CROWBAR Frontman On Rehab, Upcoming Album And The Future Of DOWN

Elliot Levin of NY Hard Rock Music Examiner recently conducted an interview with Kirk Windstein (CROWBAR, DOWN, KINGDOM OF SORROW). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Hard Rock Music Examiner: In college I remember a couple of friends going to rehab, and coming back and saying that was the most fun they ever had. But I think my friends missed the point of rehab.

Kirk: They probably did. It's real simple, dude. I's one of those things where it gets to the point where not only is it not fun anymore but it's a problem. When it starts affecting all aspects of your life, it's time to stop. So everybody's going, "Congratulations." I'm like, "Don't congratulate me." People fall off every day. 90% of people that stop start again. So you just go day by day. It's actually easier, believe it or not, on this particular tour, because we're doing 23 shows in a row. Staying busy keeps me away from being bored, which used to be a lot of my problem. I'm touring and I'm bored and it's an off day or I'm travelling and boom, there ya go, it's fun again 'cause I'm drunk. And it's not like that [on this tour]. Today I was up before daylight shooting the video, we were playing in Trenton, New Jersey last night I didn't get to bed until 3 a.m., slept like three hours, did that, took a nap, got up, did photo shoots all day, the whole nine yards. MTV "Headbangers Ball" hosting. Anything. Just keep me busy.

Hard Rock Music Examiner: And you weren't worried about going right back on the road with all the partying that goes on there?

Kirk: Well, yes and no. And what I mean by yes is because you're obviously surrounded by it. But no, because, let's be honest, my drug of choice is beer. It's not only socially accepted, you can't even watch a football game without having it shoved in your face a thousand times. In New Orleans it's literally a way of life. Drinking goes with everything; there's always an excuse to drink. We sell beer and liquor 24/7/365 everywhere, you can buy a 5th of vodka at 3am on Easter Sunday if you want. So it's one of those things where it's not like cocaine or heroin or whatever, when you're on those kind of drugs you quit calling the dealer, you quit hanging out at the places you used to frequent or you quit hanging out with those people. You can't get away; I can't fill my car up at a gas station without Coors Light, Bud Light, Corona, whatever; it's just the way it is.

Hard Rock Music Examiner: Generally speaking, how would you say the new record compares to your existing discography in terms of the production, the tone, the overall sound?

Kirk: Definitely, production-wise, better than anything we've done, sound-wise. And Zeuss mixed it and did a great job, he did the two KINGDOM records and HATEBREED, and just did the MURDERDOLLS. He's really good. Great guy and really, really good producer, engineer, the whole nine yards. Production was incredible, best we've ever had. And as far as the record as a whole, the music and whatnot, I'm very, very satisfied that it's really satisfied all the CROWBAR fans. It's twelve tracks, and none of them sound like the one you're gonna hear before it. Play it like it's meant to be, from A to Z; it's a journey. It's supposed to take you somewhere. Every song is different. I'm very proud of it, and to me, bands always say it's the best they've ever done, and fans have their favorites, I understand that, but no matter what, if you like CROWBAR, I don't see how you could say it's not killer.

Hard Rock Music Examiner: Why is your music so angry?

Kirk: It's therapeutic. For me and the people who listen to it. The lyrics are therapeutic for me and the people who listen to it, I met a guy in Virginia Beach the other night who's been to Afghanistan three times, and he's like “I just want to thank you for your music, for helping me get through some of the weirdest parts of the world, some of the craziest things, and the only thing I could relate to was CROWBAR. And it really helped me get through it. And that's what it's really all about. I mean, I'm not angry, I'm talking to you right now, do I seem mad? [Kirk throws a playful punch at the interviewer's face.] It's the type of music we play. It's heavy, it's aggressive, it's emotional, and it's a perfect venue to let out what's bugging you.

Hard Rock Music Examiner: I spoke to Phil Anselmo a month ago, I spoke to Pepper Keenan a month before that, so you make three out of the five DOWN guys for me. Pepper promised some DOWN shows this summer. Any word on that?

Kirk: Well, yeah, I'd expect so. You gotta understand, 90% of my musical life has been DOWN, and all of ours, since the beginning of 2006, up until this late, late summer of 2010, it's been nonstop touring, recording, whatever with DOWN. And you need a little break. But at home, me, Jimmy [Bower] and Pepper get together two, three times a week if I'm not out with CROWBAR and Jimmy's not out with EYEHATEGOD, and write and demo and whatnot. I saw Phil the day before Thanksgiving, hung out over there, he's ready to hear what we've got and he's got tons of great ideas. He doesn't stop. You just need a little break from time to time. It's one of those things. I don't care what band you are, how great you are, how popular you are, when you spend that much time around each other, doing that for so long, you need some time to step away and let the creative juices start to build up with DOWN again. We're doing it right now, and I'm loving what we're doing, and I'm loving the stuff we're doing with the writing, but obviously the clock's ticking on us, we're not kids anymore, but we've also built a solid foundation worldwide with DOWN, and when we all feel really excited, then it will come together overnight. And we're really getting close to that right now.

Read the entire interview from NY Hard Rock Music Examiner.

Fan-filmed footage of CROWBAR performing the title track of their new album, "Sever The Wicked Hand", on December 7, 2010 at Club Hell in Providence, Rhode Island can be viewed below.