“Stampede’s an album you can put on while you’re barbequing with your friends, hanging out in your backyard drinking some beers; put this record on and have a good time with it,” advises Hellyeah guitarist Greg Tribbett. “We’re trying to bring back the fun in rock n’ roll. Everything’s got so serious.”
Judging by the fact that Stampede debuted at # 8 on the Billboard Top 200 in its first week of sales, it seems that Hellyeah fans are more than ready to celebrate the new music from Greg and his bandmates: drummer Vinnie Paul (Pantera, Damageplan), vocalist Chad Gray (Mudvayne), guitarist Tom Maxwell (Nothingface) and bassist Bob Zilla (Damageplan). “I was actually surprised we got in the top ten ‘cause of all the competition (Eminem held the number one spot and Korn came in at number two) and the way record sales are these days,” admits Tribbett. “We’re definitely stoked, we’re really happy about it!”
When Hellyeah released their self-titled debut in 2007, it marked Vinnie Paul’s first foray back into music after the tragic death of his brother and bandmate, Dimebag Darrell. Three years later, after solidifying themselves as a band on the road – and selling 400,000 CDs – Hellyeah found the process of writing and recording an album to be a little smoother the second time around, as Greg attests to. “This one came together fairly quickly, but it still had the same flow. We pretty much knew how we were going to roll with this record so it was definitely easier. We all live in different states so what we did was fly into Dallas – we recorded this record at Vinnie’s house – so we’d fly into Dallas for ten days, fly home for ten days, fly back for ten days. Collectively, it was probably ten weeks of writing and recording the record.”
Prior to the release of Stampede, Hellyeah had their promotional machine in high gear issuing not one but two videos, ‘Cowboy Way’ and ‘Hell Of A Time’, in addition to touring Europe for a month – all before the album was available to purchase. “That’s the plan. We’re trying to make everybody aware of Hellyeah. On the first record, we didn’t get out of the States but one time to play Download. This time we want to take the band worldwide.”
For the majority of bands filming videos is a task they truly despise but for Hellyeah, it seems to be one big party. “I don’t think we can go anywhere without having a party with this band. That’s just the way it is. We’re here to have fun; that’s why we all came together in the first place.”
The deluxe version of Stampede features a bonus DVD. “It’s us live at The Nokia Theater in Dallas back in 2008. It’s a live show from front to back, basically us playing the entire first record.” A lot of bands would have sold that on its own instead of including it as a bonus, but not Hellyeah. “We have so much footage to make DVDs, it’s retarded. It’s a good thing for the fans, so let ‘em have it. We’ll put out Under The Belt II or something in the next year I’m sure. I love that first DVD, it shows that the band is all about a good time.”
Musically, Hellyeah traverses a few different styles on Stampede. The aforementioned ‘Cowboy Way’ and ‘Hell Of A Time’ are feel-good party tunes. However things get a little more serious on ‘Better Man’, a song that states, “Don’t want to be like my father, I deserved a better man.” According to Greg, “that was a song that actually came together – believe it or not – when we were really hung over. We were sitting at Vinnie’s house and I whipped out this acoustic riff. We spent most of the day putting that song together and then when it came down to Chad writing the lyrics, it came from his heart about growing up in tough times with his Dad. It’s something that everybody can relate to. He wants people who listen to the song to know that they’re not alone; he’s gone through it, I’ve gone through it and we know other people who’ve gone through it too.”
There’s also a heavy side to Stampede that keeps the Pantera sound alive, most notably the title track and ‘Order The Sun’. “That’s something that just sort of happened. With this whole record, we’d go in and start rehearsing and writing around four o’clock and be done by six. But everything that came out we recorded and that’s just what happened. We did it every day we were there.”
It’s no secret that Vinnie Paul owns a couple of strip bars and ‘Pole Rider’ is an ode to exotic dancers everywhere. “I think he might be up to four or five, he’s become quite the entrepreneur.” As such, when Hellyeah visits strip bars on tour, “there’s somewhat of a status there. Vinnie gets treated like gold wherever he goes anyway. He’s definitely appreciated. We usually have our boy Bri Dog go down to the club early and then he joins the party, things get insane for about four or five hours and then we’re off to the next city.”
Up next for Hellyeah is the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Fest from August 17th to October 4th. “It’s definitely a cool package. As soon as we heard about it, we knew we had to get on that tour. Avenged (Sevenfold), Disturbed, Stone Sour – they all have new records coming out also. I think everybody’s going to be really curious to see the show. We’ll be headlining the Jagermeister side stage. We’ll be playing 40-45 minutes so everybody needs to come over and check us out, do some drinking and have a party with us. More than likely, we will be barbequing and drinking after every show. We’ll probably set up a grill right outside the bus.”
That’s just the beginning of Hellyeah’s tour itinerary. “Ten days after Energy is over, we’re going to Japan for a week. Then we’re going to Europe for a month. After that we’ll come home for Christmas break. In January and February, I’m pretty sure we’re going to Australia again. Then come springtime, hopefully we’ll begin a headline run and probably another big summer tour. I know we’re pretty golden up until about September 2011. We’re definitely going to be busy man.”
