Hellyeah Biography
Five musicians, three bands = creative collision of sonic proportions.
Pantera and Damageplan double-kick maestro, drummer Vinnie Paul, singer and lyricist Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett (both from Mudvayne) along with guitarist Tom Maxwell and bassist Jerry Montano (both from Nothingface) have combined forces to stop you in your tracks ...and listen to theirs. HELLYEAHs self-titled debut features the best elements of these bands vocals that veer maniacally between singer and song, surging, southern metal guitar groove, throbbing bass lines and hammering, ground-shaking beats, all with a feel and flavor thats both contemporary and timeless.
While HELLYEAH didnt officially become a band until 2006, Gray, Montano and Maxwell actually started working together four years ago, after their two bands went on tour together. When they got back from the road, Gray flew from Illinois to Nothingfaces practice space in Baltimore, Maryland to spend a couple days hanging out and writing songs. The jam produced the volcanic Waging War, which appears on HELLYEAH. Before the musicians could reconvene to work on more material, Gray got consumed with working on Mudvaynes Lost and Found. When Mudvayne finished touring for the album, he contacted Montano again and said he was ready to roll, and so was Tribbett, who was brought in as the second guitarist.
When Greg said he wanted to do it, Chad got really excited and we all started taking it more seriously, Montano says. We had another drummer in mind at first, but that didnt work out, so I said, Fuck it, Ill just call Vinnie, who was an old friend.
At first, Paul turned down the invitation. He was busy working on his own record company, Big Vin Records and wasnt ready to join a new band. But the more he thought about the group, the more enticed he became.
HELLYEAH was the first project exciting enough to have Vinnie pick up a set of sticks after a two-year hiatus from music. Everybody had a killer attitude and any of the hardships and usual rock n roll bullshit Id been through with Pantera and Damageplan didnt exist with these guys, Paul says. Everybody was in the right frame of mind and we all wanted to go out and kick some ass.
Doing this felt so right and so good, Gray says. We all just wanted to throw down and do something that came from the heart and was all for fun and for the love of making music.
The five musicians decided to get together in the summer of 05 and agreed to meet in Texas. Chasin Jason studio was in Dimebag Darrells house, where Pantera, Damageplan and Rebel Meets Rebel had all recorded. There was an amazing energy to that studio because a lot of really great music came out of there, Gray says.
How else can HELLYEAHs incredible productivity be explained? In their first seven-day session, the band wrote a song a day. The next two sessions were equally productive, filled with spontaneity and chemistry that ignited like a fire on gasoline. We wrote everything on the spot because thats how Dime and I would do things, Paul says. That way, we dont miss a single moment. If somethings magic, its there on tape. Each song started with either a drumbeat or a guitar riff that Tom or Greg had, and we went from there.
As the band finished the songs, Gray would tape the tunes, then run upstairs to work on lyrics. Frequently, hed write until four or five in the morning, then return when his band mates were in the studio the next day to hear the rhythm and melody for the next new song. We were on a pretty limited schedule, explains Gray. We were also on a roll, so we didnt want to stop.
The love for music and hunger for living life on the edge shines throughout HELLYEAH. The songs are rebellious, aggressive and sonically diverse. The title track roars of feedback, kiss-my-ass vocals and take-no-prisoners beats. Matter of Time delivers a lethal combination of infectious grooves and deliberate brutality while Goddamn features nose-diving guitars, a shuddering down-tuned rhythm and caustic climaxing vocals.
Taking the music 180 degrees in the opposite direction, theres Thank You, a tribute to fallen heroes thats driven by a marching beat, delicate arpeggios and an unforgettable chorus; the evocative instrumental In the Mood leading into the seductive bump-and-grind of Star, and the infectious country-blues-ballad Alcohaulin Ass.
The latter came to life after what seemed like hours of Tribbett daring Gray to help him write a country song. Then, when their co-producer Sterling Winfield took a 20-minute walk, the singer relented. I said, Alright then, play something. I cant write a country song if youre not playing anything, recalls Gray. So, Greg starts playing this riff and I just start singing, a little bit of sunshine/ a little bit of booze/ a little bit of me and a little bit of you. Then we get to the chorus, and we had been talking about maybe calling the band Alcohol, so I said, Dude, how about saying Alcohaulin, like haulin ass or something? By the time Sterling returned, we had written all the lyrics and music and played it through three times.
The band weeded through dozens of possible names, then chose HELLYEAH because they felt it represented the no-holds-barred spirit of the project. Its a total attitude thing, explains Paul. I dont know if they were joking the first time they mentioned it, but its a common expression that we use a million times a day. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized thats totally the tone of the band.
While Grays lyrics on HELLYEAH cover a variety of themes and topics, including the rigors of being in a band (You Wouldnt Know), exploitation (Waging War), its the title track and Alcohaulin Ass that demand attention and repetition. Both lend themselves to observations on living life and the armor created to continue moving forward with an attitude.
My only real goal was to change up how I do things in Mudvayne, Gray says. I wanted this to have its own life, so I wrote whatever was on my mind at any moment in time.
In 2007, Jerry Montano left thr group. The band continues to tour their debut album.
