Vinnie Paul
I did a lot of great things in the past, but I live for today and for the future.
I think there's a lot of death metal or doom metal dudes that somehow or another find a groove in it.
I like to live for today and what's coming up tomorrow, and I love what we're doing with Hellyeah. And that's my focus, and that's my goal, man.
It's unfortunate that people go, 'Oh, wow, man, they can get Zakk Wylde to jump up there on stage, and it's Pantera again.' No, it's not, you know. It's not that simple.
I had some proper training, but that was only on snare drum. Learning all the techniques in marching bands and realizing how important it is to play tight set a standard for me for when I did get into a band.
If you live in the past, you've got no future.
People are selfish, man. They want what they want; they don't care what you want.
John Bonham, probably the greatest drummer ever - all of us wanted to play drums like him.
A lot of young drummers have a tendency to really overplay. Sometimes simple is better, and the notes that aren't played between the spaces are bigger than the notes that are.
Honestly, this country was built on freedom of speech and freedom of expression, and when you can no longer do that, then it is no longer based on that, you know.
The guys from Hellyeah and the incredible music we've created have brought me back to what I love.
I am one hundred percent dedicated to Hellyeah. I love what I do in this band. I'm really proud of this band. Everybody in this band is such a special person, and the music that we make together, I really believe, is very special and the next level in my life.
It doesn't matter if you load it on a DVD, if you videotape it, it doesn't matter. There's nothing more exciting than being at a live show.
When heavy metal was really big in the '80s, it was huge, and then it kind of waned down and kind of came back.
There's nothing like having some fresh blood out on the road with you.
I would give anything if it went back to analog age. I mean, music was so real, and you had to sing everything on a record; you had to play everything on a record. There was no cut-and-paste - you couldn't get the chorus right one time and then paste it every other time; you really had to be good at what you did.
I think that Chad Gray is one of the most honest, emotional, real vocalists there is; he really takes a lot of pride in writing the lyrics, takes a lot of time with them. He writes and re-writes more than just about anybody I've ever been around.
A lot of people are really hung on the past - they can't get past that - but you've gotta get past that if you want any future.
If you had an ex-wife, and it was a pretty bitter split, you might not ever want to talk to her again. Who cares if everybody in the family and your friends want you to say hello again? It's your choice whether you want to do it or not.
They call it a reunion for a reason. It's called bringing the original members back to what it was. So there's a lot of these things that they call reunions that aren't really reunions. They've got one dude from the band floating around in them, you know. That's not a true reunion. With Pantera, it'll never be possible.
I wanna look forward; I wanna keep moving forward.
I'm a big kid.
I like being able to own things, to not have to depend on music to support myself. Music hadn't supported me since 2000. I mean, it really hasn't. I just do it because I love doing it.
I love being on the road; I love traveling. I love interacting with the fans and friends and fans and metal on the way.
I've always been a down-to-earth business guy.
I will never take anything away from Pantera. It was great; we had fourteen amazing years together. But it's no longer here. My brother is no longer here.
I'm really proud of what I do with Hellyeah, and I'm focused on it.
I really felt like we were gonna be The Rolling Stones of heavy metal, and we could have been.
I play in a band called Hellyeah, and I really love doing it.
We made this mountain with 'Vulgar Display Of Power,' and that was a pretty damn tall mountain to climb.
'Far Beyond Driven' was a record that was probably ahead of its time, and to this day, it still sounds as fresh as just about any other band that's out there. It was a record that was pushed to another level.
I used to be a free-loving, free-caring person with no worries. We lived with no fear, you know?
To me, a hockey player has to be every sport rolled into one: ice skater, baseball player, football player, etc. It's just incredible to watch!
Basically, a band's first record is them coming together and really learning everything, and then, after they're on the road and really become a unit, the next record slams.
Slayer is one of my favorite bands of all time, and to be on a tour with them is absolutely a dream come true.
In 1999, we did a thing called the 'Reinventing The Steel' tour with Pantera, when I was still with them, and Slayer was part of that, and it was a great tour.
In 1994, we had the first record by a true heavy metal band to ever hit the Billboard top No. 1 slot. We paved the way. And we always waved the heavy metal flag.
So many bands would say that they were alternative, or they were this or that... 'Heavy metal' was a pretty uncool word after about 1992; it was almost like, 'Stay away.' But it didn't bother us one bit. And our fans were the best ever.
We played nightclubs for seven years solid before we got a record deal, and then 'Cowboys From Hell' and 'Vulgar Display Of Power,' we toured non-stop four years for those records, and we developed the most brutal, loyal fan base on the face of the earth.
With the last couple of Pantera records, we kept getting more and more narrow-minded because of Phil. He didn't want to experiment or take any chances, and it was like being in a tube that was getting to be so small you couldn't even breathe. Personally, I think the dude was afraid of success.
The bottom line with Dimebag is he got off on making people happy. It didn't matter if it was about playing his guitar, shaking their hand, giving them a guitar pick. It didn't matter.
We did everything we could to hold Pantera together and fought for it until the very end, and now that it's gone we're 100% focused on Damageplan.
Let me tell you something... If you're anybody - not just me, but anybody - and you can put an oven that doesn't work at all on eBay and sign your name on it and sell it for 1200 bucks, and somebody will drive from Seattle to Dallas, Texas, to get it, that's pretty cool.
The history of Pantera speaks for itself.
With Damageplan, we had to endure the Pantera fans, because Pantera is what they really wanted. But with Hellyeah, at a show in Baltimore, the crowd knew all the words.
We knew Hellyeah had to be a lot of fun. We got into it for one reason: to have a lot of fun.
Sometimes you get too jaded, too seasoned. With Hellyeah, we've been having a lot of fun. From the minute we sat down in the studio, there was a lot of energy.
Pantera is a marquee band, with the most diehard fans. We sold over 20 million records without MTV or radio.
Hellyeah have great fans.
I love to gamble!