KILL DEVIL HILL's REX BROWN: 'I've Been Blessed Three Times With Great Drummers'

Dave Reffett of GuitarWorld.com recently conducted an interview with former PANTERA/DOWN and current KILL DEVIL HILL bassist Rex Brown. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

GuitarWorld.com: KILL DEVIL HILL's self-titled debut album is out now. Why should people hear it?

Rex: Why should people hear it? Because we worked our asses off on it. We've got an extremely talented bunch of people on this thing. I'll just put it to you this way: Everybody in this band has their own individual aura. When you put all of that into this big kettle, it comes out to be this killer record. We've gotten a lot of critical acclaim with it so far.

GuitarWorld.com: What was the recording process like?

Rex: Bass-wise, I knew exactly what kind of sound I wanted. We had Jay Ruston (STEEL PANTHER, MEAT LOAF) mix this thing and Warren Riker (DOWN, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY) produce, and we had a deadline. We had 30 days to do the album. Vinny's [Appice] drums were done in four days. We were that tight, and we knew exactly what we wanted for the songs. We worked really hard. I was going back and forth to L.A. every three or four weeks, staying at Mark [Zavon], the guitar player's house, working out arrangements and putting my spin on things. But most of the material was pretty much written as far as vocals and melody lines were concerned. I wanted to hear something that was more … you know, I worked with [singer] Phil Anselmo [PANTERA, DOWN] for 24 years. That's a long time to work together, so it was time for a change for me. Then Vinny Appice handed this to me, and at first I was like, "Well, we need to get in a room together and see how it feels." When we plugged in, we all just got along so great. It sounds cliché as fuck, but that's exactly what happened.

GuitarWorld.com: How did this partnership happen with you and Vinny Appice?

Rex: We've known each other for 20 years. We used to tour together back in the day, me in PANTERA [and] he in [BLACK] SABBATH. The craziest part is that I used to sit behind Geezer's [Butler] amps and watch him and Vinny play together in BLACK SABBATH. I would feel the dynamics. Geezer's my favorite bass player, so I would sit and just watch every night and take it all in. So now I know where Vinny will go with certain things, playing-wise. I know every SABBATH song ever made, so just playing with this cat is great. I've been blessed three times with great drummers. Vinnie Paul, Jimmy Bower from DOWN, he's a great drummer, and you can't mess with this motherfucker Appice; that's all there is to it.

Read the entire interview at GuitarWorld.com.