DOWN / PANTERA vocalist Phil Anselmo is featured in a new interview with the LA Music Blog. An excerpt is available below.

Q: There have been rumors of a solo effort on the horizon. Can you confirm, and possibly elaborate, at all on that?

Anselmo: "I’m just writing new material and by no means is it finished. It’s really just in demo form right now. It’s just me and a drummer, this kid from around here, nobody that anybody knows, just a session guy that learns real fast and does what I say. So yeah, if this stuff comes around like I think it’s going to come around, then definitely, I think people should be hearing this stuff. And that’s exciting. It’s an exciting prospect right there."

Q: Is there any sort of specific musical direction you’ll be going with it? I know it’s not going to be Pantera, it’s not going to be Down…

Anselmo: "It’s not going to be anything else I’ve ever done. If you’re going to start a band, and I’ve said it ten million times–and I should know, figuring I’ve been in so many different bands–not one of them is aimed to sound alike. So I’m going to definitely try and keep things fresh here. But to answer your question, it’s fucking aggressive."

Q: I know that there’s an autobiography in the works, although it’s not intended to spotlight your musical endeavors. While obviously, that’s something that will have to be covered to some extent, what will be the actual basis of the book?

Anselmo: "Well, it’s taken so many different forms here. Of course, like you mentioned, I’ve got to definitely go over some music history. Some stuff that we did. Pantera, Down, all the bands, but especially Pantera, that’s understood. But it’s really a lot about dealing with physical pain. When you’re in your strongest body, you’re young, and you’re in that position that I was in…you know, pain has taught me many, many, many valuable lessons, many of them, and I definitely need to share that with people. By no means is pain a scapegoat for any of my ridiculous actions over the years or crazy bullshit I might’ve said or done. No, no, no, it’s a broader point to make. You can learn many different lessons from pain, and I guess you’re going to have to buy the book to understand those lessons.

There is life after pain as well. I can only write as much as I know. Because things–big, fantastic things–happen every week, everyday, possibly. So it’s like, when do you decide to put the final period or punctuation on a book? That’s really where I have to figure, 'This is as far as I’m writing,' because tomorrow, and probably after I hang up this phone, the next part of a whole different book is about to be written. There is resolution after the pain; I just want people to know that. So I’m going to touch on a lot of different stuff."

Go to this location for the complete interview.