody do it. It gives us the freedom not to be so regulated doing a whole record. Especially in this new industry that everybody's talking about and how it sucks, we won't have to deal with all that shit. We'll put out six songs. There will be four EPs, and the release dates, I guess, will be consistent with our recording schedule and touring schedule. We're touring a lot, so we've been going on this record for four years and still playing new places. Part of our goal was to become more of a global-type band, touring the world. Once you've got those people behind you, it gives you a lot more freedom.

Guitar World: Are you self-producing again?

Pepper: Yes, yes, yes! We did the math and between all of us we've done 50-something records, so we've got it all figured out, and Phil [Anselmo, vocals] doesn't like listening to people telling him what to do! Right or wrong, it's our way or no way. The last record came out in 2007 and I thought we'd be back in the studio after two years, but we kept touring and here we are. Time flies.

Guitar World: The last time we spoke, which was in 2002, you said, "I don't understand what's going on with music right now. It's this "mall mentality." If you consider yourself a musician, wouldn't you want to get back to the basics? That's what blues, jazz, bluegrass and country bands do, but rock bands are affected by MTV, and the standards have dropped drastically in rock and roll. What happened? How did it get so off course?" Ten years later

Pepper: I'm a prophet! There's been some good bands since I did that interview. We've got our ears to the street. I like WITCHCRAFT a lot. GHOST is fantastic; they're writing serious songs. When SOUNDGARDEN called it quits, that was the end of anybody doing anything with any standard of quality. And NIRVANA everybody started ripping off poor Kurt Cobain and that cheap trash became ugly. We do what we do. I keep my bands pretty small and don't try to be everywhere all the time. It makes you more balanced in terms of creativity. Some people try to sell themselves so much it ends up sounding and looking fake. I don't have to sell anything. I enjoy what we do, and if I stay broke, I'm fine with that. I think it's quality over quantity.

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