VINNIE
PAUL
Interview and Photography by Timothy Schumann
On April 17, 2015 here in El Paso, Texas, HELLYEAH rolled in the SOCORRO ENTERTAINMENT CENTER, which to be honest, is
a venue that I have never been to, but was very surprised at the size of the stage as well as quality of this fine establishment.
Not to mention, the outstanding turnout for this show--but who didn't see that coming, right? Hellyeah has been together
since 2006 and released their self-titled album in 2007. With three more albums since then, this tour is supporting their
newest release, "Blood for Blood". This Texas crowd was in full force when they played songs such as "Hell Yeah", "Moth",
"Drink Drank Drunk" and "Alcohaulin' Ass". Needless to say, everybody had a great time at this show! Now the highlight to
this evening was the publicist had arranged an interview for me to sit down with VINNIE PAUL ABBOTT…and make no mistake,
I was very excited about this opportunity! The following is that interview...
TS: You produced the first three Hellyeah albums, but for "Blood for Blood", the band went with KEVIN CHURKO from Las
Vegas, why the change?
VP: When we started writing this album, we felt it was time to get someone else's opinion about what we were doing--an
outside ear, if you will. Kevin is real good with melodies and really helped out Chad, as well as helped us with the vision we
were looking for. For me, I didn't have to be in the studio 18 hours a day. For the first time, I could leave and come back and
be that fresh set of ears and still put my two cents in when I wanted to.
TS: On this album, why is the drumming so challenging on the song "Say When"?
VP: There are just many things you can come up with while playing the drums, such as PANTERA’S "Becoming"--these type of
songs are built around the drums, to where most songs are built around guitar riffs. I did create that drum beat and wanted to