Ex-PANTERA Bassist REX BROWN Doesn't Even Think About Drinking Anymore

Australia's The Rock Pit recently conducted an interview with bassist Rex Brown (KILL DEVIL HILL, PANTERA, DOWN). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

The Rock Pit: Was there much that you did differently this time around compared to the first [KILL DEVIL HILL] album in the writing and recording process?

Rex: Yeah, pretty much. A lot of that stuff was already kinda written and they had gone through several bass players; [it] just wasn't working out. So they called me and I had just had pancreatic surgery, major stuff done, trying to get my health back and this happened at a time when everything, the timing was just perfect for me. So between the first record... I had to put my stamp on it, and everything else, and arrangements and stuff like that, but the first one was done so quickly. I mean, we had the drum tracks done in four days and then started layering everything else on it, and before you knew it, it was time to get the fuck out of the studio, which I like doing records like that, if you have everything in place and that's a really good record, but that's just a starting point. That band was only six months old at that point. So it's one of those deals where us being on the road and finding each other's strengths and weaknesses, it has to come from the four individuals. I don't want it to sound like PANTERA, this has to stand on its own merit. That would be so easy for me to go put a band that sounds like PANTERA together and do it that way and play a bunch of covers. I've already been there and done that. Everything I put out, it's gotta have that stamp of integrity on it so to me, this is the right record at the right time.

The Rock Pit: Do you ever get tired of fans comparing your music, whatever you do like with DOWN and KILL DEVIL HILL to PANTERA all the time or have you gotten used to it by now?

Rex: I think people want to put their stamp or whatever the fuck on it, they've got to point their finger at what it's gonna be. But if you're looking for a PANTERA record, this isn't it. This is four different guys man, it's a different band and you can throw that fucking supergroup name out the window, I hate that, this is not a supergroup. Those other two guys who don't have the name or whatever together, those guys are just as talented as Vinny [Appice, drums] and I so what it comes down to is just a balance of everybody getting together, knowing their chops and writing great music. It's all about the song for me.

The Rock Pit: How does it feel to be part of another great band after already having been part of some of the greatest bands in the last 20 years?

Rex: Somebody's watching out for me. I don't know who it is, but it's a great feeling. I can't describe it, but I know I have to give 150% every fucking day. I'm in better shape than I've been in ten years. I had some really, really bad stomach issues and there was a team of doctors and they got me on this program. I quit drinking completely; I don't even think about it, and it's just amazing now. Like I said, I got fire shooting out my ass every fucking show and it's brought back that hunger, that feeling that you have when you are starting anew again. I've got to reinvent myself with this thing. I'm not going to rest on my laurels of PANTERA. You're just going backwards if you're doing that. It's not a PANTERA record, plain and simple. It has me playing on it, I'm still playing bass on it. If you listen, some of the other tracks are completely fucking left field to PANTERA. You can't put the two together musically, even though you can, because that's my style. I'm still playing the way I'm playing, but it's a totally different band, four different indivuduals and so you just have to put that into conversation. Just musically, I can't believe we've actually put out two records within a year of each other or finished two pieces of work like that within a year. It didn't come out within a year of each other but they were finished within a year of each other. But the progression between the first one and the second one is just bigger, it's badder and it's bolder, and that's all I can say for it. And I'll let the music do the talking. Like I said before, it's all about the song, man. If you don't have good songs, hang it up and get a lawn mower, start a landscaping business, whatever the fuck. I'm in this for the long haul, I'm a lifer, man, and that's all there is to it. So anything that I do has to be fucking that level. That's where my integrity is and I'm not going to put out a piece of shit; that's all there is to it. I could sit on the couch forever, but why waste your time. I got a gift and I want to show it. That's just the way I look at it.

Read the entire interview at The Rock Pit.