VINNIE PAUL Carries The Torch With HELLYEAH

Pat Douglas of the Great Falls Tribune recently conducted an interview with HELLYEAH drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott (ex-PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN). A few excerpts from the chat follow:

On the months that followed brother Dimebag's (ex-PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN) murder in December 2004:

"For eight months, man, I've never been in a darker place in my life. I didn't know what to do or where to turn. I'd done everything in my life with Dime and here I am on my own left to carry the torch."

On forming HELLYEAH with members of MUDVAYNE and NOTHINGFACE:

"They needed a drummer and the phone calls started coming. At first, when I would get the calls, I was like, 'Man, this sounds great, but I just launched my record company. I don't know if I'm really ready to get back into playing music.' I guess persistence pays off because the calls kept coming and one night I just said, 'You know what, this sounds like a great idea, man.'"

"It was a big challenge at first. I knew going in that I played with the greatest guitar player ever in my brother, in my opinion, and I knew I was gonna have to take it day by day. [HELLYEAH guitarists] Tom and Greg … they're killer guitar players. They really did a lot of, what I'd say is pretty impressive guitar work on this record.”

"Once we got going, man, I really, really felt comfortable. Everybody put their cards on the table and we made an amazing record. In that aspect, it was therapeutic."

On whether he ever doubted he would make a return to performing:

"I told myself that I knew I was gonna play music again because I love it. It's in my blood. It's all I've done my whole entire life.”

On the departure of NOTHINGFACE bassist Jerry Montano from HELLYEAH:

"It's unfortunate about what happened there. We all love Jerry, but we just felt like there were some personal differences and we needed to make a change."

On HELLYEAH's chemistry:

"We had some unbelievable chemistry for people that had never played together before. We've got a lot of things in common. We like to drink, we like to play music, we like to play a little poker, we like sports, all that kind of stuff. The main thing that has really helped us from the beginning was we had a bunch of mutual respect for each other."

One being motivated by Dime's spirit and legacy:

"Everything he did, I have to look at as inspiring. He broke the mold, man. He treated people of all kinds with the utmost respect and the most important thing in his life was making people happy. That's what he cared about the most. He wanted to put a smile on your face."

"I just know that that's what he wants me to keep doing, man. I've done this my whole life. It's what I was born to do. I've gotta carry the torch. That's all there is to it."