Heavy metal supergroup, Hellyeah, consisting of Mudvayne vocalist Chad Gray, Nothingface guitarist Tom Maxwell, Bloodsimple bassist Kyle Sanders and Pantera/Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul, just released their fourth album, the critically acclaimed Blood for Blood . We spoke with Chad about their current tour, latest single “Moth”, importance of chart position and their visit to the inaugural Louder Than Life Festival.
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Brett Tully: Currently, you are on tour with Volbeat, Five Finger Death Punch (FFDP) and Nothing More. How is that going?
Chad Gray: Fucking absolutely great! Awesome. A lot of new faces, that’s ultimately what you want.
Have you toured with any of the bands before?
We’ve done some one offs with FFDP, actually toured with them in the beginning when they started. The Family Values Tour with Korn in ’07. And before our last record, Band of Brothers, we did 10 weeks with Volbeat.
Do you get a chance to check them out when playing together?
Yeah, everyday I watch a couple songs. I go up at different times to watch. I always try to get up and watch all the bands. The only one I can’t see is Nothing More which sucks because they’re awesome. That is because I’m warming up.
You released a new record over the summer, it was a Top Twenty hit in the U.S., 33 on the U.K. Rock Chart: those are strong positions. Do you get excited about the chart positions?
I’ve never really been a follower of it. Now is probably more of a reason not to follow it because things are so much shittier. You can lose yourself in that shit. You can really get off track and forget where you came from. At the end of the day you go in to work on a record, you’ve got to reach down no matter how disturbing in your heart it is, give it your best and wear your heart on your sleeve and fucking let it go. If we started looking at charts it would probably effect the music because we would be writing it for the wrong reasons. It’s art. It’s an extension of our personalities and who we are. If we start writing for chart positions and fucking radio then everything breaks down. I was very fortunate that even in the Mudvayne days how radio came to Mudvayne, Mudvayne never went to radio. We appreciate that they came to us, but there was something that they saw in us that was special. They were chomping at the bit waiting for us to come out of the studio just so they could play our stuff.
Just like the old school metal days, they didn’t give a shit about the charts. They gave a shit about what was inside of them. They put it out and what happened with it, happened with it.
They didn’t care about the chart because the chart didn’t give a fuck about metal, especially more so in the old days. Metal was really underground. It was new. I mean, metal has been around forever; it was just labeled different. But I mean the early 80’s, late 70’s they didn’t give a fuck about anything off of Kill ‘Em All (Metallica), Show No Mercy (Slayer). They didn’t care about that shit. It was fucking taboo. It was taboo because people didn’t fucking understand it. You’ve got to be a metal person to understand metal.
Blood for Blood has received some extremely strong reviews are you finding the fans response live is reflective of that?
Yeah, like I said these are the kind of tours you want to be on when you kind of like… it’s crazy to say… up and coming because of my legacy/lineage. Mudvayne and this band have been going for 7 years. It’s our 4th record. It’s been a slow turn and a slow burn. We fucking finally wrote the record we wanted to write. Everything really gelled. Band of Brothers is when everything started coming together. We started seeing light at the end of the tunnel, where we had clarity and understanding. It’s a little trial and error. You’ve got to figure out what you want to be. With Band of Brothers , everyone started to become more focused, and then when we did Blood for Blood and it was almost like looking into a camera lens that is slightly out of focus. Then you make that one little tweak that everything just falls sharp, bright and perfect, and that’s Blood for Blood. And we recognized that right from the beginning of the record which is awesome.
Sounds like there was no struggle writing this record. It came organically to you.
Yeah, it wasn’t, but it was. I think we clearly understood what we were doing but there was a lot of emotions writing this record because Greg had left the band, Bob was out, and Tom, Vin, and me went into a room with Kevin (Churko – producer) and the fucking three of us wrote this whole record, so it was a little unnerving at the beginning because I had worked with Greg for fucking 18 years. So it was emotional to have him leave the band. There were some uncertainties, but we fucking focused on the task at hand, and the task at hand was this song, just like on the road it’s not about this whole tour, it’s about this night. Like a pro football team.
I was just going to say that, the analogy is perfect.
That’s what we did with the record. I didn’t look at the whole record, I have to work on this song, I’m going to fucking aim for the stars and hopefully hit the sun. You have high goals and expectations even internally you don’t feel like you got there, you got some great shit.
It’s a great record. Tell us about the new single “Moth”, described as a hypnotic song. A bit of a curve-ball from you guys, is the song personal to you?
Oh yeah sure, everything I write, if you went back and read my lyrics you’d probably be able to tell where I was in my life or pick certain things out. In order to get respect and trust you have to be honest. With honesty comes vulnerability, and it’s a little fucking frightening. I spend a lot of time with what I’m writing and say, “Do I really want to say this? Fuck it! I’m going to say it, and I will deal with it later.” Sometimes it will come back to bite me on the ass.
HELLYEAH – Moth
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Nobody is ever going to catch you in a lie.
No you just have to be honest, you have to be vulnerable, and that’s the scary part. But that’s how you build trust. People recognize that vulnerability, and they’re like, “Wow! He didn’t have to say that, but he did.” That’s pretty cool. Now I’m standing there with my fucking skin pulled back, and you’ve got a knife in your hand, are you going to stab me in the heart or embrace me? And the people that don’t get it won’t and that’s fine. For the people that do want to get it or get it, I want to put it out there. I believe that music is therapy, metal is therapy. I believe that metal saved my life. I say it all the time on stage, heavy metal saved my life, and I’m never going to turn my back on it. That would be like someone fucking pulling me out of a burning building and you going, “Thanks a lot… Fuck you!” You don’t do that shit. Stay true to who you are. Stay true to the things that saved your life.
I think people can read that from a musician, they can tell if you’re full of shit or not.
Oh they know it. There’s no fucking better audience in music to throw a fucking flag on bullshit than us. A metal kid can see through anything. That’s why I’m not going to lie to them. You’re a stupid ass if you put it out there, if you’re writing songs for fucking chart position, they’re going to see it and it will come across in the music. That’s why they’re going to see it. They are not fucking stupid! I’m a metal kid, and I don’t consider myself a stupid person.
I’m right there with you, I grew up on metal.
They’re smart kids you can’t fool them. They will call bullshit on anything. And they don’t give a fuck cause they’re metal kids.
Getting back to the “Moth” thing, “Moth” is about compulsive behavior. You know it’s not right, you know you’re fucked, you know it sucks but you got to do it anyway. Like you’re drawn to it: a type of addiction. Like I know this chick is going to fuck me over, but I’m going to do it anyway. I know I’m doing the wrong thing, I knew this was going to bite me in the ass, but as humans we do it anyway. But at the end of the day what you have to remember is we are humans, and we might not have claws or fucking fangs, fur or whatever but we’re all animals, we’re very instinctual. We’re very instinct driven. That’s why they put fucking Tic-Tacs, the fucking Enquirer, the “As Seen On TV”, and all that bullshit in the checkout lines at Walmart because people are impulsive. It’s impulse buying and sometimes we impulse live. And I think my point with that song is trying to make people realize we are like that and to not make the same mistake twice. I get it, that we make mistakes, that’s how we learn. That’s why they say, “The older the wiser”. That’s how you’re wiser because you’re older you have this memory, memory creates who we are. You burn your hand on the fucking stove, you don’t put your hand on the stove anymore. That’s just how it is, yet people will continue to fuck with stupid bitches that are gold diggers or chicks will hook up with dudes that are known to be abusive even though they know it’s not the right way to go but they do it anyway. While all their friends are standing around pulling their hair out saying, “Are you kidding me?!? You just got out of a fucked relationship. Why are you getting into another?” And “Moth” touches on that: they go to a flame, they know they are going to burn up but they can’t help it. Habitual behavior is what they’re attracted to, and they can’t help it.
Has it made its way onto the set list?
Oh yeah, and it’s a lot of fun to play. I’ve always liked doing mellower stuff especially in heavy sets, it gives me a breather, gives the crowd a breather. Fucking when you’re going off and tensions are high after about 4 or 5 songs of just madness, it’s nice to have that chill out.
So the tour pulls into Louisville, Kentucky, for the inaugural Louder Than Life Festival on October 5th. You hit the stage fairly early at Louder Than Life , do you find it difficult when you have to get out there a little earlier than you are used to?
Well, yeah. The more time I have during the day to warm up and prepare the better. I get through them. You know what though? I know we’re a late band, and we’re a heavy metal band. It’s always more fun to see metal at night (laughs).
Speaking of a good time, Louder Than Life is more than just a music festival, Louder Than Life focuses on food and drink, such as, bourbon, local beers and food. Can the fans expect to see you floating around participating in some of that activity?
Dude, I’m a foodie, I’m a big foodie, if there’s fucking food there I will definitely be in the crowd. Dude, I do that anyway, I don’t care, I’m not above, I don’t put myself above anybody. I know exactly who I am and remember where I came from. My feet are on the fucking ground. I’m walking amongst the people because I’m a people. I’m a person. I can’t do the I have to be clustered away from everybody and I’m better than you, fuck that!
Do you feel it’s a different vibe when playing festivals?
Oh yeah, for sure! Every situation is different: a club versus a theater; a theater versus an arena; an arena versus open air. They’re all different, they all taste good, they’re all fun, and they are all just different.
What about from the U.S. to Europe as far as the festival scene?
Europe and U.K. started it. Credit to them because they started it, and they have the lineage. They have the practice because they’ve been fucking doing it for years. Hats off to America it’s really coming around. I mean Rock on the Range and fucking Rockfest. It’s not just a couple of fucking Burning Man and bullshit but it’s the real deal. But you know what they should do it because there’s a lot of metal kids out there, it makes sense.
I appreciate your time Chad and see you on the road…
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by Brett Tully, RockRevolt Magazine Contributor
