HELLYEAH's TOM MAXWELL Says He Is No Longer Active Member Of KNIVES OUT

In a recent interview conducted by Greg Maki of Live-Metal.net, HELLYEAH guitarist Tom Maxwell revealed he is no longer an active member of KNIVES OUT, the Baltimore-based band featuring former and current members of DOG FASHION DISCO, POLKADOT CADAVER and NOTHINGFACE. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Live-Metal.net: I also wanted to talk to you a little bit about your other band, KNIVES OUT. How did that band get together?

Tom Maxwell: All the guys in that band are really good friends of mine from back home in Baltimore. The drummer, Tommy, was my drummer with NOTHINGFACE. Todd and Jasan have been friends of mine forever with DOG FASHION DISCO, and Dave, I've known Dave, I've never played in any band with him, but we've been friends for years. The way it came about, I came home and after a couple months of being home, I just started getting really, really antsy to play. With HELLYEAH, I can't really do a lot of the type of music that I naturally write. With my old band, NOTHINGFACE, we were real heavy, brutal kind of shit, and I still love writing and playing that kind of music. I needed an outlet — also to keep my chops up and my music-writing flowing, as well. I called up Todd and Tommy, just talked about putting together a little project, just something to do and have fun. We got together and wrote a couple songs, and there was some really good substance there. So we just kept on going and kept on writing and writing and writing, and it turned into this KNIVES OUT band. That's pretty much how it started. They're still together. They're working as a four-piece now. I had to go back, obviously, and do my HELLYEAH obligation and stuff like that, but I'm still a part of the band, kind of more the silent-member kind of a thing. They're still doing their thing. We got some really good management and a good booking agent behind it. They're searching for a label home right now. It's gonna happen for 'em. They've been working really, really hard, rehearsing as a four-piece. Jasan's got a lot of responsibility on him now as the only guitar player, doing dual parts, incorporating my stuff into what he's doing. But they're confident and they're ready to go, man, and once things get going for them, eventually when HELLYEAH does a headlining tour, I would love it to take those guys out and show up onstage, play a couple songs with 'em.

Live-Metal.net: But as far as an actual member playing with them, you're not doing that anymore.

Tom Maxwell: I really can't. I really don't have the time. I'm gonna be out with HELLYEAH for the next 18 to 20 months, and it's gonna be my main thing. Even if those guys were to come out on tour with us, it would be really difficult for me physically to go and do two sets a day because I'm the type of player that I fucking throw down and there's a lot of energy coming out. As far as me actually being a playing participant — no. They're just going as a four-piece. We talked about bringing in a hired-gun guitar player, but they just didn't feel right about it. They just want to do it as a four-piece and just make it happen that way.

Read the entire interview at Live-Metal.net.