HELLYEAH drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott (ex-PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN) spoke to Charlie Steffens from KNAC.com recently about a number topics. A few excerpts follow:

KNAC.com: The HellYeah record has been very well received in our community.

Paul: "It’s really been embraced well by the fans, man. We didn’t know what people would think when we first came out with it. The first time we showed up and played in Baltimore, we had a sold out show and they sang every word to every song, man. It was just great. They chanted HellYeah before we came on and we knew from that point on that the fans were behind us and into what we were doing."

KNAC.com: Are there any more songs in the tank left over from the initial session, and is there anything you’ve been working on while you’re on the road?

Paul: "We don’t have anything left from that particular session, but we’re always keeping up with ideas. Greg [Tribbett] and Tom [Maxwell] are always laying down guitar riffs on tape, just archiving all the stuff. I’m sure we’ll break some of that out when we start writing on the next record, but we’ll want to go into it with the same attitude we had the first time—to just get in there and hash it out all at one time."

KNAC.com: So again, it’s not a side project. You regard it as your baby.

Paul: "Yeah, especially for me. You know that’s one of the things that lured me to the project, was the fact that I would definitely get some breaks, which, I had never had with Pantera or Damageplan. We were just non-stop—always. With this I knew at some point there would be a year to take the time back to focus on the record label and these other things that I wanted to put out to keep Dime’s legacy living forever. And my strip bar and other things like that."

KNAC.com: Is there a lot of music you and your brother (Dimebag Darrell) made that’s still in the vault?

Paul: "He was always recording, nonstop. He has the ultimate archive of just fun songs. If something went wrong that day, you know, when I would go to Taco Bell and get screwed, he would write a song about it and just fuckin’ lay it down. I don’t think a lot of people had the opportunity to see that side or hear that side, so maybe someday that will come out. As far as Pantera went, we always believed in “all killer and no filler.” When we went to make a record, we made the 10 or 11 or 12 songs that we thought were perfect for the record, and that was basically it. There is a whole selection of Damageplan stuff that we were doing. We were really excited about the second record and really felt like we turned the corner and got the fans to pay attention to what we were doing, instead of constantly clamouring for Pantera at the time. So, that shit should come out someday, definitely. But the next thing is going to be Dimevision II. It always warms my heart just to see him on video. I feel like I can almost reach out and touch him. He was the ultimate entertainer. He loved entertaining people, man. That was his gift. He loved it. It didn’t matter if it was with his guitar or fuckin’ pouring shots. Whatever it was, he just wanted to put a smile on people’s face."

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