HELLYEAH Guitarist: 'The Success Of This Record Is Going To Determine How Long We Stay Out'

Darrin Buchanan of Blistering.com recently conducted an interview with HELLYEAH guitarist Tom Maxwell. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Blistering.com: Jerry Montano left the band a couple of weeks ago. How's Bob Zilla [ex-DAMAGEPLAN] fitting in?

Maxwell: Well, there's been no replacement at all confirmed yet. I mean, I know there's a lot of rumors circling around and things like that . . . and there's a couple people that we're going to be auditioning next week, but the rumors that we have a replacement, that's pretty much Internet talk. Everybody just assumed that that was the case, and even though Bob Zilla was invited, you know, and is coming down to jam with us, it is not solid or confirmed.

Blistering.com: OK, fair enough. How involved were you with different members of the band? What was the involvement in the writing? Who brought what to the table?

Maxwell: It's pretty much me and Greg [Tribbett, guitar] wrote everything musically. And Vinnie [Paul, drums] was there to steer us in the direction he felt and help arrange and things like that. You know, Chad [Gray, vocals] and everybody kind of had their two cents to put in for arrangements to try this, try that kind of thing. But ultimately it was just pretty much me and Greg, you know, going back and forth. He would write a riff, I would write a chorus and he would write a verse . . . So it's just a perfect blend of every song.

Blistering.com: Looking at NOTHINGFACE on MySpace, it looks like the band is moving ahead and MUDVAYNE is still much alive. Is this HELLYEAH project a one-off, or is it calling an end to any of the other bands?

Maxwell: No, no, no. I mean, NOTHINGFACE is still moving forward. I mean, obviously we have put everything to the side right now for the HELLYEAH project, but we've been really busy, you know, writing. Matt's got close to 50 songs to work with. He's really excited about the HELLYEAH project, as well as the rest of the band. He really loves having all the time in the world to work on material at his own pace right now. As far it being a one-off thing, at the beginning we didn't have any idea what it was going to be. We were looking at it as just maybe a project, but the songs really kind of pulled us together and really made a band out of it. And we're all really excited about this thing, and I think the success of this record is going to determine how long we stay out and how long we work it. But absolutely . . . when we come back around, you know, after the HELLYEAH cycle's done, you know, those guys will go back and do MUDVAYNE, and I'll go back and do the NOTHINGFACE. Vinnie will go back and do his thing. And then a couple years down the line, now we're going to get back together and do HELLYEAH part two.

Blistering.com: You have a small tour lined up right now. Then you're going to go with the Family Values tour. Are you guys looking to take HELLYEAH to other countries?

Maxwell: Oh, yeah . . . we're taking it down right after this tour. I think we're jumping over to Australia and New Zealand in June. And then I think we're going to come back for a minute and then maybe do another North American run, up in the Pacific Northwest area, going down the West Coast and before we jump on the Family Values. After that, you know, it's pretty much going to be dictated by how the album sells and what is offered for further touring dates.

Blistering.com: What has been the best part of this HELLYEAH experience so far for you and for the guys in band? What's really been the big point?

Maxwell: I think the coolest thing is that we actually did it, you know? We actually took the five people from separate places and came together and wrote a fucking killer record and became really good friends . . . That's the best part. It's so organic, you know; we didn't have any songs written prior to it. We just said, “Let's get together and see what happens.” And the first nine days we were there we had eight songs written and recorded pretty much. I think it's just been that organic connection that is happening, you know? It's really exciting, and the vibe between all of us is really positive, and we just can't wait to start this tour.

Read the entire interview at Blistering.com.