PHILIP ANSELMO Says It Was His Choice To Play Tiny Clubs On His Current Solo Tour

Former PANTERA and current DOWN singer Philip Anselmo told College Times that he doesn't mind playing smaller places with his solo backup band — dubbed THE ILLEGALS — on his current North American tour, which kicked off on January 10 in Houston, Texas.

"It's my choice, man," Anselmo explained. "The smaller the better. It's fucking real.

"I don't prepare for it any differently — not from a musical standpoint, not from anything I'm going to personally do or say or anything like that. Not at all. We just fucking buck up, get in there and jam the set and really that's how I've thrived really over the years. I just go with the flow and feel it out when you get there. And let things be off the cuff.

"Same old, same old every single night is boring. I let the situation dictate itself and deal with it from now on."

Regarding the musical direction of his career-first solo album, "Walk Through Exits Only", which came out last year and debuted at position No. 35 on The Billboard 200 chart, Anselmo said: "I wanted to dabble in something a little more harsh than DOWN or anything else I've done lately. It's just something I did. It felt natural and that's about it."

He continued: "I had some time. There was no real fucking big master plan or anything. It felt natural so I did it."

Anselmo also spoke about the musicians that make up THE ILLEGALS — guitarist Marzi Montazeri (ex-SUPERJOINT RITUAL),drummer José Manuel Gonzales (WARBEAST) and bassist Steve Taylor.

"I've known the guitar player for almost 20 years," he said. "The drummer's from WARBEAST and they're one of my bands on [Anselmo's label] Housecore Records. He's a talented, good kid. The bass player, who played on the record, is a local New Orleans guy, Bennett Bartley. The guy we tour with is Steve Taylor. Sweet guy, tight, tight, tight musician and really, really easy-going guy. He's easy to work with."