SEVENDUST guitarist Clint Lowery is featured in a new interview with TheyWillRockYou.com. An excerpt is available below:

Q: Cold Day Memory is the first album that the band has released since your return. I wanted to ask you right out of the gate, how the writing and recording process was for you? Did you feel a lot of pressure since you’ve always been noted as one of the defining forces of the band’s best material?

Lowery: "There was absolutely a lot of pressure but it was one of those kinds of pressure that keeps you on your toes. Being gone for three records I knew that people had expectations and wanted to see what the chemistry of the original line up would be like after being apart. I had a lot of expectations myself and I still feel like I could have done better. I embraced it though, I like working under pressure because when I’m sitting around getting lazy and procrastinating it adds a little pep to my step and makes me want to dig in a little further so it was a good kind of pressure."

Q: And continuing on that discussion, did it feel natural to be working with the band again? Were there any hiccups or was it like getting back on a bike?

Lowery: "It was pretty much the bike scenario. It was a little different because it was a little bit of payback for me being gone; I had to do some make up work. There would be a chorus that would need to be written and they’d sort of hand it off to me but it was cool. Those guys stuck to it after I left and I felt like I owed it to them. I felt like I needed to step it up for them."

Q: We recently lost a great in Ronnie James Dio, wanted to ask how you were influenced by him throughout the years and your thoughts?

Lowery: "I am a diehard Ronnie James Dio fan, I love that man. I had a chance to shake his hand in Europe. Growing up, I was his biggest fan and he got me through so much. I loved every guitar player that he ever played with. Dio was a part of every part of my musical school – some of the first songs I learned were Dio songs. What got me through teenage years were Dio songs, he was a huge influence on my life. I’m so sad that he’s passed. The night he died we played a few songs during our set and the whole crowd joined in. He is going to be missed but he was such a huge contribution to metal that he’s never going to die, he’s put his legacy on earth and his music and influence will live on forever."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Sevendust's new album, Cold Day Memory, was released on April 20th on the band's own 7Bros. Records, through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group. The album - produced by Grammy nominated Johnny K (DISTURBED, STAIND, 3 DOORS DOWN, PLAN WHITE T'S) - is the band's first new album with their original lineup back together with Lowery’s return after his departure in 2003.

More on Sevendust at this location.