VINNIE PAUL Talks PANTERA, HELLYEAH, DIMEBAG In New Interview

The Scream Queen recently conducted an interview with drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott (HELLYEAH, PANTERA). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

The Scream Queen: Do you feel that HELLYEAH has already impacted people similar to how PANTERA affected and still affects many people?

Vinnie Paul: Well, you know, PANTERA came from a different era, a different time when people still bought CDs (laughs),cassettes even back then, stuff like that. It made a huge impact, you know. We touched a lot of people. It was truly an international band and that was one of the goals with this band, on the second record was to take this band international. We did really great in the United States with the first [HELLYEAH] record, it nearly went gold, [it] did really good in Australia, but we never toured in places besides that. So, with this record, we've already been to Europe twice, we've been to Japan, Australia, we're about to go to Asia, all those places there. So, we just are branching this thing out. It's a different day and age; it's just more difficult now than it used to be.

The Scream Queen: When you guys [HELLYEAH] are writing your songs, when does everyone really know the right moment when the songs are ready to be recorded?

Vinnie Paul: Well, we work really different, you know. This started with probably the last couple of PANTERA records I was a part of. We always recorded everything as we went. That way you capture the moment, you capture the vibe, you capture the feeling of what's going on at that time. A lot of bands get what's called "demo-it is," you know. They'll demo something out, they'll get real happy with it, and then they'll go try to re-record it and it doesn't have the same vibe, it doesn't have the same feel, it doesn't have the you know, what you were feeling that day, you know?! And so, we [PANTERA] learned a long time ago, just record everything as we go. And we build it from there, we're all producers, we all take turns having our input into everything, and we [HELLYEAH] all get along very great. So, that works out good and we know they're good, when they're "comin' done," you know?! We don't go back and redo them, we don't do anything. What you hear is probably the first time we ever went through it. It's just a vibe thing that we have.

The Scream Queen: What is something that you truly want Dimebag to be remembered for by everybody, especially PANTERA fans?

Vinnie Paul: Well, I mean... (pauses) The bottom line with him was that he wanted to put a smile on people's faces, period. It didn't matter whether it was handing out a guitar pick, doing a shot with him, taking a minute to talk to him, whatever it was, he wanted to put a smile on people's faces. And that's what got him off. That made him tick, you know? And that's something people may not have known about him. But he always gave everything he had, every day, and that was the thing I remember the most. It didn't matter how hung over he was, how tired he was, whatever. If there was someone beating on the door of the bus, he would shake hands, sign an autograph, bullshit with them for a minute, and then make their day.

Read the entire interview from The Scream Queen.