HELLYEAH's TOM MAXWELL Says Former Bassist BOB 'ZILLA' KAHAHA Wasn't Passionate About The Band

July 9, 2014

According to The Pulse Of Radio, HELLYEAH singer Chad Gray and guitarist Tom Maxwell have revealed in a new interview with Loudwire (see video below) that the band came close to breaking up before it finally parted ways with guitarist Greg Tribbett and bassist Bob "Zilla" Kahaha. Maxwell explained, "They just pretty much had a lot of other stuff going on in their life that just took the focus of the band away, and for us to continue, we had to part ways with them. It was a toxic situation that almost broke the band up. They just couldn't get it together and it was a very painful time for us, it was very emotional, but I think, you know, with the love we have for each other and the band, we needed to kind of do the worst case scenario and part ways with them."

Maxwell told The Pulse Of Radio that both Kahaha and Tribbett had their own specific issue that were hurting the group. "I don't think Bob ever really was as passionate about this band," he said. "He never became a full member or anything like that. It just didn't gel, so it was just time just to part ways, you know. And with Greg, I think he had just a lot of stuff that happened to him in his life in recent years that really affected him and became distracting for us and we just couldn't go forward."

Gray said that the recording sessions for the band's new album, "Blood For Blood", were emotionally volatile, saying, "This is such a heavy record on so many levels — it's not just the anger, the frustration, the angst, but its also the helplessness that we felt."

The new members of HELLYEAH are bassist Kyle Sanders and touring guitarist Christian Brady.

"Blood For Blood" sold around 17,000 copies in its first week of release to land at No. 18 on the Billboard chart. The band's previous effort, 2011's "Band Of Brothers", opened with 19,000 copies back in July 2012 to debut at No. 19.

HELLYEAH is playing various festival dates over the summer before heading out on a North American tour in September as guests of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH and VOLBEAT.

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